WASTELANDS BOARD.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 404, 28 October 1884, Page 5

WASTELANDS BOARD.

TiiTiRSDAT, Oct. 23. The ordinary meeting was' attended by the Chief Commissioner Spence and Messrs Lumsden, Denniston, and Toi-hach. > . Mr Spence, in . laying on the table bis commission as Chief Commissioner of. Crown Lands, said that all he could .pretend to was to conduct the proceedings of the Board in a plain business-like way, . He felt somewhat diffident, owing' -to his inexperience, but was aware he could count on the courtesy and assistance of the members, whose i experience would make up for ; any deficiency of his. Mr Lumsden, offerpd the congratulations of the Boarol to the Chief Commissioner, on, his appointment. He was persuaded that Mr Spence's professional knowledge and his practical acquaintance: with the waste lands and with settlement would be of value, and would facilitate the business of ,the Board. The members would do all in their power to assist the Chief Commissioner in the fulfilment of his duties, . . Mr Tpsbach also desired, to. express his pleasure at Mr Spehce's appointment, and was satisfied that his professional ability would prove of the .greatest advantage to the Board's (deliberations. , ; . Mr Denniston fully concurred in what had fallen from his fellow members. He recognised Mr Spence's thorough fitness for the office to which he had been appointed, and was sure that his conduct of the business would, be satisfactory both to the Board and to those who should come before it. Mr Spence having thanked the members for their kindly expressions of feeling towards himself, the business proceeded. A. F. Dawson applied for an extension of his sawmill area at Otapiri. — Granted, subject to the usual conditions relative to the prevention of fire. The ; following application was granted : — To complete purchase : "W. Libby, bection 630, Hokonui. The Banger reported that severa licensees infHokonui district bad not complied with the residence conditions. — It was resolved to give the offenders notice to occupy. A letter was read from the Undersecretary relative to the Board's, recommendation that Mr C. Basstian be allowed valuation ' for his improvements on that portion of run of 198 b, Centre Hill, which had been thrown open for selection on deferred pay nient. It stated there was no provision in the Act for securing the value of fencing or other improvements. , The Chief Commissioner read a reply forwarded by him to the :Go- ( vernment, the effect of it being that the allowance of valuation had teen made in consideration of the fact that thej. fencing. would be usefu' to i the deferred payment settlers who ' took up the sections. The recommendation had been made under the 155 th clause of the Act. The reply sent by the Chief Commissioner was approved. The Ranger stated that some of the holders of small village sections, two or three acres each in extent, on deferred payments, had complained to him that j ! it was very hard that they were ; debarred toy ever from increasing their I areas. 'Mr Lumsden thought that was the weak point of the Act. It was impossible for men to make a living on two or three acres each, and the law made no provision for these men in.' creasing their • holdings as their; circumstances improved, and eventually becoming pi ospero us settlers. The system was a direct blow at the settlement scheme. He moved — '-'That in the opinion of this Board the provision in the Land Act preventing.yillarge and suburban deferred 'pay* ment selectors from becoming selectors of rural sections is impolitic and adverse to the interests of set- , tlement." ibe ipx>tjon. was seconded by Mr Denniston and carried, .'! The; Chief Commisaione? ask&d i^ the Board had any reeouimendatjou tfi make, in regard to the clause in the Act which debarred deferred payment 'selectors who had become freeholders i from making further selections; He th,9#gftt £hat they shonld be permitted to maike £u£tb£p Bp^p^opa up to the maxiflQunjL of S-20 After some discussion ii jjvja# resolved <o add io tfa© previous resojLu> tion a recommendation, that selectors who become freeholders ehpu.l4 b$ allowed to re-select up to the . maximum. '■ The Board then adjourned. ft is stated. *h*,t Salisbury, the Con,.Sef.vati,ve. leader' has'jiacl stoneg t^rQ\yn at him i in Dumfries, in Scotland. ' >: , ! A San Francisco journalist has just received #B /O#(Qr to go to Southern California to condwet ;a jpu/mjal +here. The proprietor writes : ■. — •" Th^e salary $15 » Wjsejs, may sound small, but being in tfee -.centre pf. &n agricultural district, we are congt^ntly- repe|v|ng Jarge gifts of potatoes, grapes, delicious peas. and ? indeed,' every thing that is in e^ason^ whioh, after being duly noticed, would become your | perquisites.. The editorial table turns up and; makes a capital bed at night, and there is an I jejjs;<2«ll,«nf; 3tove "to boil coffee on. If you can .play iby^iaa tupes there is a vacancy also o |5 a month for an .organist."

