TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1891, 19 August 1884, Page 3

TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

The Question of Management. A special meeting of the Piako County Council, was held at Cambridge on Friday evening last, for the purpose of considering the situation in reg.ud to the tramway .'and the management of that conoern. Crs. W. L. * C. Williams, (Chairman), J. C. Firth, \V. T. Firth. Chepmell, and Gould were present. The resignations of Mr Firth as chairman of the Tramway Committee and Mr Adams as manager of the tramway were laid before the meeting. Cr. Chepmell pioposed that the resignations be accepted. Cr. Gould seconded, and the proposition was put and carried. Cr. Firth said, that until the council succeeded in making other arrangements for the working and management of tho tramway he would continue to do his best in the interests of the council and all concerned. He would continue to do the best he could to further the interests of all parties. The interests in the tramway were of a veiy complex nature, and very important, and it would uot do to tiifle with them. The Chairman said, with refeience to the general management of the tramway,* he had asked the legal managers of t.ie various mines using the tramway to draw up a report on the tramway as far as their experience permitted. The following report had been sent in :—: — Waiorongomai, August 8, 1884. To the Chairman Piako County Council. Sir, — Incompliance with request of the legal manage] s cf our respective companies, we beg to forward you the following report re management of Te Aroha tramway: — Ist. We consider that tho position of manager of the Te Aroha tramway, fiom the date of opening until now has been a trying and difficult one for anybody to occupy, for many reasons :—lst.: — Ist. On account of the peculiar natuie of the conntiv, the line is peculiarly subject to slips and damage caused by rains — damage which has often cost a huge «urn of money to repair. 2nd. From the fact that only a Jew of the mines on the lull aie as yet " rr anything well opened up, the supply of quartz has often been \eiy slioit of what it otherwise might have been. Had a constant and regular supply "f qu.xitz been forthcoming at all time-, the lino no doubt might have been somewhat moie cheaply worked than it has been. But for this we do not consider that Mr Adams has been m any way to blame. 3id. Coinpansuns have sometimes boon made to the woikmg of the Th.une-. ti.unw.iy>. compaied to the Te Aroha tramway. We think that, considering the length" of the Te Aioha ti.uuway and the height of the self acting grades, the Te Aioha. tiamway-. have been, and aie being now woiked quite as cheaply and as efficiently as weio those on the Thames. 4th. We aie individually and collectively of opinion that the past management of the Te Aioha tiamway lias been quite as good and as economical as it has been possible to make it under the difficulties that have had to be contended against, and are also of opinion that gieat credit is due to Mr Adams foi the manner in which he has conducted the man igement. At all times has tlr gieatest cue been paid so astoensine the strictest economy in the woiking of the line. otli. We are of opinion that had tlieie been another battery of equal number of stampers to the piesenfc one, and a piopoitionate amount of quart/, been lequned and forthcoming, that not only could the cost of transit have been been reduced fiom 1- (>d, but that also a surplus above woiknig e\penses would have been demed eveiy month. — Wo have, etc., Hl'ttii McLivru, Manager New Find Mine; Thomas (4\mv, Manager Colonist Company; John Bi \\i:y, Manager Canadian Company ; Javf-. R. S. Wilson, Mine Manager EmekaU.M. Company. Cr. Firth thought the whole alfair was a vefy grave mistake, and tire council would Ha\e cause to retrret the step they had taken. The line at present was in excellent order, and was being woiked, and had been worked all along as eoono mically as it was possible to work it. By the step they had taken they had thrown disci edit upon their own pto pert)'. It was needless for him to tell them that upon the success of the tram way depended the success of the mines, and tlieieby not only the success of the field, but of the entie county The interests of the entire county were wrapped up to a great e\tent with the inteiests ot the field. The prosperity of the field depended on the economical and wife woiking of the tiamway, and if anything ■went wrong with it a nnsfoituue will have occurred, from the influence of which this particular distnct, which ultimately would look to the gieat mining centre of Te Aroha as a maiket foi all its agricnl tural and pastoral produce, will not relieve itself so easily as such misfor tune might have been avoided. To him, who had more oppoitunities of knowing the difficulties of this question, the whole. thing presented itself m a very seiious light. If they were to have a few days rain, and any neglect to occur, the council might