The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1878.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5454, 19 September 1878, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1878.

Ministers are not happy in their defence of the policy of undertaking to make tho Tapanui line of railway at a cost of £01,500 without the authority of Parliament. We copy from the Ministers’ paper of Tuesday a statement of what they are pleased to call the “facts” of the case “exactly and fully stated” :

Last session Mr. Macamlrcw submitted to the House a resolution for constructing tho Waipahl branch ami sever. I other portions of railway; but tho resolution was negatived by a majority of three. Later in the session Mr. Baitings, the member for the district, brought forward a resolution*!:) favor of the Waipahl brand) line : tho result being that on ihrcc occasions the House affirmed that the branch should be constructed, anil that tho p-ocecdvof a block of Grown land in tho district should be devoted to tho work. Upon tho authority of this thrice-asserted resolution of the representatives of tho people, a block of land was reserved from sale; and plans and specifications for the railway having been got ready, tenders wero called for. Tho lowest tender received, that of Messrs, rr.mulfoot and McKay, was accepted a dan or t\r.ohefpwjh%f>iicviu>j of the session. That tender .was nordmjithe lowest received, but it was for a sum of £2OOO lejfc than the engineer's estimate; and we expect tho public to agree with pur opinion that it was most properly accepted. It is said hero as ono of the “facts ’’ that upon three occasions tho House affirmed that tho Tapqnui branch railway should bo constructed. Tho question was raised last year upon two occasions only, once by Mr. Maoandrew himself and once by Mr. Bastings. Mr. Macanduew’s resolutions wore as fol'ows;—

1. That, with Hue view to opening up tho interior and outlying districts of the province of Otago, and of providing for tho beneficial occupation and settlement thereof, it is expedient Unit tho undermentioned linos of railway be constructed forthwith ; that is to say.--From Awamoko, up the valley of tho Waltaki, as far as the land suitable for agriculture extends; from Palmerston to Waihemo ; from the Mosgiot and Outram lino to Lake Wanaka, vl\ Strath-Taierl, Naseby, Clyde, and Cromwell; from tho main trunk lino to Gatlin’s JUvcr; from Walkawa harbor to Wymlhara ; from Waipahl to Tapanui; from Gore to tho Elbow ; from Invercargill to .Seaward Bush: from Otautau to Takatimo; from Orepnki to Waiau. 2; That, inasmuch as by far the larger portion of tho lines hereinbefore mentioned must needs pass tlirough an extensive area of available country not yet Alienated from the Grown—the sale of which will realise much more than will cover 'the cost of tho whole, and tho settlement upon which will Increase very materially tho general revenue of tho colony - steps bo i t once taken to survey such lands into suitable allotments, a largo proportion of which should bo withheld from sale, pending the completion of the respective lines. Also, that provision should, be made f«: regulating the area of allotments, so as to enable and encouragi those who may ba employed in tho construction of such linos to acquire and settle down upon laud contiguous to the works upon which they may bo employed. 3. That a respectful address be transmitted to his Ex clloncy the Governor, requesting that lie may be pleased to give effect to the foregoing resolutions. - _ To these resolutions additions, and amendments by elision, wore moved, which would make them road as follows : That, with tho view to opening up tho interior ami outlying illiitticta of the colony, nntl of providing for the beneficial oeeuintion ami settlement thereof, it is expedient Unit tho trunk linos of railway through botli islands bo conslrucio 1 forthwith. On the J.Otlr Sffiitembur last both tho amendment and the resolutions wero negatived ; tho amendment by a majority of ■} ■ tho.rcsolutions themselves apparently upon tho voices. There was no division upon them. On Urn ‘Jth Ootohor tho House, upon tho motion, of Mr. Bastings, went into committee “ to “ consider of au address to His “ Excellency thn Governor, praying that “ a sum of £50,000 bo placed on the sup- “ plementuvy estimates for tho construe- “ tion of a railway from Tapauii! to Wai- “ tnki.” Upon tliis, as wo have already shown, Mr. Pvkb moved as au amendment to strike out tho words “a sum of “£50,0.00 to";be placed on the supple- “ montary estimates,” with a view to

inserting the following words, viz., — “ Public land, to the value of £50,000 “ shall be set apart in suitable blocks,” and of adding the words “ such land shall “ be contiguous to such railway, and shall “not bo sold or otherwise disposed of “ until such railway is completed.” Oil that occasion Mr. Bexd, tho Minister for Lands, an Otago representative, well informed upon the question, said :

The resolution as amended would dimply mean a reservation of land, ami not the construction of a railway. He would point out to the committee tho distinction between the railwiy now proposed and that referred toby the lion, member for the Dunstau (the Strath-Taieri), In regard to which that bon. gentleman had carried a resolution tlirough the House during tho afternoon. There was this material distinction: that one line would opo:i up a considerable area of Crown lands—in fact, would run entirely through Crown lands, with tho exception of about three miles where it would puss through freehold land —whereas, in the case now before the House, there were no Crown lands to bo opened up. He did not know where the land was to bo obtained if “contiguous to the railway” meant within a few miles of it. In tho caso they were now discussing there wore, as far as lie knew, no Crown lands within eight or ten miles of the proposed railway. The land in the district had been sold and was in the hands of landholders, ra ; »ny of whom had acquired largo estates at a low price in consequence of tho disadvantage to which the lion, gentleman had referred—namely, that there was no means of access to it. Tho land was, however, of very good quality. The House was now asked to step in and make a »allway at the expense of the country in order to enhance the value of the estates of these people .... This was a case

