THE MOERAKI AND DUNEDIN RAILWAY.

Evening Star, Issue 3278, 22 August 1873, Page 2

THE MOERAKI AND DUNEDIN RAILWAY.

Last evening, at five o'clock, a meeting was held in the Princess Theatre, to take into consideration the route of the Northern Xrunk line of railway fi’om Dunedin to Moeraki. On the platform wore Messrs John Cargill, Davie, M.P.C., Stout, M.P.C., Reeves, Barnes, R. Gillies, Mackerras, K. Ramsay, R. Wilson, and several others. Mr K. Ramsay explained that owing to indisposition his Worship the Mayor could not be present. On the motion of Mr Cargill, seconded by Mr Barnes, Mr Ramsay was elected chairman. Mr C. S. Reeves moved—' 1 Tint in the opinion of this meeting it is absolutely necessary that the railway line from Dunedin to Moeraki should bo at once constructed.” Thp subject matter of that motion had already been agitated, and the opinion therein expressed ought to be carried out almost immediately. It was absolutely necessary that the line from the North should be connected with the capital of this Province. The General Government had taken it upon themselves to construct that line, and the meeting had been convened to gain an expression of opinion as to the best route the line should take. He would simply say that he believed within a few years they would see Dunedin the port of departure for the largest ships such as now came to Port Chalmers. Mr James Whitelaw seconded the resolution After a question by Mr H. S. Pish, M.P., respecting the motions to be proposed, the resolution was put and carried unanimously. Mr John Cargill moved—“ That in the opinion of this meeting, Dunedin, from its position, population, and importance, ought to be the central railway depot for the Province. ” —(Applause.) Considering the population of Dunedin, its largo contribution to the revenue of the Colony, that it was already the business centre of the _ Province, with ample storage accommodation, all must admit it was only a matter of justice that Dunedin should be the central railway depot. Dunedin would have been in that position if the Public Works Act had been carried out as originally intended. That intention was that the Colony should borrow the money to carry out the works through the agency of the Provinces. As far as possible Dunedin should be the centre of the railway traffic; and consequently all the workshops in connection with : the railway should be at Dunedin.—(Hear, hear.) He was told that in Victoria the authorities thought as a matter of economy the railway workshops should be at Williamstown, but it was found necessary to remove them to Melbourne ; and he believed that were the railway workshops erected elsewhere than at Dunedin, the same result would fpllow : the workshops would have to be removed to Dunedin. One more remark ho would like to make, It was of the very last importance to Dunedin that time should be saved in making the Northern railway, If one line was going to take four of

