A NEW RAILWAY SCHEME. (dedicated to the Legislators of New Zealand.)

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 146, 24 November 1870, Page 7

A NEW RAILWAY SCHEME. (dedicated to the Legislators of New Zealand.)

(To the Editor.)

Sir, — The most sanguine believers in the railway and immigration scheme, introduced by the Colonial Treasurer last session, are now agreed that in consequence of the present lamentable state of affairs in Europe, it will be impossible to carry it into operation, To most thinking minds, this is matter rather for congratulation than otherwise, as a providential escape from almost certain national bankruptcy iv the future. That this is no unfounded assertion, it will be only necessary to observe that were the £4,000,000 loan actually negotiated ou the proposed security of the unsold lands of the colony, it would practically amount to alienating from settlement the lands still undisposed off in the provinces of Otago and Canterbury ; for it is a wellknown fact, that in the North Island the lands are still in the hands of the natives, while in the remaining provinces of Nelson, Marlborough, and Southland, it is almost needless to say, their waste lands are nearly, if not altogether, allocated in security of debts already incurred — virtually then, this loan would have to be secured on the unsold territory _of Canterbury and Otago, thereby absolutely locking up from settlement the lands still unsold in those two provinces. It may here be observed that the revenues arising from customs and other sources might be pledged in security ; but it is evident this could not be calculated upon to guarantee new obligations, as the interest on the large debt already existing, and provision for sinking fund, together with salaries and other departmental expenses, entirely absorb the present income from customs, <fee. It would, I submit, be monstrously unjust to saddle the two provinces above indicated with the burden of the debt implied in the Colonial Treasurer's visionary scheme. To do him justice, however, Mr. Yogel, on first unfolding his gigantic financial proposals, displayed considerable intimacy with the shadier side of what, by a certain school, is denominated " poor human nature." Doubtless after the first surprise was over our amazed representatives could, through this medium, see in their " mind's eye " rills of his auriferous stream penetrating throughout the entire country ; and what more natural than that they — " the upper crust" — should be the first to experience the benefit contingent on this golden shower. Railways over the length and breadth of the land ; bridges ; docks ; a land fund for the North Island; immigrants by thousands ; the native difficulty solved at once and for ever \ the present depression dispelled ; and an empty exchequer replenished. Such were a few of the many desirable advantages with which the Treasurer, like a magician, dazzled the sober imaginations of men who too long have had to look upon the reverse side of the picture. Alas ! we have j had only too much experience in the questionable benefits to be derived from " raising the wind " in this manner, by the knowledge gained in connection with the £3,000,000 loan (contracted during Mr. Weld s administration, when was first inaugurated the self-reliant policy), which: Joan melted away before we had time to taste the sweets of it ; and, worst feature of all, we have nothing now excepting its ugly self to show for it, Since that time much has been said and written respecting the step-motherly self-reliant policy, ushered in under the auspices of Mr. Weld, and subsequently so persistently inculcated by the British Government, I regret to say that beyond a quantity of talk, the distasteful though perhaps necessary task is still as far from being entered upon as ever. In fact, the state of affairs in New Zealand has been well and truly characterised as the "drifting policy," At first sight this scheme of Mr. Vogel's seems to be an exception to the above rule ; but when scrutinised for a moment, its true character is very apparent, Instead of being in any degree self-helpful, its fundamental part is the remote possibility of obtaining home capitalists to subscribe a sum of £4,000,000.0f money on the security of a landed estate, which, if 1 sold now, would not realise much moi c than, onehalf that amount. What is this, we would ask, but an abject show of imbecile helplessness. It would be well to consider, before entertaining any such scheme, that in return for a transient period of fictitious prosperity, whicb would follow the .expenditure of so great an amount of money, posterity, as well as the people of the present generation, would be absolutely crippled and incapacitated from rumiing in the race with the other untrammelled colonies of Australia. A prominent feature in the projected loan to which we have already briefly alluded is, that it involves' the pledging of , the waste lands in the various provinces in security for its redemption. At c glance the veriest tyro in political economy can see the effect of this. It means nothing more or less than securing their runs to the squatters' for a timeequal to the currency of .the loan, as it may well he assumed th&t the Government will hardly be jja a position to pay the larger ampunfc of eoutpeasatioa necessary. Th,enj "would be no land to-

