MR DRIVER'S MEETING.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 360, 27 May 1884, Page 3

MR DRIVER'S MEETING.

'At the ' clasp ,of ]ns , address to the electors las£ Thursday evening, a number ,©f questions, were pufeto j. thp member ior fckonui; "The,'; < ,hecklpg : ' ! ' to which he was subjected was,;, however, of the mildest possible description— certai.nJy fS>fßi»gt &*& Mhat been ' anticjpfttedi^SttbjoHed;is a report' of the proceedings^—' l — ' l( ; ! ' ' _ T Jn,irejplyu;tp>7al written question, Mr Dmer slid that^t^erGore-Kelso line not being in his district, he had not cared to refer to it. He believed that it had betn circulated in some quarters that he had Bimpsed^he^ ctgistiruc^bn o £ ,tne ifSMSTvln^lthathe tidi not" co-operated with Captain #tack§nzie in having it pushed forward. That was absoWlsi T&lse, i and7/if' Captain, Mac-« Icenzie were present he would cor..roborato Ms^ (Mr^^ DnVers) state- ■ ment. Captain Mackenzie through some influence brought to bear upon him, did at one tinte^nfertain a contrary opinion bat not after he learned u thas\ the loss # tEe fc:was contributed to through^ posi&fromsome-other •quarter, with which he (the speaker) had nothing to •: do. He W,notvMd -charge of tie Bill, but if it WfWrt^Ju^^tfc the Waimea Plains.' Tha t could be -decided by those" interested and the Drive^remindedtHe'meeting that Wvto r^a?t^est^3:g , ' incre'asea. 'Heliadtried- to obtain fur- ' ther impmvenieKta, 1 and -was told ■ tnat ' -■ .thex-wo^^ea earned out anpther time. l 3^r?coSfeed the necessity for further accomffiKfdaitfon, and.'he would pledge , hjtoelfitba6'what r> he could t6 have it ' prpvidedMa^to tKe.'orection of a tramc • »ri£gfea#ross r Jjhe he doubted ', if^t'coulTOabiie/.out of the ordinary. . . reve^e\ ? - r^fie^st plan Would be for the County. Counci]. ; £p vote s.q much . and ask - ' - the Government for a grant-in-aid, .• > ,: ■--- Mr ."v^-^rigg's':- You have spoken .;; . ' aj^flnff, M;ff f>l „ ]fya f r , , i y^n iiave— npt"told.-- :e us' '. , wh>t^Frab"blt"skS^^average,. .( .. r ' , ; , teMV&iiiW: the rabbis . six per cent interest is now being paid '4<v for ihalf t^go^QS^lb.oiirD'wed -) by the P^^^^pany^ an 4; 6f per cent for the re-

