THE PROPOSED L650,000 LOAN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 121, 2 June 1870, Page 6

THE PROPOSED L 650,000 LOAN.

The Speaker reported the following message from His Honour the Superintendent (in Council, on Thursday, May 26th.) The Superintendent, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, desires to submit, for the consideration of the Provincial Council, the expediency of obtaining power, at the next session of the General Assembly, to raise on loan a sum not exceeding six hundred and fifty thousands pounds, to be appropriated towards public works as follows, viz. : — Southern Trunk Railway, L 400,00 0; Water Supply on Goldfield, LIOO.OOO ; Immigration L 50,000 ; Embankment of Rivers, L 50.00 0; Oamaru Dock, L 20,00 0; Waitaki Bridge, L 10,000 ; Kakanui Harbour. L6OOO ; Waikouaiti Wharf, L 800 0; Shag River Bridge, L 400 0: Lower Mataura Bridge, L2OOO ; Total, L 650,000. Such a loan to be a general charge upon the Provincial Revenue, and to be specially secured upon the three million « acres of land, at present held under pas-

toral lease, and yielding a rental of L 32,000 a year. Provision to be made whereby the land set aside as security can be reletised from time to time, in proportion to the extent to whdeh the principal of the loan may be extinguished. There is a good reason to think that the required amount can readily be procured at a rate of interest not exceeding five per cent., and, as the bulk of the loan will be expended upon works eminently reproductive, it will very shortly recoup itself, and the revenue instead of losing will gain by the transaction. As regards the Southern Trunk Railway. — In seeking for authority to borrow the money for its construction, the Superintendent does not propose to relinquish powers already possessed, of negotiating with a public company. What is desired is, that the Government should have the means at its disposal of proceeding with the work itself, in the event of not being able speedily to arrange with a company on reasonable terms ; and here he would venture to suggest the expediency of our being contented with a cheap description of railway, which is being extensively adopted in America and elsewhere, by which an ordinary speed of twenty miles an hour is attained at a comparatively small cost. By adopting this plan, L 400,000 would carry the railway much farther than it can be taken under the specification at present proposed, and the railway system could be extended and maintained throughout the province at a less cost than that at which metalled roads are being provided and upheld. The Superintendent regrets to observe that in some quarters there is a disposition to suppose that by constructing the Southern Trunk line an undue advantage will be conferred upon the districts more immediately concerned, at the expense of the rest of the province. A little reflection will, however, suffice to show the fallacy of such an opinion, especially when it is considered that the metalled road, which would to a great extent be superseded by the railway, is actually costing the province as a whole as much for its annual maintenance as the probable cost of the proposed loan. Moreover, if the railway system is ever to be extended throughout the province, it must have a beginning somewhere. As regards the water supply on the goldfields, there cannot be a doubt that the increased revenue resulting from a judicious application of the proposed loan will far more than cover both principal and interest in a very few years. As respects immigration, it is proposed to supplement the loan with L 25,000 out of revenue, the whole to be expended over a period of three years. The total amount of L 75,000 will suffice to land on our shores close upon 11,000 statute adults, the contributions of whom to the customs revenue would shortly extinguish both principal and interest in respect of this portion of the loan, and subsequently tend to reduce the burden of taxation which now presses so severely on the whole colony. As regards the L 50,000 for the embankment of rivers, although it does not come under the category of reproductive work, yet it is an expenditure which is absolutely necessary, unless we are prepared for the total extinction of a large portion of the best agricultural land in the province, and the absolute destruction of private property, the value of which may be estimated at millions of money. It is unnecessary to say that L 50.000 will be a very small proportion of the amount which will have to be raised otherwise. The importance and necessity of the other works to which it is proposed to apply the proceeds of the loan, having already been so fully recognised by the Provincial Council, it is not deemed necessary to further allude to them. The Superintendent, in conclusion, has only to express an earnest hope that the Provincial Council may concur in applying for the requisite powers to raise the amount now in question, inasmuch as few, if any, of the objects indicated can be obtained for years to come out of the current revenue, unless by unduly forcing land into the market, and inasmuch as the objects sought are absolutely essential to the development of our resources. The Superintendent does not see upon what grounds the General Assembly can refuse its sanction to the proposed loan, considering that the province has ample and specific security of its own to offer, and that the colony is not asked to run any possible risk ; seeing moreover the large extent to which the colony will participate in the increased revenue the loan implies. J. Macandrbw, Superintendent.