THE MIDLAND RAILWAY

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7863, 14 May 1891, Page 5

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY

The following memo, hae been forwarded by Mr Wileon to the Railway League is reply to Mr Seddon'e latest telegram s—

[msmo.) The Chairman the Railway League, Chrietchnrch,— Since the Railway League desire* the Company's viewn aa to the Minister's reply to their last telegram I shall answer each paragraph in order, quoting the Minister! words at the risk of length to eavo reference and gain clearness.

i Y ?H£ telegram to hand in regard to the Mid* land Hallway deviation. You at*te that the executive cannot see how tho Company can be compelled to p R y more than «2?00. See SfcUon i. Midland Railway Contracts Aot, iB6O. Therein It is enaoted that tbe «ov«nor must be satisfied that the Company has, by oontrapts, entered into an obtljjutimi with the eroy council to provldo not less than «S7OO to defray the oxponeo of widening the road, bridaes and culverts between Fonanul nod Lako Urunner. I wish yon to mark the words not lo<w than «27(X>," and the decided wording aa to U;o works—road, brldmee nod oulvere*. iurthor. that a ferry boat la io be maintained, tt «j «o Piy.betweoa the railway on the K*sb Mdc of tho lake and the road on tho went side. The Government is not satisfied that »uoh oofltraoU have been made, and the Grey Council has notified mc that tho bridge across the Hohonu rivor is to be emitted.

Tho accompanying copy of the agreement with tho Grey County Council wiU enable you to judge whether or not the Company has complied with the Act. Although the words of the Act are "not less than .£2700," you will see that it does uot provide for the road, bridges and culverts being of special width, and the cum of J62700 would be ample to make an Bft or 9ft road, which is ample for the traffic; but the Council with to have a road 12ft wide metalled. They omitted the widening or making the Hohonu bridge, deeming tho present bridge sufficient for any probable traffic. This was stated by their members at a public meeting at Greymouth, and the Company had no desire to interfere with tho w»j they wished the work to be carried out. Compliance with the Act was complete when both parties entered into the deed, which accords exactly with the Act. Th« Act, you will see, aoea not contain any words compelling the boat " to ply, &0.," &a the Minister says it does.

Mr Wileon promised to the Mayor of Kutn&rt and a depuration from Greenstone states that up to £5000 the* Company would contribuse. Ml Wilson does not deny thia, but oiaima that tho contract having been signed oy the Oounoll. tho Company is not further liable, forgetting that the law enacts that the Governor must w satisfied.

In answer to this I enclose copy of the agreement entered into by mc with the Mayor of Kumara, for which you will sec that condition was not complied with. I subsequently sent a telegram, copy of which is aleo enclosed, giving another opportunity for withdrawal of opposition. I received no reply to this, and the opposition has been continued to the present day. My objeot at the time in agreeing to give the £2700, and it will be eeen by tho agreement that no more was contemplated, was that it was then of the greatest importance to the Company to commence the work at once ; that is nine months ago, and had we been able to do so a large portion of the line towarda Jackson's would now have been made. The agreement was then to be a private arrangement, and was made to Bare delay and avoid referenoe to the Legislature as much as possible. I had not forgotten that the Act of 1890 provides that the Governor must be " satisfied," but by the Aot his Excellency has only "to be satisfied " that the making of the deviation "will render tho line more efficient for traffic purposes," and that the " obligation has been entered into with the Grey County to provide the sum previously mentioned, *c."

Farther reference toaeotlon 9 of the said Act enacts that it muse be shown to the satisfaction of ihe Governor that the making of the deviation will render the railway more efficient for traffic purposes. This has not been shown; but, on che contrary, the responsible engineering officers of the colony cay that the original line is tho most efficient for traffic purposes. To make tho doviatlon anything near the original lino certain grades require to be flattened. Even if this Iβ done, the deviation is one and threo-quarter miles longor than i the original line, with the gain entirely on the aide of the Company. Fair compliance with the conditions is absolute.

