ARRIVAL OF THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS AT HAMILTON.

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1218, 20 April 1880, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS AT HAMILTON.

The Hon. Mr Oliver, the Minister for Public Works, arrived by special train at Hamilton between 2 ami 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. He was accompanied by Mr Blackett, C.E., and was met tit the Hamilton station by the members for Waikato and Waipa (Messrs Whyte and Whitaker).

The Hamilton Bridge. Shortly aftpi arrival a deputation from the Hamilton Borough Council was introduced by Mr F. A. Whitaker, consisting of the Mayor ami Cr. Vialou, the object being to obtain a promise from the Govtrnment that the £133 stopped by Mr Stewart for deductions on account of the bridge construction should be paid over to the Couucil. Cr. Vialou explained to the Minister for Works tit at when it was ascertained that there would be certain liabilities for bridge construction beyond the contract price, the Council applied to the Government to grant the amount necessary to meet these extras. The Government ultimately agreed to pay half the extra cost. When the land spans were altered from earthworks to woodwork a considerable sum was saved in the bridge construction, and Mr Stewart claimed for the Government that, as the latter had agreed to pay half the cost of the extras, it should share in half the money saved by the deductions. The Hon. Mr Oliver expressed his willingness that, as this was money saved merely by the substitution of one kind of work for another, the sum asked for should be paid to the bridge special fund account. The deputation thanked the Minister and withdrew.

Cambridge Branch Railway. A considerable time elapsed before the next deputation arrived. Most of those upon it were engaged at the pleuropneumonia meeting at Cambridge, and it was past 5 o'clock when the deputation, • consisting of Messrs P. Leslie, dimming, W. A. Graham, Wells, Fergusson, and Capt. Steele (Chairman Waikato County Council), was introduced by Mr J. B. Whyte. Mr Blackett, C.E., and Mr \V. C. Breakell, C.E., were also in attendance. Mr Whyte said that, as the Minister for Public Works was aware, he had often brought this matter under his notice at Wellington, and urged upon the Government the desirability of constructing a branch railway to Cambridge. It would, therefore, be well if on this occasion he left others who were present to speak to the matter. He would simply refer to the fact that the people of Cambridge and the district had shown themselves in earnest in the matter, having expended a sum of £400 of their own private money in the survey of two lines of railway. In either case there was no engineering difficulty, owners were prepared to give the necessary land free of cost, and he did not believe the cost of construction would be over £2000 per mile. Capt Steele said he did not profess to know much about railway construction but he knew that a great need of railway communication for the Cambridge district existed, and that there was every probability that the line would, -when constructed, be a good paying one. The people had shown a thorough earnestness I about the matter, and had at their own private cost prepared a large amount of valuable data for the Government to act upon. What they now desired was, that the Government should send an impartial and competent Engineer and take which of the two lines surveyed was the most advantageous for the public good. They were all united on this matter. They wanted a railway and whether one line or the other was taken they did not care so long as a railway Was made. There was no need for him to go into particulars, but if any line in the North Island would pay this one should. It would open up a splendid country and tap the best producing district in the North Island. The two Engineers who had laid off either line would show that the whole cost of construction would be under £30,000. One line was 11^- miles ; the other 13 f miles in length. As to the question of the route the settles were unanimously agreed to leave that matter to the judgment of the Government Engineers. Mr Whyte 6aid the country was an easy one in either case, and he was quite satisfied fie coot would not exceed £2,000 per mile. The Hoa Mr Oliver stid he had understood that tho inhabitants of tho district were in favour of undertaking the work uuder " The District Railway Act," and asked whether that idea had been abandoned. dipt, Steele replied that it had ; tbat they found they oouid not raise the money, and they therefore novr relied upon the Government to take tho mattor in hand. Mr Whyte said the traffic which the proposed line would command would not be for the supply of the town of Cambridge alono but tho country for miles around and beyond would be a large feeder to tho main line through it. Mr Wells said that which he mainly wished to do was to point out that according to the policy laid down by the pres°nt Government for their rule in railway construction, that they would undertake no now railway but one which was likely to pay and open up a large extent of country, this lino had a fair cl lim upon their consideration. It was not a mere branch line as it had been miscalled but would be tbe commencement of the continuance of the main trunk lino running through the country— the connecting link between Auckland and Wellington. As regards its paying character he spoke authoritatively for he had been long in Waikato and had for a number of ye irs been connected with transport matters and was thoroughly familiar with the particular? of the carrying trade of the Cambridge district a district extending over sixty miles of country and which consumed two fifths of the entire quantity of goods imported into Waikato. What he would j point out to the Government was that they not only lost the carrying trade over tho proposed line of railway, but from as far down the main line as Ngaruawahia where the goods were transhipped into the steamers which took them on to Cambridge. Thus, if they constructed the ling asked for, they would secure for 11 mile 3 of railway the freight of 33 miles for two-fifths of the whole carrying traffic of Waikato. He himself paid no less than £150 a year in freight, a large portion of which went to the Steam Company. It was so with others, but if there was a railway the cost of the through traffic would be less, and the Government could depend on their using the railway, for they would save money by doing so. If any line would pay this proposed one must do, because it would have to be oreditod with not only its own traffic but the double tvafHo between Ngaruawahia and the point wheye it juuqtioned with the main line, now lost tg the railway. It would, too, secure for itself the traffic of a very large extent of country beyond Cambridge, where were the properties of the Messrs McLean a.nd Co., and the magnificent lands of the Patatere district extending some 30 miles further on, and even the traffic of the lands which would be thrown open by the construction of the Rotorua-road. Another and a most important consideration was that this socalled branch, Jjue. whjch they asfced, fop

