MR. VOGEL’S RAILWAY ARRANGEMENTS.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 21, 31 October 1871, Page 3

MR. VOGEL’S RAILWAY ARRANGEMENTS.

The following letter appears in the Otago Daily Times: — TO THE EDITOR. SIR, —Upon reading your leader of the sth inst., on the proposed agreement entered into by Mr. Vogel and the Messrs. Brogden, which is to construct railways to the amount of £4,000,000, I think it my duty, as an old settler of New Zealand, to draw the attention of every inhabitant of this country to the bare facts that agreement represents. We all know the inestimable boon the Public Works and Immigration scheme will prove to this, colony, if judiciously carried out. Let but bungling mismanagement and favouritism prevail, and this colony is for ever wholly and totally ruined. Have we not from past experience suffered sufficiently through the gross mismanagement and ignorance of our rulers? Take for instance the £3,000,000 loan —how it was recklessly squandered away ! The utter abortion and failure of the Waikato Militia scheme ! And now we are on the verge of committing ourselves to a much greater blunder, by allowing Messrs. Brogden and Co. to monopolise the construction of all the railways in New Zealand, and out of which I shall be able, I think, to convince you that they will clear three or four millions, In the agreement as to the modes in which the prime cost is to be ascertained, this is to be left to arbitration, Messrs. Brogden and the Government each appointing their arbitrator, the arbitrators appointing their umpire in case of their not agreeing, who, in all probability, will be the new engineer brought out by Mr. Vogel. Messrs. Brogden are very unlikely to commence constructing these lines unless they can see a profit of 20 per cent, on the construction, the cost to be fixed by the arbitrators. This profit is to be supplemented by the New Zealand Government with five per cent., together making 25 per cent, on £4,000,000, shows £1,000,000 profit. The Government guaranteeing 5j per cent, interest on the total cost, or on tlnfnet cost would equal 6£ per cent., besides giving Messrs Brogden a bonus of 3,000,000 acres of land, a fifth of which may be selected from the richest parts of the Colony. As security to Messrs Brogden and Co., they are to retain possession of the railways until they are paid for in cash by the Government. The selected land with railway communication, we may assume to be worth £2 per acre— Say 600,000 acres,at£2...£l,2oo,ooo Say 2,400,000 acres, at 105... 1,200,000 5h0w5...£2,400,000 Addprofit on construction... 1,000,000 £3,400,000 To show the difference between English and local construction, I may instance the Clutlia line. The lowest offer Mr Young received in England was £650,000. It is now ascertained that the line can be constructed for £250,000 by local contractors —a reduction in favor of the Colony of £400,000, In addition to this, Messrs. Brogden and Co. will realise a profit upon all plant sent out, this being left to the discretionary valuation of an engineer in London. Temporary waggons, carts, dobbins, which might be constructed here, are to be shipped from England. In fact, Mr. Vogel tells us he has given instructions for £25,000 worth to be shipped at once, under the direction and valuation of Mr. Hemans. This is “importing coals to Newcastle,” we having abundance of timber and labour in the colony for making all these, as well as permanent carriages, trucks, &c. The value of this temporary plant is -to be added to the prime cost of construction. Another little arrangement is that Messrs. Brogden are to bring out 10,000 navvies to construct their railway, and for so doing the Government give them a further sum of £IOO,OOO. An eminent engineer is to be appointed in England, who will value all the temporary plant, permanent rails, engines, carriages, and the other rolling stock, at the low charge of 1£ per cent. ; and supposing the rolling stock and temporary plant amount to £1,000,000, we have an item of £15,000 for this gentleman’s services to be added to prime cost, as also Messrs. Brogdcn’s profits. There will be the costly expenses attending the arbitration to be added to prime cost. Messrs Brogden will also have a further profit, it being their intention to bring out with them not only navvies, but navvies’boots and clothing, and every other profitable thing used or consumed by the navvies. They will also, no doubt, open tommy shops and grog shanties along the line during the construction, and these with their migrating staff, will move from one railway to another till the whole £4,000,000 is absorbed. Messrs Brogden will then retire with a handsome fortune of three or four millions ; and those of the navvies saving as much money as will carry them to some other country, will clear out; while those of intemperate habits will be left penniless and paupers upon the country. Thus, after the Government making themselves liable for £4,000,000 of money, and giving away 3,000,000 acres of land, we shall have to pay upwards of £200,000 per annum interest on the £4,000,000, 4 and

