PROPOSED DIVERSION OF THE WINTON AND KINGSTON LINE.

Southland Times, Issue 1574, 7 May 1872, Page 3

PROPOSED DIVERSION OF THE WINTON AND KINGSTON LINE.

Sic, —Since writing you on the 19th inst., I became aware of the existence of a Wellington publication named " Further Papers relating to the Construction of Railways (South Island)." It contains [a report (dated 27th Sept., 1871) by Mr Blair, District Engineer, on the Win ton to AthQl line, which I quote below. His estimate —" 1£ miles longer" —is within the mark, and by "4| miles of rough ground" he probably meatis that, of the ten miles twisting round rocky spurs and river bends, referred to in my former letter, there is, in his estimation, 4<\ miles of actual cutting. On examining the index of this interesting publication, I discovered the Oreti railway entered as two different subjects, viz., " VI., Winton to Lowther and Kingston," and " VII., Winton to Athol." With stimulated curiosity I turned up No. VI., and was surprised to find that it consisted of a plausible letter by a " George Bailey, Secretary Mataura and Wakatip Railway Committee," centred in a halo of official correspondence between honors, honorables, and chiefs. Mr Bailey's letter, dated Switzers, June 10, 1871, and addressed to the Secretary of Land and Works, Dunedin,'

proposed that " the line from Winton to i Lowther should be abandoned, and a line from Gore to Lowther constructed in lieu ' of it." This proposal was backed by statements, of which the following is a specimen : — " The present survey via Winton to Lowtber will involve the construction of a very costly bridge over the New Kiver (Oreti) near the foot of the Hokanui Ranges, and also three other bridges over important branches of the New River on the Five -River Plains" — (tfie italics are mine). The most triflhig ! enquiry would have proved this such a j gross misrepresentation as to have warranted the Government in answering j Mr Bailer to the following effect : — We do not feel justified in occupying time in the consideration of a proposal which is not based on a near approximation to truth. Enquire and you will learn that I your committee have been misinformed \ as to the relative engineering difficulties and advantages of the routes in question. The Government however, I suppose quite innocently, forgot that they were in possession of a map of the actual survey — made at the instance of the late Province of Southland — of the railway from Winton, through Lowther, to Athol ; and of correct topographical maps of the Southland territory, from which could have been ascertained the exact number of bridges, and from which relative distances and advantages could have been compared to a nicety. They probably also quite forgot the existence of the Bluff and Invercargill harbors, and the forty miles of working railway running inland therefrom towards the natural northern terminus, Queenstown. Being thus in a state of darkness, they would naturally hail Mr Bailey's letter as a bright star guiding to the solution of the Dunedin problem — " Given a short, straight, and level road connecting the Lake districts with the Bluff harbor, and a long, circuitous, and hilly road connecting the same with Port Chalmers; — prove the latter connection to be the best for all parties." That letter dropped as oil on the Government machinery, quickening its movements, and forthwith were evolved a memorandum and three letters from His Honor the Superintendent to the Hon. Mr Gisborne ; a letter from Mr Knowles, Under Secretary, to Mr Brunton ; and an official report each from Messrs Carruthert!, Chief Engineer, Blackett, As-sistant-in-chief, and Brunton, M. I. C E The gist of these reports, in so far as concerned the real question at issue, was that both routes were practically level s but that one (the Wintoo) was shorter, and therefore less costly than the other by £12,000 to £21,000. Of course, these eminent men, having been formally asked to do so, were not to blame for having formally given the Government information which a junior draughtsman in the Survey office could have readily supplied. While agreeing that the Winton line should be proceeded with first, two of these engineers offered an interesting variety of opinion respecting the quality of the country along the Gore route, c. g., Mr Carruthers : — " On the other hand, the Gore line has the advantage of opening up a larger extent of laul fit for agriculture." Mr Brunton : — " I look on the country from Sydney Bill's Accommodation House to Lowther " (the Gore line) "as purely pastoral laud." Now Mr C. might have considered that, as coming from him, whose personal knowledge of the country was of the slightest possible description, such an expression of opinion was valueless, and therefore superfluous ; and Mr B. might, with advantage to himself, have refrained from making a statement which, if he knew the country, proved him thoroughly incompetent as a judge of what constitutes " purely pastoral land." Again, as regards one of the " advantages " of the Gore line, these two gentlemen were at one ; "by it the distance from Kingston to Dunedin is shortened fifty miles." This truism Mr Carruthers recorded without comment. Mr Brunton however kernels it in the following remarkable paragraph : — " In conclusion, I would respectfully beg to observe that, in my opinion, both lines will of necessity have to be constructed ultimately. Unless the line from Long Ford " (Gore) " to Lowther is made, all traffic from Dunedin to the Lake districts would have to go round by Invercargill, involving fifty-five miles of carriage extra to what will be required if it is. And if the line from Long Ford is made, and not the one from Wanton, the present Winton line is practically thrown away, and the fine agricultural district between Winton and Lowther remains unopened." It does not seem to have occurred to Mr B. that one main reason why the Winton route claimed the preference was that it placed these districts in communication i with their natural sea-port, and therefore obviated the necessity of a traffic connection with Dunedin. The importance thus seen to have been attached to Mr Bailey's letter proves to a demonstration that a proposal having absurdity stamped on the face of it may be regarded through Dunedin spectacles as worthy of serious discussion. Perhaps the Government encouraged this attempt to draw the Lake traffic off Invercargill on to Dunedin, to please those Southlanders who aided reunion from centralising motives. But "it's an ill wind that blaws naebody gude," and were it not for this distinguished committee's letter, Mr Brunton's report on the comparative value of the Winton and Gore routes "would be unborn, and the clue which it affords to the possible origin of the eastern bank question (Oreti railway) have remained invisible. The clve — " The distance from Winton to Lowther is about 35 miles, estimated to cost £3000 per mile; total, say £105,000. And I have reason to believe this cost could be decreased by keeping altogether 1 on the east bank of the Orefci River, instead of crossing it twice. And even if such was found not to be the case, the future cost , in maintenance of two large bridges must ,

be a serious item of consideration in \ determining which route the line should take." Is it to be inferred from this that Mr Brunton holds it as unworthy of consideration that the whole north-western portion of the Province, inclusive of 20 miles or so of what he himself described as " the fine agricultural district between Winton and Lowther," should have no access to the railway by bridge, and be liable to occasional isolation from the railway and Invercargill ? Were it hot j for his own recorded notice of the fine agricultural district to have remained unopened if the Winton line were not proceeded with, I might have seen ray way to infer that when mentally comparing tho late Mr Puterson's survey with the proposed deviation therefrom, the connection of Winton with Kingston i was regarded by him as the great and j only object of the railway, and therefore so engrossed his attention as to exclude . from his memory the existence of inter- [ veniag country except as so much railway medium. — I am, &c, Oreti. 29th April, 1572. I