RAILWAYS CONSTRUCTION BILL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5487, 28 October 1878, Page 3

RAILWAYS CONSTRUCTION BILL.

The Hallways Construction Bill has come out of the House of Representatives in a very different shape to that in which it was first presented. As amended it will bo proposed to be read a second time in the Legislative Council to-day. It now runs thus : A Bill intituled an Act to provide for the Construction and Extension of Railways. Be It enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the* same, as follows :—• The short title of this Act shall be the Railways Construction Act, 1873. 2. This Act shall bo deemed to be a special Act authorising the construction or extension of all or any of the railways mentioned in the first schedule hereto, and any railway constructed under this Act shall be so constructed under and subject to the provisions of parts-l, 2,3, 4, and 6 of the Public Works Act, 1876, which said parts, together with the provisions of any Act amending the same, are hereby incorporated with this Act. 8. The Governor may from time to time, in the name and on behalf of her Majesty, contract or enter into arrangements to the extent of the money which may be appropriated from time to time by the General Assembly of New Zealand, with any person for the construction, extension, or maintenance of all or any portion of the railways mentioned in the first schedule, and for that purpose may do or cause to be done any of the following things : —(1.) Cause such inquiries, reports, and surveys to be made, and such acta and proceedings to be done and taken as may be necessary to determine the best lino and direction of such rail-* way. (2.) Take, purchase, or agree to purchase any land necessary or requisite for the construction or extension of any such railway. 4 f The Governor may purchase or agree to purchase or acquire from the native owners any lauds deemed necessary for the construction or extension of any railway mentioned in the first schedule ; and every such purchase or acquisition, or agreement to purchase or acquire any such lands, shall be deemed to bo a purchase or acquisition within tho meaning of the Government Native Land Purchases Act, 1877. 5. The cost of construction, extension, or maintenance, of any of tho lines of railway mentioned in tho first schedule hereto, or of tho purchase or acquisition of any land required for the same, shall bo defrayed out of such moneys at credit of tho Public Works Fund as shall from time to time bo appropriated in that behalf by the General Assembly. 6. Tho construction of tho branch line of railway mentioned in the first schedule as “ Main lino to Shag Point ” shall bo contingent upon tho cost thereof being'defrayed by tho Shag Point Coal Company, Limited; and such branch lino, when constructed, shall bo managed and worked upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Minister for Public Works and tho said company, 7. Out of any Crown lands withdrawn from sale under tho provisions of the Laud Act, 1877, tho Governor may from time to tinge .sot apart lands of special value for sale or disposal under tho] proyisions of tho said Act; but not

such sale or disposal shall take place , until after two months’ notice thereof has been; gazetted. - . : , 8. Notwithstanding anything contained .in the Ellesmere and .•'Foray til Reclamation and Akaroa Trust Act,' 1876 (hereinafter called “ the said Act ”) ’ all moneys now standing to the credit of the special account required to be kept by the sixteenth section of the said Act, or that may. be standing to the credit of the Public • Trustee' for the purposes of the said Act,, shall be and the same are hereby transferred to the Public Account. 9. The whole proceeds of tho sale or disposal of tho Jifty thousand acres of land mentioned in the said sixteenth section shall, together with all moneys transferred under the last preceding section, bo paid into a separate account in the Public Account. ■ ! 10. Tho laud described in the second schedule hereto shall be and the same is hereby declared to be Crown lands of special value open for sale or dispesal ai other Crown lands of special value may bo sold or disposed of in the land district of Canterbury, but the proceeds of such sale or disposal shall be paid into the separate account to be kept under the last preceding section. ' 11. All moneys transferred, paid, or received under the provisions of sections 8,9, and 10,: shall he applied in the construction and maintenance of a line of railway to Little River, and thence to Akaroa, from the main line from Amberley to Waitaki, or from a branch, of the said line ; and the Colonial Treasurer may, from time to time cause all or any part of such - moneys to ho issued and applied accordingly, FIRST SCHEDULE. North Island.—Wellington to Foxton, by AVesl Coast; Waitotara River to Upper Patea Crossing ;To Awamutu to New Plymouth ; Masterton to Papatu via Woodviile ; Waikato to. the Thames ; branch line to Hamilton: Helensvillo to Kankapakapa River; Wangarei to Kamo. Middle Island. —Otago Central—Dunedin to Al- : hurt Town. Lake Wanaka; Amberley to Brnnnorton;; Greymouth to Hokitika: Canterbury interior main line, Oxford to Temuka : main line to Upper Ashburton : Opawa branch extension ; Wnipabi to Meriot, Burn ; Edondalo to Toitols ;*otautnu to Nightcaps; Cliitha to Catiin’a River; Waimoa to Switzers; Lumsden to Alararoa; Palmerston to Waihemo : Oamaru. to Livingston ; main line to Shag Point; Amberley to Cook Strait: lino of railway to Little River, and thence to Akaroa, from tho main lino from Amberley to Waitaki, or from a branch of the said line.