RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5521, 6 December 1878, Page 2

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

A month ago, in our issue of October 14th, wP reprinted the Railways Construction Bill in the grand and simple form in which it was brought into the House of Representatives by tho Hon. Minister for Public Works, Mr. Macandrew. It purported then to have tho character of a “ special Act,” within the meaning of the Public Works Act, 1810 ; that is to say, it authorised, once for all and finally, the construction of all the lines mentioned in its schedule. It was at the same time an Appropriation Act, and provided absolutely for the expenditure of six million three hundred and eighty-four thousand pounds of the public money upon tho works so authorised. ■ It provided for tho sale of lands which might be sot apart as reserves for railway purposes, and, amongst other new and striking provisions, it proposed to enact that the Governor might, on behalf of her Majesty, “contract that “ any of tho said railways shall bo con- “ struotod and maintained, or extended “ and maintained, upon tho terms that no “ moneys shall bo paid or payable in re- “ spoct thereof until tho whole of the “ works connected therewith have been “ fully completed in accordance with “ such contract.” This was tho happy invention which enabled Messrs. Frogdfoot and McKay to render service to the Colony by constructing tho Tapanui railway for £01,500, on deferred payment, without the authority or consent of Parliament. It was found to answer the purposes of certain persons so completely that tho extension of tho principle to all public works to which it could bo made applicable seemed quite tho right thing to Sir George Grey’s Government. Guileless Mr. Macandrew, who only wants to get things dono and under way “don’t you know,” and who, from his experience of tho great public spirit of tho eminent Otago contractor, and of the many advantages which tho Southern Provincial District had derived therefrom in tho past, must have felt that it would be really a good thing if all tho public works could bo done upon tho Tapanui model, and if competition for contracts would ho limited to those persons who had millions in capital or credit, and who could wait for thoir whole payment for throe and six months after their contracts wore completed. Her Majesty and Mr, Pkoudfoot wore thus proposed to bo joined

together, per Mr. Macandrbw, _ in the great and good work of opening the country land promoting the growth of “cereals.”

Tho representatives of the people were not able to take so sanguine a view of the advantages of tho proposed schema as Mr. Macandrbw did, and tho Government /were given very broadly and plainly to understand that the House would not listen to such a policy as theirs for a moment. .Then the Ministers “’urably” said, if lion, members did not like their principles, as exhibited in their Bill, they would alter them in deference to the views of their friends; and accordingly they did alter them prudently. We reprint to-day tho A.ot as it was finally passed, and again, for the purpose of comparison, the Bill as originally introduced. The resemblance between tho two is that the clauses 2,4, 6, as they stand in tho Act as passed, were in the original Bill; the difference is that the money for all tho works is not appropriated en Hoc, and that the expenditure is to be limited by the annual appropriation for each work. The Tapanui job arrangement, and the general power of making contracts on tho deferred payment system, are eliminated, and the responsibility of making tho branch railway from the main line to tho Little River in Canterbury is imposed upon the Government, instead of being left to the Trust proposed to bo created by the Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation and Akaroa Railway Trust Act, 1876. The following are the appropriations for tho expenditure of tho current year for the lines in tho schedule, as provided by tho Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Act : Wollin&ton to Foxton. by 'WestCoast., 15,000 0 0 Wailotara Elver to Upper Patea Closing ~ ~ ~ ■,. .. 10,000 0 0 Te Awamutu to Now Plymouth .. J 2.000 0 0 Mastorton to Papatuvia Woodvillo ~ 15.U00 0 0 Waikato to tho Thames SO,OOO 0 0 B-anch Lino to Hamilton .. .. 2.000 0 0 Helcnsville to Kaukapakapa Eivor .. 2,000 0 0 Wangarei to Kamo 5,000 0 0 Otajo Central—Dunedin to Albert Town. Lake Wanaka 05,000 0 0 Amberley to Brunnerton.. .. .. ,30,000 0 0 Groymouth to Hokitika .. .. .. 15,000 0 0 Canterbury Interior Main Lino, Oxford to Temuka .. .. .. .. 15,000 0 0 Main Lino to Upper Ashburton .. 10,000 0 0 .opawa Branch Extension 10,000 0 0 Waipahl to Heriot Burn 5,000 0 0 Edemlale to Toitois 10,000 0 0 Otautau to Nightcaps 6,000 0 0 Glutha to Gatlin’s Eiver 6,000 0 0 Waimea to Switzers 5,000 0 0 Lumsden to Mararoa 5,0C0 0 0 Palmerston to Waihcmo 5,000 0 0 Oamarn to Livingston .. ~ .. 6 000 0 0 Main Line to Shag Point 8,000 0 0 Arabevley to Cook Strait 00,000 0 .0 Little Eiver and Akaroa 00,000 0 0 Tho total, £399,000, is moderate beside the GJ millions first impudently asked for. The railway from Waikato to Taranaki will not be made this year after all. In tho Legislative Council objection was taken to the unusual form of the Bill, and several alterations were made in committee, which did not meet the approval of the Government, and were not agreed to by the House. Upon conference between the Houses, however, it was arranged ibi.t the Council should not insist upon its amendment, ou condition that a proviso to clause 3 should be added, which required that no con tract for any of the works shall be entered into until the plans and estimates shall bo la’d before the Governor-in-Oouncil and approved, and that no such approval can bo given without the certificate of the Engi-neer-in-Chief that the route to be chosen for the particular railway is the best available one. It is also provided that the plans and estimates and copies of the contract must be laid before Parliament within thirty days after the commencement of the next session. There is reason to believo that Sir George Grey hoped that the Legislative CouucU might be provoked to reject this Bill, and it is due to the better cense of his own colleagues, and to tho moderation of tho members of the Council, that bus silly and mischievous desire to have “a fight” with the Upper House iu order to cover his forced retreat was frustrated. On this point, and on the provoking “tack” in clause 17 of the Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Act, wo shall have something to say hereafter.