Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1882.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 28 October 1882, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINE A." SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1882.

The question of main trunk railway routes yet to be determined is at present occupying a large share of public attention in both islands. In the north the Government is not committed to the acceptance of any of the routes which have been ad-, vocated, and in the south the appointment of the Royal Commission is an indication that Ministers are thoroughly honest in desiring to come to a decision which shall result in the; greatest good to the colony. The appointment of the commission and the knowledge that their work is to be commenced with the least possible delay has not had the slightest effect in allaying or postponing the railway ferment, There is an East Coast Railway league, in Kaikoura ; a West Coast railway league whose head-quarters are at the great mining centre of Reefton ; and now a third league is either established or about to be established at Christchurch. The last-named will lend its powerful influence towards securing the adoption of what is just now termed the West Coast route but would be perhaps more properly named the central. The East Coast route (the one with which Mr Robinson's name has been recently associated - such an absurd and unfair manner, because he happens to own a large property in the county of Chevoit which would be traversed by the railway) runs northward[in a generally direct line, and within a moderate distance from the sea coast, to Picton, the proposed terminus. The West Coast route diverges towards the centre of the island to a locality known as the Tophouse, and from thence to Nelson. But during a considerable portion of its course this route is identical with one of the proposed routes to connect the Ea6t and West Coasts of the Middle Island. Prom the central position of the Tophonse three lines could branch, namely, that to Nelson, another to Picton, and a third to Reefton. The Reefton and Greymouth line could of course bo continued to Hokitika and southwards as occasion mightrequire. Thus would be brought about the junction of the East and West Coasts of tho Middle Island by moans of railway communication, a scheme which has incessantly occupied the attention of the Canterbury and West Coast people ever since the great rush to the Westlaud goldfields in 1865. It will be remembered

;hat, a year or two ago, after many rain attempts had been made to !nduce successive Governments to wdertake the construction of the East and "West Coast Bailways on one of the several routes which had been proposed, the matter was taken in hand by a number of gentlemen in Ohristchurch associated willi others in Reefton. Very stroug efforts were made by these promoters to enlist public sympathy on their side, and latterly it seemed as though there was a probability of sufficient interest being awakened in the matter to ensure the successful floating of a company. But their their were doubters who insisted that further inquiry should be made, not merely as to the practicability of taking a line over easy gradients by the proposed route, but also as to the character of the land to be traversed, its mineral and other resources, and generally on the prospects of . the undertaking from a financial point of view. Certain commissioners were therefore agreed upon, and after some examination they reported to some extent unfavourably of the financial prospects of the line, though they admitted that it would be of vast benefit to residents on both sides of the dividing range, and that the resources of -the country were very great. This report was notj'accepted as trustworthy. It was believed that the commissioners had very seriously underrated the value of the traffic which might be expected, and had not taken into account the settlement of a wide area of land consequent on the. construction of the line. But, although the report was known to be in many respects untrustworthy, it was at once felt that the chances of a company being floated were very much diminished. The report could not possibly have been- burked, even supposing the promoters had entertained such an idea. And yet, with the adverse dictum of, the commissioners staring them in the face it was certain that the public, both in the colony and at home, would hesitate to invest in the scheme. The promoters held some more meetings, and, we believe, communicated with Sir Julius Yogel, but nothing came of the negotiations, and practically the undertaking .collapsed. If the affair had from the first been inbetter hands it is quite possible that the company might have been successfully floated. But the thing was badly managed, and the men who were in the front rank of the promoters were entirely of the wrong stamp. The commissioners in their report recommended "that the line should be constructed by the Government, as it was a work of very great importance from a colonial point of view. After lying dormant for a while the East and West Coast Railway again attracted notice, as soon as it became known that it was the intention of the Government to ask Parliament to sanction a new loan. . During the session a good deal was said regarding the advantages of the Tophouse route, but the agitation had not at that time become earnest," and the vote taken for the Main Trunk Middle Islnnd line was for the Picton-Hurunui route. It is not improbable that Dr Pollen and Messrs Thompson and Fulton will declare iaJfavour of the Tophouse; route as being central, and as passing" over a certain spot, whero, as we before pointed out, lines might advantageously branch off to Picton on the one hand and Reefton on the other, the main line keeping straight on to Nelson. It is a very poor argument against the East Coast route that it would largely benefit a private landowner ; but it is a powerful argument in favour of the Tophouse route that for a very considerable distance it would serve a threefold purpose as part of a great arterial railway which would give the West Coast, Nelson, and Picton easy communication with, each other and with the rest of the Middle Island. Such a railway, whether it immedidtely paid the whole interest or the capital expended on its construction or not, would do more than anything else to develop the enormous resources of that part of the colony, and would in the course of a few years prove highly remunerative. It has been alleged that there is little or no good land along the route, but this is an error. The railway would traverse large tracts of excellent agricultural land ; and it was part of the scheme of the promoters of the East and West Coast Middle Island Eailway to settle a farming population in the vicinity of the line.