was really the continuation of the main trunk line of the North Island. He had been given to understand that the Government, were in possession of , foots, ascertained so far back as the time of the late Sir Donald McLean, that thdt visionary scheme — the Waikato-Taranaki line— was from the existence of native difficulty, and the physical formation of the country a matter of impossibility. The line must go to the eastward of the mountain ranees, in fact by Taupo, and the point of departure at the Waikato end of the Auckland- Waikato line must be Cambridge. As a local matter they had all felt the necessity of being put in connection with the existing line of railway, and sooner than be left off the line of traffic the people of the Cambridge district had subscribed fully £400 and employed two thoroughly competent engineers — the one to lay off one line of route, the other another line of route, so that they could be in a position to lose no time but to go to the Government, as on the present occasion, and place before it the necessary data, to enable Ministers to give a ready answer to their request. Those data went to show that a sum of £30,000 would cover the entire cost of the line, that there were no engineering difficulties whatever to overcome. He thought, therefore, they might look for answer at once from the Government. He was aware that the Government would have to obtain the sanction of the House to a vote for the necessary expenditure before they commenced the work of constructing the railway, but it was within their province, though not able to make the line, to order a survey to be at once made, and if satisfied with the plans and estimates thus obtained to recommend the undertaking to the favorable notice of Parliament in the coming session. Mr Whyte drew attention to the fact that the surveys made were not merely flying surveys, but the quantities had been taken out, the material considered to the minutest detail, in fact working plans had been prepared. Mr Blackett had been, in fact, already in possession of the plans of one line of route for some time past. Mr K. H. D. Fergusson quoted statistics, prepared by Mr C, J. Ashwell, of Cambridge, to show that the freight of goods from Hamilton to Cambridge amounted to £1,821 4s annually, and from Cambridge down, to a sum of £836 ss, or a total of £0,G37 9s per annum. Reduced to railway rates, the cost of freight would be £2, 720 Ss 2d perannnm, a vast saving to the importer.-} of the Cambridge district, and sill a largo percentage on the cost of the proposed line. The cost of working the line had also been estimated at £2,800 per annum, which would leave a profit of £400 Jf, however, the traffic doubled, as there was little doubt it would do if a railway were constructed, then the balance of profit over working expenses, instead of being between £400 and £'>00 per annum, would probably exceed £3000 per aunum. The cost of construction of the line, rolling stock and all would be covered by the sum of £30,000, indeed the chief item of expense would be that for rails and sleepers, The Hon. Mr Oliver observed that he could corroborate all that Mr Whyte had said with respeot to discussing with him at Welliugton this matter in detail, and that he had on several occasions urged upon the Government the need there was of undertaking this work, but Government ha 4 not then got to complete a repoit of the matter as was now placed before them. They were also under the impression that the inhabitants were anxious to cany out the work under the powers of ' ' The District Railways Act" and consented, though they had intended to have repealed that Act on account of its many imperfections, to refrain from doing 1 so, for one session at least, to enable the people of Cambridge to carry out their intention. The Act, however, which was imperfect in many particulars, and especially that uuder it, companies were unable to rai-e money on their debentures, would be repealed next session, and a measure that could be more satisfactorily wo ked would be intr>)duced to replace it. If the Governm nt therefore found itself to be in a position that it could not undertake to construct the line, they would themselves be able to make it under the amended Act. He did not pay that the Government would not make the line. They must be, doubtless all aware that in the last session the House of Assembly had agreed to .appoint a Royal Commission to take iuto consideration the character of the several lines f railway in both i 1 inds, including those already constructed, those partly constru --ted, aud those propose I to be constructed. The Commission was now engaged upon its work, and was fast working its way norfchw.ird. He trusted they would be able to send an interim report of their proceedings during the next session and Ministers an I the House would be miinly gui led by this report. The House had issued this Commission because the funds available for public Works during the next three years were comparatively very limited. The Five Million Loan was alreaty hypothc q ited to a considerable exteut before t'.ie present Government came into office, and in order to raise it the Colony had been obliged to pledge itself not to go into the j money market for three years. Thej' had, therefore, for, say two and a-hah years to come, only the balauco of the five millions to go upon. Whether the Royal Commission referred to recommended this line would greatly depend on their inspection, and the interview which the members of the present deputation might have with them. The Commission rather than himself was the party they had to appeal to, and to convince of the desirability of constructing the line. He had, however, received so many assurances of the excellence of the country, the richness of the land, its extent and latent resources, that he had no doubt the Cambridge line would be one of those which the Commission would recommend the Government to undertake. He could not give a promise now because that would be to take the matter out of the hands of the Commission in which the House had placed it, and to show favoritism to a particular district. The Government had even in some cases refused to accept tenders which had been called for before the appointment of the Commission until its report had been received, with the intention of making the balance of the loan go as far as possible. One rule the Government had laid down, and they must abide by it : they would undertake the construction of no lines but such as it might fairly be estimated would pay working expenses and the interest on the cost of construction. Few lines in the Colony would indeed do this. He had great hope, however, that they would be able to make some of those lines do this which at present fail to do so, and if the Government succeeded iv effecting this it would give a great stimulus to railway construction generally. The great difficulty was that so many unprofitable railway lines had been constructed — many, no doubt, not paying Because disconnected and unfinished. If these could be made to pay, instead of Ijeins a burden on the Colony, the work of railway construction would be more popular w-itli tlje Ifonse, Frgin what He heard with reference to. t;he proposed Qambridge line he was largely' pre? pos^gssQif iv its favoi*. He intended to took at the country for himself, and no doubt that favorable impression would be strengthened. The Government would be only too ready to adopt any favorablt report of the Royal Commissioners, and it was Iqv the. people of. the district to