. v Mr.. Henderson :. And does .thisa'ate go. to pay tha'f interest ?" 4 '/ • -" l '-•■■' '• Mr DriverX • Thalt'4s'"bf course part of the liability of the Company, and will have to be paid out of the rate and the takings of the. railway, less the cost of management. '"' ' " ' ' Mr Henderson : If : the shareholders paid up the full amount of the shares, you would not have to pay interest, and: yoilld; not require siicJi a' heavy rate P" " " -i L -J5 L •Mr Driver : No, they would, go without interest on their money. There is a nominal capital subscribed of about L 60,000 and the railway cost L 115.000. :If there had been enough : shares applied for to build the. line and they had all ,been p^id .up, there would have been, no money to' borrow.' That is' a very natural sequence. Then the takings of the line would go ■ simply towards the expenditure, on it, and if there were any surplus it would , reduce the rate to be got out '6f the district, while a deficiency would increase it.' ,■ Mr Henderson : Can you suggest any scheme for getting over the rate ? Mr Driver : I cannot suggest any plan other than the line being taken over by the Government or 'somebody else. 1.,. am not here to suggest any scheme, and it is with the .. greatest diffidence that I refer to the matter; but it seems to me that the only ! way but j of the difficulty is to get the '"people beyond the operation, of the Act under which the line was constructed. My own idea is that the line is one of the very best' properties in the colony, It will eventually be a very .good ' one 'indeed, and if worked in connection . with other, (rovernm,ent lines, would be one of the most' cheap and ' productive sections' -theyh&ve. > ' •■•• '•;• '! f ' :t j „Mr Jas.^Hanrilton :..r About ; this amended Act. How did .you .let it .go through when yoii thought' ii would be ruination. 1 ; • ' : ■ , Mr I Driver : -I ,■ thought; I. explained all that... I, told you that ; the ,. Ac,t , ( w,as not hurried' through the House, and that there is nothing in ■ it that did not' exist since the . first : Tail of the line was laid. ; ;,, ; There was nothing .altering the' power or policy of the .Company in the Act, except simply to "dovetail'tn'e power' of doing what the". original Act' had told; them to do. . (The speaker repeated the - 1 xplanation given in his main speech) , ; There' was iio necessity to hurry the. -Bill through, 'because it took no power away, and it gave no new power; j. r ; ' Mr Xeown „put several questions in reference ' to' 'the properties : which the ; line ran, and was understood to. ,ass,ert : that -.-[it . concerned one man ,alone, „:-... ,::.••,. Mr Driver mentioned the estates through which the line passed, and I added .that s ; a • large amount of Crown . land had rbeen taken up after, the opening of the railway. . ._ ; Mr Keown appeared anxious to learn how much private, t property there was between Gore and Elbow when the Hne was'!m : ade,' ; but owing to several inter? sruptions He; f ailed : to make his meaning jc,le,ar, ap.4 ; iwhen v liis voi«e was ultimately heard he seemed, to be asking if ' was J as 'muciT land between ' Gore and ■ElbOW a's' i thie"r'e' was 'between ;Elbow arid I ;GJpre ; .:a';TiOithis Mr Driver' drily replied] amid roars of laughter that he believed there was. " ' \ Mr Dickson (Ardlussa) : Do the Com-; pany intend to . continue , the. , .double rate' and impose taxation as well. * ; Mr Driver :. I don't • know what "you, mean by a double rate. They can't impose a double rate. } Mr Dickson: We are paying double 1 rates now. • ' ' Mr Driver-:. Oh, you mean the rates' of freight? Mr Dickson:, Yes,, the raising of the tariff. Excuse our Scotch. ' " j .Mr. Driver :,; ,The rate' now, charged is somewhat higher, I believe, and: it was done with the hope :. that if the! traffic was enough it would have, miti-! gated the amount of the rate put on the, district ; or in other words, that those who used the line, and took the most benefit from, it, should pay the most to- 1 wards.it. That was the feeling of the' directors when the tariff was raised — • that by doing that the unfortunate people ; with property would have less to pay. . We have had no epmplaints that the rate : •is excessive. . • ' ' ' ■ i r : A Voice : The settlers ' prefer to cart ; ! their produce by road. Mr Driver : If they do, the management of the line is very stupid. Their tariff should not be so high as to make it better to cart grain. ' ' ■•■••■ Mr Dickson : We 1 are paying nearlyhalf as much again as is charged on the Government lines', and can they continue that tariff and impose taxation too ? Mr Driver : I presume they have need ■ to do so, or they would not • continue it; [It must inevitably follow that if the tariff is lowered the rate must be increased. If the , . shareholders stick to : their pound of flesh, and insist on having their- seven per cent., the rate cannot be . lowered. Mr Keown : Then let them have, the j line altogether. — (Laughteiv) ; ; Mr .Driver : I am trying to. answer, without subterfuge or evasion. I have no more personal interest in the line than [sixiy other men have. lam not ■, on ; the Boardj and I have no control over the tariff. If it is true that grain is being carted instead' of railed, that is bad' |management,;and should not be allowed. Mr Neill said that ; the. Government had sold thousands of acres .of land within the last year or two. "VFas Mr Driver, j aware that they had done so without injtimating anything about the tax, and ithat the purchasers were not politicians 'enough to look up the Statute Book?. Land in the We^ndon, Waikaia, ., and Wendonside districts had been sold, at from, L 4 to L 8 and L 9 per acre, deferredpayment and cash, the buyers not knowing for a moment that they were liable to a rate. Would Mr Driver take steps to relieve those settlers who bought land under false pretences ? (Applause).., ': Mr Driver replied that his entire symjpathies were with the people in that position, and if a petition were sent up (which ■was the only way the House could be iapproached- on the subject) he would use every endeavor to have their prayer heard and attended to. The Government had benefited largely from the Hne, and had received large sums of money from \,vs nocent people, although not perhaps |J so legally. .■ - >, Some amusement was caused at this stage by the persistent efforts of someone, in^tlie ftody of the building.; to elicit. Mr* Denver's views on the subject of imm-I-gration. Every time he rose his voice was drowned in interruptions, and eventually Mr Driver said : If I felt that what I was saying was. not in unison with the views of the majority I would immediately subside, and I advise you to do the same. .(Laughter.) # » Mr Jas. Hamilton' t Would you advise ther settlers- who < have reeeiyed^notices^ toWbr^nottopa/? , ,'. T \J Mr Driver: I* I: were taxed I would not pay one.pennj) unless Ijsrag absolutely force! to'do so, and I: would take every means to prevent it.--- - f >Mr'OH£eriderson r 'Oxtt''wat? itne i prospectusof the company held out to Dunedinmercbants andothers tkattkey would

"deriW. great benefit by getting frbm,,m.Q jjakes^ and inquired i£ they had not Idst' that through the discontinuance of the connecting train to Kingston ? Mr Driver explained the action of the company in the matter, and said that the Government were solely to blame for the discontinuance .of through communioa- : tion via Waimea, Plains. The Company had not altered the time-table to Elbow. Mr J. Hamilton: Why did you support the bill when you now advise us not to pay the rate ? Mr Driver : I simply advise you not to pay it unless it is levied according to law. The rate was made four or five years ago, before I was your member, although not levied. You' were liable • for two years' rates before: this, and I was blamed by " large sections of the shareholders at private meetings for keeping the rates back. I was between the "devil and the deep sea.,. H the provisions of the Act had been enforced from the first there would now have been four years' taxation. 'Mr Briggs inquired if Mr Driver Svould be in favor of taxing the people in Queenstowo,, Kingston, Elbow, and Princes street, Dunedin ? :Mr Driver. : That, is one of the most pertinent and sensible questions I have been asked to-night. The gentleman has reminded me of something I sliould have referred to, because one oli the causes of- tlie heavy tax is the small area over which the railway district extends. All the Castlerock, Five Eivers and Queenstown districts have more or less .benefited by. ,the line, and that is why I say it is, unjust to levy a rate upon a certain individual lot of men for a railway that benefits the whole colony. ; To; Mim James Beattie : He had no connection with the Agricultural Company's settlers, but he believed the management had taken a very equitable and proper view of matters, and were 'guaranteeing settlers against responsibility. .'■.-■•. Mr Henderson : Future settlers only. To Mr W. Smith : The Company were not bound to run a train twice a-day, but 'they would certainly do so if it were likely to pay. ■ Mr J. Williams (carter) : We don't want the line to run at all. — (Laughter.) A vote of confidence was then passed, and the meeting closed. !