RAILWAYS CONSTRUCTION BILL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5497, 8 November 1878, Page 6

RAILWAYS CONSTRUCTION BILL.

This Bill has now passed through the Legislative Council, and has been sent up to the House of: Representatives with two important amendments, viz., a. proviso in section 3 aud a new clause relating to mining rights on land taken for roads.

A Bill intituled an Act to provide for the Construction aud Extension of Railways. Bo 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, 1878. 2. This Act shall be 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 1, 2,3, 4, aud 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. 3, 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, an 4 for that purpose. may do or cause to be done any of the following things :—(1.) Cause such inquiries, reports, and surveys to bo made, aud such acts aud proceedings to be done and taken as may be necessary to determine the best line and direction of such railway. (2.) Take, purchase,. or agree to purchase any land necessary or requisite for the construction or extension of any such railway. Ncio Proviso. Provided always that no contract or arrangement shall be entered into except in pursuance of and to the extent of specific appropriations made by Parliament in each finaa ial year for the construction of the railways named in the said schedule, or any of them respectively, as the case may be ; and any contract entered into without or in excess of such specific appropriations shall be null and void : ; Provided also that in any case whore no survey has yet been made, or plans and estimates prepared, for any line named in the said schedule, no contract shalTbo entered intofor the construction of such line or any part thereof until such

survey has been made, and such plana and estimates have been laid before Parliament, and approved by the Governor in Council. d. The Governor may purchase or agree to purchase or acquire from the native owners any lauds deemed necessary for the construe, tioa or extension of any railway mentioned in the first schedule ; and every such purchase or acquisition, or agreement to purchase or acquire any such lauds, shall he deemed to be a purchase or acquisition within the meaning of the Government Native Laud Purchases Act, 1877. 5. The cost of construction, extension, or maintenance, of any of the lines of railway mentioned in the first schedule hereto, or of the purchase or acquisition of any land required for the same, shall be defrayed out of such moneys at credit of the Public Works Fund as shall from time to time he appropriated in that behalf by the General Assembly. 6. The construction of the branch line of railway mentioned in the first schedule as “ Main line to Shag Point ” shall be contingent upon the cost thereof being defrayed by the Shag Point Coal Company, Limited; and such branch line, when constructed, shall be managed and \vorked upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Minister for Public Works and the said company. 7. Out of any Crown lauds withdrawn from sale under the provisions of the Land Act, 1877, the Governor may from time to time set apart lands of special value for sale or disposal under the provisions of the said Act; but not such sale or disposal shall take place until after wo mouths’ notice thereof has been gazetted 8. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Ellesmere and IMrsyth 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 the sale or disposal of the fifty thousand acres of laud mentioned in the said sixteenth section shall, together with all moneys transferred under the last preceding section, be paid into a separate account in the Public Account.

10. The 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 disposal as other Crown lauds of special value may be 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 be 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 be issued and applied accordingly,, New clause. 12. When any land shall be taken under the provisions of The Public Works Act, XB7O, or this Act, for any railway, the Governor shall not thereby acquire any right to auy mines of coal, ironstone, or other mineral under any land bo taken, except only such parts thereof as shall be necessary to be dug or carried away or used in the construction of such railway ; and all such mines (excepting as aforesaid) shall be deemed to have been excepted out of the Proclamation or other instrument under the authority whereof the land is taken. FIRST SCHEDULE. North Island. — "Wellington to Foxton, by West ■Coast; Waitotara River to Upper Patea Crossing; Te Awamutu to New Plymouth ; Mastertou to Papatu via Woodvillo ; Waikato to the Thames; branch line to Hamilton; Helensville to Kautovpakapa. River; Wanga’ei to Kamo. _ . _ Middle Island —Otago Central—Dunedin to Albert Town, Lake Wanaka ; Amberley to Brunnerton; Greymouth to Hokitika; Canterbury interior main line, Oxford to Temuka ; main line to Upper Ashburton ; Opawa branch extension; Waipahl to Heriofc Burn ; Edendale to Toitois; Otautau to Nightcaps ; Clutha to Gatlin’s River; Waimea to Switzers; Lumsden to Mararoa ; Palmerston to Waihemo : Oamaru to Livingston ; main line to Shag Point; Amberley to Cook Strait: lino of railway to Tattle Rircr, and thence to Akaroa, from the main line from Amberley to Waitaki, or from a branch of the said line.