FOXTON-SANDON RAILWAY

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 64, 8 April 1879, Page 2

FOXTON-SANDON RAILWAY

A mdciiing was Inl I at llio School houso, Sarulon, on Thursday evoniug last, for thojpurpq.se of hearing the report of lih©' 1 Oojiipiitte©-: M to the present position ot -tho company, aui tho progress that had been made lo^ wards tho inauguration of tho prelimiuaiies for makiil<j' the lino. Although the" night wis miserably wet arid wrotcliod, thnro was a largo attondauco,—botwoen 50 and GO— tho room beiiig well lilted j comprising settlers from all parts of die district. Boon after the appointed time for opening, tho / meeting; Mr Grower proposed, tiiafc Mr'Tti Sailson take the chair. Tho movement had boen associated with his name frptn ,the first, and he considered this the most critical meeting that would bo held. Mr J. Bowater having briefly seconded, Mr Suuson took tho chair. Having read; the advertisement convening the : meeting, tho Chairman said he did not know that any speech was necessary. Since the last moeting tho articlqs of association had been prepared with great care, so that nothing should bo overlooked which would bonefit the interests, of the concern. A : prospectus had also been prepared and was ready for issue. The directors had made a point of keeping down the preliminary" expenses as much as possible,! in •, case tlie project' TelD fhrough, when tho expenses would have to be borne by the promoters, arid such as clioso to assist; hence the prospectus had not been published before. He considered this Ihe crowning meeting, and greatly regretted :ho inclemency of the weather as otherwise a larger attendance would, have resulted. , Mi* ; isanson then' wfent on to explain the history of the scheme for a railway to Sanson from 1877, when Mi Gower and himself waited upon tho Hon. Robert Campbell, there being also present Messrs Fox, Ballance, Johnston, and others. At that interview (whiqli was -before the passing of thb'Bistrict Railways Act, then before the House) Mr Campbell offorcd, if the district would guarantee 2 per cent,, and;a similar auiouut was guaranteed from the consolidated fund, , to construct the Railway .himself, taking the receipts frem i he traffic as his payment. Hp believed Mr Campbell made that offer in all honesty, but after the Railways. Act was passed.it was found there was no provision, for/ interest guaranteed to an individual who might construct a railway. This wa's too heavy a risk for Mr Campbell to undertake, so it was found necessary to form a company under the Joint Stock Companies Act. After a long delay, Mr Campbell came to the district, and the formation of tho Com pany was resolved on, Mr Campbell offering to take a large interest. Mr Sausou then defended the promoters from tho charge of shifting their ground. He contended that only that shift which was rendered necessary by the passing of the District Railways Act had boen made. No other course was open bat to form the company, and then raise a loan on tho sharo list. He then re* ferrod to the present depressed state of the colony, but which he held did not affect tho Railway, although ho admitted that at other times there would have been less difficulty iufloa' ing a loan. However, ho believed before they would be prepared go place t'ae loan on the market, money holders would bo glad to take the security of the railway, tie was sure if the settlers would take up shares proportionate to their holdings, and thus show their faith in the concern,' and the list were sent home, the money could be raised on 'favorable terms. : Mr, Sanson ; next went into figures to show that settlers would nut be so heavily taxed as, was imagined: " For instance, amanholdiug a lOCI-acva farm would pay, talking the highest rate, a ta± of 4d an acre, which would he £,1 } . 1,3s 4d/ a year for the first five years, making a total sum for that periq.d[,of£B6sßd. After that period, tlie rates would be reduced^ jiist i one.tJial£r^l^s*Bd*^fop- 1 the next ten years, which would make another £8 63 81, which would be the extent of tho time for which a rate could bo levied. Thus the whole of the rates a man holding 100 acres would, have to pay in 15 years, would, be £16 13s 4d or £1 2s 5 d per year.' Supposing also that Jihe. same, isettler took £100 worth of shares in the company he would only hare to pay £20 in' the first your, tho roina\n<ler of tho money being borrowed for a period of 15 years, when he would be liable for the- remainder 'of the share monej'— £Bo— if the Government did not in tho meantime buy up their interest in the railwa}' ; if they did nof, the shareholder would have £100 invested in the Company for all time. He believed in the capa* bilities of the district for the matter, and it remained for the settlers to make it a success. He boiieyo&Ji&tt-" (Isu was drifting to leeward for want of the railway. Tlie junction of the Wellington Railway at Eoxtcn ; was a most important matter for tho dis-r trict and he believed that the starting of the Sandon line, would, have the effect of settling' the 1 question' Mr Hanson next instanced 1 Lower Rangitikei as a district that had great ly suffered from want of a progressive spirit,'add said Sanilon would suffer the same fate unless efforts were made to keep pace with the times. People might think the railway would not add much to the prosper-