five years to construct, then it would be for the interests of the Province, even if they should be obliged to construct two lines, to make a temporary line by Black Jack’s Point. It would be much better to do that than give the Province of Canterbury four or five years to eat into their Northern trade.—(Hear, hoar.) He knew it would be said that this was an engineering matter, which ought to be left to the General Government, who were the best judges. He must demur to that view. If they took that course, they believed they would find that it was a foregone conclusion, and that both the erection of workshops and the direction of the railway would be decided in a way very different from what they desired. He would just ask them to look at the purchase of the Port Chalmers Railway. That matter was effected by a member of the General Government, and the Provincial Government now found that it was not accomplished in a satisfactory way. They now found that they were unable to obtain possession of a piece of land at the mouth of the Fort Chalmers tunnel, which they were deS Hiding upon as a site for the erection of stores, e had no doubt that if the purchase of the railway had been loft in the hands of his Honor the Superintendent, or any member of the Provincial Government, they would have had a verydifferent result,—(Hear, hear.) Perhaps those present at the meeting would not sympathise with him, but he always felt and said that this Port Chalmers Railway was a mistake. For the money they expended upon the railway, they might have had all the shipping up to Dunedin, to the great benefit of every inhabitant of the Province,—(Hear, hear.) Mr Robert Gillies seconded the resolution. He would not come on to that platform to advocate one line as against another -without having the opinions of surveyors and engineers before him. There was a far deeper question involved. It was whether Dunedin should bo made the central port, not only for Otago, but for the whole of the Middle Island, or was Port Chalmers to occupy that position ? According to a report of the late Mr Balfour, prepared in the year 1865, for the sum of LIOO,OOO, a channel 21ft. deep and Isoft. wide could be dredged to Dunedin, and, according to the Railway Engineer’s estimate, a railway to Port Chalmers could be constructed for L 142,000. They -were aware that L 170,000 had been paid for the Port Chalmers line, and the total amount—L222,ooo—was about to be paid. The late Mr Balfour, Marine Engineer, to whom they owed a great debt of gratitude, showed that, for a sum of LIOO.OOO, they could bring every ship to their wharves that came into the Port. It was time for them tosay, “We shall not have large reclamations for the purpose of fighting against nature —to make a site for a City where no site exists at present.” It was time for them to say, “We will make Dunedin the central port of New Zealand.” Well, he knew he was unused to addressing a public meeting. Mr Balfour said that in about sixteen months a channel 16ft. deep at high water, with a minimum width of 150 ft, could be dredged to Dunedin ; while with the same plant, a channel 21ft. deep at high water, could bo obtained in four years, or with double plant, in less than two years’ work. He showed that the facilities for the construction of cheap wharfage were much greater at Dunedin than at Port Chalmers, and referred to the almost, if not quite, complete immunity of timber piles at Dunedin from the destructive action of the marine worm, which goes on with very great rapidity at Port Chalmers. If they did not at once come to the determination to have their ships brought to Dunedin, the result would be that Dunedin would lose its trade. They found that, what with shipping facilities, the assistance of the Loan and Mercantile Agency and _ ether things, the Canterbury people were making great strides to secure the trade of New Zealand. They had been all asleep, and if they did not wake up and get the Moeraki Railway into Dunedin as soon as possible, they would find that the whole trade of the seaboard, from Waikouaiti northwards would go to Christchurch, and the Port of Lyttelton would be the central depot for the Middle Island. There was another important question connected with this matter of dredging. The sanitary condition of Dunedin was a very serious matter. In another report, Mr Balfour advocated the dredging of a channel, on the ground that the sanitary condition of Dunedin required it. It was necessary to the health of the City, and it would enable them to bring their vessels and steamers up to the wharves, and yet they idly neglected it. This question had a very important bearing upon the resolution before them, and if they allowed the railway to be made to Port Chalmers instead of Dunedin, they would commit a great mistake, as the ultimate depot would be at’ Port Chal-mers.-—{Applause,)

Mr Fish said he had to propose an amendment that he thought would meet the object the citizens had in view far better than the motion which had been proposed. The question submitted was divided into two parts. One was whether Dunedin should be made the terminus, or whether the railway, following the natural route, should go to Port Chalmers; the other, whether they should have workshops in connection with the Railway Department at Port Chalmers or Dunedin. He was quite in favor of and prepared to advocate a proposition to have workshops connected with the railway in Dunedin. It was the proper place, considering the facilities for various trades in the City, and their consequent advantages; whereas if workshops were established at Mussel Hay they would have to send workmen there, to do what could be better done at their own doors. But as regarded the railway coming to Dunedin, he held opinions different from those expressed by some of the gentlemen who had already spoken. The gentleman who seconded the last motion had said something regarding the dredging of the Dunedin Harbor, a work which it would have been proper to do before the Port Chalmers Railway was constructed. But it was too late to proceed with the matter now.—(A Voice : “No, not at all”) He, therefore, moved, as an amendment —“ Ist. That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that the route to be taken by the Northern Railway to Dunedin should be left to the discretion of the Government, who will doubtless be guided in their selection by the report of their engineers and the surrounding circumstances of the case. 2nd, But that this meeting, having in view the facilities which will be afforded by existing trades established in Dunedin to the proper carrying out of the works required in connection with the Railway Department, is of opinion that the railway workshops should bo erected in Dunedin ; and that the advertisement calling for tenders for reclamation at Mussel Bay for the purpose of erecting workshops thereon, should be at once withdrawn, with a view of giving effect to the latter part of this resolution. That the man be requested to telegraph this resolution to the General Government, earnestly requesting that they will give effect to the same.’ 1 The railway from Dunedin to Port Chalmers formed part of the main trunk line; and if the motion before the meeting were carried, what would they do ? They would construct a line six miles longer than if it went into Deborah Bay. (A Voice: “All the better.”) And they would be paying annually on the construction of this line for wear and tear of railway plant considerably in excess of the amount that would be required to be expended on the line to Deborah Bay, even though it cost L 20,000 more than the line through part of the Mount Cargill district. The expenses of the Northern line must be paid by the transit of grain and wool for export, and what would be the use of bringing that produce to Dunedin, and then carrying it back to Port Chalmers?—(Applause.) The effect would be to put so many hundred pounds per annum into the pockets of the agents of squatters and farmers—(laughter)—-and to take so many hundred pounds per annum out of the pockets of the ratepayers of this Province. For- the last ten years they had been continually declaiming against the centralising policy of the people in the North, yet they were about to carry out a similar thing here. What would benefit Port Chalmers would benefit Dunedin, and they were here to legislate not merely for their own petty interests, but fer the Province asja whole. As to the proposal to bring the line to Dunedin instead of to Deborah Bay and Port Chalmers, that was a mistake, But with regard to the question of workshops. The erection of them at Port Chalmers would also be a mistake ; and if they passed the resolution they would not get what they desired in regard to the railway they would, in fact, stand a chance of losing what was of far more importance to workmen and business men - the workshops. They might be told that by bringing the line along the Mount Cargill route a good deal of timbered country vjrwW be

