THE MINISTER FOR THE MIDDLE ISLAND ON RAILWAYS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1075, 8 January 1872, Page 2

THE MINISTER FOR THE MIDDLE ISLAND ON RAILWAYS.

At the dinner of the Ellesmere. Agricultural Association, on tho 28th ult., the Hon. W. Reeves, the recently appointed Minister for the Middle Island, said ;— Two years ago the difficulty was to induce people to enlarge their views, and to support what is now commonly termed the policy of progress ; that is to say, to induce them to- support the Government in pledging the credit" of the Colony for these public works ; but that difficulty has in a great measure disappeared, and its place been taken by another of a very different kind. We are now met by the impatience of the public to have the railways made all at once, and without due regard to the difficulties and hindrances that stand in the way. I feel that it is almost impossible in the very short time; I ought to take up on an occasion of this kind, to explain to you fully why railways cannot be made in a day, and why works of this kind cannot be completed as quickly as you desire. As I poiuted out on the last occasion I addressed you, the difficulty alone of bringing out the rails and the ironwork required for bridges iri so short a time is one that it is impossible to overcome. When I explain to you that the lightest form of railway requires about 100 tons of dead weight for every mile that is constructed, you can calculate for yourselves what amount of tonnage will be wanted to bring out the materialrequired for 500 miles of railway ; 500 miles would take 50,000 tons of shipping. You all know, no donot, that the largest r i ships employed in ordinary trade and for purposes of immigration — ships of say 1000 tons — do not care to take much nicra than 150 tons of iron on board, and the number of ships that come here in the course of a year is necessarily very limited. I can illustrate the difficulty best, perhaps, by stating that the 2000 tons of dead weight required for the Northern railway, from Addington to Rangiora, have been able to be brought out only at the rate of 100 tons a month. Therefore you will see that unless the Government adppt some very different : method of bringing out railway material, the construction of 500 miles at our present rate would land us well into the next generation. I am not pointing out these difficulties as excuses for delay on the part of the Government, or with any idea of discouraging you as to the comparatively prompt and speedy construe- : tion of the railways. The Government intend to make them, and as speedily as possible, and to avail themselves of all necessary appliances and means to construct them as quickly as they *can be made ; only, I would have you bear in mind that, as every part of this colony thinks it has a fair claim to have its particular railway made first— as yon think in the case of your railway -and as the Government must necessarily serve all parties with some degree of equality, these railways cannot be made in a day.