PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.
WEDNESDAY, 3 Jth APRIL, 1838.; EVENING SITTING-. " RAILWAY DEBATE. [The following is' a more extended report of that portion of the proceedings which could be but briefly noticed in our last issue..} .Following .Dr. Ilodgkinsm'si . remarks, ■ - ' Mr Daniels said that of the.two'"evils they • should choose the least- and- he thought that if one penny of the funds would bo taken from the roads for. the purpose of going on with the railway, he would oppose it. But lie was told this ! would not be the case. He quite agreed with what had been stated as to the railway enhancing ,the value of property. We had cousiderable mineral wealth, I which, he was quite certain, if found in : O^ago, our neighbors there would not be long" in developing it, and they thought this line would help to doso. If it'were opened ho would not bs surprised to, see I branch lines.^ laid down, .in • different directions, either by companies or private, individuals. He believed that if they could form the railway without touching our other work, it would be a vast benefit — they would have a great noivof immigration, and.be the means of selling a large 'quantity of Crown lauds. Mr Armstrong did not see wl^at a select committee could do. The timeffor them to euquire would be when the amount to be required was to be placed on the. estimates. _ . ■• Mr Lumsben, to expedite business^ asked leave to withdraw his amendment. (The. Hon. member had moved for a select j committee, with power' to call for persons and papers.) From remarks "which had , been made by various -hon. mejnbers he was satisfied that the matter would have _to come before the Council again. The railway, he said,, must be finished, it could not remain in its present state, and the resolution submitted by Mr M'Clure (to complete the line by cash payments) was one which did not commit the«hoiise to any. great extent, so far as encroaching on the revenue of the province was concerned. . . -, ••..•■ /. Leave was given and the motion withdrawn. ..: ■) * MrCuTHBEETSON would call attention to the fact, that the; work already done on the Eailway was not deteriorating. (Cries of "no no."} ; 3t 'was a fact' he he said that all that could deteoriate^ had done'so; and : there was nothing /now that could . deteoriate -/to.- .any- iL apprecable extent. •Mr Pearson; ; would support , , the motion, because in any circumstances the General Government would borrow the £42,000 ; therefore, when they got the chance of ; obtaining money, ii would be very foolish in. them to loose it. It . had been universally acknowledged that the line ought to be completed, if doing so would not trench on the land fund, or ordinary -funds ; -for roads. .He' quite agreed that the roads should have precedence, and would not starve them for the sake of. the , railways, but in. this particular instance the money was to' be oa)y^r-a-^a4lway amlr&efchiug else. It had been said, supposing they sent £15,000 ; to Britiati for the plant, the question -remained where was the money to come 'from to complete the line? He thonghtjthat if they did not get^ money from the General Government, it could be got from a contractor. But he was certain they would get it from the General Government. One of the great objects in modern life was to get as) much as thay could from their neighbors,; but in this case he would try to get as much as they could of their own. If they did not get £-12,000 some oue e^se would and he would support the motion for paying ' cash instead of land, if for nothing else, out of deference Lto his friends 0 the squatters (laughter,) He thought it would be unfair to them to take*6o,ooo acres from their runs, if this money could be got for nothing as it virtually would be. Therefore he said "better get money if you ,can." In his opinion, if tho plant was on the ground, they could get the line made for nothing, by leasing it. .lie quite differed in opinion with > an hon. member (Mr Cuthbertson) who said that the country did not require opening up. He (Mr Pearson) said it did require opening up.- A gentleman recently from the old country—a practical farmer— had told him that he had seen land on the Mataura Plains superior to anything he had ever seen elsewhere, and that if there was only a railway to it, its value would be immense. As to a particular line of route, he (Mr Pearson) was not a warm supporter of the Northern. He would prefer the East, as there was a great deal more capital invested in that direction, and it would bring them to their neighbors country: still if the pi-qject before the House could be carried out, without incurring any further liabilities, it was, in his. opinion, advisable to do so. Eeferring to. the discovery of coal, he thought that if it could be sold at the Bluff for 18s or 20s per ton, that port would speedily be the coaling place for all the large steamers. He concluded by asserting that the railway should be inade'iand paid for in cash. If they did not take the money some one else would very soon. Mr Basstiak did not see the force of making a railway to go nowhere and bring back nothing, as would, in his opinion, be the case ■ with the Northern line. He thought this railway question was dying out. A few months ago nothing could be said against them without reproof folio wing — now, all classes seemed to be in favor of roads. They all saw the advantage of spending the money in the Province, on roads, and he was satis^. fied that if this scheme went on there would be no money for roads. , (Hear, hear.) To say otherwise was just throwing -dust in v the eyes of the people — it was a great fallacy. After b,eing inaqle, the railway line 'would., "he asserted,' in three or four years be in just the same condition as it is at present.
Mr DAiiiiYMPLE, in a long and somewhat rambling address, opposed the motion. Mr Clerks opposed the motion. Before going on with the Oreti Railway they ought to pause, well and consider whether it would be profitable. They had been tola that the General Government would give £40 r OOO, or something thereabout, and yet thoy were to be charged a sinking 'fund jukl lnterest on it. That wn's v^ry" funny. 5 The utmost they could manage • at present was to get out the plant, and where was the money for the works ? They must trust for that to future revenue, which every" man knew was a fluctuating one, rendering it impossible to say whether the line could be com-^ pleted or 'hot. They would find that itwas necessary to send all the money at once to the home country. (Provincial Treasurer — ISTo, no.) Mr CfiERKE — You cannot run into debt in this cc-.se. (Crie3 of " No/ no." Ho coutinued — Do you think that any merchant or manufacturer will send goods without the money ? Iron itself is money, and they will not let it out of the country unless the cash is in their hands. Mr M'Cluke replied at length to the objections made. He contended that the railway would not oppose trunk roads, because there were none. In America, j where the inhabitants seemed to appreciate such things, railways were iuvariasly made iuCpjeferenco to roads. As for sending for the whole amount of plant at once, he said it seemed to. be forgotten thai freight would be only paid as the plant arrived, so that the whole sum required need not be sent. He contended that they could not get into debt, by this policy, and therefore there could be no danger. Aft her further remarks and explanations, he concluded by calling on the House to affirm the resolution — " Timtn this Council deems it preferable to complete the Oreti- Bail way by cash -payments, in lieu of payments by land, and approves of the proposition -agreed; to. by the General Government, of capitalizing the interest of the Provincial Debt up to the endr'pf. 1888 "for this purpose;"; ; .-. ;-v ; The House divided .with the following result.:.— .... ■ ._ ,- .., Ayes,— Messrs -Lumsden, "Ross/ Swale, Blaeklock, Daniels, Pearson, Hodgkinson, Calder, Johnstone, Hately, • Armstrong, Longuet, and M'Clure — 13. Noes— Messrs. Basstian, , Ho well, Dairy raple, Cuthberfcson, and Clerke — 5. The .House then adjourned at 11.45 p.m.
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Southland Times, Issue 945, 4 May 1868, Page 2
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1,422PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. Southland Times, Issue 945, 4 May 1868, Page 2
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