opened up. 'Some of his friends had purchased property that was near*that line, Where there was petroleum, and if the line ran near there, of course it would be infinitely better j but they should not Sacrifice the interests of the Province for the sake of a few persons, although bringing petroleum into the market a low rate would be an advantage. It was no use fighting for the shadow and losing the substance; but when they were fighting for this unnecessary line being brought to Dunedin, they were fighting for the shadow, and losing the substance by using all their energies to get the wool ships up to Dunedin. The idea of bringing vessels to Dunedin had nothing to do with this question, because whether the railway was brought to Deborah Bay or not, vessels would not get to Dunedin sooner than they did now. Mr M'lndoe seconded the amendment. He thought this meeting had been got up on a cry somewhat similar to that got up ou a previous occasion by a boy sent out to attend sheep. The Daily Times had got up this cry of “Wolf, wolf ! ” when there was no wolf ; and perhaps when the wolf really did appear on the stage, the cry of the Daily Tima would have no effect. He supported the amendment proposed, on the simple ground that the meeting was not in a position to decide the question at all. They had no engineer’s report before them, and they knew nothing whatever as to what was to be done in the matter. They were quite in the dark as to whether the railway was to be brought in to Deborah Bay or by the NorthEast Valley. The matter was simply this : It was an attack by the Daily Times upon James Macandrew, and nothing else. —(Hear, oh, and laughter.) The motion was put and declared carried; the chairman having decided that Mr Fish’s proposed amendment was not an amendment, and Mi Fish consenting to withdraw' it. Mr Stout proposed the third resolution—- “ That in the opinion of this meeting the route surveyed for the Northern Main Trunk line, diverging from the Port Chalmers line at Black Jack’s Point should be adopted by the Government.” The question before them was not one of a political nature, but was simply to deckle which route the meeting thought was the best. Mr Fish wished the line of route to be lef fc to the General Government. But in his opinion it was a matter that required the most careful consideration of the citizens of Dunedin. The question was not one to be altogether settled by engineers. In the construction of railways, the centres of population and the requirements of the Province were important. Considering the population, position, and commercial importance of this City, they should have the line as direct to Dunedin as it was possible to get it. Was Government to fight with nature and level mountains to please the people of Pori Chalmers? (No! No!) There would have to be a tunnol on the Deborah Bay route a mile in length through stone that would take several years to be cut. Ho was greatly surprised at the remarks made by Mr Fish, for they were almost the same, word for word, that had been used by Mr M'Dermid at a meeting of the Harbor Trust.

