THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1909. A MATTER OF POLICY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9672, 21 December 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1909. A MATTER OF POLICY.

Railway matters still continue to attract a good deal of attention, and though at first it is only, natural that there should be a good deal of diacoat ent with the new timetable, it is m ost unlikely that the Minister will consent to make any vflfy marked alter ations in the service he has recently instituted. Every community, it may be aald, contains a few of those wonderful individuals who can always teach any Minister, or the officers of any Department their business, but at the same ;time there is reason to suppose that in making the alterations that have been made in the Wairarapa railway service the officers cf the Department were in a better position than anyone else* to know what amounts to a reasonable service for the district. When trains do not run to time the public are justified in protesting, and in doing so vigorously. and strong representations in the respect mentioned would probably produce good results. Minor alterations in the service, to meet the convenience of the travelling public, could probably, also, be secured, but any attempt on the part of any district to dictate a railways policy to the Minister would unquestionably prove worse than useless, and especially when a capable and strong minded Minister (such as Mr Millar is) is at the head of affairs. With the growth of the district railway facilities must improve, and proposals of a progressive character should receive the energetic support of all who can assist them, and w ho wish to see the Wairarapa advance rapidly along sound lines.. A deviation in the railway line over the JRimutakas Is spoken of simultaneously with the proposal to establish a branch line irom Masterton to Waipukurau. The former proposition might prove a beneficial undertaking from a national point of view. We believe that ft would, but the value of the deviation to the district would not, we flhihk,, b& very/ considerable..

whereas ihu "Pungaroa railway," as it is generally termed, would be of immense advantage to the district northward of Masterton, and, of course, to this tawn as well. Both 1 proposals, if carried out, would involve the expenditure of a large sum of money, aiid the pjrson who thinks that the Government could be persuaded to do noth in the near future must be of a very sanguine dippisi- j tion indeed, obviously it would be better ior the district to ask for less and to make a determined effort, to secure what it wants moat. We nave always considered that "the Pongaroa railway'" proposal was the very best of any that has ever been put forward to promote the development of the district, and it would he many times infinitely better to get the line mentioned constructed than to worry about the deviation of the line over the Rimutakaa, Is there any chance whatever of Masterton being able to secure the Masterton-Waipukurau railway? We should not like to venture an opinion on the point at present, tut if there is any prospect we should like to see the collective energies of the district sternly bent in the direction of obtaining what would be a great boon to the whole district. Let other reforms follow, and secure first what is most needed, is the view we take of the matter. What we have written has not been penned in a spirit of captious criticism, but from an earnest desire to see some work of a progressive character undertaken and carried through to a , successful issue. If a number of I proposals," involving large expenditure, are submitted to the Government, we fear that the net result will be nothing mare than talk, but jif the of the district are confined for the time being to some work of a highly practical and beneficial character it is then reasonable to suppose that success will attend strenuous effort.