HOKITIKA AND GREYMOUTH RAILWAY.

Kumara Times, Issue 614, 16 September 1878, Page 2

HOKITIKA AND GREYMOUTH RAILWAY.

1 PUBLIC MEETING. " , The Town Hall ,waa densely crowded, in facit literally packed, with people on evening last, “ to consider if j , be necessary to to take any public, action relative to the proposed railway- route lap'*; tween Hokitika and Greymouth." The Mayoe occupied, the chair, and, in opening the proceedings, said he felt highly gratified at the amount of interest taken in this question by the public, as evinced by" the large number of people j present. It had been said that miners as j a rule did not care, how things went; but that could not be said on this occasion. | They were assembled to consider if.it was i desirable that the route of the proposed ■ railway between Hokitika and Greymouth , should embrace Kumara, Goldsborough, ; and Stafford Town ; or if, in the construe* i tion of this line, those places were to be ' left out in the cold. It was no fault of ; the engineers that the inland line, was not ,' originally surveyed, as at that time this goldfield had not been discovered. In 1 asking for a portion of the good things ' going, they did not ask the Government j to delay commencing the line, either at j Greymouth or Hokitika, but simply re- • quested that the line might be re-surveyed j between the smith side of the Teremakau • river and the Arahura, and in so doing : they were only making a reasonable re- ! quest. Had the meeting been called for 1 the purpose of delaying the construction in any manner, he for one would think I they were acting wrongly. Should the ( line be carried along the beach, it would j require ten miles at least to make the branch lines, and each branch line would ; require one locomotive, costing £2500, | and about 1 £ls per week for the firemen, j and fuel for each. By making the devia- ! tion through the townships inland, it ' would only make a difference of six miles, ! and all the branch line expenses would be , saved. The whole of the land along the • beach line had been bought up by persons j when the ground was surveyed, thinking the line would be constructed there, and now you could not purchase a foot of it. j The Minister for Public Works had stated j that the Grown lands were to pay for the ) construction. Now, from the Teremakau I to the Arahura, on the inland line, it was j all Grown land. The argument had been i used in Hokitika that in asking for this deviation from the beach lino, it would probably stop the construction altogether; but if the Government were not asked before the contracts were let, they might then say it was too late. The Greymouth Press, he was pleased to say, had taken the matter up on tlieir behalf, but the , Hokitika one did not care whether they , sank or swam—after the' number of years Hokitika had been supported by the out,l lying mining districts. Even the very : I boulders which he might term, at present ' a nuisance to the miners, would eventu- ■ ' ally become valuable as ballast, should a . 1 railway be constructed between the two . | coasts. Along the beach line there was, [ ■ as a “fact, nocking that wonld repay the .outlay. Would the meeting endorse the r ■ action of the Hokitjjca people by snpport--3 ing the beach line, |nd throwing £22,000 s of public money into the sniff ? for it was , actually nuthipg less.—[Cries of “No; . no.” He condemned the action of the ] West Coast Times in this matter. The f Chairman then called on the mover of the . first resolution. _ Mr M. G tm.'iTHs, as Chairman of the ►' Arahura iloatl Hoard, said that, in moving the resolution as already passed by the

County Council, he thought great credit J •was due to the representatives of this dis- | trict in that body, for the manner in, j which they had looked after our interests I [Bear, hear, and applause], and lie trusted | the meeting would endorse the action of 1 the County Council. He would not ! expatiate on the subject, as the chairman | had already explained the whole matter. I He considered that the beach line would j not only tend to make this place a small village, but would never pay. If the inland line was constructed, as set forth in the resolution, there was every probability of the whole line proving remunerative ; and as when once a railway was made it will stand for all time, it would do good to those at present Here, and also those who came hereafter. He would now move the following resolution:—“That inasmuch as the present surveyed line of railway between Greymouth and Hokitika runs no further inland than 20 chains from the beach, it is desirable that a detour should be made so as to include, Kumara, Goldsboroughand Stafford Town: that tliis Meeting respectfully point out to the Govemment—lst. That unless this is done seven thousand of the inhabitants of Westland would be deprived of the benefits and convenience of railway connection with either Hokitika or Greymouth 2nd. That the proposed alteration would considerably augment the land fund of the colony, the land through which it would pass being Crown land, as against the old line, . where all the land has been • bought up iii anticipation of the construction of the line. 3rd. That along the proposed deviation there is one of the finest timber forests in the colony. 4th. That though* the distance * would be slightly increased, yet the advantage in. having the inland towns connected, and the carriage of.goods and. .passengers would more than-compen-sate for the distance and additional,expense of construction. sth., That at the time the first line was surveyed, the Kumara had not been discovered, and Sfaf-' ford and ; Goldsborough were hot considered sufficiently important to" warrant the Government hi including them in the proposed line, j ahdfor that reason. the : reconnaisance' Purvey were made 'as it Would' haVe been, if the. Goto? ethment thkhtlxe line through that."part -of the country. Ifith.* That & only Hokitika and Greymouth are ■ connected, the' question as to whether, the line would be payable would be problema-, tical, seeing that both bars/are equal, and, thp sole traffic would bfe (Greymouth CoaM to Hokitika,., land- Hokitika , timber to Greymouth*; but if .the inland towns were’ connected, the .paying of the line would be ensured,. This; Meeting wouW thsrefprey? j respectfully request the- ‘ Groverameilt to .•ImVeiheiiurvby made'.at'.dhce.” • • | Mr CoRNPOOT had .gie^t, pleasure, in I pecofidifig'the resolution',* as he considered jit was.-one, of the - * ‘ district, that tile-line should pass through it,'and die did hot think the request at all unreasonable. The crowded attendance‘here to-night proved the interest that was shewn in this question, and he strongly advocated'the action taken, as, had this goldfield not been opened, it would be a different matter, and the original line might then have been suitable, j He thought that our members in the 1 Council ought to receive the hearty sup- ; port of the district for their action, and also the member for Totara (Mr GrimI mond for his support.) [Hear, hear,] j The railway inland would benefit the resi- , dents of all the towns between here and : Hokitika besides being in itself more re- ■ munerative. For passing this resolution^ . in the County Council the West Coast i Times thought fit to criticise our mem- ■ bars, and tell us “We will give you ; branch lines” which would cost- more, probably, than the proposed one would. He believed the Government , would acceed to their request, as ths- boaoh line would be simply throwing money away. Ho heartily seconded the resolution.— [Applause.] '

