EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2684, 14 November 1882, Page 3

EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

A deputation appointed at yesterday's meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, con- ] sisting of His Worship the Mayor, Messrs ] W. D. Meares, T. Pavitt, J. D. McPherson, ' J. Inglis and the Hon. E. Richardson, < waited upon the Hon. Walter Johnston, 1 Minister for Public Works, to-day at noon on the subject of the East and West Coast ' Railway. • Mr Johnston received the deputation at i the railway office. Mr N. W. Werry, Under j Secretary for Railways, was also present. i The members of the deputation having j been introduced, ' Mr Meares, president of the Chamber of J Commerce, said —We are a deputation < appointed by the Chamber of Commerce to e wait upon you, Mr Johnston, in order to convey to you the following resolutions, which were framed at a special meeting of 1 the Chamber of Commerce held yesterday, i [Resolutions read.] The main matter we 1 have to deal with to-day is that contained < in the second resolution, and I would like 1 to ask you if you can inform us whether the \ Commission has been instructed to consider } the route via Amuri and Reefton as one of i the main trunk lines to be reported upon by < them. * Mr Johnston —The instructions given to the Commission, and contained in the <■ " Gazette" are of the most general i character —designedly of the most open character, leaving tlfem free to consider 1 every possible line that may be suggested i to them. The Government has not thought fit to indicate to them any particular lines, 1 because the effect of that would be to - restrict their inquiry to the particular lines named by the Government. The hope of i the Government, and I think the hope of < the Commissioners also, so far as I under- 1 stand, is that in holding sittings here, and wherever else they may sit, ; all the lines which each locality 1 may think to be desirable shall be. < submitted for consideration, and all the " reasons given in support of each route. I ] know that is the hope of the Commission. And to guide residents in the different : localities interested, I caused all the re- . cords of what antecedent work has been • done to be sent to the offices of the Ptiblic Works Department at Christchurch, Nelson, Blenheim, and Picton; so that persons desirous of showing to the Commissioners . what in their opinion is the best route can get up all the facts so far as they have been ascertained up to the present by the various surveyors and other officers. That is so far as the instructions of the Commissioners go. Then, I know of my own knowledge that the attention of the Conamissioners has been drawn to the desirability of their making enquiry with regard to this particular line from Amuri to Topliouse via Reefton, with many others. But the Government have not expressly solicited their attention to any one of the possible lines. Mr Meares —Of course, then, Mr Johnston, your answer is in the affimative ? Mr Johnston —No ; you asked me whether to some extent the Government had drawn the attention of the Commissioners to this particular line. The Government has not done so, but has rather couched the terms , of the Commission in such a way as to mate it within their province, or their duty, to examine into the merits of all the -possible lines. Mr Meares —This line of route indicated would come under thu terms of the Commission, i Mr Johnston —Yes. Mr Chrystall—l suppose the Commission would be willing to receive information from the Railway League that has been formed here ? Mr Johnston —They will be willing to receive information from any body. Mr Chrystall—A league has been formed here for the purpose of collecting all useful information with regard to different routes, and it might serve a useful purpose to com • municato that to the Commission. Mr Johnston —1 am sure the Commission will be only too pleased to receive information from any person or any association of persons. Mr Richardson —I gather that all the reports, official documents and surveys that have been made under the auspices of the Government will be placed at the disposal I of the Commission ? Mr Johnston —Yes; and all the reports and all the surveys made up to the present time are in the Public Works Office, and are accessible to the public. S sThe Mayor—A league has been formed in Christchurch consisting of representatives from different local bodies in the province, and if they could show that the West Coast line would be more beneficial to the community at large, would the Government their-reprssentations ? Mr Johnston—Of course it would be the duty of the Government to make up its mind what it will do, and announce it to the House next session. But it is quite impossible for the Government or for myself to I come to any conclusion at all up»n the sub- . jeet until the examination by the ConiL misaioners has been made, and their report • has reached me. After that is done ot course we shall have to come to a decision, * and after the report of the Commission is 3 public property, if any person or association, of persons differ from it in any particulars, i and think fit to make representations to the s Government, of course those representa--3 tions will be considered with the report. Mr Pavitt —The public of Canterbury, Mr s Johnston, are very earnest in this matter. and are exceedingly anxious that the West Coast line should be constructed. We hope " to prove hereafter that it is the best line. " Such at anyrate is the univeral expression here.

