NEW RAILWAY.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 April 1922, Page 5

NEW RAILWAY.

THE TE ROTI LINE. PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS. HON. J. G. COATES’ VISIT. THE GOVERNMENT POLICY. Principal interest in the visit of the Minister for Public Works (Hon. J. G. Coates) to South Taranaki yesterday centred round the Te Roti-Opunake railway, the speedy completion of which has been urged upon the authorities for some considerable/ time past by the Egmont County Council and the Opunake Railway League. The party first visited the new bridge over the W.aiongongoro at Te Roti. The massive bridge attracted a good deal of attention, particularly the steps being taken to strengthen one of the piers. The rails are laid across the bridge. An overhead bridge to carry the traffic of the Skeet Road is in course of construction, and a little further on one came to a completed overhead bridge with the fillings also nearing completion. A feature of the railway is the fact that all road traffic is to be carried over it by means of overhead bridges, thus doing away with any dangerous level crossings. As the morning had been wet there was little work in progress, though it was ascertained that some fifty men were employed on that section, the majority being housed in small whares. The party motored along the Skeet Road until just past Kapuni, where a visit was made to the ballast pit, which is being opened up in readiness for ballasting. This is situated alongside the Kaupokpnui River, and it is estimated that some 100,000 yards will be available. The site is close to the junction of the Manaia branch. The river has been diverted, and at present the steam, navvy is at work stripping the surface dirt off the ballast. It is interesting watching this huge monster, which is of British construction, and lifts three-quarters of a yard in each scoop. This is deposited into trucks holding two yards, which are taken to a tip head by a horse. At present the capacity of the navvy is 130 yards per day, but it is estimated that it can work up to 210 yards. RELIEF WORKS. At Auroa, Mr. R. Dunn (president of the Taranaki Provincial Farmers’ Union) met the Minister, and asked that another section of the railway should be opened to provide employment for the unemployed. There were quite a number of unemployed in Manaia and other parts of the district, both married and single, and it would be in the interests of the whole district to push on with the line. The Minister remarked that if it were not for providing relief work for unemployed there would be no men on the line. The Minister said that, the amount spent on the Opunake line was infinitesimal as compared with that spent on the North Auckland line, the Tauranga line and the Midland line, and these must be pushed through to completion. The Government, however, realised that there were people in the district who were having a job to make both ends meet, and so the Government was providing relief works. Onethird of the men employed on the relief works throughout the Dominion were in Taranaki. Last week 218 men were put on relief works, and of these 45 went to the Stratford district. The Government realised its responsibility towards the unemployed, but that did not mean that the Government should do everything; local bodies and private employers had to do their share. The Government had to watch the expenditure. They had 5000 unemployed on relief works, costing about 250,000 a year, and above that there was the cost of rails, sleepers, bridge material, etc. Mr. Dunn pointed out that farmers wished to effect considerable improvements, but were handicapped by the fact that it cost 25s per ton cartage from Hawera to Auroa. They were looking to the railway for relief. The Minister said there were 130 men employed on the line. OPUNAKE’S VIEWS. A large deputation waited on the Minister at Opunake. Mr. S. Campbell (chairman of the Egmont County Council), in welcoming the Minister to the district, remarked that there was no need for him to stress the necessity for a railway, as the Minister had viewed the country that day. If they could get their goods into and out of the district more cheaply he felt that the production of the district would double. Mr. O’Brien said the lack of railway communication was penalising them in three ways—by heavier charges (£2 per ton on the cartage of their produce and necessities of life), and a heavy rate, due to the extra cost of maintenance of their roads through the increasing wear and tear caused by motor lorry traffic. If the traffic were placed on the rails the people would be better off, and so would be better able to bear taxation in other directions. In 1914, Sir William Fraser had turned the first sod of the Opunake railway and they were given to understand that they would have the railway constructed to Opunake as expeditiously as possible. However, since then it had been turned to Manaia. Mr. R. Ferguson said the land wanted fertilisers, and for these they had to pay £2 per ton extra cartage as compared with the man at Eltham. If they could get cheaper fertilisers the district would be in as good a position as any in New Zealand, as it would carry a cow to three acres. THE MINISTER’S REPLY. The Minister, in reply, said that Mr. Hawken had time and again placed these matters before him. He had already given a limited indication of the Government’s policy of railroad construction, which was to push to completion only three or four of what were considered the most urgent works in New Zealand. The country had got into the position of having too much money idle in uncompleted works, and he had to close up some of the gaps. They were carrying on too many lines, and it was the policy of the Government to reduce the number and get then finished as soon as possible. If they had 40 under construction and reduced these to six there was every prospect of finishing those six in a reasonable time, whereas the forty would not be finished in a life-time. That policy would be rigidly adhered to.

The Minister doubted if any work would be done at all on the Opunake line but for providing work for unemployment. This was not because he did not regard the work as important or urgent, but there was so much money locked up in three or four other lines that from a commercial standpoint, and in the interests of the country, these must be first cleared up. The question of coping with the unemployment had, however, altered the position' of the line

at present, and. to-day there were 130 men employed on the line, half of them on the Opunake side of Kapuni. Rails, sleepers and bridge material had been purchased for 12 miles. As long as there were men in the district for whom it was necessary to find work there would be men on the railway. He could, he said, see an end to some bigger works, sudi as the Otira tunnel, which should be finished at the end of the year. On the North Auckland Main Trunk the heavy construction work should be out of hand within twelve months, if they could find the money, and that after all was the difficulty. The Tauranga line would take longer. He anticipated that it would cost half a million t‘o close the gap between Waihi and Tauranga, apart from carrying it towards Opotiki. He had to take care to see that a railway was not constructed where a road, would take its place. He hoped what they said about the railway carrying the produce was correct, but he maintained that a lot ! would still be carried on the roads. He hoped the railway would pay as they said, but he pointed out that within the last ten years the development of motor traffic had placed the railways at great disadvantage, and it was not advisable to construct branch lines where roads would carry the traffic, and he instanced a case where motors were competing with the train over 50 miles. AT MANAIA. The railway was also touched on at i Manaia. Mr. T. McPhillips (chairman of the Waimate County Council), in welcoming the Minister, expressed the hope that the time would not be long before he visited Manaia to declare the line open. Mr. J. J. Meldon (chairman of the Town Board) asked whether the Minister could see his way clear to put in hand the erection of the station buildings, goods shed and workers' cottages at the Manaia station, so as to provide work for the local builders. The Minister pointed out that material for the construction of twelve miles of railway was now coming to hand, and after that had been laid down the question of buildings would be taken into consideration.