THE PREMIER'S VISIT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2217, 15 June 1908, Page 1

THE PREMIER'S VISIT.

NEW RAILWAY OFFICIALLY

OPENED

A SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION

Tlio. Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, arrived by iho Wiminora on Saturday, on a brief official visit. Ho was met on board the steamer" by

the .Mayor (Mr. W. D. Lysuar), Mr. John 'l'ownley, and the Hon. Captain Tucker, and cordially welcomed to the district. Tho party came ashore by ■’special' launch at half past nine, and Sir Joseph drove to the 'Masonic Hotel where lie was engaged for some time on. departmental business. He found time, however, to havo a brief conversation with the Hons. Janies Carroll and Captain Tucker and Mr. W. J). S. MacDonald, who took the opportunity to place before him the need for a separate Land Board for Poverty Buy, 1 lie need lor ail amendment of the Loans to Local Bodies Act so as to allow County Councils to borrow more than £OOOO from the Government in one year, a request that the County rights should bo preserved, should'the Government hand over the Maori reserve at AVniinata to the Borough, and asked that the Government should extend tho Aria-Mnngapoiko and AA'harekopaoTaliora roads, and form tho roads on

tho To Aria estate. To all of tho requests, Sir Joseph gave a sympathetic hearing. Ho promised to carefully consider tho request to establish a-separate Land Board ■ for the district; to mako inquiries. into the need for better roads at To Aria, Manga police, Whiirekopae, and Taliora, and to give full consideration 1:6 tho County’s rights when the Cabinet discussed tho petition to hand over the Waimata reserve, but informed Captain Tucker that lie could , not hold out any hope for an amendment to the Loans to Local Bodies Act. Air., W. D.. S. MacDonald on behalf of the settlers in the Motu district. brought under tho Prime Minister's notice the urgency for the completion ,of the Waihu’ka Valley road and tho Motu Valley road from Alatavlai towards Taliora, and Koranga.and ■Sir Joseph oro'mised to place the requests before the Road Department ;to. report to him, and to let Air. MacDonald know what could he done.

OPENING THE R AILWAY. At half-past eleven* the Prime Minister boarded a special train for Waikolui to officially onen the new section of the Gisbornc-Rotorun railway from Pilha-to AVillows Crossing. The members. of the East- Coast Railway League. Borough Council, Coo'k County Council, a number of representative citizens as wolf as a large number of the public alffi. entered the train which steamed i out.,of the station at twenty minutes :.y. to twelve. Along the' route a .large crowd was also picked -up at tlffi different stations.- . ■ /' • ■

On arrival .at- Piiha.tlie party- of excursionists alighted,; and; the Premier, riding on The cowcatcher of the engine, porformed the ’ceremony of cutting the -silken- ribbon; held'by tho Mayoress (Airs. Lysuar), and Mrs. Town ley. Prior to doing so, Sir .-Joseph Ward explained that this was only a preliminary, and that the talking would be done at the other end: In putting, tho scissors through the- ribbon he wished success to. the now section, and hoped that it would prove to be a preliminary to further extensions in this rich and fertile district. (Cheers.) Three cheers were called for the Premier, and were heartily given.' - - The train then proceeded to-I’uha where the station was decorated in honor of the occasion. A light lunch, provided by the Railway League, was partaken of. Afr. AV. J. P. Gaudin looked alter tho comfort of all present in a most courteous manner.' The'opening ceremony was then proceeded with.

_ The President of the East Coast Jiaihvay League, Mr. John Town ley, said he was pleased to. welcome Sir Josepli Ward to Gisborne and still more pleased that he had come to open a new section of the railway. The line now extended for 23) miles' and while during -tho eight years since the work was first commenced, very few thought they would see it extended so far, ]f6“'\Va s not quite satisfied with the progress, and hoped that- it would be pushed on with all possible speed as far as Rakauroa, and afterwards to Motu. When the line reached Rakauroa, an i/imense timber industry would he opened up and tho freight on timber alone would pay the interest on tho cost of the line.

The Hon. Captain Tucker said lie had great pleasure in welcoming the Prune Minister to Poverty Bay, and desired to impress noon him the ur-gency-of completing the line as far as Itakauroa, so as to tap the timber deposits there. If that was done, the. district would be able to supply all the sleepers needed for the construction of the line, and there would be 110 need to send outside the colony for timber for that purpose. The Mayor also congratulated Sir ■Joseph on his visit to tho district, and* asked that the number of-.men-(70)' now employed in constructing the line, should he increased to 200. so as to push on the work with reasonable speed. ■ Mr. W. D. S. MacDonald assured the visitor that the settlors were pleased to welcome Jiim to Poverty Bay, and fully appreciated the benefits of having the new section-of the railway opened. The railway was of great importance to people Jiving iii the back blocks, as it Would allow them to clear and settle their land and establish a great t-iinber milling industry 1 He greatly desired to see the line completed as far as' Rakauroa, and left it to the 1 Primes Minister's judgment that no railway in the. Dominion was as important, as the, Gis-borne-Motu line.