The information supplied to the Governor by the Company shows that notwithstanding the increased length there would be a heavy saving in the train mileage, and therefore in coat of working by the adoption of the deviation.

The money computation of the value of a train mile may be variously estimated by engineers, but in my opinion the deviation must produce a considerably greater saving than £500 a year. That the engineering officers of the colony state that the original line is the most efficient for traffic purposes I cannot believe* the reports c by the Government officers which I have seen being of exactly the opposite effect, and I challenge the Minister to publish in extenso the ofhcial reports and calculations on the subject, and especially those of Mr O. Y. O'Connor, which he h'ae lately quoted in public as being adverse.

Again, the Executive Committee says tlto Government cannot compel the Company to let the work by public tender. It Iβ quite true* The Company clultns the right to make private bargains with any contractors it thinks fit, and I have been credibly Informed that arrangements have been bo made. This coarse, it m*y be fairly assumed, will increase the oost of the work. The colony will have to give mote land, and if the railway is taken over It wfll cost the oolodt so much more, the baeie tas fixing tho amount payable bolng the cost of construction. It was, at the time the contract was made, understood that the work Waß to be done by tender ii» iho open market,

I am glad to see that at length the Mini* ter admits that the Company is fight In maintaining that the contracts can be let privately or otherwise. No private contracts have, however, been let by the Company, except the first, which was let in London, and I personally informed th« Minister, in presence of the Under Secretary, when in Wellington some three weeks ago, of this fact, and that no arrangement to do otherwise had been made.

Whether letting contracts by private lastead of public tender would increase the cost of the line ie at most a matter of opinion, but it is manifestly much more to the interests of the Company, who will here to work it for many years, to get the line efficiently made in the cheapest possible manner, than it is to that 01 the Government, who may possibly purchase the line some fifteen or twenty years hence. - It is not the cose that any extra cost of the line would increase the land grants to be given to the Company, the amount of the land grant being already a fixed amount of £1,250,000, and a proportion has been allocated to each portion of line ; the cheaper, therefore, the line cap be made the greater will be the comparative value of land grant to the actual cost.

There was no understanding of any kind at the time of the contract being made that the work should be let by tender in the open market or otherwise, and the Minister naa no ground for making such a statement.

The complications existing, and fair compliance with tbo law refnaed, all Doiiit to toe necessity for referring the matter again to Parliament. The Government Iβ most anxious to promote the work, and to assist the Com* pany in Uβ undertaking; therefore the reepoobilitr of any delay rests with tbo Company and the local authority. I hope, therefore, that) public ODinion will be guided in i he direction of requesting the Company and the local authority to comply with the lawful and reasonable requests of the Government, that being the most likely and speedy way of wttiteg thedußcalty.

I am quite willing to believe that the majority of the Government are anxious to assist the Company to promote the work, but the Minister of Public Works has shows no wish to do so, otherwise so much time would not have been wasted in groundless objections to a deviation benefiting the public and the Company; and the settlement of the land, which is a most burning and important question to the Company and the Western districts, would not nave been absolutely prevented had the Minister gone into the regulations which have been waiting his approval since January last, while at the same time he has been blaming the Company in his publio speeches on the West Coast for locking up the land. Though frequently asserting that the Com* pany and the County Council have not) complied with the Act, the Minister has entirely failed to point out in what respect they have not done so, though he has been publicly asked to do so, and, I would suggest, that he should communicate to yon the Crown Law Officer's opinion on the matter, as any legal opinions I have hitherto seen have been to the effect that the law has been fully complied with. Engineer-in-Chief and General Manages May 13th, 1891.

