Established 1875. Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1883. THE SQUARE ALTERATIONS.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 337, 11 August 1883, Page 2

Established 1875. Manawatu Times.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1883. THE SQUARE ALTERATIONS.

"Words are things, and a drop of ink falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."

We understand that the alterations to the Square will be begun in a short time, and that works of considerable magnitude will be undertaken, in connection with the job. On the Bank of New Zealand side there will remain about three chains of the Square, and on the Foresters' Hall side about 5 chains of the Square; the intervening space, about 5 1/2 chains will be occupied by shunts, roadways, building, and all the other paraphernalia of a large railway station. In course of time the station will of course grow still more, and in the end of the whole Square, instead of being occupied by trees and shrubs, will be a railway station, the last vestiges of beauty removed, and nothing but the rattle and shrieking of trains, with all the annoyance of smoke, &c, to worry dwellers in the vicinity. That is, if the railway station is allowed to remain in the Square, and if the railway line is allowed to remain through the centre of the town. As years go by, however, and Palmerston becomes a large commercial centre — as it undoubtedly will when the Wellington and Napier lines join here — the question will be raised whether the railway and station shall remain where they are now. We may be told that vested interests will keep them there ; but our opinion is that those very vested interests will drive the railway out of the town and the station from the Square as intolerable nuisances! What would be said if Government proposed to run a railway down Lambton Quay in Wellington, or Queen street in Auckland, or High street in Christchurch ? or even down Victoria Avenue m Wanganui ? Why, it has been found necessary to remove the line even out of the little town of Foxton, and sooner or later, according to the progress of Palmerston, the Government will be compelled to do the same here— whether vested interests suffer or not At the present we express no opinion on the point ourselves. We are simply dealing with what will bean undoubted fact in the future,be it distant or near,though we must confess to a feeling of regret at seeing what was meant to be a " thing of beauty " turned into an unsightly station. However, to let that pass, our specific object in writing just now is to express the hope that the Municipal authorities will urge the Government not to do the alterations by day work, but call for tenders and push the job through smartly. There has been in this district a good deal of the Government stroke " from time to time, and when the Public Works Department takes a job in hand on its own account

months slip by, and sometimes years, before it is finished. This, we hope, will not take place in Palmerston, and to prevent it the work should be done by contract, a specific time of course being given for its completion. If this were done, instead of all the Public Works men from Foxton to New Plymouth being imported to Palmerston for the job,local contractors would stand a chance, and the money would be earned by residents of the place. Another matter we would like to mention is the desirability of the Borough Council arranging, in the compensation charges, for the cost of the work done to the Square, tree planting, &c, being recouped in cash, which would be a benefit to the Borough funds ; and it might also be worth while for the Council to arrange for the trees to be removed at once, before the season advances any farther,