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. ■'• ' In the- House of Representatives on-. Fri- ; da,y evening the Hon. Minister of Public >, -(Mr E. Richardson) delivered j[t he j Fnblrc Works, Statement as follows : — J Mr VSpeakeb,— l he information usually, contained in the Public Works S;a'ieuient has ' been somewhat, -anticipated this year, by the particulars laid upon the- table of the House, during the last .«hort session. The time that had elapsed since the Government took, office has not been sufficient to enable me 1o; ;make rnys<:li: thoroughly acquainted with 1 the proceedings of • 'he various branches of th«s Vublic Works Department, and I kstvc to; depend in a great measure upon ihe figures' and reports submitted to me by the s-everal heads of the department. I may siate, how--ever/.that so far as time has permitted I have looked into the questiou of the staff of the' department as provided in the present Esti- : mates, and found that the reductions were more nominal than real, and that the bulk of the officers who at that time disappeared from t it: Hoc of permanent staff were placed in tem:,or;iiy charge and provided for out of the votes for the construction of works, i Although T inn not as yet prepared to state to what extent reductions can be made, I am of opinion that the staff is much larger than is necessary for the due supervision of the works. RAILWAYS. j The railways being the most import ant works carried on by the department J propose to allude to them first under the several headings of " rai.ways in course of const'uetion " ; '• additions to opened railways"; and "working of railways already opened for traffic." Before going into tbe details of the several lines, however, it may be well to state that on the 31st March. 18S4, the colony had 14M miles of railway -opened fur traffic on which there had been expended the sum of 1,11,251,033, and that there were 231 milus in course of construction, it was to this 234 miles of unfinished rail .vays that my hon. colleague, the Colonial Treasurer, principally alluded when he stated, that it will be our endeavor to push on to a spet-dy completion the various unfinished portions of lines so as to add this extra mileage to our revenue producing railways. BAILWAI S IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION. After Speaking of the North Island, ho continued : 'Ihe extension of the HurunuiWaitaki line northwards from Waikari to the Hurunui is now finished and ready .for optning. This completes the trunk railway throughont Canterbury and Otago. The bed ; of the Hurunui having been found too hard, the erection of a pile bridge has been sus«pended, and a contract for its completion ] with iron ' cylinders is now ni preparatic/D. The formation, bridges, and station buildings on tbe section between the Hurunui and the crossing of the maiii road near the Red Post are in progress, This will bring the railway' to a central position 69 miles from Christchurch, arid commanding the traffic of the Amuri and Hamner Plains. The Ashburton branch has been finished arid opened to ;a point 21 miles; from where it leaves the ' main line, and 23 miles from Ashburton. The' Little River Branch has been opened for some time to Birdlinga Flat,,, about 30 miles from Christchurch. Beyond this .point the formation is finished for a distance of one and a half miles, and another section of one mile is in progress, under contract. In addition to this »Lo, a further short length of formation has been undeitaken by day labor to give work to the unemployed in Christchurch. The Albury branch has been completed and opened for traffic to Fairlie Creek, 36 miles from where it leaves the main line, and 39 miles from Timaru. The Oxford - Malvern section, connecting the 7/lalvern coal fields with North Canterbury, has been finished, — Waitaki- BlufE and branches : On the Heriotbnrn branch line a further extension from Kelso to Heriot has been opened, thus completing a total length of 20 miles from Waipahi on the main line. On the Livingstone branch the formation works, with the exception of the trunks, haye been completed for some years, and during last year a further portion of the tunnelling has been in progress. Of the Palmerston branch a lengi.h of about two miles is completed for traffic, but is at present only used lor bringing ballast to the main line. The remaining eight miles to Waihemo is ready for piatelaying. Of the Catlins branch-, between the main line and the port of Moly- . neux, a road distance