A MASTERTON DEPUTATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10211, 13 April 1911, Page 5

A MASTERTON DEPUTATION.

TO THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS.

RIMUTAKA DEVIATION AND THE PONGAROA RAILWAY.

A deputation consisting of His Worship tho Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine), Mr J. A. Dudson (Mayor of Carterton), Messrs C. E. Daniell and A. Henderson (Chamber of Commerce), and Messrs A. W. Hogg, W. C. Buchanan, and R. B. Ross, M.P.'s, waited upon the Minister for Public Works in the Borough Council Chambers last evening in reference to railway matters.

Mr Hogg, M.P., introduced the deputation. which, ho said, represented tho combined electorates. He was pleased to see Messrs Buchanan and Ross present. The business of the deputation affected the Masterton, Pahiatua, and Wairarapa. electorates. In the first place they wished to urge the importance of a'start being made with the long-deferred Rimutaka deviation. This work affected not only the Wairarapa. but all parts of the North Island. The Rimutaka was one of the "crookedest" lines in the Dominion. It was a hunchbanked affair, which should never have been constructed. The people of the Wairarapa desired that the line should be deviated along the old coach-road, so that the line would come out at the Tauherenikau gorge. The whole district had suffered for thirty years through the wretched Rimutaka Incline. The deviation had been strongly recommended by the officers of the Department. Nine years ago a sum of £SOOO had been placed on the estimates, to enable a start to be made with the work. Some demented deputation had, however, waited upon Mr HallJones in reference to the Wainuiomata scheme, and the £SOOO vote had not been expended. Th« cleviation proposed would cost only £IBO,OOO, whilst the Wainuiomata scheme would cost £380,000. Mr W. C. Buohn«nn. M urged that although tlii tale + 'so Rimutaka line had been mp"v ■ i; mes thriae told, it could well bo told aeai™. Tf: f.ruo that the Dominion cmld "> > l ' afford to regard to the Rimutaka however, the money '"""'d yield a handsome return. W' lo n saw money expended on nich takings as the Otago Cen+r.iJ and th'*Kawa Kawa line, they fett tV-" ivpfv. not asking too much when appealed for money for a lino ti'n i —""Id pay. The Napier-Gisborne connection would be largely along the const line through poor country. The PictonChristchurch line would not be abl-> to compete with the steamers. These works would not "be able to compare with the expenditure on such a profit- [ able undertaking as the Riiimtaka deviation.

Mr R. B. Ross, M.P., said it appeared to him that tho Rimutaka railway deviation was an excellent business proposition. It had been stated thet by the diversion of a portion of the traffic over the Manawatu line, a saving of £IB,OOO a year had been saved. If they could divert the whole of the traffic from the present Rimutaka line, by way of n new line, they would save at least another £IB,OOO. When the Napier-Gisborne connection was made, it would ha necessary to have the provision asked for by the present deputation.

| His Worship the Mayor expressed | regret that the short stay of the Minister prevented tlicm placing the matter before him in the manner in which they would have They hoped, however, that the Minister would have an opportunity of .paying another visit to the district. The Rimutaka railway was a huge mistake, but the deputation did not see why the district should be made to suffer on this account. The deviation was a good business preposition, and on this account alone it wa.s claimed that it should be proceeded with. Mr J. A. Dudson, Mayor of Carterterton, endorsed the remarks of the previous speakers. He pointed out that the people of the district. were willinp: to undertake the deviation themselves, but they were not permitted to do so.

Mr C. E. Darnell, as a member of the Chamber, welcomed the Minister, and, referred to 'the Jact that an attempt had been made to secure the opening up of the north-eastern district. A sum of £SOO had been voted for a survey. The people of the district offered to put in a tramway, but were prevented from doing so. They then asked for n light line of railway, but were told flint this was imoossible, as only a standard line would be accepted. The Minister stated that there was power under the Tramways Act to construct a tramway.

Mr Daniel I said he was pleased to hear this. They had been told in the past that they could not construct a tramway. Mr Daniell proceeded to deal with tjbe Rimutaka incline, and urged that the deviation was of the greatest importance to the business community. He gave several instances of the inconvenience to which business neoole were put at present. The grade of the nroposed deviation was better than that along the Manawatu line.

Mr Alex. Henderson. dent- nf the Cbamlv>r of Commerce, .apologised for the of th« T>ro=ident. hut stated that the chief object of his deputation was to nrw the undertaking of the Masterton-Wai-pukurau line. Mr Smith nroduced a plan, and addressed the Minister at some length on the importance of the MastertonWaitrnkuran line. He sta+orl that thi[would open un nhout 1.160.000 acres of countrv. arid erahi o a amount of closer sottleinent to t>e 11 Tldertaken. Tho Minfc+er 1-IrY doubtless seen the country for himself, j Mr Ho<r<r .stated that- the whole district n r.r] >fnpier had t». cnV»vj»ww». A snrn of £-"000 I'ld nlnoed ur^n the estimate f ar fj 1? Rimutaka. deviation, and this hatf T«en st»*nek off. Such a thing was unHard-of i?t the history of the Dominion. Mr Buchanan urged the advantages of the Rimutaka deviation, stati'if thn t it f-ould he sure to pay tin in |l--> t|T.ir>nY Tfio +ha" 1 " c : for tllO 'rolfinTofl noo^,r T o"f] «—. nrewl +hr hon->. „f a he ""onl'l np° "n hr* a.hlo to visi* tho trict. In rnfoj-oncn to the Fimnta'*a deviation, he ■•vac came undor hi«. i'lH.sdiot-io"' nr. was already n lin-> w"(?» Tt was a nuest-ion i+ "of, a ■matter for the M'n , ' <3 " t of Tn r-it-case. he "-mild +' i o to his colleagues. Ho believed tho speakers had mad© out a very

case. In reference to the remarks of Mr Buchanan, ho (lid not tiling that that gentleman knew what he was talking about when he spoke of the Gisborne-Napier and other lines, feo far as the Rimutaka deviation was concerned, it was a question of whether it would pay to scrap the present line and erect a new one. Iho member for Pahiatua was wrong in stating that the Manawatu lino would not carry the increased traffic. So far as t-iie Pongaroa lino was concerned, the Minister said he did not think it 1 advisable to construct a railway until the big estates were cut up. There were forty-two people in this district who held' 629,695 acres of land. Before he would 1)0 willing to urgo construction of a line, ho wanted tr> see these estates cut up. What they wanted was more population. Ho pointed out that no definite route had been decided upon. Some wanted it from Masterton, others from Mauriceville, and others still from Eketahuna and Pahiatua, while at the other end two or three places were suggested for a terminus. In the meantime he urged that they should endeavour, to get some of the big estates cut Up. The railways would then follow. He was sorry that he could not offer the deputation more encouragement, but he promised that when the time came he would do his best to secure both the deviation and the Pongaroa line. He did not understand how the £SOOO mentioned by Mr Hogg came to be struck off the estimates. The Mayor thanked the Minister for the reception ho had given the deputation, and stated that, so far as the deputation was concerned, they only asked tho Government to do what they were prepared to do themselves. Messrs Buchanan, Hogg, and Ross also thanked the Minister. The latter stated that he had travelled over the back country with the Minister, and was bound to agree with him as to the sparse settlement. Although ho had supported the Masterton-Waipuk-urau line in the past, he was now of opinion that the best line would be from Pahiatua to Pongaroa. Mr Hogg begged to differ from Mr Ross. They wanted a lop line, and not a branch. The Minister: Until you settle these matters between yourselves you cannot expect the Government to do anything. The proceedings then terminated.