THE NELSON AND FOXHILL RAILWAY.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 906, 28 December 1871, Page 2

THE NELSON AND FOXHILL RAILWAY.

On the question of a railway or tramway from Nelson to Foxhill coming before the House of Representatives, the member for Buller regretted that he felt compelled to take up a position apart from, and, to a certain extent, in opposition to other members from Nelson Province. Taking the Foxhill Railway aa the initial part of the through line from Nelson to Cobden, he desired to say that it formed part of a scheme the most entirely quixotic that could well be imagined. They had most incontestible evidence to show that while the cost would be enormous—over a million—the result would be very unpromising. Itwas Bought to traverse the Province of Nelson with a line for the ostensible purpose of making the town of Nelson the trade centre of several districts, each of which had its own base of supply. Mr Blackett, in his evidence before a Committee of the Nelson Provincial Council, deposed that, were the railway made, it was not likely that such places as the Maruia and the Matakitaki would derive their supplies from Nelson, but rather from the Buller, because the distance from these places to Nelson would be about ninety miles, ascending a

great part of the way, while to Westport it would only be forty to fifty miles, with a descending gradient all the way. It was quite clear that if the railway were made, the bases of supply would remain as at present, the Grey Valley would still be supplied from Greyinouth, the Buller Valley from Westport, and Nelson settled districts from Nelson. As to the coal trade, the honorable member for Nelson (Mr Curtis) had endeavoured to make it appear that, if this line were made, coal would be brought from the Mount Itochfort seams to Nelson for shipment. A simple calculation would show how utterly fallacious that idea was. By computations made by engineers employed by the Nelson Government, it, was shown that, while coal could be delivered on board ship at the local ports of the Grey and the Buller for 7s to 8s per ton, it could not be brought to Nelson by rail and delivered there on board ship for less than 23s per ton. If the Nelson and Cobden Kailway line was made, he could not see where it aas to get any traffic excepting from the conveyance of a limited number of passengers, and something more resembling a parcel delivei'y thau goods traffic. Looking upon the Eoxhill line by itself, he had only to remark that it was a railway from the town of Nelson to the hill, where there was not even the semblance of a town, and it would run parallel to one of the best roads in the colony, where freight by dray was now taken at so low a rate that the railway traffic at the ordinary rate would be in excess of the present charge. The railway would open up no new conntry, aud would traverse an agricultural country with no agricultural land, —where the farmers had actually, at the present time, to import grain and breadstuffs. The principal products of the country through which this line would run were eggs, poultvy, and cheese; and a few ordinary spring carts were sufficient to collect these. One of the arguments of the other sine was, that the line would cheapen firewood in the town of Nelson at least 2s 6d per load, but he doubted even that. Every one must admit that the calculations of trafficmade by the honorable member for Nelson City (Mr Curtis) were utterly baseless. He referred to computations made from the supposed toil-bar returns. It would be seen at a glance that estimates of traffic on a railway twenty miles long, could not, with fairness, be grounded upon the receipts of a toll-bar at one end, and almost in the heart of a town such as Nelson. Besides, even that he found over-slated. He was informed by the woman who kept the bar that she was paying for it something over £6oo— of £9oo—and that she was losing money at that, which he quite believed. In the estimate furnished by Government, the very absence of all regular information regarding the ordinary traffic of this line, and the different form of computation adopted, showed, in fact that there was no regular traffic to be counted upon. If the honorable member for Nelson City could show any tangible reason why the line should be gone on with he would not object to it; but he felt bound to oppose what he held to be a useless expense to the country. He would urge upon the Government the necessity of making a thorough enquiry into the capabilities and prospects of the line, before the country was asked to pledge itself to the undertaking.