ROAD TO THE PLAINS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 193, 6 September 1854, Page 5

ROAD TO THE PLAINS.

A Public Meeeting was held at the Town Hall, on Monday evening last, "To take into consideration Mr. Hughes's plan and report," which was very numerously attended. The Chair was taken by C, R, Blakiston, Esq. The Chairman on opening the proceedings of the evening said, that he believed it would be unnecessary for him to go fully into details in reference to the plan before them ; he was sure that (here were present many gentlemen who would do so ; he considered however that a brief statement of the origin of another line of road was perhaps necessary. Some weeks ago a few friends met together, who being dissatisfied with the preseut defective means of communication between the Port and the Plains, and feeling convinced moreover of the serious injury which was likely to result alike to the mercantile class on the one hand and the producers on the other, from its longer continuance, determined upon engaging Mr. Hughes to make a survey of the line he had submitted to them, and the result was the plan which he had laid on the table. It appeared to them to be so generally satisfactory and feasible that a Committee was formed to endeavour to carry it into effect, and hence the resolution which they hud seen convening the meeting which was so numerously attended this evening. The Committee had pledged themselves to support this line, not because it was the best of all those which have hitherto been submitted, since he was convinced of the superior advantages in many respects which the line laid down by Capt. Thomas possessed, but because they believed the road to be a good and efficient one, and that it might be obtained at the least cost and with the least expenditure of time. The obstacle in the way of farmers and stock* owners on the Plains in bringing their produce to market was a serious evil, it checked enterprize and discouraged cultivation; —remove only this great impediment from their way, and we should find the time would soon come when our harbour would be filled with the ships of other nations, crowding hither with the rich produce which we so much needed, and hearing away in exchange our superabundant grain and our golden fleeces ; hereafter our reward would bje> that our children would bless the efforts of ttyiS. fathers in that they had successfully laboui-ed to develop the great resources of this, the land of their adoptionMr. Alpokt on rising to propose the first resolution, expressed his gratification at seeing so numerous and so respectable a meeting; it bore testimony to the deep interest felt in the subject they had met to consider. It was an evidence too that the people were unwilling any longer to delay the work before them. It was nearly 5 years since the first sod was turned upon a road which was intended to open up a communication between the Port and the Plains.

