THE PROPOSED EXTENSION OF NORTHERN RAILWAY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 261, 26 August 1882, Page 3

THE PROPOSED EXTENSION OF NORTHERN RAILWAY.

PUBLIC MEETING.

A public meeting to consider the questioi of the extension of the Northern railway, ai now before Parliament, was held last nigh' J at the Oddfellows’ Hall, in compliance witl . the following requisition presented to hu Worship the Mayor :—“To his Worship the , Mayor ol Christchurch,—We, the under , signed residents of Christchurch, beg to request that your Worship will be good enough to call a public meeting, at the earliest possible date, for _tho_ purpose of enabling the electors of this city to discuss the advisability or otherwise of the proposed extension of the Northern railway line, now before the House of Assembly.” There was a very large attendance, the hall being filled. The chair was occupied by his Worship the Mayor. The Chairman read the requisition under whioh he had convened the meeting. They were aware that the Parliament had consented that a loan of four millions should be obtained to construct railways, &c., and an allocation of that money had been made. His Worship remarked on the items, particularly that for immigration, whioh he was of opinion was not required, as they had quite as many men as they could find work for. He thought Canterbury would be the principal contributor to the interest on the loan, paying nearly one-third of the interest, and receiving but little, hardly one-third, of the expenditure. Their railways paid about 7 per cent., but in the North Island they did not pay half this. The loan, it seemed to him, would bo a tax on the Middle Island, and Canterbury in particular ; and ho thought if such lines as these were made, instead of reducing the prices of carriage on the railways, they would have to increase them. The meeting was called to consider the extension of the trank line northwards, and it was proposed to carry it along the East Coast to Blenheim. This, it was contended, was not the proper route at all. He would now ask Mr Pavitt to move the first resolution. Mr T. Pavitt said that be desired to thank the Mayor for giving them an opportunity of expressing their opinions on the subject. They were told that the distance from the Waipara to Blenheim was about 150 miles, and it was proposed to construct a railway at a cost of £BOOO per mile. There were three lines proposed, out of whioh he proposed to speak of the coast line. It was proposed to expend £IBO,OOO to construct the line from the Waipara to the Waian, better known as the property of the Hon. Wm. Robinson. The line thus proposed ran through freehold property all the way, not an inch of the land being Crown property. The cost of the line as estimated would not, he thought, be found to be correct, as it was a very rough one. He also desired to point oat that the country from the Waiau to Blenheim was the wildest that oonld be conceived, and there was no agricultural land, the mountains running close down to the sea. They were thus asked to give their consent to the construction of a railway whioh would never return them a shilling, and whioh would never go beyond the Waiau, Mr Foy, the Government engineer, had specially reported on the line now proposed, and his opinion was that it would never pay. The quantity of agricultural land on the line was so small that a few schooners and steamers would be sufficient to carry the produce for the next hundred years. Let him first call the attention of the meeting to the fact that the freight from Kaikoura to Lyttelton was 10s per ton, a price which could never be touched jy the railway. Coming further South they came to the property of the Hon. W. Robinson, a gentleman who had been shipping bis wool from Gore’s Bay to Lyttelton at a rate less than it cost to bring it from Ashburton to Lyttelton. [Hear, hear.] It was plain to anyone that this railway was intended only to benefit the few wealthy landowners. [Hear, hear.] The project to compete by a a coast railway lino with water carriage, was exemplified in the case of Timarn, I hey saw day by day steamers bringing up produce and taking back goods in opposition to the railway, though the line was made through a country as level as a table. They hod before them the folly of making suoh political railways as the Oxford, Eyreton, the Little River, &o. He could not understand how it was that the Government could ever have proposed to spend such a large sum of money as that proposed, but he felt sure that they as taxpayers were not willing to sit quietly down under the imposition of such burdens as these. [Hear, hear.] Ho would now read the resolution, which was as follows:

