MEETINGS.

Southland Times, Issue 544, 20 August 1866, Page 7

MEETINGS.

A public meeting of the settler* in tho east district of Southland was held on Monday, the 13th of August at the Waihopai Bridge Inn, for the purpose of deciding the course to be adopted in order to the improvement of the communication between Invercargill and Waihopai. The subjoined petition to His Honor the Superintendent was adopted : — "That your petitioners beg respectfully to represent to your Honor — 1. That the extensive district — including the Oteramika, Mataura, Lothian, Mabel, Otarewa, and other districts— in which your petitioners are settlers has from the foundation of the Province, attracted the greatest proportion of rural settlers, and now inclupes within its bounds an extensive range of agricultural settlements, some of them of a magnitude probably unequalled in any other British colony. 2. That the main trunk road for communication between these settlements and tho town of Invorcargill, for the convoy ance of produce to marketeer stows, Ac, for station us«— «alled

the E*st, or Dunedin road— ha 3 for the last four years been almost utterly neglected by the late governments, no fair and just proportion of the public monies having been set apart for its construction and maintenance, in consequence of which neglect it has now become in such a state as to be totally impassable for ordinary andnecessary traffic. 3. That in consequence of the deplorable state of thi3 main line of road, the interest? of tho settlors in the district are so seriously affected, as to give rise to an apprehension of utter failure overtaking them in their agricultural enterprise, a fear already indicated in a growing inclination to part with their holdings and leave the Provincesome having, in fact »lready done so, and others having discontinued their projected agricultural improvements. 4. That such unfortunate consequences resulting from the long impassable state of the East Road cannot fail to prove greatly detrimental to other interests besides those of the immediate settlers in the Eastern District, inasmuch as a positive check being given to the progress of this part of the Province in population and industrial acfivit* all local comineraial enterprise as well as the national revenue returns are injuriously affected thereby. 5. That your petitioners feel convinced that the facts above referred to only require to bo placed before your Honor to claim your Honor's earnest attention, and your petitioners therefore humbly pray that they may be taken into most serious consideration by your Honor's Government, and that your Honor will be pleased to direct that measures be speedily taken to have the East Road made on the most dnrable plan of construction, and to tho fullest extent possible in the present circumstances of the Province. The meeting was well attended, and considerable earnestness displayed in the object for which they had assembled, from forty to fifty having been present. Mr. Bethune was called to the chair. Messrs. W. H. Perkins, and Johnston clearly pointed out the necessity for some improvement being made to the east or Dunedin road — showing the various losses arising from the actual stoppage of traffic that the present condition of the roads has created, aud urged upon the meeting the desirability of uniting and working, in order to secure the necessary improvements in the mode of communication being between the town and the east district. Captain Thomson, in proposing the adoption of the Petition to his Honor, the Superintendent, (published in our yesterday's issue) advocated a tramway, and gave a long and interesting statement of the cost and working of tramways in South Australia, and read a letter he had received from a gentleman well qualified, from his position and acquirements to give a reliable opinion; from which we extract the following ;he writes : — " I Till first observe that Port Elliot and Goolwa Tramway was constructed about 13 years ago, when labor was very scarce and high en account of the great rush from this colony to the goldfields of Victoria at that time. The length of the line is seven miles over a moderately level country, and the cost of its construction was £20,000, which included warehouses at each end, and horses and trucks for the working of the line. It was constructed by the Government, and has been wrought by the Government, and, although to my mind by no means economically or well managed, it paid a revenue of from £600 to £800 per annum, besides paying all working expenses, and keeping the line in repair, which I may here state has not cost over £10 per annum per mile since it was constructed, and I may also remark here that the rails, to all appearance, are little the worse of the wear, and will last for many year 3 yet to come. About three years ago this tramway was extended about four miles farther along the coast to Victor Harbor, which is a much more commodious and safe harbor than that of Port Elliot, and on this extension £20,0u0 was expended ; but there are two expensive bridges, and a jetty which took a • large portion of that amount. I am not sure how it has paid since the line was extended. Our Parliament has passed a bill this session for a tramway to join this line here (at Middleton) to Strathalbyne, and the estimated cost is £70,000, which is considered by the engineer to be sufficient for all purposes, namely, construction stations and rolling stock. The country over which it passes is tolerably level, but there will have to be three bridges on the line, which the engineer tells me will cost about £13,000. What I have already said will give you an idea that tramways in South Australia cost about £3000 per mile ; but if the county where the line passes over is level, and no rivers to cross, the cost would be considerably under that figure. I have no hesitation whatever in saying that tramways are by far the best and most economical roads we can have in this colony, where the country is level. Railroadß for locomotives are by far too expensive for us at present, and metalled roads cost nearly as much as tramways in construction, and they cost £60 per mile per annum to keep them in repair, whereas tramways, as I have already mentioned, do not cost more than £10, and besides one horse can do as much on & tramway as four or five can do on a metalled road. One line of rail answers very well if there is a sideling say every mile, and this is provided for on the Strathalbyne line. From what I know of tramways here, they may be fairly calculated upon, I think, to pay working expenses, and that ia much more than the railroads or metalled roads do with us. No doubt much depends on the amount of traffic and the rate of chsrgeß : they are rather lower on this line than would pay to cart on a good road.' Messrs. Hay, Dalrymple, Copeland, and Trotter, addressed the meeting, and it was resolved — " That a Committee of Permanence to be appointed, to consist of the following gentlemen' (five to be a quorum), viz.: — Measw W. R. Perkins, W. Johnston, W. Barclay, A. Ross, T. Swale, P. Dalryple, R. Hamilton, W. S. Trotter, E. Stone, J. Calvert, — Granger, D. M'Farlane, W. Siflith, J. Allen, J. Miller, G. Game, W. Lawrence, A. M'Donald, — M'lntyre, A. Sutherland, — Lyons, J. Christie, — Marshall, — Irving, A. Kinross, M'Kay, O. Townsend, — Froggatt, J. Hay, Captain Thomson, and the mover, (Mr Copeland), with power to add to their number, and to appoint a Vigilance or Deputy Committeo — to carry into effect tho resolutions of this meeting, and to take any other action that may be considered necessary to accomplish the desired effect of getting the East iioad made in a substantial and desirable manner with tho least possible delay." The meeting was an important one, but as we received no ntimation of it from tho promoters, wo had no representative present, and therefore our notice is, of necessity, short and imperfect.