a Mr Johnston—l suppose the most prac- , tical way to show the reasons for your faith a would bo to place them before the Commis- . sioners when they are here. . | Mr Meares—l do not think we need detain ~ you any longer. ... • Mr Johnston—l infer from the resolution t arrived at, and from what the deputation 3 has been good enough to say, that the whole . action taken by the Government last sesT sion, so far as the aporopnation ot public , money is concerned, is satisfactory to you—- , that is to say, taking a certain amount ior \ the completion of the Horsley Down section 1 and the construction of the Hurunui bridge, i and a certain amount for work beyond that; . the whole of that, as I understand, is m • accordance with your desires ? • Mr Inglis—Yes ;itis m the direction ot . the wish of the Chamber. .. I Mr Johnston—So that the strong feeling which you say exists in this province with : regard to the matter is, as to what may be done in the future—that everything that has been done up to the present time is so far satisfactory ? Mr Pavitt—Not altogether. Mr Johnston—Then I was going away with a wrong impression. [Laughter.J Mr Richardson—l think that, after Mr Johnston's remarks, one ought to say that the feeling is not exactly as he has put it, but that rather the Government having taken the vote for .£IBO,OOO, the public are of course quite prepared to take the pledge of the Government that they will spend it in that way; but what has given, rise to a feeling of uneasiness is that the public have been made aware that detailed surveys are proceeding on the East Coast, while nothing of the sort is going on in the other direction. There is a general feeling that this money may be diverted, and not spent as you say it is the intention ot the Government to spend it. Thatis why there is an uneasy feeling abroad. l"Mr Johnston—All I wanted to say was this. Of course the Government cannot spend anything more until a further appropriation "is made by Parliament, the whole appropriation in this direction made last year being confined exclusively to the prolongation of the line into the Amuri. That at all events is satisfactory. [Yes.J The whole power of the Government ceases there, until Parliament makes a further appropriation. „ , Mr Richardson—Yes, we are satisfied with the pledge that the Government have given, and that you have expressed that the , money is to be spent in that direction. Mr Johnston—No ; I don't say that the whole of the .£IBO,OOO is to be spent in that direction. I say that the whole amount ot . money that we asked the House to appro- . ! priate up to the present time has gone m that direction, and must do so; and that, . therefore, the action taken by the Govern- . ment last session, and the whole of the . appropriations asked for, were satisfactory to the Chamber of Commerce, as I under- , stand. . . i Mr Richardson—The feeling is this way. . The public are pretty generally aware that not only is money being spent, but liabilities incurred and surveys made. 1 have been given to understand, but j speak only from outdoor rumour, that . actual contract plans have been pre- i pared of a line which the great bulk of < the people here are of opinion it would be , an absolute waste of public money to construct. Therefore they are very anxious to j impress upon the Government the inadvisa- , bility of any liabilities whatever being in- J curred in that direction, at all events, until ] after the next session of Parliament. Of course you yourself have said that it is 1 not to be so. The Chamber we represent ( will take your word for it, and the word of i the Government that it is not to be so. •, Mr Johnston—Of course, it would be un- * lawful that the amount to be expended, and , the' amount of the liabilities incurred, should together exceed the amount appropriated. According to the Public Revenues ' Act the law now is that even in the matter of liabilities you cannot exceed the amount - appropriated by the House. i Mr Richardson—But I understand you ] wish to convey to us that it is not the in- ■[ tention of the Government to spend any of '., this money that has been voted except in continuation of the line northwards across , the Hurunui to the present line ? Mr Johnston—Last year I took no vote • except for that purpose, and, therefore, I am unable to incur even any liability except ( upon that. The extension beyond the j Amuri may turn out to be part of the permanent line or not, but at all events, all I -| am able to do during the current recess is to go on to the Amuri. That is what I . meant when I said that the action of the Government, limited as it is by law, is in acordance with your wishes. I Mr Richardson—You have probably made ( yourself