ity of tlio district ; but the fact was they had^een living on the) railway. :|po rtuj^ly had brought the brink's. fpsst aud tolo^yfipli offico ; tin I if the railway wa9 not. made, land would decrease in pviße' £;> an acre, lie asked thusi present to take an interest, in tlio concern proportionate to their means. Some had said— Wait, a whilo ; things will bo better by and byo; but they musl havo the railway now or never. He believed £5,000 to £10,000 could be obtained in Wellington if the district helped themselves Ho next read a copy ot a telegram which* Mr M'Lonnan 'the lion" Kobert dimpboll's manager at tho Douglas station) had received from fchalfgentlemanvio"w!rich he stated his willingness td take 1000 shares if Mr Larkworthy did tho same, and the IJiink of New Zealand would advance tho fundsjunlii the lo.aa,waa.,floated. -.Hehad every rca-on, fo, hope, the Government would purchaso the plant ' in five year*, when the shareholders would receive _10 per cent on the coijt '• bt fchf )liji& 'J'ho^Gqvern&djit. hat] 'offered to* sdpply'fcho l'.iils at rost price, if in stock. Mr Sanson concluded a thoroughly practical speech ;by, remarking that he believed the matter was hopoful, and tho project could bo carried through with flying colors, and that he was not more siinguine than the case justified. Mr Gowcr was then cdled on, and said Mr Sanson, had. made a clear^explanation of •ietiulsj'andi his^speecli was very satisfactory to hear. Far too much talking had been done, and the time had now come foi action. lie was , gratified to. , ape such a large attendance. "Tho' time 'chosen for a start unfortunately was bad, but he was full of hope. Mr Sanson, who was goed in any position, either, as shaftlhorap orlead^iy had kept the matter' going. He 'sincerely hoped something definite would be donfe that, night.. If, ( they wanted he)p from outside," ihey must : help themselves/ He would li'<e to see Ihe difficulties a band of good determined colonists could not overcome, lie oonsidered the one* important question was, " Would' it pay ? '' Hehad heard that half-hearted, recreant cowards were going through the district, saying it would not, pay, | There was uo, right nor reason why it should not pay, after working , expenses had been made. He compared ? the proposed line with other railway districts, and saidithis wad as goodias;anjr./i It waß only fair reason to suppose that, taking the lino as proposed, it would pay well. He challenged any person to come forward and stntp if > Jliv San'eon he were to' 6 sanguine. This meeting had been called to settle the question, " (Shall we try it ?" Mr i Grower then read the list of persons at Foxtbh "who had 'agreed to take Snares, and suggested that each person at the meeting bo asked to take shares, and advised that a thorough systematic canvass of the distric should be made. He next alluded to the benefit the proposal of _a railway had made at Sandon, and concluded by saying that some might think he was there advocating ,Mr ; LMt worthy's intere.sj;', but ) he iconic 'assure them he was quite willing to pay double the tax on his own property rather than lose the railway! v £ , j /! At this period a discussion arose as to calling up only one-fifth of the share money some contending that a clause should be inserted to that effect in the articles of association. , -,-•■; :';- * > .;/■••' I Mr Sanson said he < l could not afford 'to pay up the whole of the share money on the shares ho had taken, but he could pay oau-fifth ; and ho believed if it was uudorstood that the Directors would not have the power of calling up more than that amouut , it would greatly accelerate the filling up of tho sharo list. He suggested ft clause should bo inserted, in the articles of association to the above effoefc. Mr Prior contended that the fir3t clause in the articles of association dealt with the matter. In reply to a question, Mr Prior siid the company beiug a limited liability ouo, no shareholder would be responsible for anything beyond the amount of his shares. Mr .Sanson said if the amount of the capital to bo called up was not limited to one fifth, ho could not afford fto tako up his sh ir«sß. Mr Gower spoke to the samo effeofc.' ' He thought the matter sliouli be well ventilated, as it would muko a great difference in canvassing tho district. Mr Saiidou coufiideiieil thab ft resolutionshould be carried, but Mr Tompkins coiio teu<!ed that a clause inserted in the pros pectus alone would have the effect'. 1 '■' ' Tliis was done, and t lie prospectus made to read as followa : — sa per sharo on application, os oil allotment, and. oj at two intirvals of not le?s chain three months, ''after which no further call ,to be mude for a period of 15 years." ' : •'*''■ '• Mr John Tompkins said that one thought .which had not been brought out fully hitherto was, " What could Sandon do without tlio railway." Another thought ;was ,the disheartening attendance hitherto. But • a?; grea|: iman'yf mafferSjof had had td.jbo, littended to l|y ( the /Cofaimjtf e|. Ho uf feed jupoA J QiosdLpresjjntl to iau*L& fth'cir friends to take up shai\ s and interest /'themselves in tho matter. Mr Gower said he believed Mr Campbell was thoroughly at heart in the matter of the railway, but in his telegram he had imposed conditions in reference i to.Mri L:irkworthy, which ho was unable to fulfil, On behalf of Mr. Larkwoithy .he, would jakoiup 500 shares, -nrnich' Would- be^n the same proportion as Mr Campbell's, taking tho rospeqtiveiiaroas.qfieach estate, which was the way 'in' which he thought the telegram was to be read. He moved that a Committee be appointed to thoroughly canvass the district, and io get as many shares taken up as possible. .- ; This was seconded by Mr.Tqrapkins, and carried unanimously^ r -ii io J'i- i.o^!. ■" Mr M'Leuimu said he did not want the representatives of the Press nor the peopl to read the telegram differently to what it said. The telegram said nothing about " in proportion," aud it was not right to suppose anything, else.- ,< }„,.. ;-,, lir . w . The Chairman said ho believed from conversations he had had with Mr -Campbell, that gentleman' ''woulfl ' Tj6 ' pre'pitre'd 1 to db more than that amount, rathei; than sao the railway not carried throug^hi' '' Lii > .'''''-^ mo The Chairman said the plans and books of reference . ha.d, been deposited with . the Government and County Council, and it would be necessary to take the, vote of the district within 60 days after such' deposit.' Mi- John I'ompkius proposed— That the prospectus should be immediately published in the three papers already "agreed upon, viz , the Manawatd Hbbald, tho Rangitikei Advocate, and tho New Zealand Times. Socoudf d % and'^urnbd./l 3 This closed the meeting, and a number of shares wore then taken up by those present.