“ That in the opinion of this meeting the extension of the Middle Island Trunk Bailway northwards from Waipara to Blenheim by the coast line, or any of the other routes specified in the Government Engineer’s report, is contrary to the best interests of the colony and this province ; and that this meeting earnestly and respectfully requests the members of the General Assembly to oppose its construction.” [Cheers.] They were prepared to take their fair share of the burdens of the loans, bnt they were not pre. pared to sanction the squandering of money such as was now proposed, on lines that could not return a shilling. He had been told, on good authority, that on the alternative lines further inland no less than thirty miles of snow sheds would be required to be constructed, and, even then, the line would not be free from blocking. If the House did not accede to their request, then they would have the satisfaction of knowing that they had done their duty as colonists in protesting against such a waste of money. He now begged to move the resolution he had read. [Cheers.] Mr Ohrystall said he rose to second the resolution with great pleasure. The matter was one of the greatest importance, and he trusted that the meeting would be unanimous on the subject. Mr Favitt had spoken of the cost, but he might tell them that ho had been informed that the cost of the line in some parts would be ’nearly £20,000 per mile, owing to the difficulty of the works. He would now read them an extract from the report of the Government Engineer. [The speaker here read a portion of Mr BlackeU’s report on the lines now proposed.] That was the report of an officer of the Government, and the purport of bis report was that there was nothing in the 150 miles of country traversed to warrant the construction of a railway. The only point in favor of the line now proposed was that persons might roach Wellington some ninety minutes earlier than they did now, but he could not see that they were called on to spend £60,000 per annum to enable this to be done. [Hear, hear.] But even this would not soon be the case, as the Union Company intended, he believed, to have steamers to run between Wellington and Lyttelton in eleven hours, so that the steamer would reach there some hour or hour and a half before it could be done by the railway. The only thing that he saw in the matter was a feeling of sentiment on the part of the Government to have a complete trunk railway. They only wanted to have a tunnel under Cook’s Straits to complete the picture. There was nothing to be gained at all by the construction of the line, the more so as even now wool and wheat freights were carried from Kaikoura to Lyttelton by sea at a less rate than from Waikari to Christchurch by rail. It had been urged that the.line would enable members of Parliament to get to their families every week ; but he said this, that if they only went there to vote a large sum of money like this to waste, it would be cheaper to pay them their £2OO a year to stay at home. [Cheers.] He must say that the action of the Canterbury members was quite unaccountable, and he for one could not understand the reason for their action. [Cheers.] As Mr Pavitt had said, the line passed through the property of a very wealthy man, and he did not sae why the public should be taxed to increase the already large wealth of this gentleman. [Hear, hoar.] If he wanted a railway, then let him pay the cost of it. [Hear, hear.] The line beyond the Waiau would benefit some half a dozen gentlemen who were now already millionaires, therefore, he said, if they required it, let them pay for it. There were a number of railways paying but small interest on their construction. The Byreton branch, he found,

paid a profit of £53, and there was just £BOOO to bo paid out of tho pockets of the taxpayers. [Hear, hear,] He said this, that such a state of things was a disgrace to the colony, as they paid £BOOO for a net result of £53, The Little Biver line had also been referred to, and it was certainly a most remarkable line, rnnning three times a week, and carrying on an average one passenger each trip. [Hear, hear.] It seemed to him that the Government were as bad at railway construction as they were at railway management. He had formed part of deputations which bad waited on the Government urging upon them the necessity of reducing the

tariff between Christchurch and Timarn, so as to meet the water trtffio, and it had been painted oat to them that a large increase of revenue would result. The Government however had informed them in a roundabout way that it wai not possible for political reasons. There was a want of elasticity about their railway arrangements whioh was most apparent from a circumstance which occurred in regard to a large quantity of grain remaining in Timarn, where the Government was asked to carry it at a reduction but refnsed, and also that there were waggons on the road from Kaiapoi, Bangiora and Amberley competing with the railway. Besides, he might say that from a return furnished by the railway he found that 40,000 fewer passengers had been carried on the lines this year than in 1880. Again, the squandering of such a large sum of money on a totally unprofitable line would have a most prejudicial effect against the colony in the minds of British capitalists. They had they must remember very heavy burdens amounting to something like two millions, including interest on debt, and the balance of trade against them. Therefore the Government ought to be most careful as to the manner in whioh the money was invested, so as to ensure a fair return. They ought to pass the resolutions unanimously, and also take steps to bring the weight of the constituencies throughout Canterbury on the members to compel them to oppose this proposal to the utmost. [Cheers.] He therefore begged to second the motion. [Cheers ] Mr G. D. Lockhart said that he desired to

