EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2347, 11 October 1881, Page 3

EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

A public meeting convened with reference to tho projected railway connecting tho East and West Coasts was held at tho Oddfellows Hall last evening. There was a very large attendance, the Hall being filled to excess. The seats on the platform wore fully occupied. The chair was taken by Mr John Anderson. The Chairman said, in tho absence of ms Worship tho Mayor, who was engaged at the City Council, ho had been asked to take the chair. Ho did so with groat pleasure, seeing tho very largo assemblage before him, as it evinced the great i nterost felt by tho public in the construction of a railway connecting the East and West Coasts of this Island. Ho did not intend to make a lengthened speech, as a number of gentlemen would follow him. There was, he thought, no need for him to ask the meeting to hear each one patiently, because they were pretty unanimous on tho necessity of the formation of such a railway to develope the mineral and other resources which existed, Mr Wiekes would read some letters of apology. Mr Wiekes said he had received letters of apology as follows :—From Messrs. Chas. Clark aud Macpherson, expressing their regret at not being able to be present that evening, but stating that the project had their support. He had received a letter from tho Sydenham Council stating that they would be present. Mr John Ollivier was tho first speaker. Ho congratulated them upon the aspect of the hall that night. On the former occasion they had the hall only two-thirds full; now they had it crowded to overflowing. This, it seemed to him, showed that tho interest in this project had increased by two to one. First, than, let him say that they owed a deep debt of gratitude to Messrs. Thornton and Brown. On the former occasion he had to stand before them to propose a vote of thanks to those gentlemen. But while this was so, some of the outside public no doubt thought they were duffers. Now those gentlemen had proved that they were by no means duffers, but men wh* knew what they were about. Ho said all honor to those gentlemen, and he thought it afforded a great amount of stability to the project that the engineers appointed by the Government could not shake tho data of these gentlemen. Now, lot him say that they knew perfectly well that Dunedin was straiuiug every point to get tho lino from thence to Groymonth, but he said that it was mere fallacy to suppose that with tho line they could make from here Dunedin had any chance. 1 Cheers.] Tho Government had given them every facility Here was an opportunity for men to go forth as pioneers of civilisation, as many of tho older settlors, such as his friend the chairman and himself, had done Talk about unemployed, there need bo none when such an opening was offered. It was their duty, when gentlemen were affording them a chance to go forth to make a homo for tho thousands who should come after them. If they did not take advantage of this it would, ho said, be a crying disgrace and a shame to them. [Cheers.] They knew what it was to have to come over the hills which stood between Lyttelton and the plains. He himself had had to wheel his children over that hill in a wheelbarrow, and to build a hut with his own hands, having but the earth which heaven had given them for the floor. If then they who had been the pioneers of Canterbury had done this for the men ho saw now before him, it was equally their duty to go forth and do the same for tho thousands who should come after them. [Cheers ] They asked them to go and open up this magnificent country, full of minerals and natural resources. It waited bat for men such as ho saw before him to open it up, and unless they did so they were traitors to themselves, tnitora to their country. [Cheers.] Ihe Government had done their part, and it was now for them to create on tho plains between here and tho West Coast happy homes in which a contented and thriving population might dwell. The growth around tho city in a radius of fifty miles had been so great that it was only necessary to push it forward even to the waters of tho ocean at Hokitika [Cheers.] If they accepted the survey of Messrs Thornton and Brown, which was a fact, they must also accept the description of the country, then let them come forward, and by taking up shares set the thing agoing and make it a reality. If they did not do so what wonld be the result? Why, that the opportunity would pass away They had been told that they were lunatics to contemplate tho making of the railway between Christchurch and Lyttelton. But let them just think, supposing this railway were to be put into a joint stock company, how eagerly the shares wonld be taken up. They might now be called lunatics for advocating the West Coast Railway, hut he asserted that in a few years they would say, Why did wo not take shares in the West Coast Railway? He was an old man, and he gave them this advice soberly and earnestly, He wonld move —“That in the opinion of this meeting it is necessary that a railway should at once be constructed from the Hurunui to tho West Coast, and that a company be formed to carry out the same.” [Cheers ] Mr Wadey seconded the motion.