be involved in the expenditure of several hundred pounds. If the w ork fell into incompetent hands, and there was every possibility that it would, the whole aflair might be involved in prac-^ tical ruin. The question of constructing a road up the hill immediately below the line of tramway had been brought for ward at the last meeting of the council, and certain concessions made ; whereas, it had since tianspired that the proposed road would cut directly into the spur, where the previous slip had occurred, and which had caused the council a loss of thousands of pounds. Had the woik referred to been allowed to be cairied out it was quite difficult to ptedict what the consequences might have been. Indeed, it might have brought the whole affair to a total wreck, and the mines and e\ erything connected with the tramway would have been sacrificed. He felt it his duty in the position he held in the this matter to guard the interests of all concerned, and who were largely interested in the success of the field. He defied any person to come forward and say that to any material extent the management of the tramway could be improved upon. He then referred to the report supplied by the mine managcis using the tramway. Of course there would always be these complaints about management, &c. ; they were inevitable under any condition, and would continue to be made, whatever changes or modifications they might make. When the idea of constructing the tram way ■ . was first conceived it was at once declared impracticable, it could never be carried out, it was a mere fad and what not. But it was constructed, nevertheless ; though in the face of almost insuperable difficulties, and then the cry was raised that it could never be worked. And then when it was shown that it conld be f Successfully and advantageously worked \ faults must necessarily be found with the management. He would refer them to the reports of Mr Gordon, the Government engineer. This gentleman had reported twice, and very favourably indeed, and his reports had been laid before Parliament. The only suggestion which Mr Gordon had to make was to the effect that a culvert was wanting on Butler's Spur ; and he had also reported that the locomotive was unnecessary. In every other respect his remarks were very commendatory. It was on the reports of this gentleman that the council obtained the money grant from . Government. Considering the formation of ' the country, and the difficulties generally with which they had had to contend in this vast undertaking Mr Gordon had been surprised at the very efficient way in which the whole had \ been carried out. He would ask the i council to look at this matter in a very | serious light ; the whole question was one ' requiring the greatest possible care and attention. To put the tramway into the '«' hands o%, irresponsible men, as was proposed, was a very serious matter. If '< anything went wrong it would be the ■ council and not the lessee who would be j -' r§iponsible. The couueil were directly Ii responsible to the thousands of people : '" Who; have shares in the various mines, y^tO t6e people who had "their money and y invested there, and, moreover, £U v tbfihe -ratepayers of the Piako county, Pl'«hbse'';trast they. held. Notwithstand3si||* -^that -be 4 had resigned his position, If piSF would , conjimw to give UJJ? best

energies, and such ability as he possessed to the making of this vast undertaking, of which the tramway was but a blanch, as great a success as it was possible to make it. It was very necessary for them at this stage to consider what they weic doing. If they once made a mistake of putting the wrong man in, it would be a very difficult matter to retrace their steps. If any calamity happened, such as the shitting of the tunnel, the council would find itself in a very awkward position. It certainly would not be able to get any more money or advances. He had all along been op posed to the letting of the tiamway, because he felt that the whole woik was of so new a character, and had been pro nounced against by so many engineers, that it would never do to risk giving it into the hands of a person whose only interest could be to make as much out of it as he possibly could, ignoring any necessary lepair which might present itself. O. Cliepmell here reminded O. Firth that at the outset, while the Uainway was being constructed he (Mr Fnth) had brought forwaid a proposal of the kind lefened to — that the tram wey should be leased. Cr. Firth pioceeded. As to the remark of Cr. Cliepmell, lie would explain that lust at that ti'iic two things occiuied winch caused him to alter his opinion. One was the givinsj way of the both cuds of the tunnel, which thus threatened to give use to d veiy serious difficulty. A'jain it turned out that they had legally no power to lease the tramway, and they also discovered that the council had no title. Since then, however, the council had obtained a title to the piopcity, and every thing was now collect and light, and so it was foi