Look at our position now; we are still begging, still entreating, still complaining, and the work bad yet to be done. It was not his intention, nor was it that of the Committee, to disparage other lines of road—all they required was that which, in their opinion, the plan before them achieved, the most convenient and the easiest road for bullock drays, and at the least severe gradients. If he looked at the Sumner road he found that in the present state of the Colony, it would be five years longer before any steps were taken towards the attainment of their object, and perhaps then they might be as far off from its accomplishment as they were now. Men and money were required for that line to an extent which it was hopeless to expect we could overcome. It might be said of Mr. Hughes' plan, that it was not adapted for a permanent road, but the Committee did not put it forth as such ; —they looked upon it only in the light of a temporary road, sufficient for the purposes of immediate traffic, and as such he felt convinced the plan before them would bear the closest scrutiny. The gradients were easy, and he believed he was correct in saying that Engineers of acknowledged ability were ready to bear testimony to its accuracy—but the ground was staked out, and the road could be practically judged of by walking over the line. It was obvious that our present bridle path could never be used for the conveyance of teams; —a gradient of I in 3 was an insurmountable obstacle. Every one would admit that it was a step in the right direction when they endeavoured to construct a road on which for a portion of it only the lowest gradient was 1 in 7; a road over which a dray might carry a ton weight of produce with ease, and the cost of which would be under £6,000. On the Christchurch side of the hill the average gradients would be believed be I in 9 or 10, and this was an important consideration, for all practical men knew that the severest test was the indraft. In his opinion the plan before them overcame all obstacles on this side of the hill, and greatly reduced them on the other. It was too an important feature that the road could be open for traffic within six months. It might be said that in doing so, we should be diverting the present scanty supply of labour from the channels in which it;\vas now so usefully employed, but happily this would not be the case, as Mr. Hughes "could obtain 50 or 60 natives for the work, young and able hands, accustomed to the work, who would easily accomplish it in the time he had named. The Sumner road we all know would cost nearly £30,000 to coraplete,but we had notgot the money. We have £6,000. But some have said, Why not expend that sum as far as it will go on the completion of that road ? Suppose we did, might we not, after all, come to a full stop upon some ugly rock, and have the pleasing satisfaction of looking on some three or four years more for the accumulation of funds, while the produce of our Plains lays rotting for a means of conveyance, and our commerce brought to a standstill. Ask shipowners, and they will tell you of the great inconvenience they have already experienced, arising from the delay attendant upon the importation of their cargo from the Plains. The river conveyance was doubtless most important, but it was hazardous and very uncertain ; valuable enough, if outproduce consisted entirely of potatoes and grain, but the staple commodity would probably henceforth be wool, and we know how serious an injury that sustained from salt water. A good bullock road would enable the stockowner to deliver his cargo at once at the Port. His team could be kept going, and if need be, an auxiliary one might be established, as doubtless there would be, by some enterprising man, disposed to help with a good pull, and a strong one from the foot of the hill. He would suppose that from some unexpected source, funds might flow in to enable us to complete the Sumner road, a thing in itself, no doubt, desirable ; it could not, however, be said that the money expended on' the proposed line was thrown away. The road would always be available, and would be of invaluable service as a cattle road. It was, bear in mind, 5 miles shorter than that by Sumner, the one being 11 M miles, the other 6|. The plan before them showed this by actual chain measurement, and could not be denied. He had heard objections taken to the gradient; that a team of 4, or perhaps 6 bullocks, could not draw a ton weight with a gradient of 1 in 7orl in 9. He believed there were mm present, whose practical, every-day knowledge of the subject would

be given to 'the meeting. One answer to this objection was based on his own experience. We all knew Oxford street in this town, the gradient were is 1 in 9. He had seen, and so doubtless had they all, H of a ton drawn up that street by one horse with ease. The present position ot the colony demanded the immediate construction of such a road, and as he was fully impressed with, the belief that the plan before them was the best, the most economical, and could be obtained without delay, it should receive his warmest support, and he had great pleasure, therefore, in proposing the first resolution :— "That as the plan and section prepared by Mr. Hughes appears to offer facilities for construtting an available road of communication to the Plains, the same be adopted by this meeting-" Mr. Davis rose to second the resolution. He said, Happily but few people, he believed, were present this evening, who were not fully aware of the vast importance of the subject they had assembled to consider. The difficulties attendant upon the construction of other lines of road, at least of the favored ones, were so great as to be almost insurmountable, and while the difficulties continued, if we were to stand by with our arms folded and stoically look on, we should soon have neither a market nor a people seeking for one. It had been said that the cost of the proposed line would be £6,000 ; now he would state that he believed it could be constructed for less than £5,000. His authority for saying this was Mr. Hughes himself. He was well acquainted with the hills around and about Wellington, and there he had seen bullock teams constantly passing to and fro over hills, the gradient of which was one in three ; it would be absurd, therefore, to object to this line upon the score of its gradient, which in the worst part would be not less than 1 in 7. He begged the meeting would fully understand that he did not desire to open up a discussion upon recent irritating topics which had led to controversy in the public papers. He could not allow the meeting to separate without correcting a great blunder which had been made by a correspondent in a letter addressed to one of the papers ; he had stated that among the disasters which had occurred in this harbour, that the " Charlotte Jane," a vessel of many hundred tons burthen, had been wrecked : this was not so—it was a vessel of 40 ions, called the "Jane and Charlotte," and which was not wrecked, but met with some injury, and which, owing to the impolitic conduct of] he believed, her owners, had ended in her destruction. For himself, he could say, and he hoped all would agree in the expression^)/ such a feeling, it was his sincere desire that wherever differences had existed as arising out of this vexed question, they might henceforth be buried in oblivion. He had much pride and pleasure in seconding the resolution which had been read.

