CATLINS-TARAKOPA RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 18

CATLINS-TARAKOPA RAILWAY.

DEPUTATION TO HON. R. M'KENZIE. ADDITIONAL AUTHORISATION ASKED FOR. At the Excelsior Hotel on the 4th inst. ft deputation from the Gatlin's Rail;way League waited .on the Hon. R. M'Kenzie, Minister of Public Works. The members of vr.e deputation were Messrs R. Chieholm, W. F. Edmond, and J. B. Waters, and their object was to urge the further authorisation of the line and to thank the Government for its prosecution of the line in the past. Messrs A. S. Maioolm (Clutha), J. F. Arnold, and T- K. Sidey, M.P.'s, ■were also present Mr Arnold said th? deputation had no ccmp.aint to irtake; in fact, they wished to congratulate the Government on _th« satisfactory work done. They also desired tbe Minister to see the line. The Minister eaid he intended to inspect the line from both ends. Mr Arnold said that- was satisfactory. The deputation also wished to urg-a, that the line should be authorised for a further section, so that tho Government need not find itself crippled in its work. The Minister said the Government was never crippled. Mr Chisholm congratulated the Hon. Mr IVl'Kenzie on his elevation to Cabinet rank. The league was confident he would" Jill thejKSoition with credit to himeejf and satisfaction to the general public. The league was satisfied with the way the line -was. being pushed on, and wished to congratulate the Government on the fact. It was' earnestly hoped thai the" same Interest' would ( be shown in the prosecution of the work' in the future. It was evident the Government considered that the line, when completed, would give an immediate return on its expenditure. The Minister: You* refer to the Catlins end o! tho line? Mr Chishonn: Yes. The Minister: I suppose you reckon the other end a dead Ios6? Mr Chieholm replied that the object of the league was to urge the prosecution of the line to Tohakona, and any remarks ho had made had reference to the Catlins end of the line. He would not draw the Minister's attention to the potentialities of the district as he would see them for himself. Members of the league would be pleased to accompany the Minister when he visited the CatHus district. The matter of importance the deputation wished to bring undeor the Minister's notice was that of the further authorisation of the railway. The Una was ncrvv partly completed to the point of the present authorisation, and with a view to having the work prosecuted with the vigour shown in the last 12 months the league was desirous that the authorisation of the line to the point that was the objective at the .present time— Tahakopa v alley— should be extended to that point. If the railway was completed to -that point it was as far a 5 it was really necessary that it should be taken in the meantime. " Mr Malcolm said tbe league and' the eettkirs in rhe district were- pleased withthe way t.he Government had prosecuted the line. They hoped it would be finished to Tahakopa Valloy by 1911, .as .promised by j.'revicus Ministers. The Catlins line was the only line now in course of construction in Otago. The Minister: We have six in course of construction now, but we're going to stopfi\e of them in two or three months, co it will be the only one then. Mr Malcolm .vaid he was. not talking of the duplication works. The Minister : No. neither am I. Mr Malcolm said thero were two matters ho wished to mention. He represented tho district that included both ends of railway, and the settlers wore anxious that the votes for the two ends should be separate. He thought himself this should be done, aa the lines would not be connected for many years. The difficulty was to some extent personal to himself, because if he tried to got a large expenditure on the Catlins end he was blamed by the residents of the other end, and vice versa. He' understood' the league favoured the proposal to separate tho votes. The second point he desired to bring forward was this: The HouipaßaOathns section was now in the hands of the Public Works Department, and th« settlers were anxious tfeat, as it was finished, they should be afforded the same facilities for going over that section as they now had over the main line. In other words, they asked that the extra terminal charge should not be ma-dc over that section. Mr Chishohn 6aid the question of a vote tor each end of the line had not been con- . Bidered by the league, and he was not 6UT9 that the league would take the same view of it that Mr Malcolm entertained. The league was perfectly satisfied with the way that things had been progressing in the Catlins end for the last 12 months The Minister: Mr Malcoin has simply

