WHARF AND RAILWAY COMMISSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1558, 1 June 1916, Page 3

WHARF AND RAILWAY COMMISSION.

THE WELLINGTON BITTING

The Railway Deviation Commission, constituted of the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout (chairman), Messrs W. M. Hannay, and Cyrus Williams, which recently sat at Foxton and Palmerston North, heard further evidence at the Supreme Court, Wellington, on Tuesday.

The scope of the commission enquiry is : (1) Whether the Foxton wharf should be handed over to the local Harbour Board ; (2) whether the Main Trunk line should be diverted from Levin to Marton ; (3) whehter the extension from Sandon to Greatford should be granted, and a junction allowed there with the railway system. All throe propositions are being opposed by the Railway Department.

Messrs 0. F. Skerrett and Martin Luckie appeared for the Horowhcnua and Manawatu Comity Councils, the supporters of the deviation, and the Railway Department was represented by Mr M. Myers. Mr T. S. Weston appeared for the Foxton Harbour Board.

Evidence was given by Gerald Fitzgerald, civil engineer, Wellington, who said that the revenue from the wharf at Foxton, £IOOO to £I7OO a year, was insufficient to accomplish any serviceable work. The state of the river above Foxton had been deteriorating. Edward John Harvey, captain of the Queen of the South, said he had been trading to Foxton for 27 years, off and on. When he first knew the river boats could go right up to Shannon drawing eight feet of water, at spring tides. At that time they had no difficulty with the river*, but the bar gave trouble. The channel was gelling worse in places; there - were three bad shoals. The whole of the shoals put together would not exceed three-quarters of a mile. The Queen of (he South drew eight feel with a full loath

To Mr .Myers : At the bar the boats were stuck on six feet of water at the neap tides. If the boats could get over the bar they could get up the river. . The bar was a very shifting one. It was liable to shift 200 or 300 yards. The depth of water at the railway wharf had not decreased. To Mr Weston : The boats were of tenor stuck going up than coming down the river.

William Edward Knller, shipping manager for Levin and Company's coastal steamers, said the trade to Foxtail had been growing consider ably for the last few years. The state of the bar and the river prevented its greater expansion. The vessels frequently .-luck inside the river. If a belter harbour wen 1 .-e----eured, it would result in a belter service and trade. There was an increasing trade in kerosene and benzine. His company's charges were considerably lower than those of the railway. If the harbour were improved so that a draught of 12ft. could bo got on the bar a more frequent boat service would be run. The state of the harbour had deteriorated during the last few years. To Mr Myers : He was not aware that goods going to Koxton were not subject to charges for haulage and handling which the Railway Department was entitled to charge. If the wharfage charges were increased and charges made for handling, it would affect the trade. It did not much matter to his company whether the Railway Department or the Harbour Board improved the harbour, so long as the work was done. He recognised that it was necessary to have the bar as well as the river improved, hut the latter work was more important. To Mr Weston : If the harbour were improved, and more shed accommodation provided, the service could lie worked more economically. His company's experience of the Railway Department had not been satisfactory. They had been trying to get the goods shed enlarged tor fifteen years. To Mr Myers : The wharf would be of no use to the Harbour Board without shed accommodation. The existing shed was not big enough.

Robert Edwards, civil engineer, Palmerston North, examined by Mr Myers, said he was in favour of a harbour at Foxton, under certain conditions. The general experience in New Zealand was that it was ruinous to have a harbour. (Laughter.) He had a very intimate knowledge of the Manawatu river, extending over 40 years. He had studied the conditions of the river carefully, and had lived for weeks at a time at the mouth of the river. The bar had shifted about a mile and a quarter to the south, and was now inclined to go north again. A southerly" wind would make k shift some chains in a few hours. Dredging the shoals inside the bar would be useless. The Manawatu carried more silt than any other river ip New Zealand. If the channel was dredged, the conditions would be improved to some extent, but the cause of the trouble would not be affected. He was certain that the people of Palmerston would not be willing to be included in a rating area. To Sir Robert Stout : He believed that after a few wet seasons the harbour would revert to its original state. Continuing, witness said that, little could be done to improve the harbour on a revenue of £1,500 to £2,000 a, year. To Mr Weston : He was asked by Mr Myers to go into the matter and give evidence. He was doing some (engineering work at the present finae, but was practically retired. He Imd never been employed on harbour boards. Francis William MacLaren, Chief

