PUBLIC MEETING AT KAIAPOI.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1590, 11 December 1867, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING AT KAIAPOI.

A public meeting to consider the question of . carrying out the internal communication of the Northern districts. took place at Kaiapoi on Monday evening, -and although the meeting did not commence > till ;ah' hour after the the time named there wbb even a greater attendance than on the: previbus occasion. On the platform there ■• ware-six members of the Provinbiat-fCouncil,-besides many other gentlemen of influenoe. - Mr J. Ej -'■■Biovin -explained that,.as. the chairman of the last meeting, he had taken on himself to invite the members of .the different districts to be present at this meeting,tin. accordance with a wish then expressed,., During theafternopn of that day they had met, and came to the decision to advocate for the Northern railway as best carrying out, the objects of the meeting. He-.then...proposed, and the Hon. G. Leslie Lee seconded, that Mr J. 0. Porter take the chair., ' . The Chairman .said.. there was-little ; for him to say when so many MP.C.'s were present, and he should call on each to address the audience, after_whioh .certain resolutions would be brought forward., Mr; Wylde, the member for Kaiapoi, would first address them."" Mr Wylde said he had not come expecting to open tljie meeting, though, as the oldest member in the' Provincial Council, he might have some claim to that privilege. The reason he was "absent from the former meeting waV« because he was not informed that it was to be -held till he had made certain arrangements to attend another meeting. 7 Heowas,.proud to attend at such a meeting as the -present. Representatives as a rule never liked to give pledges, though before ■■ being returned they joften had--to--do so.- And on the question 'before them, which had been his study forsome itime, he was prepared to pledge his support. Xhey all knew how important a matter it wbb [to get their produce to market as expeditiously 'as possible. On the means to be used there might, be some difference q£ opinion; would be-.sorry... to .lose tbe, benefits of the river, while others'might ( .'be r .'doubtif ul : whether . '. the river, road tramway; or ! railway was best. He thought the best .means of meeting the difficulty was by a railway, and in■' Ms seat; in the Provincial j Council he. had always fought for the carrying jout of the railway to the North. [Cheers.] It was a mode of .communication which every country "was advocating and adopting for ! carrying on its traffic, and they ought cbrjtainly not to be behind. [Hear, hear.] With .reference to the tramway "scheme: brobghfc before the last ; meeting,' he thought that it was more suitable to the backwoods of America. 'Though such tramways-might.be. suijfcabjy. used jas bye-ways to. the railway,; they were not fitted for the arteriaJLpjr grand trunk lines. The only difficulty, if any, ip. the.oarrying out of the line .was on the financial question. [A jvoice from; the.ha 11,,: "And 'thati is the difliculjty."];. From, the loan whioh Tsfas ibeing negotiafjed, tho, money for; the : iine would be set aside. .TJie people in the north were rather-quiet, and liad allowed the, i southern line to be carried out.first; and now. probably if they asked for a' line it might be, thrown in their teeljh f* look at the ill success i of the..south line," because certain j had been made. But a..railway ; nOrtb,..b.e "was sure would pay at: once on being~ { p'p§ned. j Lyttelton and Christohurch ,had got aUlheir. | money from the loan, and to Timaru had'beeu' allocated £30,000.' Of the £420,000 worth of debentures-to be sold £130,000 would'goto paying the loan to the Bank, Timaru would get £30,000, and for harbour and other works, I £60,000 or £70,000 would be required, thus leaving £200,000 to be expended. A railway to the Ashley ought to - be asked for, as it was but of little use only making the line to Kaiapoi ; and-''from- that less expensive branch lines might have j been f tnidertaken. Funds for the work were : available, and including the purchase of land, building of bridges, rolling-stock, stations, j &c, would not exceed, he thought, £5000 Ja j mile for-, a. distance of iwento-ane miles. In his place in the Provincial Council he should ji urge. ; the carrying ,out of the. undertaking to ) the utmost. fCheers.] " ~" "'

