The Weekly Times. "Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1868. WELLINGTON AND WAIRARAPA TRAMWAY.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 56, 27 January 1868, Page 23

The Weekly Times. "Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1868. WELLINGTON AND WAIRARAPA TRAMWAY.

A project for the construction of a railway from Wellington to the Wairarapa—as part of a grand trunk line through the Northern Island—has received a considerable degree of attention of late. Public meetings have be6n held on the subject, and a provisional committee appointed for the purpose of forming a company for laying down a tramway from Wellington tq (Masterton, with a capital oi .in 12,000 shares, with power to increase the number of shares to 24,000; and at a public meeting held at Wellington on the 6th instant, the engineers presented their report to the public. The report, which: occupies several columns of the Independent, after showing the advantages calculated to flow from the carrying out of the scheme, detailed what had been already done in that direction by the Wellington Provincial Council since the question was first mooted in 18.63, when a select committee was appointed on the motion of Mr Robert Stokes, which reported as follows

Your .committee, having careftJly considered the question of a railway from the city of Wellington to the north-eastern boundary of the province as contained in the memorandum submitted to the Council by Mr Stokes, are of opinion that the construction of such a work would tend very greatly to increase the profitable' occupation of the inland districts by an agricultural population, and to promote ia. tiie highest degree the prospects of the province, and that sach a work would probably he undertaken by a company if liberal concessions were offered by the province. With this view your committee recommend that the' following concessions b'e granted to a committee to bef formed for this object Ist. A guarantee not exceeding six per cent, per annum on the capital expended on the undertaking to the extent of £500,000. 2nd. That the land required for the formation .of a.line of railway to the width of one chain, and the land requisite for the necessary stations - v® provided by the Government free of cost. Your committee recommend that his Honor the Superintendent be authorised to . take such preliminary steps in furtherance of the recommendation as may appear under the circumstances to be practicable.

(Signed) Robert Stokes, Chairman.

The suggestions of that committee it seems was not acted on owing partly to the disturbed state of the Northern Island, which prevented the formation Of a'company, and also the unwilling--11688 ofthe Wellington Provincial Government to commit itself ! to ’any concessions until it had acquired the lands: through whichthe railroad would pass, though it was exceedingly anxious to see the work performed. In T 864 Mr- Morrisommade a memorandum: of the probable cost of a railway from Wellington through the Wairarapa to the boundary of Hawke’s Bay—distance, about 150 miles,— bemg,‘exceptfor about 9 miles, through acomparativelyleveicbuntry;t)robai ’ ble ;;' In’ .D. A. M'Leod likewise made a. memora,nducQ,vbut the estima-

ted cost seems to have been so high as to have stayed proceedings for a time. In 1866; Mr R Marchant gave evidence before ~a ■ select committee of the Wellington' Provincial Council which caused such committee to. recommend to the Government that the said, railway should be formed without unnecessary delay as far as the Wai- ; rapa,—-the Government to give a guarantee at the rate of 7 percent on any outlay not exceeding .£150,000 ; and accordingly during that session an Act was passed embracing the recommendation of the committee.

As we have intimated the line proposed is but the commencement of a great northern line from Wellington through Hawke’s Bay to Auckland, embracing also a branch line to Wanganui by the Manawatu block, and in connection with this larger scheme the following communication from our Superintendent will be read with interest:—

Napier, Bth November, 1887.

-My Dear Sir,- —I have received your letter of the 29th ult., with the tracing of a proposed line of tramway from Wellington to Wairarapa, for which I am exceedingly obliged. There. is no doubt that the extension of the line to Napier would be of great service to the province, as every means of opening up a new country most be of immense advantage. There is no portion of this Island that could be opened by a tramway or otherwise, with less labor and expense, than this province, owing chiefly to the large extent of level and open country; but I must admit that I do not consider the present an auspicious time to undertake such an outlay. I should like much to see the line of communication between Auckland and Wellington open, and this must necessarily be via the East Coast and Taupo, in consequence of the slopes of the mountain ranges towards the West Coast being so intersected by deep wooded ravines and impassable creeks; while on the East Coast the land is much more level, and no engineering difficulties of a costly nature would be found to impede the progress of a good line to unite the north and south ofthe island.

I have long been of opinion that road making in a new country shonld be carried over the most natural and accessible gradients, notwithstanding the distance might thereby be increased, leaving posterity hereafter to shorten the distance by more expensive and direct lines.

I am confident that immense saving would have been gained to the colony if a few practical suggestions of this kind had been considered in the formation of roads in the early settlement of the colony. Unfortunately, in many parts, of New Zealand the principal object of the engineer seemed to be how he could save distance, by going over, in some instances, the most inaccessible lines, causin'; large outlays without a corresponding benefit. lam glad to see that the Wellington press report favorably on your proposals. I remain, my dear sir, Yours very truly, (Signed) Donald MLean. C. O’Neil, Esq., M.H.R., Civil Engineer, Wellington.

While we quite agree with his Honor that the present is an inauspicious time for undertaking so great an outlay, we can but express our pleasure to find that there are people in Wei lington of enterprise and spirit suffi cient to undertake that part of the work, which more immediately concerns their own Province; and we feel that the construction of the line to Masterton—6o miles of the distance towards this Province—would cause a speedy continuation of it to be effected, so as to give us a share in its advantages, while that would be a step fur r ther in the carrying out of the original scheme of a great northern trunk railway, which we are sanguine enough to believe we may have the good fortune to see completed during the next seven years. '