THE RAILWAY DEMONSTRATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5478, 17 October 1878, Page 2

THE RAILWAY DEMONSTRATION.

(from oor special reporter.) The second attempt at opening the line to Featherston—the first being so unexpectedly frustrated on Saturday—took place yesterday, and waa attended with complete success. In Monday’s issue I gave a full account of the ceremony as. far as Kaitoke, and it is therefore unnecessary for me to go over the same ground again; suffice it to say that the train left the Wellington station at one minute past nine a.m., and contained about 100 excursionists, including his Excellency the Governor and suite, several ladies, members of Parliament, City Councillors, ami a number of the Volunteer Artillery, under the command of Captain Moorhouse and Lieutenant Fox. Featherston was reached shortly before one o’clock, the Incline being the principal feature of the journey. A large crowd was assembled at the railway station to give a cordial welcome to his Excellency and the excursionists, and loud cheers rent the air on the stoppage of the train. His Excellency was met by the members of the Reception Committee, headed by Mr. H. S. Wardell, 11. M. Some delay took place in the ceremonies to allow of the Volunteer Artillery to transport the guns from the railway truck, and to place them in position in an adjoining paddock. When these preparations were complete, his Excellency was conducted to the large open space surrounding tho marqude, in which the luncheon was to be held. Stepping forward, Mr, Wardell read the following addiess : To his Excellency the Most Honorable Marquis of Normanby, Governor of New Zealand,—On behalf of the people of Wairarapa, the Reception Committee welcome you to this district, and embrace with pleasure the opportunity of expressing the feeling of loyalty to her Majesty by which they are animated, and of respect for her representative, in the person of your Excellency. The event which affords us this opportunity is one of groat importance to us, and one upon which the Government and the colony may bo congratulated. It commemorates the completion of a work which Ims been regarded as the greatest engineering dilliculty in railway construction in this island, and an event which, by affording increased facilities of communication with tho capital, will assist in developing the resources of this district and in promoting the social comfort of its inhabitants. We thank your Excellency for your presence among us on this auspicious occasion, and greet you with a most hearty welcome. —Herbert Wardell, Chairman. His Excellency replied as follows ;—Gentlemen, —I thank you for the cordial welcome which you have accorded to me, and I receive with pleasure the expressions of loyalty which you express towards her Majesty, and long may the happy connection between this colony and the mother country exist and flourish. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) It affords me great pleasure to be here on this occasion. It is an event which I trust will be a cause of future benefit both to this district and to the capital, and I heartily congratulate you upon the completion of the work, I trust that the time may not bo far distant when this line may be still further extended, aud that railway communication will extend from one end of this Island to the other, as it now nearly does in the Southern Island. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) To a district which affords the means of agricultural pursuits, easy communication is one of the most important of all things, and I hope that before long the farmer will cultivate the land, and that this island will produce wheat in the same manner in which they have succeeded in producing it in the Southern Island. (Hear, hear.) Depend upon it, the backbone of every country is tho agricultural interest. (Hear, hear.) I congratulate you sincerely upon the completion of this work, and I have now great pleasure in declaring tho railway open. (Loud cheers.) At the sound of tho trumpet, a salute was fired by the Artillery immediately after his Excellency's speech. A movement was at once made in the direction of the place iu which the luncheon was to take place, but owing to some hitch in the arrangements his Excellency aud suite had to remain outside for a considerable time. At last the signal was given that all was ready, and in a very short time the guests were seated. There were about 150 present. The chair was occupied by Mr. Booth, chairman of the West Wairarapa County Council, who was supported on his right by his Excellency the Governor and Mr. O. Pharazyn, and on his loft by the Hon. Mr. Fisher and Mr. Beetham, M.H.R. The vice-chair was occupied by Mr. Wardell. The toasts were proceeded with after luncheon. The toast of “ The Queen and the Prince of Wales and the rest of the R -yal Family” were drunk with great enthusiasm. The Chairman next proposed the toast of “ His Excellency the Governor,” who, he said, was a thorough representative of the agricultural interests of England. (Hear, hear.) Tho toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. His Excellency was loudly cheered on rising to return thanks. He said : Mr. Chairman, ladies aud gentlemen, I thank you very sincerely—you, Mr. Chairman, for the kind manner in which you have proposed my health, and you, gentlemen, for tho very cordial manner in which you have received it. I can assure you I was as much disappointed as yourselves at not being able to resell this spot on Saturday last. However, being disappointed then, I thought the best thing I could do was to try aud fulfil .my promise today. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) We have been more fortunate to-day, and I congratulate you sincerely on the accomplishment of the great work which we are here to-day to commemorate. It is a farther development of the great Public Works scheme of 1870, which I believe is destined to prove of inestimable value- to the whole colony of New Zealand. (Cheers.) In this island, unfortunately, partly from engineering difficulties and partly from tho Native difficulties, the progress has not been so rapid as it has been iu the Southern island. It was ray good fortune about a month ago to proceed to Dunedin for the purpose of opening the railway between Christchurch and Dunedin, and when one recollects —(I can only do it from what is told me) —what that country was a fow years ago, I am sure they will admit that the benefits conferred by railway communication have been great indeed. The first requisite in a new colony is easy means of communication, in order to open it up. (Hear, hear.) I said just now, and I repeat it again, that I believe the agricultural interest is the backbone of all new countries. (Hear, hear.) But it is vain to hope that that interest can flourish aud prosper unless you give easy means for the transport to the market of tho produce of your labor. (Hear, hear.) There is no means by which that can be more easily accomplished than by the constructions of railways—(Cheers) —and I trust it will not be long before the railways will be extended in this island as they are in the South. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) There is no doubt the construction of these railways has been an expensive matter. It has added largely to tho debt of this colony, and it will require care and caution in the future to prevent outrunning the constable. I believe that so far this country has nothing to fear, (Hear, hear, and cheers.) She has been bountifully endowed by Providence. You have in many parts of tho country a magnificent soil, and in most parts of it a fair sort; you have a climate which is salubrious, and well calculated to encourage the growth of all kinds of crops ; and New Zealand contains a degree of mineral wealth which T believe has hardly yet been prospected. With all these advantages, you are bound to prosper if you exert yourselves properly, and use proper care and caution in the management of your affairs. If you do this, you are bound in tho end to flourish and to succeed. (Cheers.) I know of no country that I have ever visited—aud I have visited many young countries—which iu the space of forty years has progressed iu the extraordinary manner iu which the colony of New Zealand has progressed. Ton arc in your infancy, aud yet you hatfo reaped the advantages of mature age. I trust that this advancement and prosperity will long continue. I feel that confidence in the energy winch has been shown by tho people of Now Zealand that I am sure their sons will over try to emulate tho actions of their fathers. (Hear, hear.) With regard to your own district, this opening of the railway will, I believe, bo the commencement of a new era to you. It opens out a new and easy means of communication with Wellington aud the sea, and I trust that it will not be very long in this valley before you emulate your brothers in the South, and commence tho growing of grain crops. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) It is a very few years since tho whole of New Zealand, or very nearly the whole of New Zealand, had to import all her wheat. Now, we find that in the South, X believe mainly in consequence of the extra facility being given for tho transport of produce, that they are not only able to supply their own demands, but have become a very large grain-exporting people. I believe that there is nothing which will add more to the prosperity of the country than that. The export of grain means a large import > either of capital in the shape of money or in the shape of goods; and that, after all, is the main object of those who occupy themselves either in farming, merchandise, or any other industry. I congratulate you again upon the opening of tho railway. I wish this district every pos-

sible success, and I trust that it may not be very long before, as your chairman suggested, i I may have an opportunity of paying you a longer visit. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Your chairman has said that I am a good representative of the agriculturists of England. lam 1 myself an agriculturist. All I have got is land, and I naturally have a * very ; tender feeling towards land, and the prosperity of laud, and I do take a very considerable interest in the agricultural and pastoral pursuits of this country. I understand that you have amalgamated some of your local shows, and that you are going to have one of a more general character this year. X cannot make any positive pledge, but can only say that if I can manage to make matters tit in, it will give me great pleasure to come and see what you can do this year, I thank you again very cordially for the kind manner in which you received my health. (Loud cheers.) The Chaikman proposed “The Army and Navy,” coupled with the namo of Captain W, S. Moorhouse, W.V.A. The toast was duly honored. Captain Moohhoose, in responding, assured his Excellency that he could always rely on tho volunteers on occasions of this sort. (Cheers and laughter.) The Vice-Chaiuman proposed “ The Parliament of New Zealand,” coupled with the names of the Hon. Mr. Eisher, as representing the Ministry, and Mr. Bunny (senior member of the district), as representing the Parliament. The toast was drunk most enthusiastically. The Hon. Mr. Eisher, in responding, referred to what the opening of the railway between Christchurch and Lyttelton had done for Canterbury, and expressed a