Ajrwrnumfr wttb Grey County Oooaoflk

.This Deed made the sixteenth day of one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one between the JnW Zealand Midland Railway Company Limited a Company duly incorporated in England under the Companies Acts 1862 to 1883 and carrying on business in the City of Christchurch New Zealand and having its registered office in Gracechurch street in London hereinafter with its successors and assigns referred to as the Company of the one part and the Chairman Councillors and Inhabitants of the County of Grey hereinafter with its successors and assigns referred to as the Council of the other part—Whereas the Company has contracted with her Majesty the Queen to construct a certain line of Railway from Springfield to Brunnerton along the western side of Lake Brunner And whereas the Company has requested her Majesty the Queen to consent to a certain Deviation of the said line of Railway to be so constructed by the Company such deviation being by a route on the eastern side of Lake Brunner and more particularly described in the Schedule to The Midland Railway Contract Act 1890 And whereas her Majesty the Queen is desirous of consenting to such deviation in accordance with the provisions of the said The Midland Railway Contract Act 1890 on the Company entering into and executing these presents Now this Deed Witnesseth that in consideration of the premises the Company doth hereby covenant and agree with the Council that as soon as the Governor has authorised the Company to make the said deviation in accordance with the provisions of the said The Midland Railway Contract Act 1890 The Company will provide the Council with the sum of two thousand seven hundred pounds to be expended in widening the road bridges and culverts between the township of Pounamu and Lake Brunner at a point known as Mitchell's accommodation house The said sum of two thousand seven hundred pounds shall be paid by the Company into the National Bank of New Zealand limited to the joint account of the Company and the Council and shall so remain until the Council is desirous of expending it as provided by these presents at which time the Company will cause the said Bum to be paid over to the Council and the interest on the said sum of two thousand seven hundred pounds shall be paid to the Company during the time it remains deposited in the Bank as aforesaid and the Company hereby further covenants with the Council that as soon as the construction of euch deviated line of railway shall be completed and the said road bridges and ■culverts have been widened as herein proTided it will provide and maintain in good and efficient order on Lake Brunner aforesaid a steamboat of sufficient size to ply as a ferryboat on the said lake between the terminus of the said road and the said line of railway on the eastern side of the said feke. Jn witness, &c. (Executed under seal both by the Company and the County Council.)

Agreement with Mayor of Kumara. " Kumara, 28th August, 1890. *• J. S. Benyon, Esq., Mayor of Kumara. ' " Dear Sir,—The New Zealand Midland Railway Company, Limited, will undertake to provide the amount of .£2700, to be expended in widening the eight miles of existing road between the Greenstone Creek and Mitchell's Accommodation House on lake Brunner, on condition that all opposition is withdrawn to the Deviation Bill, which provides for the Company's line being constructed on the east side of Lake Brunner, and on condition that the Bill is passed this session and the Company is authorised to construct the line in accordance ■with the proposed deviation. After the contracts are let for the deviated line, proper detailed specifications are tobeprepared by the Engineer of the Grey County Council free of charge, embodying the works required for widening the road mentioned in general accordance with the existing plans. These specifications are to be submitted for the approval of the Engineer-in-Chief of the New Zealand Midland Railway Company, Limited. After the same are approved tenders are to be called for the work, and the offers received are also to be submitted lor the approval of the Company before the work is let, and it may make such alterations to the schedule of quantities as to keep the expenditure within the amount of £2700. " The road to be maintained by the contractor for six months. After this period of maintenance the road to be taken over and maintained fit for traffic by the Grey County Council. "Should the ufember for Kumara offer any further opposition to the Deviation Bill, or should the Bill fail to pass the House of Representatives or the Upper House this session, or the Company fail to receive proper authority to carry out the works on the plan of the deviation, this offer made J>y the Company is cancelled. • "I am, dear sir, "Yours truly, " Robert Wilson, 'Engineer-in-Chief and General Manager."

(COPT 07 TELEGRAM.)

#« J. S. Benyon, Esq., " Mayor Kumara. "Seddon's opposition reported this morning's paper cancels our agreement, as opposition not withdrawn. Notwithstanding, Company will adhere to conditions contained in written promise if opposition is tow withdrawn and support given instead. " Robert Wilson. f'lOth September, 1890."