aay a few words on the subject. He had a large experience in the matter of colonisation, and he mnat say that the projected railway was one whioh would not in any way conduce to the publio welfare. The Hon. Mr Robinson and Mr Moore were men who could afford to hold out a cheque of £2OO or £3OO to anyone who would accept it, and he was afraid there were men in their Assembly who would not be above taking £2OO or £3OO. [Cheers.] The line beyond the properties of the Hon. Mr Robinson and Mr Moore went through country that was not worth half a farthing an acre, and whioh would require ten acres to keep a sheep. His idea was to carry the line on from the Hurunui to Qreymouth, [Cheers.] The mountains on that line were fall of minerals, there was magnificent timber, coal, Ac., and he believed if they only opened up these natural resources they would find that the province of Canterbury would largely benefit. [Cheers.] They sent large sums of money to Auckland for timber, and to Now South Wales for coal, and why should they not keep their money in the province and construct a line whioh would bo of benefit to all by opening up and developing the resources of the West Coast. [Cheer*.] Mr Fisher said he desired to say a few words on the desirability of making the West Coast railway. Major Atkinson had said in the House that if the West Coast railway would not pay a private company he could not see how it would pay the Government. But Major Atkinson had forgotten that the construction of the railway by a private company would be for the benefit of a few, whilst it was the duty of the State to do the greatest good for the greatest number. [Hear, hear.] And Ist him here say that the opening up of the West Coast railway would do a great deal of good to all. It was known that the country was auriferous, and as soon as it was opened up they would find men coming to the country without the necessity of paying £ls or £2O a- head to bring men in to drive out better. Even now, despite the many natural disadvantages of isolation, Ac., the West Coast was supporting a large population on its mining industries. He could not understand how if Major Atkinson oeuld not see the necessity for the West Coast railway, he was able to see so far as round to Kaikoura. Because the West Coast would be a working man’s country it was not worth having, but Major Atkinson wanted to go to the big estates. If they opened up the west coast of the Middle Island, it would be to Canterbury what the backwoods ware to America—a hive of industry, and not a sheep walk, monopolised by a few wool kings. In America there were many of the Presidents who were proud to say they were backwoodsmen. Not like their shoddy aristocracy, who seemed to think far more of a half-bred Leicester than the man who wielded the axe. [Cheers ] Let the voice of the working men be heard against these political railways, and they would soon find that the best way to put an end to them would be to open the West Coast, not to construct a railway to go to places where there was no inhabitants, but to open up the lines of industry. [Cheers.] He trusted that they would all keep the idea of the West Coast railway in their minds, and carry the resolution now proposed unanimously. [Cheers.] Mr S. Jolly sa’d that he had worked out the calculation of the amount of coal per head for the population of Canterbury alone, and he fonnd that they would use 200,000 tons per annum, whioh, at 10s per ton for carriage on the West Coast line, would give them £IOO,OOO revenue. This was without reckoning the large amount whioh would go to the outside markets. The total amount of coals likely to be required was about 600,0C0 tons. They would thus see that even on the one item of coal alone the West Coast railway would pay well. [Hear.] The motion proposed by Mr Pavitt was then put and carried unanimously amid cheers.

The Chairman said he would read a telegram from Mr Weston, M.H.8., who regretted that he was absent that evening, but the meeting could rely on his support. [Kead.] He had also received the following memorandum from the Working Men’s Political Association :—“ The members of the Working Men’s Political Association endorse the present movement of the citizens of Christchurch in their endeavors to divert the moiety of loan in extending the Northern railway along the East Coast, and are of opinion that the best interests of the country would be served if the Government could be urged to continue the present Northern railway to form part of the Main Trunk line to the West Coast, via Eeofton.” Mr D. Beeae said it gave him great pleasure to see so large an assemblage that evening to protest against the scandalous waste of money, and to urge the carrying out of the line to the West Coast. He therefore begged to move—--11 That it is the opinion of this meeting that in completing the main trunk line of railway through the Middle Island northwards the Government will meet the best interests of the colony, and of the provincial districts of Canterbury, Westland, and Nelson, by the adoption of a route that will connect the West Coast with Nelson and Christchurch. ” The previous speakers had spoken of the absurdity of making a line as proposed, which would stop at the estate of the Hon. Wm. Bobinson. Now, let them consider what that gentleman would contribute towards the cost of the line. He had 92,000 acres, and the wool from the sheep depssturing thereon would amount to about 160 tons, not sufficient to pay for the oil of the train to fetch it. But even allowing Mr Bobinson 250 tons of produce to be carried, they would only have to allow twenty bushels per acre to 500 acres of agricultural land to exceed the amount of support to the line given by Mr Bobinson’s 92,009 acres. [Cheers.] The West Coast railway, he contended, was a line which would benefit not only Canterbury and Westland, but the whole colony. [Cheers.] Now, in carrying out this line to Blenheim, the capital of Marlborough, they were serving some 9000 people, and for this they were asked to expend millions of money. This was what the Blenheim people were clamoring for, and it v?as as if their Sydenham friends clamored for an expenditure of millions. [Cheers.] Their Canterbury members sat in the House for months without opening their mouths at all, doing their work silently, but this was a class of work which never did good. [Cheers.] Now, he desired to call their attention to the benefits of the West Coast line. In timber alone they paid away some £132,000, yet on the West Coast they had the finest forests in the world. All their timber had to be imported, and if they could get the West Coast railway made, they would have a reduction in the price of timber which would amount to what would support 1690 individuals. In coal they paid away £66,250 per annum, which was sent away to other countries. If they produced these two items within their own

borders, they would be able to support a large and thriving population. Then again with regard to building stone. They now sent to Oamam and Pott Chalmers, whereas, if the West Coast was opened, they could produce it themselves. Besides this, it would open up a wide field for the merchants to obtain a portion of tho trade which was now done by Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere, whilst Canterbury hardly sent a bag of wheat to Westland. Therefore he asked them to urge upon the Government the necessity of giving