acquainted with what has gone on a here, and there is a feeling that the words in the estimates attached to the Appropria- ~ tipn Act would still give ample room for a j deviation in a direction which the public here think is wrong. All these lines will 1 go more or less into the Amuri, but I take it you wish us to understand that it is the intention of the Government simply to go I on with the direct line towards the Red Post. c Mr Johnston —Yes ; so far as this year is < concerned. That is all I have taken money 2 for. j Mr Chrystall—But if you had begun at the Waipara you would not have been J going in the direction of the Red Post. t Mr Johnston—But this year we simply e take a piece in the direction of the Red Post. . i Mr Chrystall—What the Chamber objects < to is branching off at Waipara, because that 5 construction would not serve the construe- . tion of the West Coast line ultimately. i Mr Johnston—As to that, lam quite un- ' able to say what the ultimate decision of ■ the Government will be until after the - Commission has reported. That is a matter < which is entirely put on one side for the c present. i Mr Chrystall—lt is open for the Govern- i ment to go on with that as with the exten- 1 sion in the other direction. There were i three routes laid down—the Waipara- | Blenheim route, the Coast route, and the I inland route. What we objected to were the two Coast lines. We were not satisfied as to the intentions of the Government with regard to the direction ofthe extension. • Mr Johnston —All the lines you speak of are mentioned in Mr Blair's and other reports. I think if you look at the Appro- ; priation Act you will find that we have only taken money to go across the Hurunui, and that the whole power of the Government is limited by the Appropriation Act. So far as I know no action yet taken by the Government, and to which the Government may have committed the colony, has run counter to what I understand to be your wishes. I say that without indicating in the least what it may be my duty to recommend to the House next session. lam putting that entirely on one side until the Commission has reported. Mr McPherson —Do we understand that no part of the .£IBO,OOO will be expended on any other work than extending the main trunk beyond the Hurunui this year, and that whatever is done will be subservient ? Mr Johnston—l have taken an appropriation for a small part of the £ISO,OOO, and I cannot go beyond my appropria,tion. Mr Meai-es —I think, as far as the appropriation is concerned, the country is generally satisfied as far as the Hurunui bridge; beyond that it is the question of how the £IBO,OOO is to be expended. The country, as a rule, objects to have this £IBO,OOO spent on a line along the East Coast, and wishes to have the sum expended in the direction of the West Coast. That is, I believe, the general opinion, and I believe it is the unanimous opinion of the inhabitants of this province that the West Coast line would be the only one likely tobe a. benefit to the public. Mr Johnston —Of course Parliament next session will appropriate a certain amount of this £IBO,OOO on the extension northwards, cither on one line or the other, but up to the present time they have not done so, but only given the Government power to spend monev on what is now the Hurunui line. Mr Inglis—The £IBO,OOO is appropriated ? Mr Johnston—No, the Loan Bill merely indicates an apportionment of the money. Mr Meares —I take your first question in a . slightly different sense to that given to it by other members of the deputation. Your question was whether the members of the Chamber considered that the amount appropriated for Canterbury, namely, £IBO,OOO, was a fair appropriation. If that was your , question I think I may say that we do not consider it a fair appropriation, and that ; the public at large shares in that view, i Mr Johnston —I was not thinking of that > matter. I was merely thinking that in so - far as the Government had asked the > House to appropriate money towards the • extension of the railway system, the appro- • priation of last year did not in any way ; run counter to the wishes of the Cham- :' ber of Commerce, as I understand them. , If you want to influence the decision which 3 may be ultimately come to, and which i, cannot bo arrived at before next session, , the practical thing to do will be to make 3 your representations to the Commissioners. - They are absolutely independent, and have no preference or prejudice one way or the e other ; and if you can satisfy them that the line you advocate will be the best for the t colony, they will say so; if, on the other e hand, they think differently, they will say :. so too. i The deputation then thanked Mr Johnston and withdrew.