The Sonthland Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1564, 16 April 1872, Page 2

The Sonthland Times. TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1872.

At the meeting of the District Waste I/and Board on Friday last, a little light was thrown on a subject of considerable public interest, but regarding which official information has hitherto been very sparingly supplied. A letter was read from the Provincial Secretary, informing the Board that the 25,604 acres, awarded by the arbiters to the contractors, was exclusive and in excess of the 4000 acres or thereabouts granted by certificate on account of the Invereargill contract, prior to the arbitration. On receipt of this letter the Board decided to ascertain whether the land reserved for railway purposes had not already been exhausted, and wisely declined to sanction any further free grants until this important question had been set at rest. We are not sufficiently acquainted with the working of Government offices to'understand why a simple reference to the books of the department could not have settled the point there and then, especially as there were two applications for free grants under the •contract before the Board at the time. But this is of little moment. It is of more importance that we should know how much land has been set apart for railway purposes, how it has been spent, and how the amount, which originally was estimated at more than enough for the purpose for which it was reserved, has now proved insufficient. By a resolution of the late Provincial Council of Southland, on 3rd December, 1868, and confirmed by Order in Council, 27th January, 1869, " a grant ot land not exceeding 25,000 acres" was " made for works in Southland known as Oreti and Bluff Harbor and Invereargill Eailways." About 3000 acres of this were used for the repairs to the Bluff line, known as the Kew Diversion. The completion of . the line to Winton was let in two con-

tracts, one of which was known as the I Invercargill contract, referred to in the letter. These contracts, ultimately held ami completed by the late firm of Driver and M'Lean, were, in round numbers, for about 19,000 acres. Some extra work, considered necessary, might have amounted to some 3000 acres more, as the Provincial Government were advised at the time. The whole work of completing the railway to "Winton was thus to have cost about 22,000 acres. "We have reason to believe that the contracts contained a stipulation of the most absolute kind, by which the engineer was constituted the sole judge of what extra work might be required, and at what prices such extra work was to be paid for. A further clause we believe was added, by which, it was provided that all disputes which might arise regarding the meaning or sufficient execution of the, , contracts, were to be referred to arbitra- | tion, the engineer again being named as I sole referee and arbiter, and bis decision i was unreservedly accepted by the contractors as binding and final. These arrangements were made by the Southland Executive, and under them the work was commenced, and carried on for some time, without any serious difference of opinion between the contractors and the engineer. The union of the two Provinces took place, and the contracts, begun tinder the Government of Southland, were completed under the Government of the United Province of Otago. B Difficulties arose. The contractors repeatedly objected to the requirements of the engineer, and ultimately claimed to have completed the contract ; while the engineer declared that they had not, and refused to grant certificate of completion. The decision of the engineer being acknowledged in the contract deed by the contractors themselves to be binding and final, there seemed no way out of the dilemma ex- ! cept the completion of the works' accord- ! ing to his ideas. At this point the Dunedin Executive for the first time openly interfere. They take possession of the ! line — dispense with the services of the engineer — refer the case of the contractors to arbitration, as before, but under a new tribunal, whose decision has not yet been officially made public. We learn, however, from the letter read at the Land Board on Friday, that the 25,000 acres originally set apart for the work, which would have been more than sufficient had the terms of the contract been adhered to, will now fall short by about 7,000 acres of the amount required to satisfy the contractors' claims under the award.