in all of about eight ' miles, about five and a half is formed ready for piatelaying, leaving about two miles and a half still to be formed. On the EdendaleToi Tois' branch, a distance of four miics from Edendale to Wyndham has been opened for traffic for' some time, and a further distance of four milt s is ready for piatelaying. On the Waimea-Switzers branch the formation is completed for a distance of about seven miles from Riversdale. On the Seaward Bush branch the formation is completed for. a length of about three mile?, and k ' .further : length of about ' two 'and a half, miles is iv progress. — Otago Central Railway,; The works in progress. on this linn extend over a distance of 32 miles.' The formation of the Wingatui section is finished and ready fcr the rails, and a fraall quantity ] of work was done on the Hindon section during the early part of the year by the unpmployed. The Deep Stream contract, lut in February, 1882, was abandoned by the contractors shortly afterwards, and the works have no*-- yet been resumed, fhe formation of the NeutUorn section, which is the lust of the rough country, is progressing rapidly. In connection with this Otago Central railway, I am of opiniou that a great mistake has been made in.. not forcing the construction of the first portions of the line, especially the Wingatui Viaduct, so that the materials for the Deep Stream and Nenthorn factions could be taken up by rail instead of being napted so far by road, which must m at efially in,cr,epe j\}e cost of construction, Th@ Wjugatuj. viaduct £ake fully two years to complete, an.d until is pom placid it will be a great bar to tfre progress of the works higher up the line. Invenai-gill-Kingston and branches, including Western Bdilways : On the Mararoa branch the platelaying has been extended for a further distance of one and a halfmile, making about four miles in all from its commencement, geyond this point the line is formed for a further distance of &])av { t two miles, On the Orepuki branch » fur-'ther' l^ng'th. "Rf a^qut one and a half . mile has been opened, 'and piatelaying is in progress on the remaining portion. This, with the exceptions of the stations, which are not yet id, will complete the whole of the line to Orepuki, a distance in all of about 14 miles. : Surveys: :; Good progress has been made with therii in both glands. Ifi tb.e, fforth Island three lines hay'e f&en." jejpmjn ( ed a£ provable routes} foi the main frunk'lj[ne'b,et'"wecn- I^'ell^ngt i cn and Auckland, In addition/ tp th.c r.epp,r£ a'lre^4> before hon.- members on this subject, f ui'thei and fuller reports have since been prepared and supplied to the committee appointed ie inquire intojthe question of the mo?t suitable route to be adopted. In the Middle Island the principal surveys are for' the proposed pa&t^ndWtst Coast railway. Four main routes have been, supye^ecl in detail- the CWmibaV Gorge, 'Iluru'nui Pass, Arthurs Bass, .and Late Lyndon rou'tes',and :i re*connaisance survey jaas been mjide of' a fifth bj'ihe Amuri Pass, $ep/jrts/ w^th maps and sections giving the result of: iljos^garyeySj'Will lait| before you, ADDITIONS TO OPENED lIAILWAT^, Waitaki-Bluff and branches : A new station is in progress in Dunedin, and Invercargill and Bluff have been re-arranged and enJs,rgf?d. J^umepus extensions and improvements' have beep 'n^ade at' stations, and rolling 1 stock has been largely Increased! — Invercargili-Kirigstpn branches, including Western railways : On these lines a considerable number of minor improvements, have recently been effected, including several additipps to stations, By reason of these ; and 'many similar: .additipns made "to t^e opened railways during the past few j'earc, we have now: got 1404 miles of railway complete and equipped; not of a description such as was proposed in 1870, when the scheme of .Public Works was inaugurated by my colleague, Sir Julius Yogel, but lines of a