0 up this mad scheme of making a railwa 1 to nowhere, and substitute the We. i Coast railway. [Cheers.] The manage . ment of their railways, as they had bee i told by the chairman of the Chamber o i Commerce was most woefully mismanage, i throughout. He (Mr Beese) went furthei i and said that the people were robbed by th i mismanagement of their railways. Thi Government could not reduce the ratei because of this, and the remedy was to pul their railways under the management of . Board, like that which had so satisfactorily managed the affairs of the Lyttelton Harbor. [Cheers ] This was the only w*y in which taey could be managed satisfactorily. He said that they must all regret that they had consented to abolition, but as it was going back to return to this again, separation was the one cure for the present state of things. [Cheers.] Yet they wonld find the majority of the Canterbury members voting against the proposal now before the House. It would be far better even if the Middle Island had to take all the debt on its shoulders, and lot the North Island go. [Cheers,] If Otago and Canterbury were to join hands in this matter they could rule iha colony, and yet they found that their members seemed to be afraid of Otago. He would urge that the proper course to deal with their railways would be to place them under a Board, as he bad stated. In the schednle of the Public Works Statement he found that there was a railway called the v tago Central, whilst all the time they wore making towards the West Coast. Again he desired to call their attention to the fact that

geographically Christchurch was the centre of New Zealand, being nearer to Sydney than any other large city. Once let them get their West Coast railway, and the seat of Government in Christchurch, and then Canterbury would take her proper position. He saw that there was a million of money voted for Auckland, ignoring the large sums paid for the Maoii war, the interest on which they now had to pay. Canterbury had, to make her position look something like her neighbours, been voted this sum for a political railway, and whilst £300,000 had been voted for the Otago Central, in addition to the large sums already spent, their West Coast railway was left out. [Cheers.] The future welfare of Canterbury and the oolony generally was centred in the obtaining of the West Coast railway, and he hoped they would bring such pressure to bear, alike on their members and the Government, as would compel them to abandon the idea of the lines now under con. sideration, and make that. He begged to move the resolution he had read. [Cheers.] The Hon. E. Richardson said that if he had thought the effect of that meeting would have been to interfere with the lei itimate result of the policy of Sir Julius Vogsl in 1870 he should not have been there. But as this was as strong a protest as could be made against a wasteful expenditure of money for no use, he gave the object of the meeting his hearty support. In 1873 4 the Government bad told the House that the question of the main trunk line through the northern part of the Middle Island was occupying their attention, and in 1875 that surveys of the possible routes between Amberley and Pioton had been made. It was pointed out that a very good line could be got from Beefton through the Amuri, and so southward, to join the Canterbury lines. It was also pointed out that a line from Pioton oonld also join in the same line. The Government in 1875 under great pressure undertook the survey of the line which had been unanimously condemned that night. In 1876-7 nothing was done, but in 1878 it was decided that Pioton should be connected somehow with Amberley, and Mr Macandrew also stated that Amberley would be connected with Beefton, but nothing had been done. A survey had been made, and it was proved that a tolerably easy line to make could be got through from Hurunni to Beefton. A line bad been proposed and agreed between Nelson and Greymouth, and authorised from Groymouth to Beefton. The line between Picton and Amberley bad only been authorised to about soma £31,000, the estimated cost per mile to conclude the line between these two points being £BOOO per mile. Dealing with the East Coast line, a very short length had been put south from Blenheim, and if the line were now stopped, no wasteful expenditure had as yet been incurred. The Government had said that before constructing this line they would refer it to an independent commission. He hoped that the commission would report to Parliament and not to the Government, and that the latter should be tied up not to spend any more money on this line until Parliament had an opportunity of expressing their opinion on it, because the constituencies would have had a chance also of letting their members know what their opinion was on the matter. He would now ask them to bear with him whilst he quoted a few figures to show that the West Coast line could be made for less than the proposals now made. The distance from Christchurch to Pioton, by the East Coast line, was 215 miles ; from Christcharch to Nelson, via Beefton, 265 miles ; and from Christchurch to Picton, via Beefton and Tophouse, 280 miles. The cost to complete the line by the East Coast, from Christchurch to Pioton, would be £1,200,000 ; to complete that from Christchurch to Nelson, via Beefton, £1,392,000; to complete from Tophouse to Picton, £480,000 j and Beefton to Grey mouth, £440,000, Thus the totals of the Hues connecting Christchurch, Nelson, and Greymonth, would be £1,832,000; and with the Pioton branch, £2,312,000. On the other hand the Government proposals disconnected would cost £2,400,000 [Cheers.] He trusted he had made this matter clear, because had there not been so much said about the inadaptability of the country for settlement, ho would have gone further into the matter, but it seemed to bim that it was not necessary, The figures he had given them were official, and the result of them was that the oolony might get communication between Christchurch, Hokitika, Beefton, Nelson, and Pioton, at a less cost than was proposed for this line. [Cheers.] It bad been said that now members had swallowed the schedule of the Loan Bill that it was too late. While he thought that it was a pity that this meeting had not been called a month ago, there was yet time to get their members to do what they required of them. Though the termini had been arranged, it was necessary for the Government to bring down a special Act for every piece of new line that was required to be constructed. Their members would therefore have an opportunity of vetoing the Act if they felt so disposed. Again, the members had another opportunity of stopping the expenditure on this line by declining to vote this expenditure, Then they could call on the Government to amend the schedule by inserting the trunk line going from the Waiau on to Eeofton and to Nelson. [Cheers.] That line would pass through a country teeming with minerals, and would open up a large and remunerative trade. There was another point which was lost sight of, viz., that even supposing the railway to be made on the East Coast to Picton, there would still remain the piece of sea voyage to be got over, viz., Cook’s Straits, Even though it was true that the line would lie longer to Nelson than to Picton, the former would be nearer to Auckland, Wanganui, &0., than Pioton. If once this expenditure was permitted, it would be very difficult, if possible, to alter it; and, beyond this, it would be very difficult under these circumstances to get any Government to extend the line from Hurunui to Beefton. [Cheer*.] He trusted that the resolution would be carried unanimously, and that copies of the resolutions passed that night would be sent direct by the steamer next day to their members. He seconded the motion with great pleasure. [Cheers.]

