From the Kearney Files
Sydney 3rd January 1922
THE NORTH SHORE BRIDGE
Now that the Agent - General has called for tenders for the North Shore Bridge the present Government may be taken to be definitely committed to that form of connection of the two sides of the harbour. The tenders are due in Sydney in October next, after which they will undergo a prolonged scrutiny. The bridge will take a good many years to construct, and the sea tides will sweep up and down the channel innumerable times before the completed structure rears itself against the skyline --- an addition, let us hope, and not a disfigurement to the beauties of the harbour. Even if the tenders for the bridge are called for, it is not well that the alternative of a tunnel or a tube should be allowed to pass out of sight. The Dooley Government is wedded to the "betterment" principle as a means of paying in part the cost of the bridge. This suggestion has only only the meagre apology of bring superficially justified by the conferment of some specific benefit upon property alleged to be within the immediate ambit of the influence of the bridge. The bridge is not really a local work. It will be an important link in the organic union of the railway system of the state. It will certainly improve the transportation facilities of the metropolis, but, in the wider view, one part of the state cannot be advantaged without benefit to all. When a railway line in the interior is built it is not regarded as for the special benefit of the remote district linked up with the railway system. It benefits the whole population, and the whole population bears the cost. Why should it be different in the case of a North Shore Bridge. In practice the betterment principle never gives satisfaction.
Sydney 3rd January 1922
THE NORTH SHORE BRIDGE
Now that the Agent - General has called for tenders for the North Shore Bridge the present Government may be taken to be definitely committed to that form of connection of the two sides of the harbour. The tenders are due in Sydney in October next, after which they will undergo a prolonged scrutiny. The bridge will take a good many years to construct, and the sea tides will sweep up and down the channel innumerable times before the completed structure rears itself against the skyline --- an addition, let us hope, and not a disfigurement to the beauties of the harbour. Even if the tenders for the bridge are called for, it is not well that the alternative of a tunnel or a tube should be allowed to pass out of sight. The Dooley Government is wedded to the "betterment" principle as a means of paying in part the cost of the bridge. This suggestion has only only the meagre apology of bring superficially justified by the conferment of some specific benefit upon property alleged to be within the immediate ambit of the influence of the bridge. The bridge is not really a local work. It will be an important link in the organic union of the railway system of the state. It will certainly improve the transportation facilities of the metropolis, but, in the wider view, one part of the state cannot be advantaged without benefit to all. When a railway line in the interior is built it is not regarded as for the special benefit of the remote district linked up with the railway system. It benefits the whole population, and the whole population bears the cost. Why should it be different in the case of a North Shore Bridge. In practice the betterment principle never gives satisfaction.
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