• —-'—« Mr M. Dixon, representative of the Mande* ville district, next addressed tho meeting. ]j 6 had been unavoidably absent from tho fip 3 fc meeting, but it was through no rv'-Vct cii hj part that ho was not present. The subject before the meeting—that of carrying o-ifc the railway—was ono of peculiar interest, arid which he should endeavour to see realized i He always contended that the loan ought |" i be for railway purposes, and he had only voted for certain sums being spent on the Soutl lino on the promise made by the the 1 Government—Mr John Hull and Co.—that th* i North lino would be curried out simultaneous? 9 and he could not see why it had not been , mado by this timo. The country generally t the north required to be opened out, and h° should not favour a line to Kaiapoi 'so much us to the Ashley, from which tramways or sidings could be made to the Kowai, Oxford i and Rangiora. These ought to bo carried out at the same time with tho railway to make th ■ railway pay. He admitted that a large portion i of provincial expenditure was not paving „ return, but this ought to be made to pay t? did not mean any exorbitant tariff, butguff i ciently high to keep the traffio on the lint"' , Enquiries had been made with reference to tramway to Oxford, and its cost. H 0 had an estimate of what it would cost, and ha did n * , see why Oxford timber could not bo brou'»l°h i to the different parts of the district to comnet with tho timber brought from the bays I . answer to a question put to Mr Dixon h* i said a tramway to Oxford could be made fo!» I about £6000. He had some figures from fit/ [ W. White on the matter, and it could bs i carried out perhaps even cheaper. [A ; I' Is the tramway, to Oxford to be like the on* to the Little River," cheers and laughter. "I S »' Mr C. Hillyard, representative of t v ß 1 Mandeville district, was next called on by th ; Chairman. He fully endorsed the sentiment 1 expressed by previous speakers, and was > satisfied that; a railway to the north ought tn > be carried out with their: share of the W Looking at the amount, of.traffic of both rw>' > sengers and goods bet ween Leithfield andCfcL' » ohurcb, and the tolls paid at the Waiffiahrf" • bridge.-amounting to £2000, or nearly to « I year, a railway would be sure to pay, iju ' line to the south had been a very ex. 1 pensive one, and carried over a barren f waste fit for nothing but a sheep run i while that to the north would go through a ! thickly inhabited agricultural and grain-grow. L ing district. A market, too, having recently • been opened out with England, in a few years ; three or four times the quantity of grain would 1 be requiring transmission to the vessels in > Port. He should assist all in his power to 1 forward the north line of railway. [Cheers.l ' ,' Mr J. E. Brown, representative of the 1 Rangiora district, next addressed tho meeting He thought a step was being jtaken in too > right direction, and Kai£»6i was Standing upon > her rights. [Hear, hear.] - Long ago £30,000 ■ had been placed on the estimates of the Proi iyineial Government for a railway, of which ! £4000 had been expended'on engineering &o : .'. ', Publio opinion, however,- at that time changed ' in ; another diection, and the North 1 railway was not carried out. Since-then ' the; same vote ..had been placed on " three different estimates, but last session hg f had voted that it should be left off the-dtk, » mates altogether, as tl;e putting of it fchoro Appeared a mockery, for" nothing was apeaf 1 exeppti for engineers' and, lawyers' feeo for 1 transfer of land. It was within tho power ol 1 ' the< Provincial' Council three years ago to carry i out the Northern railway, ,when £230,000 was 1 allocated" for the Southern railway, with 1 £150,000 for ;the Northern railway, and 6 atill larger sum had been expended, or rather sunk, in the Lyttelton harbour. [Hear, hear, and laughter.] He should .not be in favour of another shilling being spent in the Lyttelton harbour works under the auspices of the present Provincial Engineer, and he would even go i bo far to say he should object to the Northern > railway if it Was to be carried out und?r tho present Provincial Engineer, and'Jjnless under a - properly drawn up contract between iho contractors and -the .Government. For- tk9 purpose of carrying out