Mr J. Izett said he desired to speak of a matter with regard to the position taken up by the Canterbury members in the House, or rather one of them. He had, whilst in charge of one of the journals of the city, advocated the formation of a line to the West Coast. The member of Parliament to whom he had referred wrote a letter to him (Mr Izett), expressing himself delighted at finding that there was a journal advocating the West Coast line. That gentleman was Mr Bolleston. Tet now they found that Mr Rollcston, the only Canterbury member in the Ministry, had brought forward a line they did not want, and had refused to give them the one they did want, though expressing himself so much in favor of it in 1878. [Cheers.] The answer was not far to seek, viz., that the Ministry were afraid of losing their position in the Assembly. [Cheers.] He would take an opportunity of publishing the letter be had referred to. [Cheers.] No one had asked for this East Coast railway, and no one wanted it. [Cheers.] The resolution was then put and carried unanimously, Mr 8. P. Andrews proposed the next resolution—" That his Worship the Mayor be

r requested to forward the resolutions already ; carried to the Canterbury members of the House at hie earliest convenience ” Ho wished to point out that no one had naked for this line, and he wondered at the audecity of the Government in proposing snob a line in opposition to the best interests of Canterbury The real cause was that Wellington was afraid that if this line were to be made, the trade now done over the Bimutaka would cease. This was the reason why the West Coast railway was not oared for by the Wellington members. Besides if this lino were made the San Francisco mail would be landed at Nelson, and they would get their letters as quickly as Wellington, Mr Vincent seconded the resolution, and said that not only must they send the resolutions to Wellington, but insist upon their members carrying out their wishes. [Cheers.] The motion was pat and carried unanimously. Mr J. Lee moved— *« That a committee be appointed to carry into effect the resolutions already passed, and that they be authorised to raise the necessary funds for holding meetings, io., such committee to consist of seven members, with power to add to their number.” He explained that what he desired to see was that meetings similar to the one held that evening should be arranged for at all centres of population. Mr Beese said that, for Mr Lee’s information, ho might say that the various centres of population intended to hold meetings similar to that one, and the Sydenham people had also informed him that a meeting wonld be held there shortly. They would thus see that all the Canterbury constituencies would have an opportunity of expressing their views on the subject. [Cheers.] The meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the Mayor. Mr 8. Clarkson announced that ho had a telegram from Mr Wynn Williams stating that the Drainage Board Bill had been shelved, Mr Thomson having talked it out.