RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 June 1919, Page 7

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

GOVERNMENT POLICY CONDEMNED.

The meeting arranged by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce and held in the Good Templar Hall last night, at which Mr. P. E. Cheal, chairman of the Auckland Railways League gave an address on. the method of railway construction adopted by the Government, drew a. very small audience, the attendance being under 30. The Mayor (Mr. C. H. Burgess) presided, and apologised for the absence of the president of the Chamber of Commerce (Mr. A. Goldwater) and Messrs N. JCing, S. W. Shajv, H. Cocker, and A. S. Brooker. He said the matter of railway construction was of great importance to Taranaki. The harbor was practically fixed now, and railway communication with the back portions of the province was absolutely essential. He hact great pleasure, therefore, in introducing Mr Cheal, who was to speak on the question from the point of view of the three provinces.

Mr. Cheal said the Auckland people, and the League of which he> was chairman, thought something should be done to get a more progressive policy in the Government in regard to railway construction generally. He referred to the short stretch of line needed to link up the North Auckland main line, but said that at the present rate of progress it would take many years to complete the tine and so give an unbroken stretch of over 200 miles from Auckland to Kaitaia. He then proceeded to refer to the movement for the completion of the East Coast line, and to the latest proposal that the three provinces should combine with a view to bringing pressure to bear on the Government to secure a more adequate vote for the completion of all the main trunk lines in the North Island—the North Auckland. East Coast, 1 and Stratford-Okahukura. Mr. Cheal dealt with the amount of money spent on railways in tho South Island compared with that in the North, and attributed it to the strojig pressure brought to bear by the Canterbury members of Parliament and the effective organisation in the South by which they Were backed up. His strong plea wis that as in the future politics were likely to be very unsettled, and Governments would he "in and out," united action; should be taken at once to secure that in the large loans that would be authorised for public works the North Island should not be left out in the cold, as had been the case in the past. He advocated that loans for public works should no : allocated according to population and productivity. He ,; felt, that in the past Governments bad'been" very ignorant oi what adequate means''of internal tran. sit would mean for the Dominion. He took a wide sweep of world politics, and declared that the country that controlled transit by. sea would control the commerce of the world, and said that 'if oversea transport was important internal transit was also important. Transit was the very life of a community. He did not a.qree with the stagnation policy which had been adopted during the past five years in relation to public works. If something had been done to promote public works during the war period he thought it would have done much to keep the country going.

During the course of some comparisons between railway construction and running in the North and South Island, MY Chen] said the people of the North Island paid in fares and freights £531.000 more per year thari the South. Island people. rTe thought it would he quite fair to ask the Government to earmark that ( amount for interest and sinkinc fund on a loan for the divelAn-

tnent of North Island lines. He also stated that in the South Island there was a mile of railway for every 262 people, and in the North for every 525 people. The cost of working per head of the population was £43 10s an the 6outh Island and £29 7s in the North. These figures showed that the North Wand was not getting a fair deal. Combined action was necessary. In Auckland a resolution had been passed to the effect that every member of Parliament for the districts should be asked to vote against appropriations for pubtic works in the South Island, untij something better was done for the North Island.

Mr. Cheal then dealt with the matter of assistance to settlers in relation to; public works and railway policies, and advocated that every effort should be made to bring the producer and consumer in closer touch with eaeh other, and eliminate ■■' the middlemen and to some extent help to reduce the cost of living. He instanced cases in which short sections of lines were needed on main routes to. link up big areas and to give accesss to valuable fields of timber, and' said that in the Kaihu district, where there were 30 million feet of kauri timber, if this connection was not given within a year or two the mills would have to close down. What was wanted was to get away from the past vicious system of allocating loans according to the strength of the political pull.

He thought a wrong had been done in abolishing the Provincial Governments but that if it was impossible to go back to that system, what was wanted was that the Government should give a lump sum grant to be spent toy local public works boards. He thought that would be better than the present wav, and money would be better spent. He even went so far a 9 to advocate a threat of wlf-determination for the North Island if something was not done. He condemned the authorising of big votes and only (.pending small portions of them He concluded with a reference to concrete roads, which he advocated in preference to a number of branch railway lines. He stated that in America trolley cars and trailers on concrete roads earned more than all the railway* in the country .and on runs of 100 miles and under they could beat the railways in the matter of freight, out of sight New iork had recently borrowed 20 million pounds for making concrete roads He urged finally that the three provinces should combine and take advantage of some Government to get a lump sum for public works and spend it as the distncts thought best. (Applause.) At the conclusion of the address the following resolution, moved by Mr W J. Penn and seconded by Mr S p' «tw + v P " *? carried unanimously" That thw meeting of New Plymouth ? ? n VS n • With thß People of Auckand and Napier i« i]x^_ S *T 8 • igorous P^ecution.of railway construction workf especially of the Stratf lieXtCaa,? nwUhe North Auckland main* tr^

Mr. Smith, remarked that there was n about the solidarity of. the. Canaryi members of Parliament, and he tboS something could be done if the North'