public works thore would be something like £300,000, of which the railway north would require .Of £388,500 worth of debentures in and £21,000 worth in Christchurch on January I—in all £409,300 worth—£lso,ooo worth had been sold, realising £144,000; this, after deducting the overdraft at tho Bank of £80,000, would leave £64,000 to be added to the debentures unsold (but to be disposed of at par, amounting to £254,300), would leavs £323,300 to be expended on public works, and deducting £150,000 from, that amount for the north line of railway, £173,300 • would be available for bridges, &c. Ho believed if the rivers in the province had been bridged before the south line bf railway wqs entered into.jfcbe Government wpuld<j3avo ! been entitled to the gratitude of the~ people [hear, hear]; but now the north railway must becarried out first. Over one million had been derived, he believed, from the towards the waste lands revenue, and they Were surely entitled to a railway. In- his_ country. £5000. a mile would-be thought a great dpal lor a, railway, but it was different here where provincial engineers and others had to be paid; but he thought a line .might be "copstrMotecl; even, cheaper.. He did not agree with Tramiwayfs as feeders to the maitfline", Thediys ol provindiarinß.Hiut.ions weiedraWieg to a close, and if the country was to be gbvorned "by w many Road Boards it would be necessary iC they wanted a railway to have it at ones. Their own. 'individual interests he* thought ;would make the -tramwaya, and feeders to the main line. So far as. he could, he should assist ithe measure, for the opening out of the north jline was the only means by whioh the Lyttel' jton and Chriatohurch line : could be made to Ipay. A legislative enactment had ktelybeea passed providing: that all 'should be of one gauge, and when Nelson began her railways the trains might run right through.. , Mr Brown; in;answer to Mr o]ark,:eaid ithe proceeds of the loan would be about £300,000. In reply to the Rev. W. W. WUloofc Mr Wytee explained that the land fund had fpRPd the money for several public works, and he [calculated that £60,000 was due to that fyttoV I The Hpn.lG. Ll Leb, tfio rep'resentatJTO of. Ithe Oxford district, was upon to laddress the meeting. Hejexplained why ho iwas not present, at I'iheclast .meeting,, and-, thought that asa matte* of * courtesy the members ought to have been invited in proper form, as the "Only" itttiMatftnr hff had of-the* jmatter was through a local article in one of, !the newspapers, and the first njeetiijg had, he thought, been called in a very irregular manner. He could only repeat what others hadkaid on the- subject them..; It-was lhardly necessary, jusji. then to discuss tho partoflthe^queßton,!There, could, ;be no doubt of the requirements for a.'.rail-. jway with Kaiapoi and Christchurch. A igross and manifest :: injustice had "heon ■done. to the Northern ."district in,.,proeluding it from the benefits of a railway, and that the Governmenrhad not carried it into 'effect. He'trusted" Mr Wylde's estimate of ;the cost of a railway Was above'the mark; it 'was a! more expensive^estimate,: than he. has 'expeeted ■-•;- the-Gowwnmeat • estimated-the !cost of the r railway to the Ashley at £80,000. 'With land buying and everything they oughi to getfenrailway in his opinion for £100,600, and have sufficient, above that sum from Jhe amount to bo . expected for . tramways of jsidihgs. Tramways fo such places as Oxford woufd be very neoessary, and, that was a qaes« tion be should, strongly advocate. Some time jago', he noticed certain returns ot the produce of the North wero published, and in them be noticed one great error —that the districts wars divided north jand south of the Waiinakariri in« stead of north and south of Christchurch, for by ithat return he wras unable to ascertain how muchproduce woijld be,. likely, to be removed by railway. The paaaanger. traffic, on, the north would be'more thaii'any other line. 'As to implying, it would without a doubt be a good speculation in the hands .of a-mercantile Si*Jn.» and at the meeting of the Provincial Council in January, when ;the subject would come on for .discussion, he should give ijt every support. I Mr J. H. Moore, representative of tae j Ashley district," next addressed the meeting. He£ad'in fiis*" l addresstohfscohstituQnts, when their fiUo*rageai, ) stated''he V«s i Q fev°uE r he saw no reuse| "to alter" his opinion. He hofeeve^pf

