PUBLIC MEETING AT FOXTON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5390, 6 July 1878, Page 3

PUBLIC MEETING AT FOXTON.

(From the Mauawalu, Times, 3rd inst.) A public meeting was held in the Town Hall, Foxton, on Monday evening, to consider the advisability of adopting resolutions to the following effect, viz,—To carry a comprehensive scheme of wharf extension at Foxton ;■ to obtain increased rolling-stock and attention on the railway between Feilding avid Foxton ; and to support the reduction on the carriage of white pine timber. Mr. Flower occupied the chair. The spenders were the chairman, Mr. Thynno, Mr. Loudon, Mr, Hulko, Mr. Snelson, Mr. Keeling, Mr. Gower, and Mr. McDonald. The following resolutions were passed :—“ That in the opinion of this meeting it is a matter of the gravest importance for the prosperity of the county as a whole, that immediate steps should be taken by the Government to provide such a comprehensive scheme of a wharf extension at the port of Foxton as will bo adequate to meet the present and fast increasing .trade—the present proposed addition being totally inadequate. That the Minister of Public Works be urged to call for tenders for the execution of one of the general and comprehensive schemes for the extension of the wharf (at Foxton which they have had submitted to them by their engineer. “That there are now tea mills within the county, either in full working order or just starting, and from an estimate admitted at a meeting of the sawmillers at Feilding they are calculated to turn-out about one million feet a month. As eight out of these nine mills lie nearer to the Port of Foxton than the Port of Wanganui by an average distance of 2i miles, and the railway lino to Foxtou is nearly a level, the port of shipment is one of no doubt, unless the necessary accommodation at the wharf is unprovided. That every day’s delay in the carrying out of this important work means a loss of revenue to the railway, a loss to the sawmillers, and a loss to every resident in the county. ■ “That as repeated .efforts have been made from lime to time to have Foxton declared a port of entry, this meeting is of opinion that the matter should not be_ delayed any longer, such delay being prejudicial to the mercantile and general interests of the county. “ That the Commissioner of Railways be requested to meet a committee appointed by this meeting, at a convenient date, in the district, to take steps to secure morp attention to the consignees on the line than they at present receive. That the arrangements under which the station-master at the Foxton terminus is taken from ids duties three days a week, to act as a travelling clerk, is a matter of grave inconvenience to these forwarding goods, and has led to many errors and delays which would otherwise have been avoided. And that the committee consist of -Messrs. Loudon, McNeil], Thynnc, and the mover. “ That the Government be requested to accede to the memorial of the sawmillers of the county to obtain a reduction of the tariff freight on white pine timber to oae-halUof the present charge, .and that the charge for unloading at wharves be not imposed when the work of unloading is done direct from trucks into vessels, aud that the charge on .the carriage on timber shall be made on the actual mileage from the mills, and not as at present from the station next furthest on the line. “That in the opinion of this meeting, the Government should increase the number of the surveyors now at work in the Herowhenua Riding, in order that the lands almost purchased from Natives may be surveyed for tiie purpose of passing the land through the Native Lands Court without delay, and thus enabling the purchases to be completed, and the land thrown open to the public.” A motion that the convener forward the resolutions to tho proper quarter, and a vote of thanks to the chair, brought the pi'oceedings to a close, after which, those taking part in the meeting were invited to a capital sapper at Whyte’s Hotel.