WAIRARAPA RAILWAY SERVICE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10141, 19 January 1911, Page 5

WAIRARAPA RAILWAY SERVICE.

CRITICISED BY MR HOGG. A "CROCKERNISION" AT WORK. Referring to the question of railways, in the course of his speech in Masterton last night, Mr A. \V. Hogg, M.P., said : —I don't know who the individual is that is responsible for the existing train arrangements, but I think lie must be the lineal descendant of a man that was born in Scotland about a century ago and was known as "Crockernision." "Crockernision" was a genius in his way. He was born crooked—morally, physically and politically. Everything ho did went wrong. If he planted a cabbage it was root upwards; if he built a shed it would tumble down ; if he drove a horse he would land the trap in p. ditch. The Railway Department must have a "Crockernision" in its service. His performances with the WellingtonNapier line have been a series of expensive blunders. The Minister of railways has been gotting the credit of it, and lam surprised that lie has not been burnt in effigy. But the Hon. Mr Millar is a level-headed man, and lam sure he is not identified with "Crockernision." His first blunder was the conversion of the WellingtonWoodville part of the line into a dis-j trict line. Half of the trains that did | service for the closely settled districts j I of the Wairarapa, Masterton and PahI iatua were knocked off and the express i passenger train between Wellington | and Napier was sent through, the Manawatu- Gorge .instead of-over the Rimutaka. This has proved -an . pensive blunder. The " Wairarapa route .'is preferced to the ; "MahaVatu; and the bulk of the passengers go over the hiUY The only improvement that "Crockernision" can claim is that he is running two passenger trains between Woodville and Wellington where one would suffice, Another performance on the part of "Crockernision" was to knock off the early morning train from Wellington that brought the mails and newspapers up the line, and substitute for the train to the Bush that left Masterton at half-past six, an early train from Cross' Creek that carries nobody, and is simply an abortion. Mr Ross, M.F.; for Pahiatua, is a good practical railway expert, and he has given facts and figures that prove conclusively that i the reduction of trains and transfers/ of train facilities from the Wairarapa to the Manawatu line, has been ail expensive blunder. No doubt the Rimutaka incline has been relieved, j but the Palmerston traffic is congest-, ed', the,whole of the settlements between Woodville and Wellington have been grossly inconvenienced and are seething with > discontent, and "Oockenusion" ought to hide, his/ diminished head and■ be awarded a; seat in the dog-box. FURTHER ECCENTRICITIES. The "Crockerhisions," I am afraid, are not confined to the Railway Department. There is another department of the State that consumes a great deal of public money and makes expensive,blunders—the Public Works Department. Need I point out its eccentricities? Take the line over the Rimutaka, with its wonderful incline, and Fell engines 5 and'long suffocating tunnels. The negotiation of that twelve hundred feet hurdle has been a cruel injustice. It is responsible for loss of life, loss of stock, arid over twenty . years,! "Crockernision" that authorised such a line shotild have been hanged fori manslaughter. Its latest feet? was to j stick .lip' the ,Goyernojr;'in the dirtiest. I blackest,' smokiest tunnel on the Toad. It may pain his Excellency to ; learn.\ that settlers whose loyalty is unquestionable, instead of expressing their sympathy, remarked to me: "We're so delighted, Hogg. He's getting a taste of what we've been suffering for many years." Mr Hogg went on to refer to the,' Otago Central, which he said was the laughing stock of Dunedin, and the Canterbury-West land tunnel, which was a legacy for future generations, and might pay a few centuries hence. He acknowledged that the completion of the Northern Trunk line and the purchase of the Manawatu Line were good strokes of policy, and he approved of the prosecution of such lines as the Stratford-Ongarue, Napier-Gisborne, Tauranga-Waihi, and the line to connect Marlborough with Canterbury; but he considered the Rimutake deviation and the construction of the Mas-terton-Waipukurau line through Pongaroa and Weber were works that demanded consideration.