The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1883. THE WANGAEHU VALLEY ROUTE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1290, 30 January 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1883. THE WANGAEHU VALLEY ROUTE.

A last attempt has been made to induce the Government to alter the route of the Wellington and Woodville railway by taking it up the Wangaehu Valley. The settlers in this valley are few, but a considerable number of Wellington residents, including Mr A. de Bathe Brandon, ex-M,H.R,, have taken up land there and are naturally anxious to enhance the value of their properties by having a railway through them. It must be understood that the agitation for the Wangaehu route is a private, not a public, movement. Some years ago it was so far successful that the Government made a survey of the desired line and found it to be utterly impracticable. It iB somewhat Belfish, after the fair trial which was given to the project, for Mr Brandon and his friends to come forward again and try to upset the vote of last session by urging their old request. If the Waugaehu was really the better route, the supporters ofit would uot have tried to obtain it by buttonholing a Minister, but by inducing the County Council to represent its advantages to the Government, The County Council has always shewn itself willing and anxious to assist outlying districts like Wangaehu to the utmost extent in its power, and the mere fact that the settlers ignored it in this particular matter tends to show that their cause was a bad one. We believe that the Wangaehu settlers have a strong claim for a good road and that the land in their neighborhood will repay any reasonable expenditure incurred in opening it up, but while admitting tliiß we should be sorry to see the interests of the Wairurapa district as a whole sacrificed to Wangaehu. Mr Brandon, as a wealthy man and an ex-M.H.8., no doubt possesses considerable influence; but he is not a Wairarapa settler, and it is almost an impertinence for him to ln'iid a Wairarapa deputation at the office of the Minister of Public Works. Had Mr Brandon not possessed a large interest in the Wangaehu valley he would not have been asked, and he certainly would not have consulted, to take part in the agitation. We are sony to see a retired and respected politician like Mr Brandon coming to the front again merely to grind an axe for himself.