t *^Ttnat s -fl*fck fi Buffioient wouW not be' fte'™**, D ut he. should.Jike_to see the* jsfs3*?*' cre a' with a network of railways. h> lands he thought-.might be sold to at present. SM said he had ho intention of f r -nff the meeting at length. All had been s&Hf 81 /r° our pf railways that could be said. Ten »atf, however, that it would not Ip 9£ , e - t Vad not been shown that it was $*%}*% nay. The " Lyttelton Times," he '*Wycb& had stated that the public meet-; ago had been clamouring for a ie|f a f" C Duldnot get (referring to the rail- : '$>?$ l -ge t for his part, at that meeting ex- ; * ■-'Shis'opinion without clamouring, and* to such terms being used, ; "1 *] The railway belonged to the £gta. an d j Q fljg Bame manner that a i£ purchased a trap, or buggy, or fine •%Sii2e and never expected to see it pay must the railway stand in the same vM?and whatever saves time and labour in &*.* reß P ecfc ?""* a railway w »s the ■ which a bushel of corn could be Sieved to Lyttelton cheaper than by any "iter means, it paid in that respect also. mieere 1 Tb e Government ought to look to ♦he interests of the farmers—[hear, hear.]— nd tba railway ought to be looked on as their Itf&V* As to its competing with other hicJes the inhabitants! of-the district could Mmcete with their railway against all comers. Sheers.] He bad great pleasure in fpgving ifce following--" That a petition be presented j~ Honour the Superintendent praying ; him to place a sufficient sum on the estimates j tthe next meeting of the Provincial Council i to form a railway from Christchurch to Salt- ; mter Creek, and that a petition be presented to the Provincial Councir praying it to vote the wme." [Loud cheers.] Mr J; Keetley seconded the resolution, ffbich was unanimously carried amid loud j ° Mr Clftrltj before moving the resolution he i isd charge of, asked whether tramways would - eoms in for a share of the money raised by the loan Aot, or whether it had been borrowed solely for the 1 railway and harbour jfr Wylde said that the money was borrowed to be expended in permanent works. Mr Clark continued —Members of the districts had spoken of swiftness and certainty, l»"'sDOuid be in favour of cheapness and certainty. The wheat, recently sent to England had cost 2b 2d per bushel for expenses to the ship's side, of which 6£d was for railway charges from Rolleston. If it tras to coat that sum from the Ashley to the ship's side the railway would te-osetess,f6r though they had a railway the river would Btill be able to compete—[A Toice —"And cut the railway out "]—and though certain delays had occurred at the Kaiapoi bar properly constructed vessels suitable to the river would he thought remedy that evil. If a tramway to Christchurch could take the grain at twopence per bushel, he should be in favour of it rather than a railway. He then moved — " That it is necessary that steps ghould be taken to ' bring as-much traffic as poisible to the railway, and that this meeting uof opinion that the best way fd" effect this object will be by a' system of inexpensive tramways." Mr Wylde would vote for the resolution, which he was in favour of,- and ! he ; thought' theJßoad Boards might carry out the trathwav. (In reply to' a question Mr Wylde said he Aid not know out of what fund the West Ooaßt road had been constructed. The loan was intended fox* permanent works, and that road, he thought, was one. Mr Dixon seconded the motion. MrW. H. Percival thought tha Government could'not find money sufficient for the railway. Their Superintendent had said at the time of the last election, "Elect mc, and- you. ehafl&ave a railway in twelve months j" but ha could not carry Oilt his promise for want of funds, or the railway would have been an established fact. The funds from the loan would not all be spent in the North; there were other districts in which portions would have to be doled out. Their Superintendent was not the man he once was—all-powerful— and the money would have to be expended as the jQoaacil saw fit. Mr Newnham made Borne inquiry about the elaborate figures given by Mr Brown in his speech, and that gentleman repeated them. The resolution was put • and carried, and after votes of thanks to the different members of the Council and the Chairman, the meeting "at ten p.m.