THE PROPOSED RAILWAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 659, 2 March 1859, Page 4

THE PROPOSED RAILWAY.

■"'.ls it not good that we well consider .our ways'?','

yg-iTo.ihe Editor, of iheiLiJtlcllon Times.

'Sir,-— -1 feel it to be necessary to commence this . lucubration' with n respectful apology to you and -• your readers for presumptuously entering Upon a ■controvert^' in a matter of such vital importance to •this'clty., to its port, and to the future welfare of the; whole^vovince. as 'the permiinent formation of he -moid; ready and useful way of communication niiween Christclinrchand tlie Canterbury plains onI'eone hand, andiheir excellent and only port, Lyfcton, on rthe other.-; and I must admit that my •; nsgreKskm is enhanced in a tenfold degree by , >,i obsciare, nameless stranger, like myself, under-

taking to differ from-a gentleman so well known for his eloquence and groat abilities as Mr. James Edward PitzGerald, for -sprno time-the respected and active Superintendent" of thi«' province, and moreover the distinguished Prime Minister of the whole Colony of New Zealand.,, I might he expected, in commenting upon, the opinions and recommendations of so distinguished a gentleman, to show the courtesy of appending my own name, but I beg to presorve my anonymous signature, because it may afford your readers the pleasure of forming the 'myth, -in their own minds that 'the writer i« a person of shrewdness, activity, general knowledge, great ability, and other desirable qualitie&; while perchance persons with a little authority might look upon the real man as incapable of understanding where or how a culvert should be constructed, or to judge if a load of .gravel was rightly deposited«on the roads, that .he presumes to write about. I claim however one qualification— I am entirely independent of all preconceived opinions. I may add that something of what I may say would have been written tin mylastxommunication had I room and time.

It-is scarcely necessary perhaps to call to recdl-lection-that almost from the first formation of the colony there has been a difference of opinion amongst the settlers, all of them deeply interested in the question and honestly desiring.to form-the best 'possible means of communication between the in- ! terior and the port, as. to which way'this was to be effected; and this discussion has to some extent taken theform of a party question,—Mr. FitzGerald belonging to that party advocating the line of communication round by .the Sumner Valley in opposition txrthose who have-considered a direct communication by a tunnel-through-the hill to be-the preferable way. At the same time it cannot be forgotten that the question is of immense impor: tance to this large province, whose plains only are as-extensive as ttiree trr four large ♦English counties, all rich land, and rightly managed, capable of producing as much agricultural produce, both animal and cereal as any equal surface in the temperate regions of'the earth, together with fully as much wool, and cloivble'the quantity of mutton that It is capable of producing in-its natural state. Tor all -the business of export and import that this fertility- must produce-there is in fact but one .port; .no wonder, then/that so much;interest is taken in finding or making a way to that port capable of carrying; the immense traffic that must, come upon'it. ■I cannot gather from Mr, PitzGerald's letters that he is commissioned by the Superintendent and the Provincial Executive, or that the said Executive is authorised by any -vote of the 'Provincial Council to give Him authority to enter into such tjontracts and engagements as are necessary for the construction of a railway communication by the Sumner Valley and through the hill to Lyttelton; but I can very well conceive that a pre-formed opinion of the superiority of the Sumner Valley route, and a-laudable ambition to eiFect what he believes would be a great-and permanent good to his adopted country have leS iiim to consider other opinions upon the subject as of little consequence, and to addres his Honor and .press "the adoption of his plans as if the matter was already settled. But, '■■ if no suck resolutions as to the adoption of the said Sumner route have been adopted either by the Provincial Council or by his Honor and the Executive, the parties advocating the direct route may possibly ask to be allowed to have a word in the matter. ;Tn the first place, ihey will ask—By i;he result, of what evidence has it been made apparent that " it has been considered that it would not be wise to attempt to penetrate the hill by a tunnel?" Why, if I understand the letters, we are "to have several tunnels bythe yalley~line,the big one, with its accessories, costing £300,000. Then, " tunnels through Moabone Point" to be made at the expense of-sthe<G6yerhment^'and-costing any rsum -we may please"tp think' necessary, ;for there is nothing said about how much; -'It thus appears that merely a tunnel moi'e or less, is no objection either way. What the hill tunnel will cost we have no means of estimating, and before a matter of such importance can be satisfactorily settled this ought surely to be understood. There is a talk from the railway contractor of " the enormous time this (the making of hill tapnel) : would occupy, and the loss of interest on capital for so long" as it is supposed the tunnel would take in driving through, the hill, that probably might be understood by persons of active minds-to convey a hidden meaning that the cost of the said hill tunnel and the straight line from the Perry "to Lyttelton would not exceed the cost of the round-about one by the Sumner Valley. Nothing is said of any extra cost, but the railway contractor intimates -that interest would be lost. A very proper thought for him; but extra expense would have been a stronger argument, and I cannot very well suppose that a man of such ability as the said contractor would have forgotten to use it if he had had it to use. Something may be said anon as to how sufficient if not ample means of communication between the city and -the port could be provided while the tunnel was making. Now, it will be well to consider that this line of communication is' intended efficiently and permanently to connect a port, presenting ample means for carrying on a most- extensive and increasing commerce, with a city and a large and naturally rich country producing and consuming great quantities of the articles of commerce, and with resources yearly developing ; with an unparaklled rapidity. It is above all things necessary that these growing requirementsshould le provided for, and for this the straight '■ route presents certainly the shortest distance, and' we shall perhaps find on consideration greatly superior means, so as altogether to^overwhelm the little loss of interest that might be incurred by a somewhat longer continuance of the work.

