TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume 64, Issue II, 23 August 1884, Page 2

TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

The Question of Management. A special meeting of the Piako County Council, was heM at •Cambridge oir Fridny evening, the 16th inst., for the purpose of considering the situation in regard to the tramway and the management of that concent. Crs VV. L. C. Williams (chairman), ,T. C. Firth, W. T. Firth, Ciiepmell and Gould were p-e-sent. The resignations of Mr Firtn as chairman of the Tramway Committee and Mr Adams as manager of the tramway were laid before the meeting. Cr Chqmiell proposed that the resignations be accepted. Or Gould seconded, and the pro-posi-tion wan put and cniried. (Jr Kirtn said, that until the council sn -coeded in mailing other arrange u ion ts i for tho woriviiig an. l munag-ement of tiie

frnmway 1»& wmuM; cjpntimiV^a d« I ist-j est, 'in^t.lie?mterp«fi«pf the w ,oMincil and ' £ ill cnij&rVeij]^ He \vjrnlrf Vnn|jn^ife to « ] o \ : ie belt ho c<sjd to further fie Interests >f all pnr*ir>sV The infeivst.B in tlrr 1 rani wav, were of a very complex nature. nd veiv i uportanf, and it wouM not do, o tiiHe with th.»rn. T.i« Clinii'tnitn said, with reference to the general management of the tramway. we had asked the legal managers •>f the various mines nsini» the tramway to draw up a report on the tramway as far as their experience permitted. The following report had been sent in :— Wiiioroniromni, Ang. 8, JBB4. To the Chairman Piako County Council. Sir, — In compliance with request of the legal managers of our respective companies, wo beg to forward yon the following report re management of IV Aroha tramway : Ist. We consider that the position of manager of the IV Aroha tramway, from the date of opening until now hits been a trying ami difficult one for anybody to occupy, for many reasons: Ist. On account of the peculiar nature of the country, the line is peculiarly subject to slips and damage endued by rains — damage which has often cost a large ■nun of money to repair. 2nd. From r.he fact that only a few of the mines on the hill are as ye 1 a ything I k • well op n»d up, the supply of quartz lias often been very short of what it otherwise mighthave been. Had a constant and regular supply of quartz b >en forthcoming at all time**, tie line no doubt might have been somewhat more cheaply worked than it has been. But for this we do not con sider that Mr Adams hits been in any way to blame. 3rd. Comparisons have sometimes been m*le to the working of the Thames tramways compared to the Te Aroha tramway. We think that, considering the length of the Te Aroha tramway and the height of the self-act-ing grades, the Te Aroha tramways have been, and are being now worked quite as cheaply and as efficiently as were those on the Thames. 4th. We are individually and collectively of opinion that the past management of the Te Aroha tramway has been quite as good and as economical as it has been possible to make it under the difficulties that have had to he contended against, and are also of opinion that great credit is due to Mr Adams for the manner in which he has conducted the management. At all times has! the greatest care been paid so as to ensure the strictest economy in the working of the line. sth. We are of opinion that had there been another battery of equal number of stampers to the present one, and a proportionate amount of quartz been required and forthcoming, that not only could the cost of transit have, been reduced from 4s Gd, but that also a surplus above working expenses would have been derived every month. — We have, etc , t s ugh McLiver, Manager New Find Mine ; Thomas Gavin, Manager Colonist Company ; John Bknney, Manager Canadian Company ; Jam ks 11. S. Wilson, Mine Manager Eureka G. M. Company. Or Firth thought the "vrhole affair was a very grave mistake, and the council would have cause to regret the step they had taken. The line at present was in excellent working order, and was being worked, and had been worked all along as economically as it was possible to work it. By the step they had taken they had thrown discredit upon their own property. It was needless for him to tell them that upon tiie success of the tramway depended the success of the mines, and thereby not only the success of the field, but of the entire country. The interests of the entire county were wrapped up to a great extent with the interests of the fi'ld. The prosperity of the field depended on the economical and safe working of the tramway, and if anything went wrong with it a misfortune, will have occurred, from the influence of which this particular district, which ultimately would look to the great mining centre of Te Aroha as a m irket for all its agricultural and pastoral produce, will not relie.ve itself so easily as such misfortune might have been avoided. To him, wuo had more opportunities of knowing the difficulties of this question, the whole thing pro.- e I » ted itself in a very serious light. If they were to have a few days rain, and any neglect to occur, the council might be involved in the e.\|>enditure of several hundred pounds. If the work fell into incompete.nthands, and there was every possibility that it would, the whole affair might bo involved in practical ruin. The question of constructing a road up the hill im mediately below the line of tramway had been brought forward at the last meeting of the council, and certain concessions made ; whereas, 'it had since transpired that the proposed road would cut directly into the spur, where the previous slip had occurred, and which had caused the council a loss of thousands poun X Had die work referred t-> been allowed to be carried out it was qnite difficult to predict what the consequences might have been. Indeed, it might have brought the whole affair to a total wreck, and the mines and everything connected with the tFamway would have bten sacrificed. He felt it his duty in the position he; held in this matter to guard the interests of all concerned, and who were largely interested m the success of the tield. He defied any person to come forward and say that to any material extent the management of the tramway could be improved upon. He then referred to the report supplied by the mine mangers using the tramway. Of coins > there would always be' these complaints about management, &g. ; they wore inevitable under any condition, aird would continue to be made, whatever changes or modifications they might make. When the idea of constructing tue tramway whs first conceived it Was at. ouce decl.ired impracticable, it could never bj