Some noise was made at this stage in different parts of the building. Mr Stout could assure the people of Port Chalmers that they would not prevent him from speaking his mind, although they seemed to have come there for that purpose. At the meeting he had referred to, Mr Fish had gone strongly in for dredging, but now he seemed to have turned completely round.—(Uproar.) He (Mr Stout) had sat very quietly while Mr Fish was speaking, and he trusted that that gentleman’s friends would not keep on interrupting him. Mr Fish said he had no friends.—(Laughter.) Mr Stout : Then you stand alone—as you will find you will do when the motion is put. - (Laughter.) It was a perfect waste of capital and energy to put up stores at Port Chalmers. Great stress had been laid upon the fact that this line to Dunedin was no good, because all the wool and grain that would come down would be sent away again at once when it came from the North. But that would not be so, and let them remember there would be something else to come down besides wool and grain.—(Hear, hear.) The fact was, if the line went to Port Chaim ers they would have to carry the goods twice over the same ground, for they could not force trade. Let them look at that monument in the way of business at the Port—he meant Bathgate’s store.—(Laughter.) Let the meeting say boldly that this route was the best for Dunedin and the best for the country. He hoped the resolution would be carried iu such a manner as would show the Port Chalmers people that we were as one on this subject, and were determined to have our rights.—(Applause.) Mr Burns seconded the resolution, and said that, after the very able address they had listened to from Mr Stout, it was unnecessary for him to make any remarks on the subject He would therefore content himself by simply seconding the i esolution. Mr M'lndoe, amidst much laughter, asked if the meeting was in possession of any report as to where Black Jack’s Point was, or where it was proposed to have the terminus of the railway ip question. After some amusing banter by Mr M'lndoo and Messrs D, Miller and Barnes, Mr Fish again rose to propose his amendment.— (Hisses. ) Seconded by Mr Fraser. Mr Prosser thought Mr Fish’s amendment jeopardised the second part of his resolution, ana so tended to injure the working map. Every one must be fully agreed that the railway ought to have been commenced long ago. He considered it a great disgrace that the Government had not moved in the matter before. H« hoped Mr Fish would withdraw the second part of his amendment. Mr Fish : No, I will not. Mr Barnes looked upon the amendment as one of Mr Fish’s “little games.” He knew well what resolutions were to come before them —(Mr Fish : No)—and had moved the amendment to draw a red herring across the scent by the two clauses he had inserted in it, one of which he knew would be carried. The Chairman asked Mr Fish to withdraw his amendment..

Mr Fish declined. It appeared to him that a number of gentlemen had met there for the purpose of forcing a certain set of resolutions down their throats.

Mr Smith moved that the two portions of the amendment should be put separately. To carry such a resolution in its entirety would be for the meeting to stultify itself. It consisted most undoubtedly of two distinct motions. Mr B. ‘lsaac seconded the motion of Mr Smith. . The Chairman declined to put Mr Smiths motion, as he did not consider it was in order. Afr Fish then agreed to allow thg first part of his amendment to be put alone—lf be were afterwards permitted to move the second por? tion as a substantive motion.

The first portion was then put as an amendment, and was lost by a large majority. The original motion was then put and carried. Mr Barnes rose to move the next resolution. The Chairman said it was now the turn of Mr Fish to move the second part of his former amendment. Mr Barnes claimed the right to put his motion, before that of Mr Fish. The Chairman decided that Mr Fish was in possession of the meeting to move his resolution. t ,11 Mr Fish said he would leave it to the well* known courtesy of Mr Barnes, and retired. After some further discussion, The Chairman read the motion of Mr Fish. Mr Barnes said he had much pleasure in seconding it. Mr Shebwin claimed to be the seconder. The motion was put and carried. Mr Wilson moved the next resolution “ That a copy of the foregoing resolutions should be sent to the hon, the Premier and to the representatives of Dunedin in Wellington ” Mr MTndoe proposed to be added—“ That it was carried at a very thin meeting.’’ The Chairman did not see how that could be done. He considered it a. very large mcetmg. After some further remarks from Mr M ‘lndob, the resolution was put and carried unanimously. , , . , , , A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings.