The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1880.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 425, 30 March 1880, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1880.

The Wellington Evening Post, tinder the sensational'title of "The Broken Chain," writes as follows : " Conspicuous amongst the decorations in th© striata of Wellington on the occasion of the opening of the railway to Featherston was a device consisting of the weds" Wei-lington-Masterton," connected by a chain. Unfortunately, it has been proved that the ofcain was by no means so durable as could be wished; with the first pressure of the' winter floods it has snapped like a rotten thread; and the terminal districts it was supposed to connect a>'e lying helpless and isolated. There is but too much reason to fear that year after year will witness a repetition of similar catastrophe, whioh nill inorease in the amount of inconvenience and hardship they inflict as the two distriots grow in population and importance and the traffic become augmented. The faces of the cuttings ar« too - steep,- and the cuttings themselves are too narrow. During the beat of summer the earth cracks,.and when the winter rains come they siukinto these orevioes, and the result is the occurrence of frequent and often very'serious, landslips. Surely even that selfish sfcotion of the Wai rarapa public who are now clamoring against the construction of the West Coast Eailway cannot be so utterly blinded by their unreasoning, dog-in-tliMnanger frenzy as to believe that the Kimutaka rtilway is capable of hearing not only the 1 traffic of .the Wairarapa, but also that of the large and fertile oountry on the West Coast in addition. WhatwOuld be the crisequence of inteiruptions suoh as the present on the line with all -that valuable country opened up, ai.d the present traffic quadrupled, or it may be even tenfold? This is a quests the serious nature of whioh must be evident to everyone who gives it a moment's considelation, and needs no enlarging upon. Apart from the question of the " washes," and other unpleasant phenomena of nature to which this line is subject, it must be evident ;to the most superficial consideration that it is a physical impossibility that the line,'from the inherent difficulties of its construotjon, could never bear anything approaching the traffic likely to be required of it,'if it should continue to be the only means of. railway traffic between this city and the inland districts, If a mob sheep are to be conveyed over the Summit, they have.tobe. takenin'instalmentsi a few score at a time. How'then'can the line bear tb,e, vast storeß of produce whioh we hope to see pouring into this city from the country districts of the province in the

future? Even if ii dpublo/ijail' woro.lsml, down the. difficulties wimld only lie lessened » —not abolished—nutl that could t|o ihlioat an expense which would" conßtruot; a : \ 6i*y large portion of the auperior route, if not nearly the whole of' it,, The Wiutanmapeople, if they were wise, should join heartily with the movement for pushing on the conduction of the West Coast R ibay. The 'material development which would rtstilt to Wellington, could'not fail taTeaetifsv.o«tbly nn the Wairarapa, and. Ati increased ,in torchange of commodities between the city and the Yalley would foltow, -which would keep the resources of the Eimutaka Railway taxed to their utmost."

We.do not think our contemporary has fairly- placed the position of the railway before its readers, " The first pressure of. the winter floods snapping it like a rotten thread," nieans that a storm of exceptional violence, which may not recur again for five or ten years, has suspended the traffic for four, or five days. .'Fifteen-years.ago Wellington was contented with communication by spring trap with the Wairarapa 102 out.of the 365 days in the year, Because now it only gets railway communication with us 360 days out of the 365 in the year is the world coming to an end, and will the construction of the Wellington and Poxton line alone avert the day of doom. We also deny the assertion of our contemporary that the Wairarapa railway will not bear the West Coast traffic, and a moment's reflection will convince most sensible persons on this point. Assuming that six loads now cross the Riuiutaka per diem, it is easy to demonstrate that with sufficient rolling stock twelve, or even twenty-four loads could just as readily be carried by the line. Our contemporary, with some ingenuity, attributes to the line a deficiency which only applies to the rolling stock. The Post, too, talks wildly about settling vast areas of country, and sending vast stores of produce into town, but at the present time Wellington is not in a position to settle one per cent, of the land that is absolutely available for occupation, The Wairarapa people, \ye trust, are not so foolish as to be led away by the reckless statements of our contemporary. The Ministry has plainly stated that the construction of the Foxton line means the abandonment of the continuation of the Wairarapa railway to Woodvillo. The Hon the 1 Premier also expressed an opinion that the route via the Wairarapa would open up more land suitable for settlement than the West, Coast Line, Bearing in mind these two facts, we scarcely think many persons in the district are simple enough, to support an opposition line, which will be as injurious to them as. it will be to the Colony at large.