Provincial Council.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 721, 5 October 1859, Page 3

Provincial Council.

PAPERS LAID BEFORE THE COUNCIL. Session XL A; LETTER- , J?ROM THE SUPERINTENDENT TO THE ENGLISH AGENT, ON THE SUBJECT OF KAILWAYS. : " : ■■"" "- No. 8. ' ' . Superintendent's Office, ' Canterhuiy, New Zealand, March 31,1859. §!5 } —I' have the honor to request your kind offices in a matter of very great importance to the province, and in reference* to which, owing to the •uncertain, political aspect of the colony, I feel no slight degree of embarrassment. You are aware that from the Very earliest days of the colony we have suffered serious inconvenience through the entire absence of land traffic for goods between Lyttelton and the producing districts. This inconvenience presses upon us in increased ratio every year, propartionably to the increasing growth of our population and commerce; of all this you are, as I am aware, fully advised, and therefore I will afconce proceiedtb'statemyplans for effectingeasy and efficient goods and'passenger.traffic to and from each border of the" province and our only sea-port iown. ' '..' ■ •'' ; ■■■ , Mr. FitzG-erald will doubtless have $old you that long ago he contemplated the possibility of getting through/the hillbetween Port and Plains by means of a tunnel, and1 go direct to'Christchurch,' but that in consequence of; (what, was ithen very properly considered) the enormous estimated expense of construction he -wasobliged-to relinquish the project. In place thereof, under great difficulties, jae effected the partial making of a road, by a more circuitous line over very unmanageable gradients. This road, slightly improved; remains nearly as when Mr. FitzGerald left us, and; is used pretty constantly in the Summer season;for light goods traffic, but to no appreciable extent, the great-bulk of our commerce'being carried by water to and from the I plains, subject as formerly (notwithstanding the employment of a steamer) .to the liability to stoppage of a fortnight or even a month at a time at the river bar. .This sort of thing is endurable no longer; and I have determined, in concert with my Executive, to adopt energetic means to procure a perfect system of highways for the carriage of our growing commerce., I have reason.to believe that at no period somuch as.the present did Canterbury stand in need of powerful friends in England, as at this moment Tve have arrived at the most critical period of our existence. ' I feel it my duty to confine my efforts principally to making the mostof the present moment, and while the semblanceequaltoarespectable effortremains. am determined to prosecute vigorously a claim to horrow or guarantee interest upon a sufficient sum to pay for a tunnel through the hill fromLyttelton, thence through Christchurch tO-Timaru southward, and the river Kowai northward. The maximum I value of the work sis not-more than £1,000,000 I .sterling. On this point I am concluded: every B estimate T have taken iss concurrent in the estabI lishment of'that price;, .But if. we could get the H thino- done or tlie cplonf committed to the work to I the extent of £1,500,000; I should be> amply satisII fied, and the prosperity of .Canterbury would be 1 assured for all time. At this time there exists a I difficulty,;the removal of which greatly depends on ■ your good services, supported as I know you will ■ be by Mr. FitzGerald and a host of gentlemen, I tried friends of the province. The difficulty I H allude toi lies in the fact that the Home Gbvern- ■ ment discountenances provincial loans generally, I and has forwarded instructions to Auckland that 1 loan bills of the/provinces, should in future be reI ferred home: * You' whoJ are .'so well up in New I Zealand politics can' well (Understand that there I have existed reasons why a close regard should be I had to the necessity for and amount of. provincial 1 loans, and probable means of repayment, &c. I I quite assent to the= propriety of the General GoI vernmeht bein<> charged with su«h enquiries, and I of its entertaining the duty which it owes to the I colony of seeing, that in'every case there exists lull I and undoubted'solvency.' I The position of Canterbury relatively to the rest •I of New Zealand is patent to all.who know anything lof the affairs of the colony. For her present envi--1 able position she is very, much indebted to nature. I Her political and social ascendancy is the work of I 'chose who founded the settlement and organised II its Government. in || I succeeded to a comparatively, easy and well ■Nefined cpurse of .duties,, during the performance of || which I have had ample time to contemplate the || work upon which I am bent in all its .aspects. Mr. || FitzGerald will be delighted to learn that I am supII ported'by a very undoubted majority of the CounI|*'il and people in this railway project, and he will, 111 am confident, enter' into my plans with all the ■ earnestness of which his enthusiastic nature is cap- || able. He. is fully prepared.to reason qufc every II proposition that I shall'advance. . . || I have already reserved over. 300 miles of trunk i| fail ways, being certain .that.in the event of present HfHilure.of my. proposal, people will ultimately find -Heconomy both, in the construction and working of IH railways ; as contrasted with ordinary carriage roads. ;. iThe lines both north and south are marked down )Hon the land survey charts. These reserves and a ffit'norough survey, with sections of the tunnel on the . B'lireet line from Climtolmreh to port, will be dcs- ■ patched to you by this mail. jOuring the next sesWm of the 'PvpyineUl Couaoil I shall submit-my

proposal to establish the system of railways in its I 'entirety. The estimates of Mr. Dobson, our Provincial Engineer, of the prices of the necessity work; together with a statement shewing the present rite of traffic, I now give you iis gathered from him in round numbers, pains having been taken that traffic should be stated at its minimum rate, the construction of the railroad at its maximum value. It must be borne in mind that the Engineer in making his estimate did so on the ground and with a full knowledge of all the difficulties surrounding the various necessary works. ' ESTIMATE OF CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS. Prom Lyttelton to Christchurch, inclusive of tunnel, bridges, stations, rolling stock, and jetty in , port £250,000 From Christchuroh to the riVer Kowai, 26 miles, with bridges, stations, arid every necessary work 150,000 From Cliristchurch to Timaru.llO ■ miles, with all bridges, stations, and necessary works 500,000 General aggregated contingencies ... 100,000

..-■•• £1,000,000 By the account Mr. FitzGerald sent us, it appears tliai English contractors form a much heavier estimate of the expense necessarily, attendant upon railway works than ours. I however can appeal to Mr.iFitzGeraldas a judge of Mr.Dobson's capability to estimate the cost of engineering work. I may state here that nearly every yard of the whole of the reserved lines as delineated on the chart is as '.level as a billiard. table and as dry as a'turnpike', road. Of course I except the hill 'behind the port, town and the river beds and their approaches. The level portions of the lines throughout nearly their whole length,are all ready' for the ballast and sleepers for permament way. This statement, which may be perfectly relied' oh, will account for the very slight estimated expense of 'construction. The average cost of the river bridges will be,by'Mr. Dobson's account, abp|tit£3b per ■progressive yard, being constructed principally of wood. ' Estimate of traffic between Lyttelton and Christchurch^ from the statements of' the wharfingers oh Itlie river, and carriers on the road from Lyttelton: : ' ' WATEK 'TRAFFIC. Inwards. Outwards. W001... 1500 bales.. 1200 tons. Timber.. :4,200,000ft.......... 8600 tpns. Grain and other agricultural produce ... B7QO „ General merchandize 8610 tons.

Totals , 17>210 tons. 4900 tons. Land Carnage on the. Sunnier Road from Lyttelton to Christchurch 1820 tons. Grand T0ta1......24,030t0n5. This total shows a steady increase of 50 per cent during the last five years. This statement may be readily checked by a reference to published statistics of the province. The present rate of progression maintained :fdr five years would give a traffic of 190,000 tons between Lyttelton and Christchurch. The trafficbetween Lyttelton, Kaiapoi, and Timaru,! should say -amounts to at least one-fourth of that up the river to Christchurch. Of the exact proportion I cannot at this moment write confidently. I estimate it, however, at one-fourth, guided by the fact that the population'of Timaru and Kaiapoi districts have the proportion of fully one-third of the population of the Christchurch district. The land carriage between Kaiapoi- and Christchurch, principally timber and firewood, is fully equal to 3000 tons annually. If there, existed direct communication between Kaiapoi and Lytfcelton, through Christchurch, by railroad, there would, I am assured, be a present trafiic of 35,000 tons of goods; The passenger trafiic, accommodated by public carts from Christchurch to the foot, of the'hillseparatingthe pprt; and plains, is stated by the cart proprietors to be equal to 48 per day; a more than equal number of foot passengers and horsemen travel the same road daily. We have every reason to hope that our population will increase by natural progress and immigration in the same proportion as it has done during the last two years. . Should this reckoning be realized, we should, m five years, (the time occupied in making the tunnel) have a population of clpse upon 30,000 souls— which would be a very fair state of things for the "beginning of a railway traffic. Assuming a maintenance of the present rate: of general progression-^----which is very far short of what will, I am morally certain, be the realized fact at the end of five y eai . s __l conjecture we shall stand thus in the year 1864:— Tonna«e to and from Lyttelton and Christchurch < „...■ 190,000 tons Do. do. do. Kaiapoi ...... 75,000 „ Lyttelton through to Timaru and , • Timaru fckrough to Lyttelton hoth ways.,. "-^^L " Tons. ....... 385,000

The present rate of freight on goods from port to Christchurch is 255. per ton water carriage: and • wharfage, and 7s. per ton land carriage from the' wharves to' the town, making in .the-whole' 325. per ton as between Lyttelton and Christchurch. Land carnage from Lyttelton-to Christchurch via Suraner road is £2 per ton. To Kaiapoi the freights are heavier still. Land carriage between Kaiapoi and Christchurch, a distance °o£ 11 miles, is at the rate of 255. per ton. Passenger fares by'public conveyances, of which there are several, at aproportiouably high rate. Having stated thus much, you may believe that the province would very gladly enter into an arrangement to pay a railway company a scale ot charges very far in excess of any rate charged on European or American lines, and. having much larger clear profits, after taking into account the increased cost of fuel, labour, &c. Assuming the lines of rail I propose1 to be finished at' the end of five years—that our pppula-. tion is'increased to 30,000 souls—and that the trade of the country-has.grown to the conjectured extent above given, let us"inquire into the chance of the enterprise proving itself a paying transaction. Instead of taking Mr. Dobsotfs estimate, we will put down the. cost .at £1,500,000 sterling •_ this outlay, made by a public company; organised in England, and partly subscribed in the.colony; the Provincial Government, by sanction of the crown, has guaranteed a profit of 6 per cent per annum on the working of the line for a term of years—the shorter the better—passenger trafficwill have increased over its present rate _in a proportion equal to the' increase of population. The'present amount paid by passengers daily must be at least £12.': In five >years, assuming that there were only the same proportion of travellers, notwithstanding the increased facilities offered -by; the railroad',''still there would be a sum of £36 odd taken between Lyttelton and Christchurch alone; it would only be reasonable to allow the Timaru and Kaiapoi people to travel also; so we will add another £36, which, taking into account the longer distance travelled by them, is only a fair addition; makin" for passenger traffic £72 daily, or— Soning 300" travelling days. £21,600 per year. Goods traffic, Lyttelton 'and . . . ■ ? Christchurch, 190,000 W, at Bs. per ton, being -} of present rates */Q,WU „ „ Tonnage traffic, Lyttelton and North, through Christ-. church both ways, 75,000 ton*, 12s.,per ton, or less . . .than .-.£ present rates. i/'HUUU,, „

Traffic, Lyttelton. Southwards toTimaru, through Christchurch, both ways, 120,000 tons at ifil per ton, being less than half present cost -of transit from .station .to port. ..£120,000 „ „ Grand Total £262,600 „ „ It will be seen that the result last shown does not tally with a calculated progression at the rate I fixed, when! made .''the tonnage 190,000 in five years. But trade grows with the growth of facilities for its transaction. ' In England it is the practice in estimating the probablo profit between two points proposed to be connected by rail—lst., to find out the actual traffic existing and the rates paid thereon, and then quadruple the traffic and halve the rates of freight: the result gives double^ the gross amount of tolls at half former rates of freight. I have adopted the same principle in the case of Canterbury to a certain. extent, only instead of making the traffic four-fold when the greatly increased facilities are opened, I have only doubled it, while instead of charging half rates you will see I have in my table charged only, one-third. Surely, if this must be a safe and sound method of measuring probabilities, as applicable to con-_ templated works in settled communities, whose growth is scarcely perceptible,, it must be an equally good criterion in infant states, where everything and every interest is in its spring growth of prosperity. ; You must not make a very close examination of my figures,'which are round statements given by way of illustration.. The engine being in motion, we may reckon the cost of workj two trains per diem each on the long lines, and from each way between Lyttelton and Christchurch, current repairs and all expenses on the whole 146 miles of rail, at £60,000 i annually. We have got all the-figures necessary to >a calculation of profit and loss. Dr. Guaranteed 6 per cent, on £1,500,000 ... £90,000 Working expenses „..;' 60,000 Balance 112,600 £262,600 ! Ce. Passenger and goods traffic £262,600 In order to he safe I will just halve the proceeds of passenger and goods traffic, making £131,300. This would show a deficiency of profit guaranteed to the extent of£lß,7oo—adeplorablestateofthings, certainly; when we are pretty certain of a gross provincial revenue in 1864 of somewhere about £150,000; according to my reckoning, interest on the full amount of cost of construction would be levied for the first time in 1864; to save the province the , charge of paying interest before that date; I pro- i poseto submit to a considerable excess of Mr. Dobson's estimate of cost, which estimate I would at any time swear by; so would my predecessor Mr. PitzGrerald. But to return to the working of the line— what is to become of the excess of profit over and above the stipulated guarantee of 6 per cent. Of. such excess I should if negotiating for the province demand at least one-half, feeling confident that on the average of: the first ten years the province would realise from this source an income more thanequaltoherpresehtlandrevenuei Ifeelconscious that some who hear..of these statements will incredulously scout thes idea of any inconsiderable province growing within so short 4 period as I nave ;fked (1864) to the commercial importance I have.