(X; 'tjpriei! out, it was a meieiad-hnd v'liofc I ;T%-. But it was eonstruHM. neveril*^ • V f Vs ; though in the face or almost ins \ipera Me difficulties, and then tin* <ry vas raised that it, con M never I >e worked. . And then when it was shown that ,t >, ould be successfully and advantageously v«»rked faults must necessarily la 1 found • \ ith the management. H^ would ref»r . Hiem to 't'te reports of Mr Gorlon, th« 5 Government engineer. This gentleman ' had reported twice, and very favourably ! : ndeed, and his reports had been 'laid be- ' fore Parliament., The only suggestion which Mr Gordon had to innki-' was to i he effect, that a enlvert was wanting on . Butler's Spur ; ami he had also reported f i hat the locomotive was unnecessary. In I .'Very other respect his remarks were very ? I'ommendatory. It was on the reports III I of this gentleman that the council obf tamed the money grant from Govern- » fiient. To put the tramway into the 1 hands of irresponsible men, as was pro- » posed, was n very, serions matter. If : anything went wrong ifc would be the 1 council and not the lessee who would lv • responsible. The council were directly J responsible to the thousands of people 1 who have shares in the various mines, to 1 the ppoplo who had their money and .' Mieir all invested there, and, moreover, I to the ratepayers of tiie Pinko County, i whose trust they held. Jt was very !"- necessary for them at this stage to conr sider what they were o'ng. If they once I made a mistake ot putting the wrong i man in, it would be a very difficult, matter t io retrace their steps. If any calamity happened,, such as the shifting of the f tunnel, the council would find itself in a 3 very awkward position. It certainly f would not be able to get any more money 3 or advances. Hejooked upon the truin- ', way as simply a means to an end. He » did not consider that the rate 9 charged • were too high for all He compared the p tramway rates to those charged on the s Thames tramways and the Ancklandb Onehnnga branch line. There were over - three miles of tramway at Te Aroha, for 1 whi«h the freight was LS U a ton, - whereas the freight from Auckland to - Onehunga was L 6 6s a ton, or a little t more than double. Again, the line to 3 Onehunga was through a flat country, i whereas, the tramway was through the r moat difficult country conceivable, v He 1 would instance the case of one of the b tramways at the Thames which had been s leased in this way, and which in the f course of a comparatively short time had t become a complete wreck through pure 1 mismanagement. He then referred at V considerable length to tiie satisfactory 6 character of Mr Adams' management, fc and spoke in high terms of the ability i and integrity displayed by tnat gentle- - iiimi, whose services they, bad for the a small consideration of L5O a year. > Cr Ghepmell referred to the general v dissatisfaction w.iit'U prevailed respectr in if the tramway management. It was y a hard thing to get at the truth. He • .uid tried to find out as ranch' as he could, • and he thought it was only their duty when they found so much dissatisfaction • to get some corap 'lf»nt person to report I on the matter an I find what was leally r wrung. These complaints had to be set i at rest, whether they were true or false, r and he believed tii.vt, the only means to r this end was the employment of a «:omc peient person to report on the mutter. I Mr Gordon's previous report had been , made on the construction of the tramb way and not on the working. He would - propose chat Mr Cookson be appointed 1 temporary manager of the tramway, the } whole to be under tne supervision of Mr • Pavitt, civil engineer. > Or. Gould seconded the proposition 3 He explained his object in supporting - the proposition. People imd come to - them asking about the correctness or t otherwise of these complaints, and they - were unable to give any information* 3 The report which they moved for »\onld I answer all purposes, and they would <i thus get to know how the matter re.dly I stood. His object was to see if they . <o*?ld not possi oly carry quartz at. less t than 4s 6d a truck. The report wuich I they hud moved for would not only * t -j all complaints at rest, but mignt, in ail probability, be hignly favourable to the present management. Personally, he was as ignorant as an owl of the whole matter. Cr Firth invited Cr Gould to put his finger upon any point of tne management which was wrong. ' Cr Gould replie 1 that that he could not do. His object was to get a proper and competent person to report and show them where the wrong points were Cr Firth r m irked, that in the construction of the tramway, Mr Adams had effected a saving to tiie council of full £2000. He felt certain that if Crs. Gould and Chepmell knew all about the matter, they would be the last to throw a stone at Mr Adams. The charges that had been made appeared to his mind to be merely what tne man in the slreet has said, and was saying and beyond this there was nothing to go upon. The Chairman did not think they could possibly get a sufficiently competent man to look after the tramway for less than about £3(K)ayear. Cr Gould, referring to Mr Gordon's report, said that he heard thut Mr Gordon had stited that the tramway ought to have been constructed L 13,000. Cr Firth said that Mr Gordon's estimate was between L 14,000 and L 15,000. The iramway had 'neen constructed for L 15,000, irrespective of L3OOU which the great slip had cost them Kespectmg Cr Chepmell'd proposition, Cr. Firtd said ho would oppose it in- the interests, not oidy of the 1 council, but of the people of the entire counr.y, and those whose interest on the ft'M wis at stake. H<i did not- think it would be' rig'it or* tne part of tne council, having yot rid 1 of »