LIGHT RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 120, 8 October 1912, Page 4

LIGHT RAILWAYS.

In the course of his address to local farmers on Saturday, His Excellency the Governor referred to the advantages of light railways as feeders to the main .lines. ,'He spoke with considerable knowledge of the subject',' for, as a member of a Royal Commission • set up for enquiring into a system-of railways for London, he had spent three years investigating the" railways of- Canada, the United States and Europe.' He stated that the conditions here, were peculiarly applicable-to light railways,,which could be constructed cheaply,- the' ordinary vehicular roads being' utilised for the purpose. Such' a system -of communication, he saijd, 1 would add enormously to the wealth and prosperity of tbc country and gretvtly contribute to the comfort of away in the backblqcks. There!is' no disputing the soundness 01 force jof Lojrd''lslington's contentions For many years past the press arid manj of our public' men have 'been advocating the same thing, but because the Depart mental engineers did not favor, the de partur.e,- successive Governments havi shown no disposition'to "alter their pol icy of constructing Jincls on the standan pattern;, One can understand this polic; in respWt to'the 'main truiik lines, whicl have to be made 'to stand the; heavies" and mpst-wearing tva'ffie,-but it is sureli spending rnefney' unijecessarily and re tarding the development of the country to go to the same expense in, the case o the subsidiary feeding J.ines. Conside what it would mean to'Taranaki wer light railways, bui.lt youn'd the Moun tain and..alrtngithe.,co^st : to the Mokai

The reading question,, the greatest o ill question* to the settler, would b practically'settled at Jonce, and in freigh' alone {he setters would ,save thousand: and thousands of pounds.' The country people-would he able to-reach the towns cheaply and expeditiously, and th< townspeople would be able to get quick ly into the,.country. • The gyroscopic mono-rail h'advbeen looked forward ~tc as a possible, solution' of the transit problem in rural districts, but it is a long time developing .into a practicable system. What has emerged.triumphantly in recent y«ars, however, is the railway motor-car, which 'is practically the ordinary street motor-car adapted to railway conditions. It is self-contained, holds about as many people as the ordinary (electric tram-car in use in out chief cities, and travels at a high rate of speed. Such a light car does not require the sort of track demanded by the heavier locomotive and heavier train, nor the same staffing. The ordinary roads,'as pointed out by the Governor, would,' with a little improvement, be all that was required; the same bridges as now do. service would, with perhaps a little strengthening, also serve the purpose. ISuch lines would be cheap to construct and cheap to maintain; they would,answer quite as well for all practical purposes as the present expensive lines, and would at once relieve settlers from the ever-increasing burden of maintaining their roads in difficult country like that of Taranaki. When in Opposition, the new Government was always professing its sympathy for the backblock and country settlers, and was profuse in its promises of what it would do when in power to ease their burdens, and it scored many votes accordingly. By givjing favorable consideration to the eminently sound and practical ideas of the Governor in connection with light railways, it has a splendid opportunity of demonstrating its regard for the welfare of the settlers and of the country generally.