RAILWAYS.

Southland Times, Issue 697, 17 July 1867, Page 2

RAILWAYS.

- - (TO THE EDITOB OF THE SOUTHLAND TIMES). Sib, — -I have no. doubt your correspondent, Mr Reiehter, Waikivi, is an honest man, and believes what he advances on the railway question to be true and unanswerable. As, however, there may be others — -and there may be many — equally innocent of all knowledge of the real., merits of the" questi6n7rbut "less ""honest' in reference thereto, it may be desirable to offer a few more remarks upon a subject supposed to be already worn threadbare, with the .sole view of, . if possible, shewing how all important it is to the agricultural and commercial community that they should— as one : man — concentrate their united efforts to obtain the land necessary for completing the Northern, and' constructing the' Eastern lines of railway* _ _ : " "!(& Kefchter" says there are about 7,000 men, women,' and children in the Province, and that we are already bankrupt or nearly so, and that the above railways^ would give us the" finishing touch. He merely intimates that- we are to ;be irretrievably ruined, and then takm hi* Vro -fritiiuutj proposing any remedy. My idea would, be to endeavor to get .thoroughly ruined (and not be like Mohaihed's Coffin) under the evil in? fluences- -of the' expenditure of between one.and two millions ., sterling among the unfortunate 7000 alreacly referred .'to. This, expenditure resulting in our acceptance of the, say,- 260,000 acres offered by the General Government. It is said the Oteramika Company was to purchase about 200,000 acres, the price to be laid out in railways. Judging from the past, let us see if we could possibly escape ruin under this sore infliction. Well then, this much maligned Company has already laid out a large amount at the rate of about ten pounds an acre in clearing, fencing, ditching, ploughing, cropping &c. At the same rate the expenditure on the 200,000 acres proposed to be purchased by same company, would, amount to two millions sterling, spread over, say, -a period ' of ten years, at tHk rate of £200,000 per annum. But take even the one. half of this sum, or at five pounds per acre, one hundred thousand a year, for ten years. If . this would not effectually accomplish the ruin of the unfortunate 7,000 who would be the recipients of the above, I have other 60,000 acres to aid in the extinction of this unfortunate community — viz., the acreage required to complete the Oreti Railway. At the same outlay of five pounds per acre, and extending over the same period of ten years, there would be an additional grievance of £300,000 more to be "distributed among the inhabitants of this already sorely tried province. Still further, . it would not be extravagant to take for granted that the owners of the strong arms who made the railways and converted the desert at the above estimate of £1,300,000 would save, say, £60,000 to be invested in land likewise, and on which £300,000 more would, in all probability, be laid out — say principally during the second period of ten years. Is this all, Mr Editor? No,, unfortunately we are to be burdened with the expenditure amongst us of the £260,000 required to construct and complete, these,- to us, unfortunate railways. Now, sir, you see what your advocacy of these railways has brought us to. "Why, sir, Mr Eeichter says we are already ruined — and I say let us be ruined again under the expenditure amongst us, in the course of: ten or twelve years, of a sum probably amounting to a million and a half sterling. „ • JSW Mr Editor if double-ruin would be the result of converting 260,000 acres ijato anQ&er d^erjotioft of pjonert^ i$ & i

not sad to contemplate what^ would fol- " low the alienation of two or .three hundred thousandv more ? -TJndoubjbedly the country would be depopulated. It would certainly revert-to the original owners of the soil. Trusting Mr Editor _"you?ll tak a thocht and mend " in time>- v lap, yours &c. "^~ y Batlway. July 11th, 1867.. „,, — : — ♦ ' -': — ■'.;■ . .