sell, and practically no room for that development of the resources of the country that rtfi (ht be looked for from the facilities afforded by railways ; and thus w6 would h:tve the melancholy spectacle of a railway constructed with absolutely no prospect of paying traffic. Nothing is further from our intention than to raise a hue and cry against the immediate projection of lines of railway in all places where there is a probability of th.cm proving remunerative in the long run. What I am strenuously opposed to is the disastrous manner in which the money for forwarding the enterprise is proposed to be raised by the Treasurer of New Zealand. With the immigration branch of the subject, I do not propose to deal at present, as the proiect I am about to bring under notice would render it as well as the railway branch, utterly futile, if it has not already been consigned to the " limbo of forgotten things." The year 1870 will prove remarkable (if for nothing else) for the incubation of two wonderful and abortive conceptions — the Pope's schema and Mr, Yogel's scheme. We would now respectfully submit, in a manner necessarily imperfect, a plan than which nothing can be well conceived better calculated to advance New Zealand to the prominence she isl destined one day to occupy among the nations of the^south seas. The establishment of railway communication, not sometime towards the end of the next decade, but to be commenced immediately, is on all hands admitted to be the desideratum towards obtaining this much-to-be-wished-for end. Premising that the new railway scheme would of necessity take the place of that of Mr. Vogel's. it would require to be one for the entire colony, and introduced by the Government. It would be desirable, however, to have a separate branch for every province, and as illustrative of the modus opera ndi to be pursued, I will take the case of the Province of Otago — the inhabii tants of which have shown a truly laudable ambition to avail themselves of the facilities offered by such a project. Among numberless instances of the spirited and self-relying manner for which Otagans are obtaining prominence, none reflects greater credit on its originators than the Tuapeka Railway Convention. To proceed with our subject, the i-oute from Dunedin to the Dunstan, by way of Taieri, Tokomairiro, Tuapeka, and Teviot, is that which would naturally first occupy attention, principally from its passing through the chief agricultural districts to the central goldh'elds. The approximate distance may be set down at 130 miles, and with the narrow guage of 3 feet 6 inches, £5000 per mile would, according to the most eminent authorities be amply sufficient to construct a substantial line of railway ; the total cost would thus amount to £650,000. A work of such magnitude would take five or six years to complete, and it would only be necessary to raise a proportion of the sum each year. It would greatly facilitate the working of the enterprise to construct and have in working order the t section, say from Dunedin to Tokomairiro, before proceeding with any other portion. The cost of carriage of materials from the sea-board, which is an important item for the extension to Tuapeka and the remoter places, would thereby be greatly reduced, and at the same time a gradually increasing revenue would be accruing, probably from the end of the second year. According to the following table it would take, say seven years, to raise the required capital, commencing with the year 1871, in which the sum of £60,000 would be required, gradually increasing the amount up to 1877 by £10,000 each year, (Par parenthesis I may observe that these relative amounts might be altered afterwards if found more suitable to do so) :—: — 1871 - - - £60,000 1872 - - - 70,000 1873 - - - 80,000 1874 - - - 90,000 1875 - - - 100,000 1876 - - 110,000 1877 - - - 120,000 £630,000 Taking then the sum to be raised for 1871 at £60,000, I would divide it | into sixty debentures of £1000 each, bearing interest at the rate of five per I cent, per annum, for a period of twenty | years. I would then proceed to issue 60,000 tickets of £1 each, for which the public would be invited to subscribe on the understanding that the subscription of one pound would entitle members to a chance of winning the magnificent prize of a £1000 railway bond. The prizes would be allotted on the art union principle ; and as the Government officials throughout the colony should receive instructions to act as agents for the sale of tickets, and all other business connected with the -project, it will be apparent that no deduc tions from the amount will fall to be made on the score of commission, charges or otherwise. Tn order to guarantee perfect accuracy, a committee of members of the Provincial Council, assisted by other proved business men, should preside on the occasion of the annual distribution of prizes, Numerous objections will be urged against the feasibility of the 1 proposed plan — Some of. them with, more or less appearance of .cogency. A doubt as to .tthtaining a. sufficient number of shareholders will very likely be started, and