promisedher. > ' i ..' ■ I have, however, no objection to put my opinion ■on record. Before concluding my speculation I would just remark that the small mercantile, com;; munity of Canterbury, numbing of "10,000 souls, is at this moment expending over per annum-Jor the carnage of her internal traffic. This fact I can vouch for. Our trade is increasing fifty per cent per annum;'this I can also vouch for. Our population is progressing after'the rate of at least of 25 percent. Taking our; present population at say 9500, the increase in fiye years at 25 per cent would in round numbers amoitnt to 28,000 souls odd, who in the absence of railroads would still have to pay the present exorbitant rates of carriage for the same proportion of necessaries that is used by the present population; consequently the amount of freight to be paid for carriage of Canterbury's internal traffic in 1864 by its 28,000 people will be £304,000, trade having grown in the interim 50 per cent. The introduction of railway facilities has gtnerally been followed by an immediate doubling, nay, in most cases quadrupling, of trade. , Joung Canterbury cannot possibly be the exception. And I am therefore confident in our ability to guarantee a profit of if necessary 6 per cent on one million sterlino- or one million and a half in 1864, provided

the province be not called upon, to pay interest owing during the construction of the work, At° present the farmer manages to live and increase his wealth as a competitor with the agriculturist of Australia in Australian markets, notwithstanding the enormous toll and vexatious losses attendant upon our present insufficient water carriage and the large freight paid from New Zealand to Australia. The proposed railway will be a boon of inestimable price to the farmer, who, in addition to the great saving of freight to port; will when it is "completed be certain of a sale for his produce tit some price. As matters now stand, the farmer on the plains justly considers the growing of potatoes and root crops generally to be a reckless speculation, experience having taught him that the chances are about even that his potatoes will rot in his fields, on the river wharves, or on board of weather-bound small crafts within the river bar. But for these risks, a market at fair profit might readily be found in Australia for a bulk of potatoes more than equal to pur present entire agricultural export.' Again, cnying.to the above cause, no roerchfmt will give the full .market quotation of other parts of New Zealand for grain, because, he cannot with any approach to certainty limit the time over which any transaction may extend, and is consefluently obliged to-take/such'a margin, to cover possibly'fallen markets, deteriorated condition, and ship demurrage in port, that but. a .proportion of the sale proceeds falls to: the share ot the farmer, who iustly regards, himself as the principal sufferer undet the' present Wretchedly insufficient road system. I have said1 nothing about wool.

The same proportionate loss accrues to the stockowners, and :so to the colony, in respect of tbtS grievous delays and expenses attendant on getting our staple export to market. Then again our import Wq is crippled to the extent ot fully 25 tier cent from the same causes. t . . ■ In short, this vigorous little community is borne down by this terrible' road' grievance, and able to bear no longer, seeks to be; allowed to heto itselt, without (as I think I have clearly shown) m any degree prejudicing the remainder of the colony. Canterbury, as every body" knows, is in ita every circumstance.physical and moral, a sigiially exceptional province. The youngest, the richest, the quietest, the largest exporting commun.ty nr New Zealand with an enormous estate comparatively unencumbered, which, she sells easily at. a price double of any obtaining for Crown lands in any British colony-she purposes leaning entirely upon her own resources to make the whole of her broad territory as valuable as an English property of the same extent. All this good will immediately follow an inexpensive'act-of justice on the part of the Colonial office. All we want is per.mss.oij to go into the marltef.and-purchase advantages for oui-

selves ; in full confidence .that the English capitalist will bo quite contented with the profit we are solvently capable of securing to him on the employment of his capital. You will of course understand that the traffic of the ■country is not to be measured by the amount of export and import. I am justified in putting down fully two-thirds of the entire traffic of the province as goods moved about raised and consumed within its borders. For example: coal, firewood, stone, brick, lime, timber, a great proportion of our agricultural produce, sheep, cattle, and horses. Sheep, cattle, and horses would here in Canterbury, as in other parts of the world, travel cheapest by railway. In forming an estimate of passenger traffic, I may assist you by stating that our emigration agent will despatch for some time to come one ship load per month, making an aggregate import of over 3000 souls annually. Then again must be taken into account the additions to our population from the adjoining colonies, which I have ascertained latterly amount to nearly twenty per cent, upon our English immigration. Then again, when fair allowance is made for the increase of agricultural operations consequent on the farmer being relieved of the embarrassment consequent on his having no road to port, we may reasonably reckon on a two fold production of corn crops. Concurrently with this despatch, correspondence will be had with His Excellency's Government moving their acquiescence in. our scheme. I hope that by next mail the Colonial office in London will receive from Auckland a favorable account of our Railway proposal. I will write you fully by the same opportunity. Confiding to your hands the prosecution of the measures' necessai'ily preliminary to the establishment of Canterbury's greatest desideratum—a well organized system of Railways— I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, . W. S. MOORHOUSE, Superintendent of Canterbury.