New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4370, 23 March 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1875.

•The true and particular history of the Eorbury and Peninsula railway has yet to be written. It is not disclosed in the published correspondence between , the secretary of the Company and the Government, nor would it be complete even were the supplementary correspondence on the subject, between the Superintendent of Otago and the Colonial Executive, published also. The truth lies a little deeper. It may in time' be pumped up, from the bottom of the well in which it is at . present concealed, and brought to the light of day ; meanwhile we have to deal with what floats 1 on the surface. : Mr. Secretary Bradshaw has published his version of the affair a version which he might have very easily supplemented, if he had taken the trouble to do so in the interests of the Company ; but on that version, as we find it, we propose making, a few remarks. Before doing sp, however, we have a word oxtwo to say-on the article in the Otago.Daily Times of the 17th instant. That ai-ticle evades the question. 'lt attributes to ; two members of the Executive, Messrs. Richardson and Reynolds, the meanest and most contemptible motives for refusing to comply with the illegal andprepostei-ous demands of the Company, at the same time keeping studiously out of sight the fact that Ministers over and over again pointed out the impossibility of their complying. The Daily Times requires these gentlemen, in their official capacity, to compromise the Government, .by doing a whole series of illegal acts for the aggrandisement of a company, or association of landowners, at Dunedin, who' find it to their interest to 'promote a suburban railway.; and when they, resist Ithe extraordinary pressure that is brought, to bear upon them iri a variety of ways,it holds them up to public,scorn as a pair of “little men,” who stifle private enterprise to .gratify a paltry spirit of self-con-ceit. So far from the Daily Times dealing fairly, with these . Ministers, ‘we say unhesitatingly that they deserved to be ignominously expelled from office if they had given way. They did not make,the. law : it was'' their duty, 'however' to' see that the law was scrupulously observed. Ministers .do, not,possess a dispensing power; tlx e Daily Times knows this full well, yet.it writes as if the Colonial Executive could :dispense with the law at convenience; n

The published correspondence, however, taken in connection with the proceedings at the turning of the first sod, to which we shall presently -advert, manifests a well-conceived and deliberate plan of action, in which; by a series ’ of surprises, the promoters, were to attain their ends,. without tlie . formality of law, the. expenditure of much capital, or incurring any considerable risk. The scheme was complete in all its parts. It was skilfully;worked out, and only broke down when Ministers indignantly refused, to compromise themselves and the country by entering into illegal' transactions with the Company. The history of the affair, in its initial stages, is soon told. “An influential “ deputation” waited upon the Superintendent of Otago about the middle of last September, and impressed upon his Honor the great importance, in a sanitary point of view, of constructing a railway from Dunedin to Forbury, and thence round the Peninsula to Portobello and the Heads ; alsdasking what concessions.the Provincial Government were prepared to make to a company undertaking it. On the 23rd September, 1874, after a few days’ consideration, the Provincial Secretary wrote to Mr. Bbadshaw, secretary of the promoters or company, • promising on behalf of the Provincial Government; (1) Right to construct railway over all land under the con-/ trol of : the province, without compensation. (2) Free site for station near Jetty-street (or Rattrny-street), to be reclaimed by the railway company, should use of central terminus in High-street' not be granted. (3)' Government to recommend the Governor to concede right to construct the railway along the foreshore of the Peninsula, below high-water mark. (4) Government to work the line on equitable terms as agreed upon. (5) Government stipulates, for;, these concessions, to , revise the company’s tariff of charges from time to time.