Mr Weston said that he was sure that all had listened to Mr Ollivier’s speech with instruction and amusement. He had put the matter before them in a very acceptable manner. Ho had spoken to them a year ago on this subject, and he trusted they would show their appreciation of their year’s work by coming forward and supporting it. When they first went into the matter they felt their task to be Herculean They had met difficulty after difficulty, but after struggling with them for some time they had conquered. When he went to Parliament in June last he found the Bill under which this railway was to be constructed untouched. Ho had interviewed the Premier on the subject, and he had expressed hia deep interest in the matter. From the Premier he received a line to the Solicitor-General, and they had drafted the Bill. The Premier, though not approving of all the proposals, yet gave him a loyal support, and in the hour when the Bill came before the House it was generally approved of, a committee was appointed to consider the Bill, and that committee brought down certain amendments, which were accepted, and the Bill passed both the Low-r and the Upper House. The latter had placed some restrictions on the Bill, bnt in the hands of a willing Government and a willing people, the Bill yet afforded every opportunity to make the line between the coasts, and they would yet do it. [ Cheers J The Bill provided for the granting of 30 per cent, of the coat of the line up to .£SOOO per mile. This 30 per cent, was, he might tell them, to be in land. The line could be made, ho might also say, without reference to Parliament. So soon as the capital was put into the venture, they could go to the Government with estimates, &0., and at once get the formation. The only provision for appeal to Parliament was that the selection of the blocks of land set aside by his Excellency’s advisers for the line should be approved by it. H e did not see much to interfere with them in this, because the honor of Parliament was involved. Another point was that the Government required security. This had been thought tc be somewhat of an obstruction. He did not think so at all, because they would be safe in the hands of any Government who intended loyally to carry out the wishes of Parliament. The Government required security that the company would proceed with the work. But they would not require the whole capital of the company. The line passed over Government l«nd, and if the line wore not carried out then the Government would come in and take what was on it, thus having in their hands a nucleus of a railway which they must carry out for themselves. The real intent of the provision was that security should be given, so that any damages for land taken in the work should bo provided for. But they who know the character of the country between here and the West Coast could not but see that this provision was a mere farce. The colony got what the company had done, and they gave the company land for stations, workshops, &c. Then the line being made and worked, the colony could take it over at the end of ten years. At the expiration of that period the lino would, he felt sure, bo a moat profitable concern. The railway, having been at work for those ten years, would have been a most powerful agent in the work of colonisation. It must, at the end of that period, have made 1 hristchurch the chief town of the colony, giving it a position which nothing could take away from it. At the end of that term the company give the colony the line at a fair valuation ; if at fourteen years, so much more ; and at twenty-one, a still further increase; because each year the line would develop still more the resources of the colony. [Cheers.] How were they going to do this f Could they get a million of money—for they required a million of money—in Canterbury? Possibly not. But let them get the money for surveys, &c., here; let them get the contract and the estimates prepared ; and then go to the old country, where they could get their contract taken up and float their debentures. This might be considered visionary, but he asserted that it was not so. If they had a willing Government to deal with, they could go to them and say. let us have a little time and wo will float this company. The colony would not bo prejudiced by this, because it was intended to take the lino over the waste lands of the Crown, and utilising that which was now lying idle. If the people put their hands to this matter they would find that they wero doing a work for the benefit of the colony, the magnitude of which they now had no idea of. They had had the support of the Premier and the Ministry, and this too in face of opposition in the Legisla live Council intended to kill the Bill; bnt this had not prevailed, and it was as alive to day as they were. They must, therefore, not go back to Parliament next year with the statement that nothing had been done. The whole of the werk had been done under great uifficulties, in which his friend Mr Wickos had stuck to his colors manfully. They had got their preliminary survey completed, their Bill passed, and other matters done, for the sum of .£3OO. Had this enterprise been projected in the old country there would have been thousands upon thousands of pounds expended in preliminary expenses. Now then, lot him say to those present, that it was in their hands whether, in three or