hope that the opening of this line would do the same for the Wairarapa. They would be able now to reach market with certainty, and as an old farmer, who bad to undergo the trials that were inseparable from inability to get the produce to market, he hoped, that the difficulties of the Wairarapa settlers had now passed away, and that they would go on and prosper. (Cheers.) Mr. Bunnt, M.H.8., said his great anxiety was to secure this 'railway ever since lie had a seat in Parliament. In 1569 he lost the railway, and in 1870 he only carried it by one vote. Therefore the district had not much to thank Parliament for. The fact was that many great boons might be conferred on several parts of the country, but hon. members would not take the trouble to see what was required. They went into the House, and knew no more about what they were voting for than the man in the moon. (Oh, oh.) Instead of members asking for returns about those persons who had travelled in the Hinemoa, they should go all round the country and see for themselves what was required. (Mr, Wood, Make them go.) The fact was, that if a member wanted to have anything done,. he went to another member and asked him to assist him, and that other hon.'member would turn round and say, “ Why should I help you ? you don’t assist me.” He was always laughed at wheu he mentioned a railway over the Eimutaka, but he was very thankful to be present at the opening that day. His Excellency the GOVERNOR proposed “ Success to the Wairarapa and to the railway which has just been opened.” He said— Ladies and gentlemen, in the few remarks I made to you just now, I touched upon the agricultural interest of this district, hut there is another interest, I understand, which will be largely developed by this easy means of communication, and one the progress of which will equally benefit every portion of the colony. I mean the facility which will be given for the export of timber from your district. (Hear, hear) That is also a very important industry in a new country, and certainly in Wellington, where so many houses are built of wood, and the people will he very glad to get soine of your timber down to the capital. That industry, I believe in the first instance,, will be one of the main supports of the railway, and I can only wish it and the other interests of the Wairarapa district every possible success. In doing so I have great pleasure, at the same time, in wishing success to the railways of New Zealand, and to the railway which is just completed. (Cheers.) The toast was enthusiastically drunk. Mr. R. J. Williams, Mayor of Masterton, proposed “The Mayor and City Council of Wellington.” The toast was duly honored. Councillor Maginnity, with whose name the toast was coupled, briefly responded. Mr, Graham (Town Clerk) stated that the Mayor desired him to say that he Was unavoidably, absent. The toast of “ The Railway Department,” coupled with the name of Mr. Lawson, was next duly honored. Mr. Lawson not being present, there were loud calls for Mr. Conyers, who briefly responded to the toast. The toast of “ The Press ” brought the proceedings to a close. A start for Wellington was made amid loud cheers at 3.10 p.m., and the train arrived in the city at 7 p.m., the journey from the Upper Hutt being accomplished in threequarters of an hour. A little boy, whose friends reside in. Featherston, was discovered to be taken to Wellington by accident. Mr. Hall took charge of him when the discovery was made, and a telegraphic message was sent to Eeather-ston to allay any fears as to his safety. The boy will be sent back to Featherston to-day. The following information with respect to the railway from Wellington to Featherston will be interesting to our readers : —The contract for the construction of the Wellington to Lower Hutt section was let to Messrs, Brogden and Sons in September, 1872, at the sum of £39,589 15s. 3d., and the line was opened on April 14, 1874. The foxmation and plate-laying of the Upper Hutt section was let to Mr. C. McKirdy in April, 1873, at £30,528 6s. 9d., and that section was opened on February 1,1876. Two other contracts for formation and plate-laying (known as the “ River’s” contracts) were let to Mr. McKirdy in May, 1874, and September 1875, for £I9,3GG. ■ The Mungaroa contract (formation only) was let to Mr. McKirdy in July, 1874, at £02,227 17s. lid. The Mungaroa contract (plate-laying only) was let to Mr. J. Robinson in May, 1877, at £2584 19s. 100., and the line was opened to Kaitoke on January 1, 1878. The Pakuratahi contract (formation and plate-laying) was let to Mr. F. Oakes, in Nov., 1874, at £58,624 11s. 2d. The Summit contract (formation, platelaying, and tunnel) was let to Collie, Scott, and Co, in March, 1874, at £16,17'5 17s, BJ. The Incline contract (formation and platelaying) was let to Mr, C. McKirdy in November, 1875, at £9746. Tho Featherston contract (formation and plate-laying) was let to Mr. J. Sutherland in February, IS7S, at £3OOO. * Tho cost of tho line from Wellington to Featherston (including rails, rolling-stock, &c., as per Minister for I’ablic Works’ Statement of 27th August, 1873, page 6) is £538,093. £BOOO of this sum is part paid by tho General Government on account of Wellington reclamation for the extension of the line into tho town. Stations, buildings, and minor contracts not included in the above statement (except those of the Messrs. Brogden) will he found in the Public Works Statements. There are 12 locomotives on tho line, IS carriages, and 88 wagons. I feel that I cannot bring my report of the opening of this line to a close without acknowledging the courtesy and attention I received from Mr. Lawson, Mr. A. W. Worry, and other gentlemen connected with the department.