Dr. Donald said—He felt bound to ri^e for the purpose of opposing the resolution which had just been submitted to the meeting. Nevertheless while he felt it to be a duty incumbent upon him to do so, he was fully prepared to thank those gentlemen who formed the Committee under whose auspices the plan before them had been brought forward. He could not for one moment believe that this road could be called a dray road. It was an impossibility; and he was surprised that some appeal had not been made to the intelligent engineers in the colony, whose opinions he was convinced would have confirmed him in the statement he bad made. The difficulty was uot overcome when the summit was attained, as the descent was as difficult as the ascent, and every practical man knew this. He had endeavoured to make himself acquainted with the subject, he had read a great deal having reference to the construction ot such roads, and he would instance a road known to the world at large, namely, the Simplon crossing the Alps,—a mountain six thousand feet high. Over this vast mountain was a good diligence road—the gradient of which was 1 in 29. Now as the greatest civil engineering talent was doubtless consulted on the construction of this road, we have sufficient ground for believing that the result of their labours convinced those eminent men, that a road with a much steeper—gradient would have been insufficient for the purpose of traffic. Modem engineers are of opinion thai no road for general traffic should be less than I in 24, as with a severer gradient than this, the mere effort of climbing is alone exhausting; the muscular

power of ihe animal is used to keep back the carriage, unless tire wlieeis are locked, and great distress is the consequence. A road of lin 12 is no doubt practicable, but while this road is cheaper, it will cost much more to keep it in repair ; in this opinion I know engineers concur. Dr. Donald then laid a copy of a pamphlet upon the table, :t The evidence given by certain engineers before a Committee appointed to enquire into ihe mode of communication between the Harbour and the Plains," and from which he read several extracts, particularly drawing the attention of the meeting to the evidence of Mr. Torlesse. He proceeded to observe that the Sumner line was not hastily agreed upon, it was rather the result of the calm deliberation of a Committee of engineers, and their decision he thought was certainly correct. But it is said that £6,000 will make this road ;he believed it would, because he thought Mr. Hughes was a practical man, and his report may so far be firly relied upon ; vet a gradient of 1 in 9 was not in his opinion a road for the purposes in question. In Australia we know that it was not an uncommon thing for teams to consist of 20 bullocks. He would instance the Holy head road; there was a gradient of 1 in 20, and that he believed was considered as steep a rise as was consistent with safety upon a coach road. Even this required the aid of a tramway. He thought this expenditure of £6,000 wns only throwing away money which ought to be husbanded for a better purpose for a permanent way. He should propose an amendment not from any factious motiye, but because he felt it to be his duty to take the opinion of the meeting upon the propriety of such an appropriation of their funds. He then proposed the following 'amendment*:.— "That it is the opinion of this meeting that expenditure oi any public money that will impede the completion of a permanent road is unadvisable." > Mr. Spowbrs rose to second the amendment which had been submitted to the meeting. He would not occupy their time longer than to say a few words upon the subject, because he believed that Dr. Donald had said all that was necessary in reference to it. He had no desire to oppose Mr. Hughes's line, it might or it might not be a very good one for a temporary purpose,—he thought it would be unwise to waste our means upoa a merely temporary line of road. The great thing needed to give an impetus to the prosperity of the colony was a pract cable and permanent road for the transmission of produce between the Port and the Plains —such a Hue, he believed the Sumner road would prove to be; it was idle to say-we had not funds to complete that road ; he did not believe it* The proposed line he considered could only last 5 or 6 years ; indeed he believed it was only auxiliary to'that most stupid crotchet the Tunnel and Railroad, and he feared if it ever was carried out it would prove an effectual hinderance to the construction of a more permanent way. Hereafter it* might be said when the people turned their attention, as they would do, to the Sumner line, that no means could be found for the completion of that road, and the excuse might be that we had wasted ,£6,000 upon a road that would ultimately be of no value to the colony. He hoped that L.vttellon at all events would hesitate in .the adoption of a resolution which in his opinion would effectually depute them.of a good cart road. Mr. Pouter said he had looked at every document he could obtain in order to make himself acquainted with the subject before them. He believed there had heen time enough lost upon the Stunner road,, and we ought now to go to work in earnest. The daily wants of the colony satisfied him that a road of some sort was required immediately. He had passed over the Alp-v and had frequently seen the bullock drays there parsing to and fro, but never under circumstances of the slightest difficulty. Something had been said about the Holy head road,— he knew it well,, and had fiequently travelled over it, luit he had never seen the twin road to which.Dr. Donald had alluded, nor did he believ.e there was anything of the kind. *if £6,000 can l>e obtained it is of the highest importance alike to. ihe interests of the Port and the Plains that t!ie road should be begun at once. Allusion had been made to the difficulty of procuring European labor ;. he feared there was much truth in the statement, and however well our Superintendent may have planned his schemes of! emigration, he had great doubt whether the fejjvm would be forthcoming.. In England wages