Seldom has any private undertaking been so liberally subsicUsecl-byrany Government, ;tile money value: 'olj, the jgift which j the yOtago Executive promised t(), bestow,- “ without compensation ”, in con--sideration of the right to revise the tariff; of charges, if calculated on the promoters’ scale pf„..the -values .of 'land’s held,by themselyfes would oo siniply enormous; We should hardly like to name the figure,'bflt'any 'oneliirq[u'aih-t-cd with the value of .the frontages at JDune-; din,‘and along the'bay to the Heads, will* be ablo'to form a' pretty fair ide'a’of the value of the donation of stlie Provincial Government. Of course, the; Company has nil legal right'to thiscom essibn'’’ ; but the first,point towards its, le-ralisatipn had been ihade. “The Provincial Gp : “ vernment have given a solemn promise, “ and the Provincial Council cannot “ honorably withdraw frpm their engager; “ ments.” In this way the Coni cil would, have been “worked”; and, the most valuable piece of property in Otago, held in trust for public purposes, would have passed out of the control of the province l into that of a private Company. ■■■; This “concession” made the promo--ters’ minds easy no doubt. The first point had been gained. The Provincial Executive was “committed”; the next step was to “ commit” the General Government. That done, the engineering would.be complete; meanwhile “public “opinion must be enlisted in,favor of the “- enterprise.” For this purpose l , another surprise was planned and executed with consummate skill. And here ve invite special attention to the dates. The letter of “concessions”:hy the. Provincial Secretary, was dated September, 23r6, and on the 23rd of December the Superintendent of Otago turned the first sod of the Forbury and Peninsula railway. Just three months had elapsed. The Company had, been formed, the contract for construction was let, and “before three months were “ over,” said Mi-. David Proddfoot,. at the luncheon which, followed the sodturning, “ they would have the trains “ running from Dunedin to the Ocean “Beach.” And here our readers will pardon us, we are sure, for reprinting from the report of the Otago Guardian, the skilful way in which the Company enlisted public sympathy in its favor. We condense the report as follows ; Mr. Superintendent Macandhew said : The work v.hich they had that day begun marked a new orain. the .history of Otago. (Applause.) He had had the privilege of being present at, and taking partin, the initiation of several railways in various parts of the province—railways that wee?, being constructed by the State ; but the peculiarity of the present undertaking was that it was being carried out entirely by private enterprise, without any pecuniary, aid or interest from the Government, that the Ocean Beach Company-claimed was the privilege of constructing their line along the foreshore. In consequence of this the Government were to have power to regulate the charges of the railway, so that the; company would not be in a position to char.je the public their own prices. lie looked upon it as a great privilege to be present to turn the first sod upon that occasion, and it was certainly one of the red-letter days of the province. He trusted that the example set by the new company would be largely followed in other parts of the province, and that the public would rely more upon themselves and less upor the Government for the - construction of their lij-ht-railways. . . . He thought this railway would form a marked contrast to those made by the State, whether as regarded time or cost.. If made by the Provincial Government they might multiply both by two ; and if by the General Government, he did not think they would be very-far off the mark if they'multiplied by four. (Loud laughter) . There was no douby that the line would be put up at much less cost than if constructed by the Government, and ho only wished ihat he had a few ,pounds to spare to Invest in it himsilf. (Laugh : ter and applause.) He would then be able to retire for the remainder of his life. (Loud laughter.) Great advantage would accrue to the. Government through the construction, of the line, for he believed they would be saved thousands of pounds through the reclamation of mud at the top of tho harbor.. It would go a great .way towards populating, the entire district, and before many years they would find this flat, embracing an area of 2000 acres, covered' with houses, workshops, shipbuilding yards, and other hives of human industry.- (Loud applause.) And all this may be attributed to the undertaking they had that day commenced." His Honor is reported to have said very much more to. the same purpose in reply to the toast of his health, one remark being that while all light railways paid well, “ there were some railways made by the Government that were not likely to pay, at least within.- the lifetime or" the present, generation.” -f Mr. DA.vii> Phoudfoot, the contractor, and one of the l projectors, in reply to the toast of his health said : “ On his own behalf, and on the behalf of the Company, he would take upon himself t^assure them that they would carry the work out to a successful issue, and that before three months were oyer they would have the trains running from D media to the Ocean Beach. This portion of the line, would tainly be concluded before the races in March mext," (Cheers.) ’ ’ V - Mr. Reynolds said in reply to the health Of the Ministers, proposed by Mr. Proudfo >t, that “ho would not introduce politics on that occasion, - although the Superintendent had rather trodden upon hia toes, but he would let bygones be bygones, and put his Honor’s remarks down-as an after-dinner speech.” He assured his audience that ,' u tho Government was anxious to advance the interests,, not only of Otago, but of the whole colony," while hia own personal exertions would not be wanting for that province. , . / • ' •’ i