them that evening to consider and discuss the question of how they were going to arrange mattuis in the best intuiests of the county. Pie looked upon the tramway as simply a means to an end. He did not considei that the rates chaiged were too high for all. He compared tho tiamway lates to those charged on the Thames ti am ways and the Auckland Onehunga branch line. There were over tluee miles of tiamway at Te Aroha, for which the freight was £3 Is a ton, whereas the freight from Auckland to Onehunga was £6 6s a ton, or a little moie than double Ayain the line to Onehunga was thioitgh a flat countiy, wheieas, the tiamway was tlnough the most difficult countiy conceivable. (Cr Cliepmell drew attention to thedifleicnceinthctianiway and a i ail way in icspect to the matter of paying.) He would instance the case of one of the tramways at the Thames which had been leased in this way, and which in the coiuse of a comparatively slioit time had become a complete wicek thiough pure mismanagement. He then refened at cons'duialile length to the satisfactory chaiaoter of Mi Adams' mai agomont, and spoke in high terms of the ability and integuty displayed by th.it gentleman, whose services they had had foi the small consideration of £30 a-year. Cr. Cliepmell lcfenolto the general dissatisfactions hicli ptcvailcd lespcctuig the tramway management. It was a hard tiling to get at the truth. He had tried to find out as much as he could, and lie thought it was only their duty \v hen they found so much dissitistactiou to got some competent peison to lopoit on the matter and find and what was ically wrong. In moving in this diiection he could not see where they had damaged their own property or injuied its values as had been alleged. These complaints had to be set at lest, whether they weie tine or false, and he believed that the only means to this end was the employment of a competent person to report on the matter. It would show that they were anxious to woik the tramway in the best m inner possible Mr Goulon's previous repoit had been made on the construction ot the tiamway and not on the woilung He would piopose that Mr Cookson be appointed tempoiaiy manager of the tramway, the whole to bo under the supervision of Mr Pavitt, civil engineer. Cr. Gould seconded the pioposition. He e\plained his object in suppoiting the proposition. People had come to them asking about the conectnes& or otherwise of these complaints, and they weic unable to give any iniuimatiou. The repoit which they moved for would inswer all purposes, and they would thus get to know how the matter leally stood. His object was to sec if they could not possibly cany quait/, at less than 4s (id a tiuek. The lepoit which they had moved for would not only set all complaints at lest, but might, in all probability, be highly favouiable to the present management. Personally, he was as ignorant as an owl of the whole matter. Cr. Filth invited Cr. Could to put his finger upon any point ol the management wbjch was wrong. Cr. Gould teplied that that he could not do. His object was to get a proper and competent person to lepoit and show them where the wiong points were. Cr. Futh remarked, that in the constiuction of the tramway, Mr Adams had effected a saving to the council of full £2000. Hefeltceitaiu that if Crs. Gould and Cliepmell knew all about the matter, they would be the last to throw a stone at Mr Adams. The charges that had been made appeared to his mind to be merely what the man in the stiect had said, and was saying, and beyond this there was nothing to go upon. The Cliaiimau did not think they could possibly got a sufficiently competent man to look after the tramway for less than about £300 a year. Cr. Gould, leferring to Mr Gordon's report, said that he heard that Mr Gordon had stated that the tramway ought to have been constructed for £13,000. Cr. Firth said that Mr Gordon's estiwas between £14,000 and £15,000, The tramway had been constructed for £15,000, irrespective of £3000 which the great slip had cost them. Respecting Cr. Chepmell's pi oposition, Cr. Firth said he would oppose it in the interests, not only of the council, but of the people of the entire county, and those whose interest on the field was at stake. He did not think it would be right on the part of the council, having got rid of a perfectly competent man at a small remuneration, to stultify itself by taking such a course as that suggested in the proposition, for no other reason than what the man in the street had said. They had got the evidence of the mine managers, and he attached a great deal more to their opinon than to that of the irrepressible man in the street. The proposition was then put with the following result :— For : Crs. Chepmell and Gould. Against : Crs. Williams, J. C. Firth and W. T. Firth. It was therefore declared lost. Proposed Leasing of Tramway. Cr. Firth, in accordance with the chairman's instructions, asking him when in Auckland to make the necessary enquiries iv this matter, said he had looked into the