much higher class and of such a nature that, much higher speeds can be run, and much 1 greater, traffic, than was then anticipated, can be carried, ' ■•■■■'- • • j WORKING- RAIIAVAYS. Without wishing to cast any. reflect ioi'is on ihe present General Manager of Hallways, j 1 unhesitatingly express my opinion that the condition an.i •marw'jvnient of our railways .is in ji very ui.s.tist 1 ciuJ'y, stnfc. My lion, colleague, the Colonial ■ Treasurer, recently said that in many railway systems not nearly so large as ours it would be thought absnrd to leave to one man the virtually irresponsible control arid lnana'gern'ent without anyone to consult on the many difficult points which I arise from day to day, Yet such is the case hero, and I fear no great change for the better can be expected ;till the whole system is altered. I have bsen of the opinion ever since .our first railways .were opened that such a system of management as at present prevails' could not , produce satisfactory, results, and as' each year: has passed by that opinion has been strengthened, and if anything was wanted to convince me that a great change was wanted the short time I have held office has afforded me ample proof that it cannot be made too soon. It is a matter of the deepest regret to me th';it, owing to the late period of the year the Go- ; verhment have come to the conclusion that •it will be impossible to carry through a bill this session creating boards of management which would be responsible for the working J of our railways, and did I not feel convinced 1 that the Government and the House were determined to lake this course at the earliest date possible I should not have consented to take office. The House will undersand that in saying this I mean no disrespect. I Cccl bound, to .state these, opinions because 1 ' slion id otherwise accept a false position. Whilst 1 believe that strong boards ni'ce.-sary to guide and control and manage both in the Middle Island and the Auckland district, I find myself, with multifarious 'duties to perform, virtually standing in the position Of the two boards. I will do the best. 1 can, but 1 must not pretend to think that, uustided, . I can reform the railway system as it' requires to be reformed.' Hon. members would be amazed if they, knew all the poweis vested in the General Manager by the late Government, by Orders-in-Council ' and otherwise. Again, however, let me say that 1 . hfive the highest opinion of the General Manager's ability and zeal. Ifc is as much due to him as to ourselves that he should not be placed in this false position. Hon.' members are -aware that two great changes have been made during the year, one being an alteration in passenger rates and the doing away with the ordinary return tickets, and the other a general ris-e in the goods tariff. There has hardly been time enough to ascertain the effect produced by the former, but the result of the enquiries I have made clearly points to the fact that the great bulk of the ]:>assenger traffic is confined to the two clays on "ajjhich the cheaper fares are obtainable, and. iaj^fed it would appear that traffic is still 'Being reduced on the other days of the week when higher rates are charged, I feel convinced that in many directions the passenger rates will have to be reduced to attract <tl}« traffic the railways ought to carry, and that such reductions, if judiciously made, will result ■in increased receipts, ,-. With regard to the rise in the goods tariff, there is no doubt it has produced a large increase to the revenue. While this increaee in receipts haß taken place it is an undonbted fact that a great deal of traffic has^ been diverted from the railways in some parts of the country, and the. carriers »n the roads >are competing successfully with the railways. I am srire lion, members will agree with me that' -tMs state of things shouldhot occur. Comparing the quantity of goods carried over our railways during the year ISS3-84 with, the year 1882S3 we find as follows : Live stock, 1882-83. 478,003; 18S3-S4, 65G,257 goods, 18S2-8^ 1,564,823 tons:' 1883-84, 1,700,040 tons. From this it will be seen that there was an increase during the year 1883-84, but I consider the increase would have been much larger had more determined efforts been made to attract traffic to the railways. The remedy, «s I have already informed the House, lies in a thorough revision not only of the rates charged but in the classification of the goods, and while this revision is being made every opportunity must be taken to 1 make the rates press as lightly as possible on all local productions, and on all articles the reduction on which will heip the settlers through the country or the local industries which are already established, or likely to succeed. The hon gentleman said it was intended to ask the House for L29,s{Ja to open u.p blocks of land which had been withheld from sale pending the construction of roads. Ihe total amount applied i'or under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act was L245,4 ; 13 of which there had been grant, d, for bridges',; L 41 ,842 and for