This was ably and artfully done; excellent engineering no doubt; than which none better was ever-attempted in America., The assertion of Mr. Macanlbew; that the peculiarity of the present hnder- “ taking was that it was being carried “ out entirely ; by; private ---enterprise,* “ without any aid or interest from -the “ Government,” qualified by his peculiar version of the “ concessions ‘’“'/{if dresaid, put ' th'e‘ -> public into; the beat possible 'humour; and the exaggerated’condemUa; tioh of Government enterprise, as ' contrasted with their own, completed th’d .conquest of public feeling. It needed (Silly Mr. PnotJ wool’s timely assurance to confirm their faith in the-promoters. Wo have thus, seen the Provincial Government and ithe. public successively carried by the skilful management of the Forbury Railway Company. I-; remained only to carry-the General Goy to commit'Ministers in-.some'w ay, 'to;that' recession l would be impossible;' , So', fir, the Company was not required to, purchase land or rolling stock—t hese being included in ; tho Provincial Government's “concessions.” The rails and fastenings were ~ wanting to complete the project. The company would r then only pay the cost of formation— unless, indeed,* some way could bo found to shift that part of the burden to the, shoulders of eh appreciative country. However, the rails and fastenings remained * hiriprovided. ; These, as we have, said, were , to bo got ; and Mr. Bbadshaw, in the name of his Directors, solicited “the aid of the “ Colonial Government in the loan of a “ sufficient quantity-of rails i.nd fasten- “ inga for about three miles,” at the same time telling Mr. Reynolds, in his letter-, “ how much the-Directors and the public .would like to see the line finished “to Forbury in three mouths.” This was on the 21) Lh December, ju.it six days after the sod turning. At this point; however, the engineering difficulties began. Mr; Reynolds promised to do what he could for them, and was surprised into making that promise oven, in a way not very creditable to the parties concerned, judging from the published.correspondence. , It has resulted, however, in this, that Ministers have been true to their trust, and, unlike the Otago Government, have not committed the Legislature in any way by their action in this matter. For this, we say again, they deserve the-thanks of the Colony at large, and especially of the province of Otago, which.ia so'peculiarly interested. At the risk of wearying ovr readers, wo are inclined to ask why.it Js that the Forbury and Ponilisulaßailway Company,: acting under the best legal advice, preferred the “ ways that are -dark and “ tricks that are vain,” to. the. clear and straightforward course presoribed by law 1 We do not profess to answer the question.

JSufiip© may, the scheino..had, succeeded adgrossqJM? wonlcKhave been perpetrated. 1 A;' mt/st valuable public . i h\ to^come, v ) being iSQihe fifteen miles of’water 'bn v a ' landlocked bay, and the right to construct wharves and jetties at ra new. port the* Heads —would: havoy passed away from, the province of Otago without ’aldetatioh f Government would diavO provided T jtho rolling; stpok and wdr&ed the lino,'giving the Company the lise of Two miles‘of constructed rail way Jat the Dunedin end, besides supplying the rails' and” fastenings for the remaining to the Ocean Beach, And for what consideration 1 For whose benefit, were these concessions to be made I .Most certainlynot for.the public, because the public would have paid for the use of the line, subject to Superintendental revision of charges. It was really and solely for the benefit of a few owners of property, who would have profitted immensely by its construction, 'i If the Forbury and Peninsula railway will pay as a private enterprise, as we believe it will, let it be gone about in a straightforward, legitimate wav, and the promoters will receive every encouragement and support ; but we protest against the public estate, or public funds, being diverted , to. prop it up- '