D.—4.

W. HOLSTETC

77

24. You have purchased land recently i Yes. 2"). ('an you give the Commission, approximately, the purchasing-value '. Something like £2 los. 26. Can you give the Commission some idea of the relative value that the railway would give '. I think the land would double itself in value. 27. Do you think that the success of the present settlers would induce others to come, as many witnesses have prophesied \ Certainly. In reference to the shipping of pork. I would like to say ihat in May of two years ago I shipped eighi carcases of pigs to V. a. Clayton at Auckland. These pigs were slaughtered on the Monday night as late as possible, and put on the tender at Kirikopuni on Tuesday morning, having been carried six miles. They were put on the Auckland market on Friday morning—l do not know when they reached Auckland —and out of these eight pigs there were llfilh. marked " had." I had to sell it at .',d. per pound, and that ended my pork enterprise.

Maitnuakaramka. Thursday, 27th April. 1911. David Jambs O'Carroll examined. (No. W.) 1. The Chairman.] What is your position ?- I am a farmer, residing at Maungakaramea, where I have 294 acres of freehold. 1 have been forty-five years in the district. 2. Will you make a statement to the Commission regarding the matters we are inquiring into ! All my convictions are in favour of the central route of the Main Trunk line that it should go to the east of the Tangihuas. My reason lor saying that is that I consider it will open up a greater extent of practically undeveloped country that is. country that it is practically impossible to develop by any other means than by a railway, for the reason that it has no rivers nor the sea itself to develop it. 1 do not say that the central route would l>e the greatest dividend-paying concern in the present state nl the country, hut I say it would improve and develop the country, and do the greatest good to the greatest number eventually : and I consider that in the matter of a railway that is to he established for all time we should look to the future to a very considerable extent. At the same time I think, from a business point of view, it would lie good business to connect with Whangarei from McCarroll's (Jap. because it would link up two lines thai are within measurable distance, and I quite believe that by connecting with Wha ngarei the line would get the benefit of a lot of country that would thus be reached by the Main Trunk, and perhaps gel it sooner.- I do not propose to make capital out of any disadvantage 1 could point out In the line going on the western side, because I think it is bad policy to throw mud in that way. I quite admit that if there was a branch to Dargaville it would be right and proper, as the wants of the place warranted it ; but at the present time a line to the west of the Tangihuas would have to compete with the river traffic on the Wairoa. and it would cross the river at Kirikopuni. where it is navigable to good-sized vessels drawing perhaps 12 ft. to II It. of water. In addition to that, it has always been claimed that the Mangakahia was one of the objectives of the Main Trunk : also. I might say that in crossing the Wairoa at a point where it is navigable the line would have to make a detour to cut off a portion of the Mangakahia, particularly the lower end. besides cutting ofi the navigation at the bridge where it crosses the river. Another point 1 consider in favour of the eastern route is that Maungakaramea has been made the centre of the North Auckland districts by the Defence Department in connection with the Territorial movement, and I think that that is a very strong reason indeed why the railway should go through or close to Maungakaramea, seeing that it is the centre from which the various districts take their bearings. In addition to its being the centre, it is realized by the military authorities that it is an ideal place lor holding encampments. There has been a good deal said about the revenue to be derived from timber on the western route. Ido not consider myself that the timber, either east or west of the Tangihuas. or. for the matter of that, where-it will junction at Mangakahia, needs consideration at all. because there is practically no timber on either route, and, even if there was timber, it will b< , taken out in the usual way. Water is by far the cheapest way of dealing with timber. The mills on the Wairoa must be fed, and the owners of the mills own most of the timber in the north, with the exception of the State forests. It is my opinion that the only timber that the railway will serve profitably, and the only timber the railway can hope to get at all. is on the extension of the Kaihu line, which extension will lap a belt of timber that Cannot be got out by any Other meant), and which is larger than any other belt of timber in the north. Time is not of vital importance in the delivery of limber, so long as it is delivered in a sound condition. If it was seen lit to carry the line from the Gap to Whangarei. there are a lot of natural products that could be made profitable use of. and which would be developed by that connection. It is on the tapis now that close to Whangarei cement-works will be established, and it is well known that there is an inexhaustible deposit of cement at Tikirangi, close to where the line would go. There is also a vast extent of coalfields from Hikurarigi on to Towai, and perhaps to Kawakawa. Then, again, the opinion has been expressed that other valuable minerals--gold and silver— are to be found, in the Puhipuhi district for instance. Another point in respect to the through line from Bay of Islands to Auckland is that probably the oversea mails would be landed at Bay of Islands so as to gain time, which would be f i very important item. Given a through connection by way of Whangarei, steamers could land their mails at Opua. and get away again on their course to Sydney. I think also that when the Panama Canal is completed, which would be probably by the time the two pieces of railway are connected, there would be greater developments in that direction. The fruit industry, 1 consider, would get a great fillip if the Main Trunk was put through on the eastern side. There are many valuable orchards now from Port Albert