other works, L 39,121, JFosj District Road and Kivcrs there' had beejl granted loans (to bs paid in fifteen years)?J| the amount of L22,SMI. Upon goldfiellls roads there had bean expended L 26,603 and on waterworks and sludye channels, etc., Ll(5,o9(!. The total- area of native lands'purchased up to March 3.'st last, 3,1)58,233, acres was at accost of L825,8G6 and;a further area of 1,013,053 acres is under purchased and on^ it have been paid L 92,527 making the total disbursement up to March 31, L 921,093. ; M3IIGRATIOJS, The total number of immigrants of ;ajl classes introduced by lbs Cplpnial Gp.yern-: ment s^nce the inauguration of the immigration scheme is j}O,Bp3. The hardships to which many have been subjected by ithe stopping of the nominated system have been so forcibly represented to tho Gp.Ycram.cnt, and their right of complaint is so clear, that instructions^have been given that in all cases where the nomination, money has been already paid passages are to be provided :for the persons nominated. The total length o£ telegraph lines in the colony is 4074 miles and extensions :art contemplated amounting to 142 miles. The expe'ndituH on' public buildings for the yeai was WGWft drift {bor? yog a Ijabjlity Hi March last of £,41,763. The prpdjjctiqn pi colonial coal had increased to 77 per cent ol the whole consumption in the colony, and the opininion was expressed that it was advisable to subsidise the use of the diamond drill for prospecting purposes and to- make a more liberal expenditure to the geological deBROfcOSALS EOB THE EUIUIH2. The work of colonisation must (he said) be carried on in a systematic and regular manner but only to such an extent as our means will permit. The object, will after this year be to bring the expenditure charged on the consolidated fund, within the means of that fund without the Property Tax W^li?^^ shift jng to looal cxv wto™ some of *hg ' p . e fen.i' $a vg&\ notably the charitable expenditure. From all sources, natural increase of revenue and the , saving from the conversion of the loans an , available amount of I/J5.000 annually was anticipated, and tnis would justify' the Colony iii borrowing a million and a half a year. He proposed two -changes in the , manner of stating the votes for railway uoiV The^Q w*re. a f tojlovyy ;-(}.) "'Xe 1 tafen'r) of separate appropriations for adtlilicniul wb-kl required on open raihyay as di&tfoet from i,ie\v works for extension of rail ways m arle (* )V he talqpgof separata, ftpprbi-jjatftna %j li\a permanent way .ydling- stock required for. all railways, including, additions to opened lines, instead of, as hitlwf~ * '; • l *•• • • -. including tue permanent way and rolling stocks in the votes for construction works. By the first of these means ihe actual state of affairs would bo more easily asc^a^ed at anytjme. While by thp second the" position of the loan could be c.asily found". We'prp'pose to take authority f < r a loan of a million and a half, ag h ;is ai^ady been intimated by the Colonial Treasurer Adding that to the available balance at end of March last, and to the third million of thp loan of JBB2, we. sjialj have a tpipl of L8 ) 3f9,1)12, available |or expenditure from '■ the Ist April last,, or liabilities and new works. On deductif the liabi!id"S to the end of August, LI ,549,906, there will be L 1,527,910 left for nsw works, which is another way of stating there will be a

. balance of F-327,916 out of the three million loan added t-.> the proposed new loan of one ; and a, half million. For, in view nl thete facts and figures I propose lo a-k ihe House ; to vole in all this year, for liabilities already ! oxisii.itr and for new undertakings to be ' presently entered into, ihe sum of 1.2.810,280, " mad.; np us follows: -For immigration. with 1 liabilities to the end of August (amounting tc ; : \Xr2.2SO) we a<;k for a vote <-f 1-100,001) ; foi general departmental expenses, with liabiliiies, Ll2.7u'J, we ask I'or a vote oi L;}'o,o(i7 : for railways we ask for a vote oi ■ L1,5G7,0i(i. For roa<is, with liabilities a: ! L'So9yi(ai, we ask for a vote of Loi7,o!)J ' I (this includes L 304.200 i'or grants in aiu 1 j under the Eoads and Bridges Constructor ! ! Act, on which there are liabilities amount 1 ing to L 204,200). For waterworks on gold. ! j fields, with liabilities, L70,6G3, we ask for i "; vote of L 128,570. For purchase of native lauds we ask for a vote of L 90,000, thai being the acnount estimated to be requir.ee to meet the payments which will become due during the