raised the question for purposes that he ami I understand perfectly well, and he knows we are not likely to pay much attention to it. Tho Government will spend the i money to the best advantage. i Mr Chishohn said the league had every confidence in the Government. j Mr Sidey said that was no place to refer j to other Otago railways than the Catlins. It was as well ,to let the Minister know that this was the only Otago railway now j under construction by the Public "Works i Department. • The Minister: What about the Lawrencei Roxburgh? • Mr Sidey: We have been told that is I stopped and that the Government has determined not to proceed with it. The Minister: We have 50 men at work on it. Mr Sidey: I am glad to hear there is an ! intention to go on with it. The Minister said the Riversdale-Switzers : line was also in hand. Mr Sidey: That is in Southland. It is i a«? well that you should understand, at the commencement of your tour, there is a Southland district which has interests that are not identical, and sometimes in conflict, with, rhoss of Otago. The Minister, in reply,' thanked the deputation for their flattering remarks made concerning hinieelf. In regard to the question of railway construction, he reminded the deputation that he had. to look at it from a colonial point of view, and not from any . local, point of view. There were at present sis different sections of railway going on in- Otago proper, and fouT of these would be finished before Christmas. The Catlins line, which the deputation wae supporting, would, take two years jet to complete. He bad no idea of .reducing the number of men now engaged upon it. The Government would stick to the work until it was finished. When the other works he referred to were finished before the end of the year, the Catlins railway would be tho only section of railway under construction in Otago. There were now 500 men working on the two ends o.f the line. It was not intended" to' connect the ends— at anyrate, he did not iptend to do so—because he thought it would not be to the advantage of tne country to do so. They should bring both ends to a payable point and stop there. As .far as the authorisation was concerned, the Government would provide it undea- act. "Preliminary provision for authorisation had already been made, lie had, of course, to be just to all parts of the country.. I n the north the people said he was unduly favouring Otago and in the south the same was said about the West Coast or some other part. But he could assure them the Government would act fairly. The deputation thanked the Minister for his reception. MEETING OF EXECUTIVE. The ordinary monthly meeting of the executive of tne Catlins-Tahakopa Railway League, held on Thursday, sth inst., was attended by Messrs R. Chisholm (chairman) T. K. Sidey, M.P., W. F. Edmund, W. J. Bolt. W. Taylor, and J. B. Waters (secretary) The Hon. R. M'Kenzie wrote thankinjr the jeajfue for its letter and resolution in reference to the gratification felt by the league at tihe work done on the railway externs ion . — Received . Leslie Wilson wrote requesting leave of absence from meetings of the executive during his absence from Dunedin — Cn anted. Ja.-n«s Christie reported having visited the railway works on July 26. Bushel! injr and burning -off was now finished as far -as the 29-50 peg. Three gangs were there employed, and work had advanced to tho 29-71 pejr. T-amuav formation was finished to the 29-4 peg, and tram raite laid as fa- as the 28-54 pee. Work at the Blunder Cresk cul.ert was progressing satisfactorily. A drive had been put through the " hip cutting." and a rhaft was being sunk about half-way. =o that ihe cutting might be worked from four faces instead of two. A blacksmith's shop had been erected at Papatupu. A strong force of men was working at the filling near Pap#tupu. also at the two stone culverts. The filling at Thornton's should be finished in about ? week, which would leave the line clear to the 25-71 peg. About 362 men were busy on the works. Progress on *he line <iurinfr the winter months had been exeeedinglv good. — Rectived. The meeting, expressed gratification at tbe progress made. The Chairman said he supposed the members had all read the report of the league's deputation to the Minister, so he need not go over it again. The- Minister had o-iven them encouragement. He had promised that tihe number of men emnlaved on thf works would not be re.luoed, and that the Government would aHhore to its original intention of comnlotiner th<* line in two years. The deputation had been cot up hurriedly- or it vtuld have b«»en larger, but the result, to

his mind, had been eminently satisfactory. He was sorry to think that the chairmen of certain other, railway leagues would not be able to say the same. The Chairman went on to say that representations had been made to him that the men employed on tne works were hard put to it for reading matter. It would be desirable of the league could eeo ite way to solicit books and magazines and send them down. Mr Sidey: What books would you send? A Member: Bansatfd. — (Laughter.) The maiter was left in the hands of the chairman and secretary to advertise.