Mr." Elliott, a Motu settler, also advocated the extension of the line, and took’advantage of .the occasion to ask Sir Joseph to'form about, twelve miles of track to connect Motu with' Opo T tiki, as the settlers’were now 56 nines, distant, or over 24 hours from the. nearest doctor, whereas it' the track was formed the time would bo reduced to six hours.

Mr. Whin ray also advocated pushing on the line to Ita'kauron, • Sir Joseph Ward, in declaring the new section open, thanked the large crowd present lor the cordial welcome he had "received. It-was delightful to see the.country looking no green and prosperous',hml he hoped tliobriglil sunshine would prove to he a good omen for ,the success of the railway. Referring to the inability of the locomotive to draw the train when the lion. .James McGowan visited Wai holm, Sir . Joseph said the cause of the train being Unable to move arose through the brake being left on, but he was pleased to see. the stationmaster had guarded against such another accident by placing two engines on the train that day. He did not. know if the guard in the van bad been, asked to leave the brake on so as to impress upon the Minister the

need for bolter rolling stock, but tlio fact romninw, that the brake was on when the! train tried to climb the incline (lauujhter). Nothing was *:o important lor tho, development: of the Dominion nsjlrnilwiiys, and up to the present £102,000 had been spent on tl ie.Gis bo i ■ n(a ia ilwa y. Three miles pi railway further pn: had been -formed, aiul when tljreo bridges were erected lie hoped another section of the line would; bo opened for traffic within nix months (applause). He fully recognised the .iluportiinee. of completing the iitic; as far as. Rakauroa, and while lie cou lll. in|t promise what amount would be vojed for the work next mission, he wo| Id promise that a larger sum of nioiuiy would be sot aside for Hie work than before. Ho did that because, her recognised it was desirable to puidi ou tlio railway at a greater speed, because Iho Government, recognised tlifEt while it was desirable to help thU settlers it was also necessary to ’jijiako tho railway pay. The lino was not paying at present, ami could iiqt lje expected to pay until it was further extended. To make railways ffjturp a fair revenue, on expenditure,,';: it was necessary there should boTa full traffic, and so far, that traHiVj! bad not-•been what was required.;'?! It had been stated that the enging power was not sufficient, and lie wipild promise, if it was so, to have ptore powerful engines placed on 'tho diiie (applause), 110 admired the rc.sid6p.ts for their faith in their own; district, and dies ire to make Parliament-believe it was the most

important'district in the Dominion

when provision for roads and railways were under consideration. He admired the people of New Zealand for their high opinion of their own country. AVbile in America lie was pleased to see; the .same spirit permeating the people there, for the inhabitant.) of an,,American town, however small ail'd insignificant to. those outside, looked upon their town as the one centre of the States, and when New Volk, Chicago, Philadelphia were mentioned, blandly remind the visitor .of. the disadvantages of tl.ie.se larger' cities and that they were" at one time small places. Tlio Government would push on the railway, with all speed to Motu. That promise was not aiiiiijftted b.v the desire for popularity. but lie recognised that it was iibcqSsaryv.'ifor the settlers who were carving diit a home for themselves, ip the -,'hus-h to have all the mourns' of transport. He was .also' anxious to see all the important lines linked up, and would set aside a specific , sum. of money each year and ear-mark it for railway and road formation. He would also promise Alr'.Elliott .that the request for a track to O.potiki would have every consideration, and he would confer with'his colleague -Air McGowan, to hive the track made so as to make provision for the settlers to call a doctor wii till in a reasonable time. -In re--,gard to the need for additional rolling stock for the line he would obtain a- ! report from an experienced officer, and if it was found it was not sufficient for requirements lie would furnish rolling stock to enable the traffic ito be carried on. He had many complaints against the New Zealand, railways, but could .say, and ho was speaking with some authority, that'only one other country in tfie world had equal railway facilities with New Zealand, iln the Dominion tho railways'..were run for the benefit of the people as a whole and not for the benefit of individuals. The .Department- did not allow concessions to wealthy trusts or big customers, but the rates applied equally to the-riilh .as to the poor. He* ■recognised the' importance of the lipti,tapping the Hmber dountryi'hut-wojild remind Mr J.owiiloy tha t- iGisiborno Nv’uMild not .he able t 0 ..consume alp the timber;.produced and .that -a large proportion wotdd have to be shipped away, and ■when Gisborne sent toother .ports for timber the money was not lost, but the wealth distributed over the dominion as .a whole. The Government could only borrow a limited amount every year, and he would promise that when the Main Trunk Line was completed the Gisborne railway would receive fill] consideration. ‘ ,

Three cheers were then given for the Prime'Minister, the Hons. AY. Ha 11-Jones and J. Carroll and for the railway, land the party boarded the train for Gisborne, which was reached at about 4 o’clock.

Speaking to a “Times” reporter Sir Josepli said he desired to pav a compliment do- the District. .Engineer for Railways, Mr Armstrong, Ifor the way lie had carried out the construction 'of the line, and to assure him and his staff that his work.was greatly appreciated 'by Uie Government.. r_