fonr years hence, tho iron horse wag conveying to Reef ton and other parts of the Ooast their produce and tho products of their labor. They would receive in return the timber, the coal, and other natural products of the Coast, thus developing to tho utmost the resources of this grand country. | Cheers.] Mr Wiekes said it gave him great pleasure to see before him so largo an attendance. A few with himself had struggled for years to get this project carried out. A report some time back had been made that tho lino was not practicable. Undaunted, however, a few of them urged upon the Government the necessity of having a survey made. Ho did not wish to blame those persons, because they simply followed the old survey tracks. However, ho was not satisfied, and he came to Canterbury to have a survey made. This was carried out by Messrs. Thornton and Brown, and they had the satisfaction of stating that a lino could be got at a gradient not exceeding 1 in 60. The first exploration showed that a gradient of 1 in 50 could be got, but later investigations showed that the better gradient ho had referred to could bo got. As regarded the natural resources of the West Const, he could speak with confidence from a long experience and residence there. Mr Thornton had accompanied him on this tour, and he would be able to corroborate what ho said about tho vast resources which would be opened up by tho line. In tho prosecution of this enterprise they wore indebted alike to tho Government and their members in the House, who had stuck to them through many difficulties. For this Bill they had to thank the Hall Government, and ho said it was one of the greatest boons in tho shape of a colonising scheme which had over been offered to the public. [Cheers.] This was the feature of the Bill, though at first it might not be apparent. [■ beers.j Tho coal measures in the country passed through were enormous, and within eighty miles of the Hurunui they would bo landed in the midst of vast mineral wealth. With such a country to develope it wsnld bo a sin to allow it to go in its native state. The coal seams were, some of them, from twenty to twenty-five feet thick, and he asked them whether with railway communication and ease of getting men could not develope a very largo and remunerative industry in coal mining. Entering upon Cannibal Gorge they came at once to timber of magnificent quality in almost unbounded quantity. It was timber that would, it brought into the market, supersede ironbark and other imported woods. Once let those forests be brought into communication with cities the value of them wonld be largely increased. Until therefore reached by the operations of this company the timber was of no value, but once let them get easy communication, and tho value to the colony would be trebled. The sum required, .£900,000, might look largo, but really they wonld not require more than£2oo,ooo, as they had power to issue debentures bearing interest at 6 per cent. He was glad to say too that the jealousy between here and Dunedin having been removed they were now having gentlemen from Dunedin coming to taka shares in the enterprise. He thought it was a grand thing that Dunedin and Christchurch could shake hands for once. [Cheers.] As to the cost, the statistics of nine lines in England showed a cost of throe hundred and fifty-two millions. Then there were the traffic returns to be considered. The coal deposits would ensure a very largo revenue to tho company, as it was amply proved by the statistics in England that it was a very profitable trade. It was a trade which continued all tho year round, not like the grain traffic, which was only in full swing during a few months of the year. The cost wonld be but small, as the labor required would not be large. Again, they must remember the industries which would spring up along the line. They had coal and wood, and water power was abundant, so that there was ample scope for the development of local industries. Granite and grit stone was abundant, and the latter was equal in quality to the Scotch. Another advantage was that the line passed through the country where timber was abundant for sleepers. Now, no allowance had been made for this in the Government Engineer’s estimate, sleepers being put down at 5s per piece, whereas he would be glad to take a contract for Is. [Cheers ] This meant a saving of .£BO,OOO on the cost, which was not taken any cognizance of by the Government Engineer. As to the traffic likely to be done, he might say it had been estimated by a committee outside of the projectors. and the result showed that it would probably be about from JG175,000 to £200,000. [Mr Wiokes proceeded to quote statistics of the shipping trade in the West Coast ports ] There was no doubt owing to the heavy insurance on bar harbours that the whole of this large trade would come via Lyttelton. He thought the proposal to form this company came at a most opportune time. There was no doubt that when the news went forth that this railway was to bo made, the people who had gone forth to other colonies would return. In conclusion, he desired to impress upon those present the necessity of taking up shares in this nndeitaking. Some 7000 shares were required, and he hoped that all wonld take shares according to their means. When this was done, they should register the company and set to work. One provision of the Bill was that the concessions of land were granted by the Government as the miles of lino were completed This would enable the shareholders to deal with the land as the line progressed, and either to take it up themselves or lease it to others. If they only worked in unity and harmony together, they wonld find this Bill one of the greatest blessings ever conferred on a country. [Cheers.]