subject. He had sought the necessary information so that the council might know what it was doing, and that it might get a revenue upon which it could depend as one of the steps necessary to meet their financial liabilities. He had consulted with various financial and legal authorities in town. They had reduced the number of their creditors to five. Of these five the lowest amount was £50, and the highest amouut was that due Messrs Price Bros., of the Thames— viz. : £2000. The most feasible plan for the council to pursue in this matter was to obtain the authority in the recognised manner to raise a loan, say to the extent of £8000. Should they succeed in obtaining a share of the usual grant to goldfields, say £3000, the amount would then be reduced by that sum. They should then have only to issue debentures to the extent of £5000, and these could not be issued at a lower rale than 7 per -cent. They would issue thpm . in New Zealand, The first question was ': What vya's' their revenue ? Ttoj wvQiau^t rprpsentj fl§ftV',

, —^ — -^ a_ ing out licenses, miners' rights,*&c vto be expended about the goldfield) derivable fiom gold duty was about £75 a month. They were getting somewhere about 1000 ounces a month at Is 6d an ounce. The other source of revenue was that if the council &aw fit to lease the tramway and get the re\ enue out of that also, that then these two sources would be the revenue out of which the interest would be paid. The debentures might be issued for ten years, with a right to be paid off sooner if their revenue warranted. If the revenue doubled, and it was very likely that it would, the loan could be cleared off in five years. \\ ith this security the debentures would probably be bought at par. He had been asked by the chairman if he would give the council the benefit of his experience in di awing out a few regulations about securing all this revenue, and about the proper working of the tramway without council being ti on bled with the difficult question now being attended to. He had endeavoured to piovido for the hitches that would occui in the best manner possible. As to the question of their right to lease he had the legal opinion that the council might lea&o the tramway, the lessee taking all lisks. The value ot the tramway could only be decided by public auction, the council to have only one bid. Ceitain provisions rt'ould have to be made in the lease, which the lessee would have to subscribe to One of these would be th.it the council by their engineer should have the ngnt to inspect at all times the line and the working gear, and that if in the opinion of the engineer the lessee was neglecting to provide tor the safety of tho ti a m way, that the council would instinct the lessee that certain repairs woie necessary, and requesting him to do them, and if the lessee object that piovision might be made to the cflect that the lesfaic shoi'ld appoint an arbitrator, and the council another, and that these t\\u nibitratois should appoint a third, and that these icpans should be submitted to them, and a majouty of two should decide, and tho council and the lessee should abide by this. Anotner condition would be that tho lessee is absolutely icsponsible for all repairs and expenses. Additional securities might also be taken in tho lease. If the les&ec wished to make some altPiations b> way of lessening the oust of \\ 01 Ling the line, he might beat libeity to rlo so at his own expense. In lespect to tmcLs the lessee might make as many as he thought necessary to meet the requirements ol the traffic, the council to take the same at a valuation at the end of his lease. He also detailed other conditions of a minor character. The proceedings in lespect to leasing the tiamway at this stage took a conversational turn, when it was finally decided that the matter should stand over to the next ordinary meeting to be disposed of. Tramwvy Rails. — A communication was received trom Mr J B. Whytc to the effect tint he had had great difhculty in getting the Government to consent to gi> c the council five years to ictuui the nils honored foi use on the tiamway. — TheCloik remarked that the condition upon which the tails were received was that they weio cither to be returned oi paid for in October.— (V. Filth said that when the wills were at fiist received tho council undci stood that they were to be criven to them, as they had been thrown aside by the 'Joveinment as useless for railway purposes. When they applied for a huther instalment, it was then that the Government made the condition that they should either be letuined or paid for in October. Gew'T fok Gold fields. — In view of the council being about to make application to the Government for the usual subsidy of £2 for eveiy £1 spent on roads or tiacks on goldfields, Ci. Firth remarked that in the present state of parties it could not be expected that anything could be done, but as soon as matters weie put in shipshape at Wellington, they could write to Mr Whyte recommending him to support the application.