-winch would be completely met by tho District Railways Bill, although th*t Bill would not meet tho caso of the railways referred to in the .resolution of t!.c hon. member for tho Dunstan. . . . . He

thought this was a caso that would be fairly met.by the contribution tho House had agreed to give from tiie Consolidated Revenue—that was, they had guaranteed private capitalists'? per cent, on the expenditure. subject to tho consent of tho owners of lands through which the railway passed. The land in the district was nearly all freehold, which had been acquired by persons owning considerable estates, and who ought to have no objection to the imposition of a rate for the construction of tho line. There was no reason why it should not bo constructed at once. The surveys a id plans were iu a forward state, and tho people themselves wove, he believed, willing to take advantage of the District Railways Bill. No doubt if the chose to stop in and say, *’ Wo will construct your line Instead of giving the guarantee,” they would not obj ct; but they had already taken steps with tho object of having tho railway constructed, and there was no reason to doubt that it soon would be constructed. ... ;

Mr. Gisborne, as we iiava already shown, gave his vote for Mr. Pykb’s amendment on the distinct understanding that he was only reserving tho land,and that ho was not pledging the country, to spend a shilling on the railway. Mr. Macandbbw himself, thou in opposition, said— It seemed to him that there was somethin? wrong still, because ho understood t ? mt the credit of the colony was not to bo pledged In any way and that the railway was to be paid for out of tho proceeds of the land. * That meant that the land should be gradually sold until the railway was constructed. lie did,not think that tho resolution showed this cle-irly. He hoped the motion would be amended in such a way that Us meaning would bo clear.

Mr. Bastings, the mover of the resolution, said— He was quite satisfied with tho resolution ns tstood. He heard the Attorney-General laugh, but ho hoped tho Government were not tripping him up, If this land was set aside he was quite satisfied tho railway would be constructed before the land was sold, and the Government would tli reby obtain enhanced value for the land sold. The County Councils would arrange to have tbo railway constructed, and after it was •constructed the land might bo sold. That was the idea lie had. He was acting iu perfect good faith, and ho hope! the Government wero doing tlio.s me. The amended resolution —that £50,000 worth of land should be set apart—was adopted by the committee, but upOn tbe distinct understanding that upon its authority not a shilling of the public money should be spent upon the railway. Where, then, we should like to know, is “ the thrice-asserted resolution” upon the .authority of which the Government have undertaken to spend au enormous amount of the public money ? The first resolutions moved by Mr. Macandrew, in which tiie making of the Tapanui line was included, wore rejected by tiie House without a division. Mr. Bastings’ resolution was regarded as having been practically shelved by the amendment, and it neither gives nor was supposed to giVe, even by that gentleman himself, any authority to make the railroad. We assumed, relying upon dates, aud said, that tiie contract with Mr. Proudfoot was made whilst tho Parliament was sitting. In this it -appears that wo wero wrong. If what Ministers now tell us be true, tho tender was accepted “ a day or two before tbo opening of the session.” Now, as wo have shown, tho advertisement for tenders for the work first appeared in the “Otago Daily Times” on the 28th June ; the 29th July was the, day named as that np to which tenders would bo received. The session opened on tho 2Gth July. If, thou, Mr. Proudfoox’s tender was accepted, as Ministers tell us, “a day or two before the session,” it was accepted and tho arrangements completed four or five days before the time publicly fixed for receiving tenders had expired. This is worse and worse. Messrs. Proudfoot and- McKay, Ministers say, were just finishing a contract on tho Clinton line, from which tho Tapanui branches off, and “as tliey had at hand all tho necessary “ appliances for beginning tiie work at “ once,” it was let to them, some days before tho time publicly appointed for receiving tenders from others had expired ! ! ! ' •

x Ministers appear Ijy I'egvct that in calling attention to this illegal proceeding on their part we have not raked up the past history of public works scandals in Otago. Wo have .no desire to do so; tho simple facts of tile present caso are quite enough. Tho Government, without legal appropriation or a shadow of lawful authority, have undertaken to pay out of tho Oonsoliijated Revenue £01,500 of the money of the people for a work which would have been constructed by the landowners interested in it, under tho District Railways Act, if they had boenallowod to do so. Tho Ministers have also, as they toll us, made this engagement a day or two before ■the opening of-the session, and some days boforo tbo time publicly notified for receiving tenders bad expired; they did this just because Mr. Proudfoot, having then finished ono work in the neighborhood, was ready to commence upon another. -Surely that is enough. Will this decision of tho Government, as Ministers expect, “really bo approved “ and" praised by tho Legislature !” If so it is time that tho “Legislature” went to tho country.