were vising—while Ireland is sending all her surplus labor to America. He then told the old story of the coachman's opinion" of railroads. If you travelled by the coach.and you were unfortunately upset, it was simply '' There ye are ; " but now if you go by the nil and an accident occurs, then it is v VVhere are you ?" and so it might be with Mr. Hughes' line which presented no dangerous sidinjrs. If an accident occurred it would be only "There you are;" but on the Sumner road with its dangerous rocks and sidings and sea walls, it might be " Where are you ?"

Mr. Damp'ier attended the meeting with an anxious desire to hear the expression of public opinion upon the question before them, because he felt the interests of Lyttelton had much at stake in the matter. It was not his intention either to oppose or support the resolution or the amendment. The) time would probably come, and that very shortly, when the subject would be brought before him in another place. He believed the course he intended to pursue would therefore be the most respectful. The Government have taken steps to obtain every information in their power upon the communication between the Port and the Plains, and they have had several plans submitted t<v them for this purpose. If he were disposed to hazard an opinion at all,,he should be inclined to judge that there are reasons against this line which have a good deal of character in them. He had heard that a dray road should go over the face of the spur where there would be room for beasts to turn, but if a road is cut entirely, or nearly so, on sidings, this is impossible. He merely threw out this as a suggestion, although if the objection held good, so far the plan before them would be objectionable. While every one was most properly anxious to promote the communication between the Port and the Plains, they must not forget that the people of Christchurch have a navigation which is of vast importance to them ; they ought not to be deprived of this. The proposed line entirely cuts that off.. They were much indebted to those gentlemen who have brought this subject forward. It has opened the question, which is more important than all others, namely, the propriety of expending public money for any temporary road whatever. He had no doubt they possessed funds enough even for the construction of that which shis friend Mr. Spowers had so damagingly called that most stupid of all stupid crotchets, a railway. If there was no such prospect before them, was it reasonable to sup pose the Government would have wasted their time in its consideration? He believed they were not so stupid,but rather intelligent enough not to expend £20,000 upon the Sumner road, seeing that the whole of that money would be thrown away if the railroad was constructed. The real question was this, whether before a proper, permanent way was made,, was it desirable to lay out money for a temporary convenience, and if so,, to what extent would the Government be justified in expending money for such a purpose. If the resolution before the meeting is affirmed, it would, he believed,, be tantamount, to an expression of opinion that Lyttelton was satisfied that 5, or £6.000 should be devoted to the purpose, and that the plan before the meeting is that scheme which they would generally approve. Mr. Taylor had been in the habit of driving teams in Australia. He should think nothing of taking a bullock dray over the present road if it was in a fit state to do so. His team worked on a road wine miles long, the greater portion of it on siding hills. He had taken 4 tons 59 miles, from Ross to Lauuuesioii, and thought nothing of a gradient of 1 in 8 or 1 in 6 either. If the bridle-path was better than it is, he would not mind starting a team evei? now. A broad loud is nut necessary for driving a team,, if you have experience as a driver. He thought there was no difficulty whatever in the proposed line. After a few explanatory words from Mr. Alport and Dx Donald, the Chairman read the amendment,, which was negatived by a very large majority, i'iie resolution was then pdt and carried. Mr Ba.yfiisi.d rose tn propose the second, resolution. He felt that veiy iillie had been left for him to say on the subject.. What had passed was sufficient evidence io him that the proposed line would give universal satisfaction. The plan had at last been affirmed,, ami he Imped there would be no more time lost in getting to work; it would satisfy the wants of the colony for some years to come. It was with great