which will have to be wrung out of the hard earnings of the; poor unfortunate settlers, merchants, tradesmen, and every resident in the colony, none of whom will •have derived one single penny of benefit out of these railways, but may have the gratifying satisfaction of having a few hundred miles of rickety railway, and not an additional bona fide settler. Having fairly laid before you the the bare facts of this proposed arrangement with Messrs Brogden, which will end in bringing irretrievable ruin and disappointment to all inhabitants of this country if carried out, I will endeavour to point out the course that would lead to a successful issue. Let me draw your attention, first, to the Victorian Government, who have so successfully carried out their railways with local talent and labour, and amongst which the Melbourne, Sandhurst, Geelong, and Ballarat are the most substantial railways in the world. Recently, for the North-Eastern line, the Government accepted the tender of a Ballarat firm for the construction of ten locomotives at £2,900 each, this Government having had quite enough of importing engines and other railway plant under the system of engineering inspection in England. At the time tenders were called for the Melbourne, Sandhurst, Ballarat, and Geelong lines, the late Mr. Brassey’s agent made an offer to construct them, and leave the value to be determined by some eminent engineer in London. This the Government very wisely rejected, but informed the agent they should be most happy to receive a tender from him. This, however, he refused to do. Now, as far as Messrs. Brogden are concerned, I for one should be very glad to have such contractors amongst us ; but by all means, let them compete with local contractors. Let it be an opeu competition, all above board, aud under practical specifications, plans, sections,, and conditions of the Government ; and if Messrs. Brogden’s terms are more favourable than others, by all means let them have it. The New South Wales Government have carried out their railways.over a most mountainous district by local contractors. In the same way the South Australian railways have been satisfactorily executed. True, the Queensland Government resorted to foreign con-, tractors under a system of guarantee, which, unfortunately, terminated in endless disputes, arbitrations, &c. ; the result being double the cost originally estimated. Now, I propose that Government should survey and lay out the most direct and shortest lines. Let specifications, plans, sections, and general conditions be prepared by competent engineers, of whom there are any number to be obtained in this country at the present time, if the Government would oniy make a selection. The rule adopted should be to subject them to an examination by an engineer of eminence, say Mr. Blackett; let him,after examination, employ the most talented and experienced in railway construction—and I know of many talented engineers who are experienced in railway works in this country at present. It requires a residence of some years in this country to qualify an engineer for the purpose of utilising with due economy the materials of the colony for the construction of railways, and other public works ; unlike the old country where iron, stone, and bricks are the principal materials the engineer has to deal with. Here the skill of the engineer has to be directed in designing the most substantial structures of the different woods grown in the colony, for all viaducts, bridges, &c. The engineer’s duties satisfactorily performed, then call for tenders iu sections of 10 to 50 miles contracts —thus giving both small and large contractors a chance. Pay for these contracts half cash and half in land. Let these land orders be divided to suit the convenience of con- • tractors, so that they may pay to their work people, whether sub-contractors, piece, or daymen, half cash, half land orders. This would be the means of making the men provident, and at the completion of the railways, through their beingpossessed of land,wonld become bona fide settlers in the country ; as would also engineers, storekeepers, and other classes drawing benefit from the railway; and this is what I understand to be the meaning of the Public Works and Immigration scheme.

This course being pursued, the £IOO,OOO to be paid by Messrs Brogden for bringing out their navvies from England would be saved, and I am of opinion a population unaided would ilow to this Colony, not only from the old country, but also from the neighbouring Colonies. Men of capital, especially, from the tropical climates would likewise avail themselves of the rich fertile lands and salubrious climate we have to offer them. Having calmly penned the above with a view to arouse every resident of this Colony from his .apathy, I would say in the words of Milton, “ Awake ! Arise 1 or be for ever fallen !” Let a public meeting be called to discuss the point, and petition the General Assembly at once.—l arn, &c., A Settler.