Mr Thornton said that doubts had been expressed that the mineral and forest resources of Westland were mythical to a great extent. Now he might tell them that for sixty or seventy miles from the Ada was a dense forest. The mountains were clothed to their summits with trees. The timber was generally composed of black birch of enormous size ; he was afraid to say how large. Down the Monaghan Valley the'O were trees standing sixty or eighty trees on an acre. The same was the case in the valley of the Arnold. There wero also other varieties of birch to the black, such as the silver, &c. But great as was the present wealth of Westland, it was ns nothing when compared with its vast mineral wealth. In Eeefton they were for days engaged in visiting and exploring the mineral resources of the country. They found quartz mines, with coal seams cropping out some sixty or sixty-five chains from the quartz mires. It would probably be interesting if he gave them a description of the depth of the coal seams. TheNewcastleminehadaseamof 4ft. thick, the Oriental had a seam 3ft. 6in. thick, the Dudley mine had a seam 14ft thick, whilst there were others varying from 13ft to 24ft thick, whilst in one was a seam of fire clay 12ft thick underlying the coal. The coal in many of these was of excellent quality. In many of the mines were deposits of antimony, which was worth £lls per ton in its crude state, and £165 per ton assayed on the English market. Mr Wickes said that they had distributed through the room application forms for shares, which they might fill up as they could. He trusted they would bo able to announce that 15,000 shares had been taken up. They now had 7000, and hoped to doable that number. A gentleman from the body of the hall came on the platform, and said that he know a great deal of Westland, and he could assert that when the miner’s wages came down to what in Christchurch and other places would keep a man and hia wife and family, they had to leave. Why was this ? Simply from the isolation and great expense of living caused by want of communication. It was said, that the West Coast was worked out, bnt this was nov so. There were thousands of acres of auriferous land in the West Coast which would afford employment and subsistence to the floating population here at wages equal to that now obtained here. [Cheers.J As regarded the climate of the West Coast, he was glad to see the antipathies against the Coast dying out. In place of men saying there never would be a railway to the West Coast, they now heard expressions of surprise that so valuable a territory should be allowed to remain unoccupied and unimproved at the very doors of so important a city as Christchurch. He often asked himself if the stars and stripes waved over this city how long it would have been before they got there with a railway. [Cheers.] If they could not get over the hills they would have gone under them. He said this, that as the general election was pending, the moat important question that could bo put to the candidates was railway?” [Cheers.] He was happy to see that there was a chance now of this groat enterprise being carried out. If it had been carried out years ago there would have been no cry of ‘‘unemployed.” All the unemployed in the colony could find a restingplace there. He, like many more, had hoped against hope that this railway would, in the natural course of events, be made. Now, however, he was glad to see that there was a chance of it being carried out. Mr S. P. Andrews said he had always strongly expressed himself in favour of the West Coast Bailway. In the House he approved of the proposal of Mr Macsndrew that the Government should do the work. As the House, however, was not in favour of this, then the next best thing was to enable it to be made by a company such us now projected. There was, he thought, groat credit duo to Mr Weston for the Bill, because it was not by any moans exclneively for the West Coast. Now Mr Seddon had said that there was land where thousands of men conld earn from £l2 to £3 per week, which had to bo deserted because of the difficulty of obtaining provisions, while they had largo quantities here only waiting for commuuic ation to place it there. Now there was just one objection which had been urged against this matter, and it was this : Was the route proposed the shortest one ? [A voice—” No.”] Well, ho would just read a clause of the Bill. [Mr Andrews here read clause 8, providing that all information as to route, Ac., must be given to the Government before the contract was approved.] Now, it would bo seen that everything was made public before the Governor gave hia assent to the work. Of course, when everything was made known like this, it was evident that anyone knowing a shorter route, or passing through more valuable

country, ho would soon make it known to tho shareholders and tho pub ic. [Hear, hear I In reply to a question from Mr Oliver, Mr Weston said what he meant by making tho Act workable was that if a company were unable to get all its capital at once within the time, a Government who was opposed to the scheme might say that the company had not fulfilled its promises and that they wonld have nothing to do with them But with a Government loyal to the Act and to the colony, the company wonld bo grunted time to perfect their arrangements, and to get money so as to carry out the work for the benefit of the colony. In reply to Mr Brooker, Mr Weston said if Borough or County Councils through whose domains the line passed approved of tho scheme, a rate could be levied to produce 5 per cent on the capital. Of course it was quite optional with the people either to strike the rate or not. | Cheers.] The resolution was then put and carried unanimously amid cheers. The Chairman said that as the resolution was now passed affirming the necessity of a railway, it became a necessity to provide the money to make it. Therefore those present wonld be good enough to fill up the application forma. Mr Wiekes said he desired to point out that it would bo from four to five years before the £5 was called up, so that every working man should take from five to ten shares each.

A vote to the chairman, proposed by Mr Weston, closed the meet'ng.