Mr Cuming, in speaking to the resolution, said he had it ■ from very good authority'that there was a probability of' the line from Christchurch being brought-, this way and that Kumara would be theterminus. [Laughter.] The West Coast Times would make people believe, th*t the railway would be shelved for a year or two through us asking it might come through this district. The detour they asked for would in no way interfere with either Greymouth or Hokitika, and he believed there would be no shelving in the matter. Supposing the re-snrvey were undertaken, Government could in the meantime call for tenders from Greymouth to the Teremakau and from Hokitika to the Arahura and proceed with those portions of the line. [The speaker here dilated on the grand policy of Sir Julius Vogel]. The Government are well aware we have got the back country and the land, and he (the speaker) would like to know where the land fit for settlement was bn the beach? The line should be made through a district possessing a vast amount of timber .and gold, and then' it was a question of give and take, as we could export these and receive supplies in return. He considered they .were'fully entitled to the inland line, and should strongly support the resolution, [Applause. ] ' - The resolution was then put by the Chairman and carried unanimously, without one dissentient. Mr B. Blake said after the wonderful rhetoric he had heard displayed to-night, in simply asking -the Government to .resurvey the line from here to Hokitika,, they must pardon his inability as a, speaker. The only route he kiiew the proposed line. could take, and’in which there would he no difficulty as to the’ j levels, would after passing this township, I go by the Shamrock Lead, through 1 Larrikin’s, and come out near Stanton’s 1 corner. Any person knowing the country , would at once see tills was the only practicable route. He • considered the most ' sensible remark‘the proceeding speaker

(Mr Coining): had made, and which had been laughed atj-wa4 that Kumaramight eventually me the of the coast he '(the speaker) had surveyed the line'alluded tOj 'Via Hurunni Saddle, in 1867, .the there was ;ofuy and that was that a stationary engine would be re* quired at the saddle ; otherwise, it wad the most practicable route for connecting the coasts. He trusted he might yet see the railway in Kumara, as he still thought it would be brought down by the Tore* mahau Valley. Speaking to the subject now before the meeting he might say the more remunerative the line, the better for all; and as they .were a community that had to pay as large a share as any other to the Government .Treasury, they were as justly entitled to have a .certain, amount recouped them by -public works as other places. He thought question all pull-together and he had but little doubt of success.!': The papers nflght be wrong; they were not always right, and this was an (instance.l [Applause.! He had much pleasure. ;ini moving) ‘‘i That a committee be formed with a viewnf taking the necessary' steps, to hayethis district mid ,the Waimea and [Stafford connected with Hokitika and Grey mouth ‘by railway.”' ' ’ !ii j ■ 1 The;; resolution was/secbb'defl' by /Mr Jokes, and carried unanimously^ Mr W. S., Hakka..thought after the thorough explahatl6h l ‘tlmy l %Sd received fromAe little left for him ( j|h§» had already expressed hia opinions on the question. Plhe speaker ,then reiterated the views'in tW&eAFfppi He would' i move- • ■ ThalPther forward thp mept an<L memberSf f difltrict, also to the Grey dbuhty Borough CbunoUsiof Hokitika, and Kumara ; 'and aak:their coperation in the movement; as .also the/Greymnuth and Hokitika Railwa^o®®^^ , )Mr S. S/>P6Epodi briefly seconded the it was camed-ydthaccla-matibni < 01 /I T" J -ThC. elected anC Bifatritawy pose of takipg efeps to carry out the : second ‘ : the :iMayois mid mara, Meaara j^de. i.-jJaa/. Riohmqpdj J Jones, Mplyihill, j: JXmi«S^t£ibw. t and ; , ’ J ; &Vbte df f th^kt‘l^i^S l Qußffli&S ltier,..h.