THE RAILWAY WORKS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 329, 1 February 1902, Page 3

THE RAILWAY WORKS.

INDIGNATION MEETING,

A public meeting was held last night under the auspices of the Gisborne Railway League, in connection with the stoppage of tho work on the Gisborne-Karuka railway lino. Mr James Macfarlanc was voted to the chair. He stated that work had been totally suspended on tho local lino and on other lines throughout the colony. Such a stoppage was very disappointing. They had not been able to get any reason for the stoppage. A wire to Mr Carroll had not yet been replied to. They found on looking up the appropriation list that there should have been .£50,000 available lor the carrying on of the work, and they did not know whether or not that had yet been exhausted. The Railway League had drawn up a set of resolutions which he would move. They were not intended to be censorious of the Government. Ho moved tho resolutions as follows : “This meeting regrets that tho Government should have found it necessary in order to keep within safe financial limits to stop all work upon the GisborneKarakarailway, and urges upon Ministers : (1) That work should be resumed at tho ,

earliest possible moment that prudent finance will allow; (2) That what are emphatically needed in this district are railed roads to carry the produce of the interior to the coast ports. With such roads, timber and dairy produce to an unlimited extent—the utilisation of which is at present impossible—would bo sent down for export; (3) That every year valuable timber is boing destroyed, which, j if conserved, would form a most valuable colonial asset; (4) that it is a matter requiring the gravest consideration before I rolling stock is purchased whether it would not be bettor even now to revert to the original proposal of the Hon. James Carroll and convort the lino and its i'uturo extensions into a light railway in order to obtain a more rapid extension than would otherwise bo possible; (5) That the settlers in the inland districts, depressed with low markets, aro urgently in need of the relief which railway communication would afford; (6) That the survey to the Motu should be pushed on by the Department with tho greatest possible despatch; (7) That the Crown and Native lands in the interior should bear a proportion of interest upon any special loan required to extend the line as a main inland line beyond tho Karaka.”

Mr DeLautour seconded the motion. He said they all regretted that tho works were stopped and a number of men thrown out of work. It was a great misfortune. Yet they must remember it was not unique, as other districts were being treated in that way. Possibly the money had been expended, and it was necessary with the ruinous rates at which money could only be obtained, for Government to go slower. It could not be pleasant to Ministers, who desired that the work should proceed with vigor. He believed that means would be found to continue the works after March, but tho dostiny of this district was at stake if the greatest wisdom was not shown by tho rulors in advancing the district on sound lines. Therefore tho .Railway League, as elected by the public to watch their interests, had taken it upon themselves to put something a little wider before them than perhaps at first sight it would seem they were called upon to do. The mere opening of the railway to Ormond or to tho Karaka, was not, he said, going to advance the district in any very material degree. A line to Ormond merely would not relieve the roads to any degree. What was wanted was to get the line into the interior. The crying need of this district was roads, and they wanted to keep impressing that upon tho, attention of the rulers. They must have roads, and railways were the cheapest roads they could have in this district. They had to face what, without tho least offence, he might call the tyranny of departments. The Premier had complained of the tyranny of the Homo departments, but he would find that his own Ministers were overborne by his own departments, or at least two Ministers were, if not the Premier himself. They had pronounced that light railways were essential for such districts as this, but by the tyranny of their own departments they were prevented from carrying their ideas into effect. Here they wanted, not merely railways, but railroads—not luxurious passenger trains, but rails and waggons by which their wool, timber, butter, etc., would be carried from tho interior. It was said they should not look a gift horse in the mouth, but it seemed that by a light railway the present work instead of being at Kaiteratahi would have been carried to the Karaka.

Mr Lysnar: To the Motu Mr DeLautour said he would draw the line at Karaka. They could not have cheaper roads than these light linos. Even now it was a matter for the gravest consideration whether it would , not be better to have a light line, and so give promise of reaching a productive point in their day. He hoped it was not selfish to say in their day, for it was the day when their young men were growing up and seeking homes of their own ; when the thousands who were being sent to South Africa would be returning with honor and glory, and when they hoped they would stay in the colony and not drift back to South Africa. It was- a cruel thing to promote close settlement as was done in the present day, in districts where men had no roads and no possibility of getting out their produce, and where valuable country was being sacrificed to a lucifer match, or as had ( been stated the value was being reduced from £l2 per acre to £3 per acre! If they were to have close settlement and prosperity they should give settlers an opportunity to mako a livelihood. Look at the distress in the interior, men with their families struggling there for the past ten years, getting a little flock of sheep together, and finding the markets going down, down. Unless Government recognised that road communication of some sort was to accompany close settlement, such settlement would spell disaster. In submitting these resolutions the 'League had tried to look at the matter, not merely from a district point of view, but from what the North Island required. The South was already well roaded, and the North would mainly have to bear the future population. There were millions of acres of habitable country, now inaccessible simply because there were no roads. The land either belonged to the Crown or theNativos, and the resolutions suggested that the Government should lay down some principle in dealing with this land. Tho speaker went on to refer to the way in which the Manawatu railway had opened up a splendid tract of country. The only fault was that the profit went into private hands and purses. He could not pick out a single district railway ever made under a special Act by private enterprise that had failed to justify itself as a colonial asset when it became the property of the Crown. What was suggested was that the Government itself should apply to its own resources the principle on which the Wel-lington-Manawatu line had been made, that it should take its own lands and Native lands, and make use of them on the same principle as was obtained in tho case of the Manawatu line. There was nothing to prevent it being done, and tho Natives of Waiapu were prep<ueu to no as the Wanganui Natives had done, to hand over their lands to Government control. '; They could not eliminate selfishness from politics, and those districts which had aliroady had their own wants supplied would be against a scheme for a special benefit at the colonial expense of those districts which had not yet got the roads and railways. As a district policy he • would put forward for their consideration ' why they should not be satisfied with the light line which at tho same cost could be extended a great deal further, whether on the Stewart line of exploration or some other line equally as good. This occasion was a most important one, and required from everyone their experience to aid in the welfare of the district. They were at a most important standpoint, and if they could make a good start and get the the Government to see things as the people saw them, to see the latent wealth of the district and its potentialities, the revenues they had in tho land the Natives were willing to give them and which they possessed in the Crown lands, they would not be angry with the suggestion to make this district a great integral part of a