represent to them their wants in this matter. He himself had been much interested in what he had heard from the deputation. Mr Wells asked if there was any possibility of there being any mishap through the Commission overlooking their case. Mr Oliver said the matter would be specially recommended to their attention for enquiry and investigation. Mr Weils said that the saving of time was the great object, as while time was slipping away, so was the chance of getting the money going also. Mr Oliver said he could only repeat what he had already Baid. The Government could only enter upon the matter in a business-like way, ana undertake such lines only as would commend themselves to business men expending their own capital. He would say again that he felt himself favourable to their case, and was quite prepared to hear from the Royal Commission that the plans and estimates were coiTect and the district to be opened up worthy of the expenditure. The Government had not proposed a single line to the House but had coufined their operations to carrying a number of completed lines a little farther, and this only on the special recommendation of the Engineers that it would make such lines pay. The matter of the Cambridge line must be left to the Commission neither the people of Cambridge nor the Government could do more till then. Mr Wells asked if the Minister for Works would instruct the Engineer-in-Chief for the North Island to draw up a report on the bas>h of the plans and specifications of the two line 3 of route, prepared by Messrs Breakell and Gwynneth, for the guidance of the Royal Commission. Mr Oliver said that he could do so if they would furnish Mr Blackett with the plans &o. The deputation then thanked the Minister for his cautious and satisfactory reception of them and withdrew.

Hamilton Whatawhata-Road. Mr S. Steele, the Chairman of the Hamilton Highway District was then introduced by Mr F. A. Whitaker »nd explained that he was deputed by the Board to represent the expenditure of £200 out of the £60 ) voted for the above road in gravelling that portion of the road commencing at the Hamilton Kail way Station was inadvisable inasmuch aa that part of the road was fairly practicable while further on the rot-d was impassable altogether. Mr Oliver said he had received the telegram of the Board as»lring him not to accept tenders but unfortunately five days after the tenders had beon accepted. It was oxplamed that the contract had since been thrown up by the successful tenderers. Mr Oliver said this altered the case, and left the matter open for his consideration. Mr Steele then explained th.it the road proposed to be gravelled was at present quite equal to the traffic, that it led up to holid ground, but that from Bridge to McCutcheon's Hill, a distance of about three miles, there was a large, and at one time a deep swamp that needed to be drained to render the road available, and^ the whole of the money would be required for this work, l/c would recommend that the draining of the swamp bo commenced at the Whatawhata end, where the outlet wa", the earth from the drains being used for formation. Mr Oliver agreed that the vote should be expended as asked for by Mr Steele, and the matter was handed over to Mr Blackett, who was present,, for his consideration and attention. This concluded the business.