to this I would reply. There is, according to the latest estimates, a population of about 60,000 in the province to which of course the purchase of shares will not be strictly confined. It is not too much to assume that one-half the number, say 30,000, would each sub scribe for a £1 share, and a very considerable proportion of the remainder would invest sums yarying from £2 to £5, and even much larger amounts. We are of opinion the difficulty would be to know how to dispose of the number of applications that would inevitably be made, and were the scheme limited to one year, much disappointment might prevail at failing to obtain shares ; but seeing that it would extend over seven years, all shares subscribed for in excess of the fixed proportion in any one year, should be carried forward to the succeeding one, Another objection, that will probably be started is, that granting the sum fixed for the first year (60,000) will be taken up, how will it be when double that amount is thrown on the share market % as will be the case in the seventh year. It might be a difficult matter, I confess, if the province were to remain at a standstill ; but with the rapid increase of population that may be anticipated the next seven years, consequent on the sums of money to be expended, the increased value of property, and the accumulation of wealth, I firmly believe it wonld be as easy to float the last annual instalment of £120,000 as the £60,000 with which the plan commenced. Timid people, brain-bonnd in old world notions and predjudices, will trace a resemblance in this project to the practices carried on hi certain continental sfc-ites, nnd will reprobate it accordingly, forgetting the vast difference there is between maintaining a horde of needy princelings (to which the proceeds of the German state lotteries are devoted) and the carrying on of a work which will be instrumental in advancing the welfare of every inhabitant of a young country. It must be borne in mind that if ever railways are to be constructed, the cost inicst be paid by the inhabitants, and that too without the splendid chances of acquiring the entire property that presents itself in the scheme I advocate. As already stated, the £1000 bonds should bear interest at the rate of £5 per cent, per annum for twenty years, equal to an annual income of £50, after which term the bondholders might well be content to relinquish the Government guarantee and take their proportion of the earnings of the company. Contrast this with the proposals of the eminent railway engineering firm of Sir Charles Fox and Sons. They offer to construct and maintaiu a line of railway on receiving a guarantee (for which collateral security, probably in land, would be reqnired) extending over a period of thirty years, at the rate of £6 per cent. A glance at the saving to be effected by adopting the method advocated will, with many other irresistible facts, go far to obtain the favourable judgment of the public. Simultaneously with the operations carried on in this province, to the cause of which, for fear of too great prolixity, I at present limit myself, the other provinces in New Zealand would be steadily pushing on lines from the great centres of population on the same principle, with a view to ultimately completing the system from Invercargill to Auckland. As already indicated, the central government should exercise a general supervision to ensure the uniformity of the several provincial branches of the work : and it might be found desirable to enact that no province, of which the inhabitants failed to subscribe the full amount of the estimated proportion for the first year, would be permitted to participate in the benefits to be derived. This would act as a stimulus, and would be a good test of their sincerity, as there is only too much reason to fear that some of the provinces in which laudation of Mr. Vogel's project was carried to the greatest extent are eager for railways, knowing full well that Canterbury ami Otago would, in the long run, have to pay the piper for their construction, if the Treasurer's views ware carried into practice. Among the almost innumerable advantages to be derived from the prosecution of this truly national cooperative undertaking, I will proceed to enumerate a few of the most obvious. The perfect feasibility ensuring, as it would, the enthusiastic support of thousands of people, who at present spend a large amount of money on pernicious and unworthy objects, would be guaranteed. There exists in our midst numbers of young men and others who are earning a respectable living, and able to save only a few pounds annually, who would gladly invest, in the hope of obtaining, in the shape of a £1000 debenture, "something really worth having." The scheme would accord well with the habits and ideas necessarily developed in all gold producing countries ; among large numbers of people who, too impatient of saving a paltry few pounds, very frequently squander them on objests productive of no earthly advantage to themselves or others ; in fact, very often to their permanent detriment, It may safely be set down as indisputable, that the least sanguine men, who have left their country to push their fortunes in a distant land, never contemplated merely " working for a living." To this, at present, unfortunately, too

large class,, the prospect of winning, by the investment of a very small sum (within the means of every body), an income of £50 per annum for twenty years, with the almost certainty of an increase after that time had elapsed, would give some zest to life, and awaken a hopeful and speculative spirit, Instead of a large sum being annually sent out of the country to provide for interest on loans, and other charges contingent on Mr. Vogel's scheme, the proceeds of the undertaking would be distributed among the inhabitants, and spent in still further developing its resources, At present many valuable members of the community are in the position of sojourners hanging loosely, as it were, on the skirts of the land, and ever ready, on very slight inducement, to leave the country at a moments notice. By the immensely increased field proposed to be opened up, such, people, instead of carrying away much valuable capital, skill, and colonial experience, would be effectively and, at the same time, willingly bound to remain in the country. By this means an immigration scheme would be rendered totally unnecessary — people would speedily find out that in New .Zealand there was a wide field opened up for successful colonisation, and in this way would be secured the most useful of all colonists, men of intelligence, energy, enterprise, and capital. The fact of the greater portion of the bonds being held by residents in the colouy would be a great source of union and strength ; and there is every probability that, on account of the lively interest which would be taken in the economical construction and management of the works, they would become remunerative at a very early period. The progress made year by year would speedily increase the number of bond holders, whose loyalty it would secure, and tend to give stability to our institutions in a much more beneficial and satisfactory manner than the national debt of Great Britain, which is popularly supposed to be retained at its present limit in order to save that purpose. The circumstance of our showing so much self-reliance and spirited enterprise would go a great way to remove the bad impression that would doubtless be caused at home on the announcement of the Colonial Treasurer's financial proposals, and would enable us to meet with capitalists should it ever become necessary for the advancement of the works on a much more independant footing. The imich lauded self-reliant policy has hitherto been applied to dealing with the native difficulty alone (in wliich, by-the-way, we could well have dispensed with) while its very essence lies in its application to the new railway scheme. As a proof of the manner in which my proposals would be received on being made public, I may mention that several gentlemen, to whom they have been submitted privately, unanimously intimated their intention to subscribe. — I am, &c, Viator.