prosperous New Zealand. —(Applause.) Mr W. L. Bees said Mr DeLautour had fitly characterised the time as one of great importance, but it seemed to him that either the Government could have carried on works to the end of March, or else they had advisedly pushed the work on so as to exhaust the vote. It would come to this, either that the colony would have no borrowing, or else would borrow sufficient to complete the great reproductive works. Irrespective of ail they had heard a sudden cessation of labor had taken place without notice; the ship had beon stopped, and not only were the workmen called on to suffer, but each district did so as well, and therefore the effect was felt through the whole body politic. He believed it would solve itself into the one question, whether they would borrow or restrict works to the amount collected in revenue, and then whether it was to be colonial or district borrowing. Although ten millions had been borrowed during the last ten years, six millions of that had gone into other things and could not bo called borrowing for public works. However they looked at the subject, if they wanted to spend money they must have it before they could spend it. The present Ministry had always professed to be a non-borrowing Government, and the Ministry nor Parliament could docide whether public works were to be prosecuted with vigor. It was for the people to say whether expenditure should be restricted to revenue or the Government should go on the London money market and borrow. The stoppage of works he considered to be a feeler, and that before the next election the people would have to decide whether or not there was to be a borrowing policy. There would bo a strong affinity of interest for the carrying on of railway works, so many districts being affected. Pie held that in regard to the proposal now made the Government should bear the greater proportion of the burden, the Nativesnoxt, and private lands rendered valuable should also bear their share. That might be pressed on the Government by the whole community. Though the stoppage was unfortunate, it would result in good : the stoppage was not by chance, it was by design, but not with the intention of injuring people or districts. He believed the answer of the people would be to carry on the work vigorously to a successful completion, the Government being given authority to spend the money, and being called on to spend in the interests of all, laborers, business men, and the whole of the colony, under a wise and defined policy. He believed that the stoppage of the works had been done with a motive that would bear good results. As to the question of light railways he said, if necessary, they would recommend that. What was wanted were linos that would bring in their produce from all parts of the district. He concluded, amidst loud applause, by a warm advocacy of the motion. Mr W. Douglas Lysnar said that when the agitation by the League was started it was the light lines that had drawn them out. The Premier after his visit to Tasmania, had come back strongly in favor of light railways, and Mr Carroll had also taken up that view, and the League had started upon that. But the Minister of Railways (Mr Cadman) had succeeded in turning them round, and the broad gauge had been adopted. He had strongly urged that the line should be a light one. He was satisfied that they would never get this district railed with a heavy line. He calculated that for 116000 more they could carry the line onto the Motu instead of to the Karaka. He pointed out that at the last Assessment Court a man had sworn that it had cost him £8 a ton to get his produce down from the Motu. Men must go down under those conditions. He strongly advocated light railways for the district, in which he said they had the approval of both the Premier and Mr Carroll. Mr Perston said he thought the meeting was to consider how they could get the work carried on, not to discuss what they had all heard before. (Cries of “ platform.”) The Chairman asked if Mr Perston wished to speak to the meeting. Mr Perston : No ; I want to speak to you. I want to know how we are going to bo put back into a job in the morning. (Laughter.) Mr Sievwright said he believed the resolutions would have the support of all the people. But the question was how were the Government going to find the means. The Government put it to them whether they were going to have a borrowing policy or stop works, and he hoped that before the general election they would be able to show the Government how it was to be done. (Applause.) The motion was carried unanimously. In the abs'enco of Mr Townley, Mr DeLautour said he thought it only fair to explain that the deputation that went to Wellington simply suggested a railway, without making any preference. ■ Mr Lysnar said that was quite correct, and he had no intention to imply that the deputation had interfered in any way as to the gauge. Mr Rees moved thut a copy of the resolution be telegraphed to the Government. The motion was seconded by Mr A. P. Matthews, who said that what seemed to him the most unfair part of the cessation of work was that it was done so suddenly, without notice being given to the men. They lmight have been given a month or six weeks’ notice. Ho thought that the Government were honest in saying, “ This money has been spent, and until Parliament authorises the expending of more money we are not in a position to employ them longer,” but a longer notice might have been given, so that the men could look out for other employment. (Applause.) Mr J. \V. Bright moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman. He hoped that

the resolution passed so unanimously would result in the fairly immediate reinstatement of these works, by the cessation of which injustice had been done both to the district and to the men so suddenly thrown out of employment. The motion was seconded by Mr Shelton and carried, and the meeting then broke up. An apology for non-attendance was received from the Mayor. After the meeting Mr Macfarlane received a telegram from Mr Carroll at Te Aute. Mr Carroll stated that the telegram had come to hand late, and referring the applicant for information to Mr HallJones.