satisfaction that he moved the resolution^ fc'iSfk had been placed in his hands. v *%f [This resolution as subsequently amended, will be found below.]

Mr. OiLivißa said that he would second the resolution they had just heard read with great pleasure. He regretted there were not other* present from the Plains who had been longer resident in the colony. He well 'remembered the impression upon his mind when first he looked down from the hill top upon the Plains, and he felt that so long as that impassable barrier existed to trading intercourse, there mu*t of necessity be a considerable check upon agricultural enterprise. He had heard it said that only this season the produce of the Plains was rotting on the Quay for want of vessels to remove it. Would merchants here be content even another year to purchase their produce and run these risks ? he felt sure they would not; neither would ship-owners be content to be detained five or six weeks in the harbour when as many days would be sufficient for their purpose. It was a matter-therefore calling for immediate redress; they had now affirmed the line, and they should now earnestly entreat the Government to give the matter thoir immediate and serious consideration. He felt that the course they had pursued was a relief to the Provincial Government, composed as it was of a small body : this expression of public opinion would strengthen them in their efforts to accomplish the road, and they would now act with vigour,, seeing that out of doors a principle of action had been affirmed. The cost of the Sumner road rendered it an impossibility to entertain it ; he would simply ask from whence would the money come:: if from the Government'chest, then lie would only observe, that since the plan proposed, which would cost but £5,000, would for the present meet all the wants of the settlement, nothing could justify the expenditure of the larger sum, while money wasneeded in the Province for so many other urgent purposes. There was he believed a strong feeling in favour of the proposed plan in and about Christchurch, and he knew that many experienced farmers accustomed to the management of bullock teams, had no fear whatever of the severity of a gradient of 1 in 7. He cordially supported the Resolution. Mr. J. HAij<.said before the resolution which they had heard read was put, he would suggest a verbal alteration to. it; he would not then go into the details of this or that plan, it was not the time for him to do so ; like Mr. Dampier he would reserve his opinion for another place. The resolution, which when 'amended stood thus, was then put and carried unanimously :— " That a memorial to the Provincial Government be drawn up, praying that the plan referred to in the first resolution may receive their immediateand earnest attention ;such memorial to be signed by all parties interested in the subject." Mr. Waitt briefly proposed— "That a Committee be appointed to carry out the above resolutions, to consist of Messrs.. Waitt, Davis, Pratt,. Fyfe, and Blakiston." Mr. Pkatt seconded the resolution, and said he should be much pleased to aid in carrying out the objects of the meeting. Mr. Porter rose to suggest that a meeting should be called in Christchurch in order that oppportunity should be afforded for the fullest expression of public opinion upon the question. Upon the motion of Mr. Oilivier, seconded •by Mr. Stout, a vote of thanks was passed to the Committee for having brought the subject so prominently and so effectually befove the public Mr. Spowers then moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman for his very impartial conduct while presiding over the meeting, which, on being seconded, was briefly acknowledged J^L.^ I*1'* BlTikiston, and the meeting separated. ;/!?&