Engineer of Railways, examined by Mr Myers, said the proposed new railway from Levin to Marten would ho about 42 miles long. No survey had been made. Speaking 1 roughly, tiic eost would he £IO,OOO a mile between Levin and Fox ton, plus the eost of (he bridge, whieii would be

pretty heavy, say £40,000. From Foxton to Ilimatangi the line would have to be rebuilt, and the cost would la* about £3,000 a. mile, which Wits a low estimate. To make Levin station it workable junction would cost £30,000. A new station would be necessary at Ilimatangi, which would cost £5,000. The 14 miles beyond that would cost, on a low estimate, £7,000 a mile, its it new line would be necessary. A bridge at Bulls would cost £50,000. The cost of the lino between Bnndon and Marlon he estimated at £IO,OOO a mile. A junction at Mart on would necessitate a new station entirely, and the cost would be not less than £50,000. The figures quoted, he believed, would 1 cover the cost of taking hind necessary for building (he line. It would be inadvisable for Government rolling stock to be used on a tramway if it junction were made. To Mr Skerrett : There was a congestion of t tut flic between Mart on and Palmerston North at certain times. He thought the need of duplication of the line between these centres was a. long way ahead. He estimated the whole cost of the proposed new line at half it million, roughly. There was an objection from the point of view of railway management (o the extension of the line to Marlon station so as to enable goods to bo transhipped from truck or tram to truck or rail. As it general rule, branch lines did not pay.

August Charles Koch, district railway engineer, in charge of the Wanganui section, examined by Mr Mvers, said I hi' Sandmi tram line was not suitable for running Government stock on. To Mr Skerretl, : The tramway had been used by Government rolling stock for 40 years. The Commission adjourned until 10 o'clock yesterday morning, when further evidence was taken. Robert W. Holmes, Kngineer-iii-(’hief to (he Public Works Department, said that tin 1 proposed dredging work at Koxlou would be no use 1 without controlling works on the sides of the channel. This could only be done at great expense, probably running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, in regard to the proposed railway deviation, which would cover a distance of about forty miles, he estimated the cost, over all, at from .Cld,Odd to fill,Odd per mile. Herbert Buxton, Chief Traffic Manager of the Xew Zealand Railways. said that the proposed extension of the Sandon tramway to join the Main Trunk line near Marlon would mean unnecessary duplication in handling, causing extra expenditure, and diverting revenue from the Railway Department. The junctioning up of the tramway with the railway line at Marten would divert part of the present railway revenue through another channel, and entail a considerable advance in the working expense at Marfan without material benefit to the department. Tin* line would also be a competing one. The tramway line as at present constructed would not carry the heavy trucks of (he railways. To .Mr Skerrelt: : Witness said that (here was considerable heavy goods traffic through Mart on, both north and south, but .every train did not have to be marshalled there previous to departure from the station. Any truck 1 that conveyed a load of more than eight, tons would be too heavy to go over (he Sanson tramway. He was not aware if the sum of £GG7 was collected as freight for goods over the Sanson line during the year 11)15-1 (i, or if truck hire totalled £578, but the amounts quoted were probably correct. E ARLY NEGOTIATIONS. Richard William McVilly, Assistant General Manager of Railways, said the Koxlou wharf was completed in .1873. In 1887 the first chairman of the Koxton Harbour Board wrote to the Minister for Customs regarding the wharf, and suggested that a grave omission had been made in the Act, as it was the intention to hand the wharf over to the jurisdiction of the Harbour Board. The wharf was considered an integral part of the railway, and the Secretary to Customs at that time informed the Board that it • could not hand the wharf over, as the Government had not delegated powers to the Marine Department to give effect to the application. The railway charged 2s per ton for wharfage and nothing for haulage, but if the department lost the wharf the Is Gd for haulage that was usually charged \yould be demanded. Tin 1 profit from the wharf amounted to about £9OO after payment for upkeep. To His Honour ; The same charge could not be made at Koxton as at Wanganui on account of the want of the same facilities. His Honour said that on the face of it the difference between the (-barges on the ’Koxton and Wanganui wharves did not appear fair. The Koxton or Palmerston North importers of goods by sea had to pay 2s wharfage, the whole of which amount went to the Railway Department, while not one penny was expended by the department in improving the harbour. At Wanganui the position was different. There the importers paid 3s per ton for goods imported by sea. Of this amount, 2,s 2d went to the Harbour Board, and thereby assisted the rates, and lOd went to the Railway Department as a haulage charge.

