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Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1921, Page 5

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NEW RAILWAYS POLICY. \ STRATFORD LINE MUST WAIT, OTHER WORKS MORE NECESSARY. POLITICAL INFLUENCE DENIED. ‘ (By Wire-Special Reporter.) Stratford, Last Night. A deputation representing the Taranaki Progress ths Stratford Chamber of Commerce, and the Stratford Railway League, waited on the Hon. J. G. Coates (Minister of Public Works) at Stratford to-night, and placed before him the views of the district regarding his decision to cease work at the west end of' the Stratford-Okahukura railway. The line is completed to Tahora. The Mayor of Stratford (Mr. J. W. McMillan) extended a very warm welcome to Mr. Coates from the people of Stratford, and wished him a very successful New Year. He added that they were particularly pleased that he had agreed to receive the deputation, because Taranaki as a whole, and incidentvally Stratford, felt they had received a knock-out blow as regards the Minister’s decision to stop work on the Tahora end of the Stratford railway. Mr. R. Masters, M.P., also welcomed Mr. Coates to Stratford. He said the Stratford-Okahukura railway was a provincial matter, and no other work, was to be compared with it as far as Taranaki was concerned. He had intended bringing the matter of the urgency of the Stratford Post Office before Mr Coates as well, but he was pleased to b< able to say that he had received a telegram that afternoon stating that tenders were to be called for the new Post Office almost immediately. (Hear, hear). STEADY WORK WANTED. Mr. McMillan, president of the Taranaki Progress League, expressed .the. hope that the Minister would reconsider his decision to stop the work at Tahora and to go on with it steadily. He could understand the Minister’s point of view that the east end should be pushed forward with the greatest expedition in order to make the line prbfitable }; but he still maintained that the work ,a£ the,Tahora end shtfuld be conThey were not asking for more for the west end than for the east end, bpt they hsked. that as much be spent jit that end as at the other end. Mr. ;W. P. Kirkwood, president of the Stratford V Railway! League, said that Taranaki wras led to believe that the work Would be gone on with, and the Public Works Statement came as a bombshell. When Mr.- Coates was last in Stratford it was generally understood that he was in accord with the view that the line was a Main Trunk line, and would be pushed on as expeditiously as possible. As far as the stoppage was concerned, they were in the position that the work was not already stopped, and they now hoped that it would not be stopped, but would be continued steadily . The men working on the line had made their homes there, and if they were taken off they would probably be lost from the work altogether. It was very heavy work at Tahora. and if > was not gone on with it must necessarily take much longer to connect the two lines in the long run. “PLAYING WITH IT.” Mr. Kirkwood maintained that what they were asking was only fair, because at the present rate of progress, if the work was stopped it would be 20 years before the line was complete. Mr. Coates: That’s the present Tate of progress, but you can’t call that progress. To put 50 or 60 men on the line is only playing with it. Mr. Kirkwood: I’m very pleased to hear that remark. At the same time I would point out that the work is very heavy, • . Mr. Coates: Mostly tunnelling. Mr. J. B. Richards, president of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce, eaid it was suggested that one reason why the work was stopped. was that Taranaki was being punished for being a “naughty boy.” He did not agree with that opinion himself, but it had been expressed, and should be cleared up. Mr. Coates: That can’t be the caee, because I’ve stopepd one of my own railways, and also one in the neighboring electorate (Mr. Mander’s). There is no truth in it, and besides, Mr. Masters made a very favorable impression in the House. QUESTION OF IMPORTANCE. . The Minister, replying, said regarding the railway, as Minister for Public Works he had to make certain recommendations and certain duties fell on his shoulders. In coming to his conclusions he had to confer with his engineers and in some respects must be guided by them, because he was not an engineer. However, he had to take the responsibility for the policy adopted, and in framing that policy he was faced with a number of lines, all of which were more or less essential. They could call their railway what they liked, but the main question was, was it essential, and was it more important than certain other lines? He had been accused by certain people of favoring Auckland, but he was not troubled by what was said in that respect. The mam fact was that he had a number of lines to connect up, and he had to take each one and decide the order of importance, and when he had decided which were of the greatest importance he classified them and found that he had only half enough men and machinery for them. He felt they would agree with him in saying that the methods they were using in constructing lines were wasteful and not sound from a business point of view. At the rate the work was at present proceeding on their railway it would take ten or twelve years to complete it, and he could not see Jiow it was possible to increase the number of men or expedite the work at present. His views were quite impersonal in the matter and he had to look at it from a business point of view,jand could not consider what the people of certain districts wanted if it was against the best interests of the country as a whole. SCARCITY OF MATERIALS. Therefore he decided to push ou the railway from the other direction and give the people one means of access. He was not particularly concerned about what was being done this year, because he had neither the plant nor the materials to do the job as he wanted to *ee it done, but he hoped to be in a position later on to construct the line with the greatest vim and expedition in order to maka it urnfl table.

It was quite clear to him that he must cut down expenses in certain directions in order to do any good at all. They might think it was good policy to keep 50 or 60 men at their end, but he did not think that any use with less than 300 men. He had had to do the same in his own electorate, when he transferred the men from one end to the other on the Waitiri railway. He regretted that he could not see his way to alter his policy as outlined, jn the Public Works Statement. He knew it was hard for them, and hard for the member for the district, but it was also hard for the whole of Taranaki, for Mr. Hawken, Powdrell and Mr. Smith had all given him a bad time over the matter in a gentlemanly way. His conclusions may be clumsy, but they were bis own, and rightly or wrongly he was going to carry them out. They had asked him to continue the Work beyond Tahora, but all he could do was to continue the work as far as Tahora at present. He had listened very carefully to what had been said, for he was not one to treat their representations lightly. However, he could not see his way to divert from his statement. He was watching the position very closely and watching the labor market, and he was pleased to say that there were now 1000 more £nen on public works than formerly. He had no Wish to mislead them about the matter and was sorry he could not give them a more satisfactory reply, because he knew that from their point of view it must be unsatisfactory. The question of politics did not enter into it at all, and he could assure them that not only Mr. Masters, but members of the Government side of the House, had been persistently at him. Be was not going to be pig-headed or egotistical over the matter, but ho believed he was right, and when he could see his way to change that policy he would be pleased to d«