■ I beg here to digress, to say once for all, that by either ime, the expense of forming the railway (its stations, &c. not spoken of) from Christchurch to the Heatheote river will be about'the same, and also the connections with all the wharves at Lyttelton, which, however, will not be necessary to be fully carried out at present. Nothing has hitherto been said of the difference in the-gradients of the two lines, nor of their comparative lengths, and the heavier tax that must be levied upon the passengers if the longer one be adopted.: The short line will, it is said, have a general ascent from Lyttelton for a considerable part of its length; but the.height of the culminating'point in the straight line, it is evident to the most casual observer, will not be one fourth of that of the Sumner .Valjey. Now this greater ascent will impose proportionate strain upon the locomotives, not only wearing them out in a much shorter time, but requiring a very great extra expense for fuel to produce tlie power naeessary for them to do the work at all. But, besides this, the rails and road will last a much less time from having more to do, and consequently cause a perpetual serious extra outlay. Moreover, there will be an-expense incurred and a loss of lime occasioned by the adoption of the Sumner Valley line just equal to the expense and time required for .passing along the whole straight line, whatever they may be. The Sumner Valley line proposed is at least double the length of the straight line, and its gradients being steeper, it" will require more outlay to. keep it in repair; and the. ■same steepness of gradients.will also present obstacles to the moving of the trains' so quickly, and more especially as same of them are ratlier Bharp ones v Therefore, as all the. expenses of -working the lines at least must be paid by the passengers' fares, and.the toll on the goods conveyed, it dent that double distance,- especially as.it would be attended with greater wear and tear, must ooc'asion double expense, and passengers' time should be

worth something'.'■in' this country—probably at least as much as the fare. An estimate of the expenditure that the Sumner Valley line would thus entail upon the country over and above what would be required,by the other line, would show a result that might..possibly frighten long line advocates. I am only speaking of results that I have witnessed in England. There, an established and powerful railway company, wishing to bring within, their workings a populous and very improving district, so used their superior wealth and management as (together with the dishonesty or most culpablo negligence of some persons connected with a competing and really most useful line) to enable them to cany a bill that just lengthened the way one half, and ithe people of the district have since and ever must continue to'pay three shillings for every two shillings that would have been required for fare of passengers or'toll on goods had the direct line been carried. It surely will not be unwise for this province -to investigate the matter before they

decide,

I would suggest to the consideration of the authorities that the present road by 'the Sumner valley and * over the hill to Lyttelton, should be so improved that horsemen and carts, and' indeed vehicles of all kinds would be enabled to pass to And fro with .perfect safety. Some cutting at the top of the hill would probably be required, and some works in the-Sumner-valley, and by the gully coming from the hill northward, for which; without pretending to have made any precise calculation of the works to be done, the sum of £4000 or £5000 would probably be amply sufficient." 'This-road would answer the purpose, and by It the Sumner Valley would be benefited for some 'five or six years, as carriers, passengers, cattle, and all goods excepting the most weighty could pass along this line, and it is almost impossible to exaggerate the saving that would be effected, calculated proportionately to the value of the goods. There is no reason whatever why conveyances of all kinds should not at various times of the day and in reasonably quick time run or travel between city and port. Now sir, just let us. get a moment -into the realms of imagination, and suppose as many cabs, omnibuses, coaches, Sec, running hour per hour upon this Sumner road as run between the Elephant and Castle, and the Obelisk an Southwark. Well, it won't be that, but it would be of quite as much importance to us in our locality, this opening of the Sumner road, as is the bit of street or road mentioned to the people of that locality. There is however one desideratum absolutely required, and that is the getting rid of that most ill placed and extortionate ferry. If it cannot be got rid of otherwise, buy it off.- How mucb/patriotic vituperation has been poured out upon the heads of the hrilders of ancient rights of this kind which, although the property of their holders are most inconvenient to the people generally; and here we in the strength and flower of our democracy, and perchance incipient aristocracy, are planting nuisances of this,kind all about the province. I remain sir, Yours very truly A NEW CHUM. To the Editor of ilieZytteltori Times. Sic, — Your facetious correspondent • Medio Tutissimus' assumes that all; the inhabitants of Kaiapoi are taking part in wjhat myself and several others think the unseemly squabbles about a site for the new church. Believe me, sir, a number of quiet people here are indifferent ~as to the site. They say,-?" give us a church large enough for our wants and we shallbe content." vlt is-to be regretted that the papers, as witness your contemporary of last week, should be crammed with letters on-matters which are purely local, and to the exclusion of information which would be far more interesting to the public. , 1 recollect some years ago hearing a celebrated counsel in pleading on a " much vexed question/ quote as follows, which seems apropos to this " muGh ado about nothing." Rabbits young and rabbits old, »' Rabbits hot and rabbits cold, Rabbits tender and rabbits tough, ,Of rabbits, my lord, we've had enough 1 I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, ■..■]]■. AN INHABITANT. N.B. The learned counsel did not say whether they were wild rabbits or not. Kaiapoi, February 28th, 1859.