The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1922. THE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 January 1922, Page 4

The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1922. THE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

At the opening of the Waiuku railway on Thursday, the Minister for Public Works explained the principles of the Government’s policy of concentration in connection witn. the construction of railway lines. The* two North Island lines receiving the attention of the lion. J. G. Coates at present are the East Coast Main Trunk and the North Island Main Trunk. The former line has been completed from Tauranga to a point near Taneatua, thus enabling it to serve the rich Rangitikei and Whakatane districts. Its extension to Opotiki involves heavy expenditure, for the country to be railed is mountainous and difficult. The railway will open up little or no new country, which is already well served by river ports and harbors. The point we desire to emphasise is that the line is already tapping the best of the East Coast country, and further expenditure on railway construction on the coast is not likely to materially promote settlement or increase the profits from the working of that section of the railways. but will have rather the opposite effect. When the line reaches Motu, southward of Opotiki, the railway comes to a dead end, for the country is literally on its edge, high range after range making the building of a railway line one of stupendous cost and difficulty. Indeed, we don’t think a Government would ever face the task until New Zealand’s population is five times what it is to-day. Nor would it be justified in so doing. So that for the present the idea of pushing to a completion the proposed East Coast railway is but a dream. In the Nortty there are several gaps in the line which, in the interests of efficiency and economy, should be bridged, and possibly the extension of the line to the Kaitaia district, in the extreme north, can be justified. The •whole of the north, however, is exceedingly well served by waterways, alniost every holding being within ten miles of a natural port or a navigable river, so that the completion of the line is not likely to increase the country’s wealth to any extent. These two railways are regarded by the Minister as the two most important in the North Island, but to anyone who knows the various districts, and will take an impartial survey of the island, there

is one line that easily stands out as the most urgent and offering the greatest advantages to the country. It is the StratfordOkahakura line. Yet it is virtually passed over in favor of the others. Why? That is the question that the Government has not yet satisfactorily explained. The reason is that it cannot. In the debate on the Public Work's Statement a few months ago, the Hon. J. G. Coates exclaimed: ‘'Ought I to buck away at the Tahora. tunnels for eight or ten years, or should I. turn to the point where the expenditure would give a quick result ? The reasonable I thing is to spend the money in I carrying the line to Ohura, or I perhaps a little further towards I the New Plymouth side.” This i looked as if he meant to concentrate on the Ohura section and drop work on the Tahora. But, from recent accounts, only a handful of men are being employed on the Ohura section, the result being that work at both ends is practically at a standstill. So that the Minister is not carrying out his own clearly expressed policy in regard to this work. Yet he is pushing on with less important works, and can manage to complete a branch line to Waiuku, a district that is already well served with communications, road and water. Where is the consistency? It is admitted that if the Government agreed to concentrate on the Stratford main tunk, progress on the TahoraTatu section would be slow because of the difficult nature of the country r to be railed, but that is no reason why it should be delayed. Rather does it provide a reason for accelerating operations, for until the line is completed the country will continue to lose in interest alone well over £lOO,OOO a year. Suppose work is dropped for five years, that means a direct loss of half a million sterling. The completion of the line would enable the Railway ' tment Xq divert mucKof the

heavy through traffic now going over the tortuous Main Trunk lins, and so reduce wear and tear and working expenses. It would give settlers an outlet for their produce, the transportation of which at present is a severe handicap to them and the district, and bring into production large areas of land which cannot be profitably settled in the absence of communications, particularly ih the winter. The case for the pushing on of this line is overwhelmingly strong from every aspect, and it is hard to understand why its claims for attention are persistently ignored by the Minister and the Government.