Continuing 1 his evidenee, Mr McVilly said that in the South Island the railway was successfully competing with the sea-borne traflic. Especially was this the ease as regards Oamaru. Mr Weston : “The railway practically killed Oamaru.''

Mr Myers : “Oh, I will not say that.” His Honour remarked that as the depth of (he ships became greater it might be necessary in the future to open up one of (he West Coast Bounds as a harbour, in order to get the required depth of water. HEAVY ANNUAL LOBS. Further examined by -Mr Myers, Mr McVilly staled (hat if the control of the wharf was handed over to (he Harbour Board at Foxton, an agitation of the same nature could be expected at Nelson. Before the acquisition by the Government of the Manawatu railway line, coal for railway purposes was brought by sea to Foxton and railed from then* to the various depots, but now (he coal was raid'd from Wellington as it Wits found to be more convenient. Most of the coal used on the railways was Newcastle coal, and he had no recollection of'shippers refusing to dispatch -vessels with coal to Foxton on account- of the slate of the river. Should the proposed railway between Levin and Marton be constructed he estimated the loss in interest on cost to be £70,(100 at (he lowest without any increased traffic. The loss would be an annual one. Mr Skerrett : “Does that mean that the Hit ilway Department ought never to shorten its lint's

Mr Myers : “That does not follow.”

Continuing, the witm'ss said 1 hat Iho proposed deviation from Levin to Marlon was not necessary. Certain works were now under const rue) ion on (lie throu.eli line, and when these were completed provision would be made for the carrying of all (rathe for years to come. The suggested branch line would cost upwards of half a million to construct, and there was no .■justification for its construction. The Governmenl had already informed the Manawatu County Council that it did not object to the extension of the tramway. The effect of the junclioning of tramway and railway at .Marlon would be that Marlon would be brought three miles nearer the port of Koxlou than Wanganui. The department, he said, considered that Wanganui, which had belter railway facilities, than l''oxloii. and was a more important centre, should retain its trade, lie would expect to Ibid nearly all the trade from Marion diverted to Koxlou, as the differences in freight, as compared with that of Wanganui, would be from ltd to 2s per ton, according to railway scab l and classification, but they might be lower, as it had been shown that tin 1 freight on the tramway was not according to the railwav scab 1 .

To Me Weston : The department was not desirous of selling the Koxlon wharf, and would require more than £28,000 as the purchase price to-day. If the Harbour Board was given control the department would expect to receive Is (id from the Board for haulage, plus charges for labour which would probably be about Is per ton, as compared with the full railway charge of 2s per ton as was charged for wharfage at present. The Onelauiga wharves were disposed of at a fair bargain, (he price being about £B,OOO, and the structures were not of much account when sold. The capital cost of the wharves at Nelson was £05,000, and (he return was 10 per cent, on the capital value. Mr McVilly answered a number of depart menial questions put. to him by Mr Weston, and stated that the flax and hemp that was shipped by Levin and Co. was charged for at the rate of 3d per bale. Levin and Co. had their own wharf and shed, and the department did not handle the Jlax and hemp, otherwise an extra 3d per hale would be charged. Levin and Co. also paid £4O per annum for their foreshore right.

Knrther evidence is to he taken to-dav.