The Evening Star THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1869.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2058, 9 December 1869, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1869.

The curtain is withdrawn, and the public have an opportunity of judging between the Superintendent and his Executive respecting the Southern Trunk Bailway. The memoranda are too lengthy for publication in extenso, and we therefore present our readers with the following synopsis of it, as being more likely to give at a glance the true state of the case. On the 4th June last, Mr Driver, on behalf of himself, Messrs B. B. Martin, J. L. ButTERVVORTH, GEORGE TURNBULL, JOHN Davie, W. H. Beynolds, and William Hepburn, in conference with the Superintendent and Executive, made certain proposals, for the construction of the

Southern Trunk Railway. At the conclusion of the interview, Messrs Leid and Haggitt, as Secretary of Laud and Works and Provincial Solicitor, were appointed to confer with Mr Dkiverou the subject, and to embody in wilting the preliminary conditions. This was done in tire form of a memorandum ot agreement, which was afterwards lard before the Deputy Superintendent. _ It provided for the formation of a JointStock Company, “to be constituted “ under the Joint-Stock Company’s “ Act, with a nominal capital of “ .£400,000 in 20,000 shares of £2O “ each, to be formed and registered be- “ fore the 7th August last.” It was necessary to complete the pielimina. \ arrangements prior to that date, as the. two years during which tire Ordinance could be carried into effect then expired. On the 29th June a note was addressed to His Honor the Superintendent, by Messrs Douglas, Aldersox & Co., asking the terms and conditions on ■which the Government were prepared to treat for the construction of the railway. An answer was sent by the De-puty-Superintendent under date July 3rd, stating that the Government had not decided upon any terms or conditions, and asking for proposals. It should be observed that an Ordinance extending the time had passed the Provincial Council, but had not received the Governor s assent, although a telegram saying it would not be disallowed was received. On the 31st July intimation to the effect that the Ordinance was to be left, to its operation having _ been received, the Deputy - Superintendent addressed a letter to Mr Turnbull, thanking him and those gentlemen who had come forward at the crisis to undertake the formation of the line, and telling him that as there was no need to be in a hurry, the Government had decided shortly to call for tenders for the construction of the line under the most favorable terms, and stating that if he and those gentlemen v/ho had previously proposed to undertake the construction on less favorable terms were disposed to tender, theii offer should be considered. Truly clodocratic this ! At least a preference might have been offered, but this could jiot be expected from a clodocracy. So the matter stood juntil the Superintendent returned from Wellington. Under no specified date, his Honor submitted to the Executive a memorandum very naturally expressing regret that the preliminary arrangement entered into with the concurrence °/ the Executive upwards of three months before, had been brought to no practical issue. The memorandum refers to a discussion at the Executive Board at which a resolution was carried to throw open to competition the formation of a company in the Australian Colonies. His Honor states his conviction that that course, instead of leading to any practical result, amounts, “ in fact, to ‘ how best not to “ 1 do it.’ To my mind,” he says, “it “ is perfectly obvious that the adoption “ of the course indicated will be to “ shelve the railway for an indefinite “ period —a contingency to which I “ cannot he a consenting party,” The remaining portion of this memorandum is so thoroughly practical, contains the point at issue between his Honor and his Executive, and is so complete an answer to much that has been set afloat by the clodocracy, through their organ ' the Daily Times, that we give it entire, and iwitii it bring the first part of our history to a conclusion : It appears to me that if we are to trust ,to Companies running after us, we shall find ourselves vastly mistaken, and that if a Company is to be formed at all, the very opposite will have to be the course of action. Much valuable time and money have been lost to the Province in connection with this Railway, and it will be a matter very deeply to be regretted if the opportunity which presented itself three months ago of coming to terms with responsible persons who, it is understood, were then in a position to have found the requisite capital, shall have been lost. Jam aware that it has been alleged that the Government would have been under the imputation of having conferred some undue advantage upon the parties in question, had it carried the yegociatious to a practical issue. I should be sorry to suppose, however, that the Government could bo influenced by an imputation so utterly unfounded, seeing that the very basis of tiie proposed uegociations was, that the Government was not to he in any way committed, excepting upon its own terms. It is an unfortunate feature in our small community that no great undertaking in which the Government is concerned can bo carried out without eliciting a good deal in the way of imputing improper motives, and of what may be termed the “dog in the manger.” I'or my own part X feel peisuaded that, whether ns regards the introduction of railways, or the encouragement of new industries, if we arc to do anything practical, wc must rise superior to all such imputations as those to which I have referred. What I would propose is that the Government should at once make up its mind as to the precise terms and conditions upon which it is willing to treat with auy company for the construction of the Southern Trunk Railway, and that such terms be publicly announced in the Province, or submitted to the parties with whom negotiations were at first entered upon—assuming that they arc i still disposed or are in a position to entertain i such proposals. The first thing to do is to determine the maximum amount of capital upon which wo are prepared to guarantee interest, with which view I think it would be desirable to obtain other professional opinion in addition

to that of Mr Paterson. My opinion is that we should abandon t hfl comparatively expensive stylo of railway upon which the estiunited cost has hitherto boeu and that wo. should go in for the narrow &uagc anti lirrUt rail which have been found to work well in other countries similarly situated to ours. Such lines appear to have been construe ed at prices varying from L 3,500 to Li),1)00 per mile, including rolling suock. A railway of this description, although, doubtless, not to be compared to that Mhich K have hitherto been aiming at, will afford a siieed of twenty-five miffis an hour, and will suffice for all our traffic for many years to come* •* Assuming the higher figure of L 6,000 per mile to bo the price at which the Southern Trunk Railway can be constructed, the cost of the line will be L 312.000, or little more than three-fourths of the amount which we are empowered to guarantee interest upon. The remaining fourth would enable us to extend the Railway towards Tuapcxa or Mataura. , Without seeking in the slightest degree to disparage or impugn Mr Paterson s estimate, it seems clear—with the fact before us that r »ood practicable lines have been constructed m various countries within the figure named that common prudence demands that wo should obtain the opinions of other experienced professional men—the more especially seeing that there arc such men in the i rovincc, so that no great delay need he incurred. , If there arc parties in Dunedin who are prepared to construct a substantial Railway within the sum named, and to comply wit the necessary cuulitions as to security an otherwise, I for one would be quite ready to treat with them, and to urge the immediate prosecution of the work. . I need scarcely say that every consideration of expediency and economy in the general interest of the Province demands that there should he n > more delay. H the work is to he done at all, let it bo done quickly. I need only adduce the fact that at the present moment it would require 1/25,01)0 to place the Main Road from Dunedin to Cl nth a in a proper state of repair, to show that the delay will be, to say the mast of it, highly culpable.