year now current. Tor tele^ graph extension, with liabilities of L 20,423 we ask for a vote of L 29,322. For public buildings, with liabilities of L 54,526, we ask for a vote o£ 1171,104. For lighthouses and harbor works, with liabilities of 126.983, we ask for a vote of 155,016. For charge? and expenses of raising loans we ask for a vote of 116, 0G0, that beir.g the amount estimated to be required tc cover the cost of raising the last million loan which was floated in England. As regards ihe railways in course of construction or proposed, it is desirable that I should state here that the intentions of the Government are as follows : — Catlin's Rivei: Branch : For Ihis we propose a vote sullicicm to coinpleti! the line to Port Molyneus road. — Waipahi-lleriotburn : This being already completed the vote proposed is merely to cover existing liabilities. — Edendale to Toi Tois : It is proposed to complete this line to the end of the present formation, a point four miles beyond Wyndham, and the vote asked will be sufficient. — Otago Central Railway : As already stated I consider that the Hindou scciion oE this line should have been mom rapidly pushed ahead, and it will be my endeavor to further this end during the current year by all means in my power, and al^o to piu-h forward the construction of the line generally as rapidly .-<s possible in order to utilise the lau:e expenditure of close upon L 200,000 already spent upon it. With this view, it is proposed to ask this year for a vote sufficient to enable all the work to be put in hand which can reasonably be got at without entailing a heavy loss for carriage of material. — Lumsden-Mararoa : The vote propo.-cd for this'line,is sufficient to complete it to the end of the present formation,;*, point six miles from its commencement. — GoreKelso : It is not intended to continue this line at present, so the vote proposed is merely sufficient to cover the cost of working survey and land plans.— Waimea-Switzers : The vote for this is sufficient to complete it to the end of seventh mile. — Seaward Busb : For this railway a vote is proposed to complete it to the end of sixth mile. — Riverton-Orepuki : In this case the vote ask<sd for will complete and equip the railway throughout to the present terminus near Orepuki. If tne House consents to ivote the amounts which we now intend to ask for raihvaft, we shall have, I expect, by the end of this financial year, a length t of 1480 miles of .'railway open for traffic as against MO4 open to the 31st March Although I do not proprose to go into all the road votes in detail, it is necessary that I should say a few words as regards the total amount proposed to be asked for under two of the principal classes of roads, the grants under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, and the roads 'to open 'up lands before sale, as it might otherwise appear that these amounts are excessive. For grants under the Roads and Bndges Construction Act the vote proposed, and the one which so materially swells the total amount incurred under the general heading of roads, 1304,200, and it has to bc^ explained that This sum includes a liability of -1204,200 being the total outstanding balance of allocations made up to the end o£ March last, together with LIOO,OOO whii-h we propose for allocation this year for main roads. This will leave the item of district roads still to be provided for un.-'cr the permanent appropriations of „LIOO,OOO made by the Roads and Badges "Construction Act, 1882, the balance available for allocation under this head, including a sum of LISO3 of debentures already paid, being 143,987. For roads ta open' up lands before sale the amount proo'osed to-, be votod is H33,3.08, that being the balance 5 of tb,e loa.n allocation of ISB2, with some small additions recommended this year. 1 venture to express a hope that next year such a sys* tern of local government will be introduced as will make it unnecessary to came.- to.tha /House for such an amount of ,v'bt^j^^«M| ;&nd bridges. In com:lusdQn,V' Mr Spffakel^lJ Shall only : add that .1 lepe when the time round for the next annual Public Works Statement I shall be able to show that the department generally is being administered with greater economy than at present, that 1 may have been able to place the tariff on the railways in a more satisfactory state, and that 1 shall be able to submit a bill providing for the creation of non-political boards .of .management, which wi/1 be satisfactory to this HouSe and the country