MIDLAND RAILWAY.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8269, 5 September 1892, Page 2

MIDLAND RAILWAY.

A meeting of the Executive of the SUga and West Coast Railway League wid delegates from various public was held at the City Council Chambers on Aug. 26th to consider matters in connection with the contract for tbe Midland railway line. There were present Mr W. Aeton-Adaaa Chairman of the League, who presided, hk Worship the Mayor of Christchurch {President), and Messrs A. G. Howlaud, T. S, Weston (members of the Executive), Mr W, Forster (Secretary),and Messrs W. Chrystau and W. D. Meares (Chamber of Commerce), J. P. Jameson, R. Buchanan, and A. W. Beaven (Industrial Association). That were also present Messrs Geo. Humphreys, T. York, B. Bull, and other gentlemen. The Chairman said a crisis had arisen la the affairs of the League. Since the -Company had bad charge of the line the Leans had had little to do except when aquestfcu of deviation arose. He nad thought it desirable to ask the aid of other public bodies in Christchurch, so as to get more influence than the members, as the question affected the whole of Canterbury. He had thereforektigkjgd.tbat delegates should be sent from the Chamber Of Commerce, Agricultural and Pastoral Association,. Industrial Associatioa, National liberal Association, Trades -and Labour Council, Knights of Labour, sad Employers' Association. He had received several replies, and would read.the purpart of them. The A.'and P. Association had met just previous to receiving his circular, and therefore they had not sent representatives. The Trades and Labour Council had not appointed any one, and the Knights, of Labour decided they could not send delegates -or take action in the matter. = The Canterbury Liberal Association declined to take any part in the Conference, having entire confidence in the Government to deal • with the matter. The Employers* Association decided the" question - was outside of their' aud' more-a matter for individual members to take up, He then read a letter which he had written on August the 18th to the Chairman ot-the Nelson Railway League, in which he stated "It seems clear that partly tbroqga, tha t way the present Government havejtanipersd the .Company in not agreeing upon say regulations permitting the Company to aeU small lots of- land to individual settlers without burdening themselves with 10,000 acre blocks b'etore they earned them, and in delaying to the deviation' by Lake Brunner and to the adoption of the Abfc system over Arthur's - Pose, and partly ■ through tbe Argentine and < Australian failures in -London, the Midland Railway are unable to raise money to complete she railway. ! -Their shafes",£2so,ooo, are all paid up and it is useless therefore for the Nelson people to i say "Make them fulfHtlieir contract," If the "Government do this the Company will do nothing for the balance of their contract time, about two and a half- years, .and then . the Government can take the existing works subject to payment of £745,000 to. the debenture holders—-no. great bargain*-and then the whole question of continuation will have to be faced as now with the aim oi failure attaohed to it which does net yet exist.?'-}-The Company-require agtarataee for £1,600,000 to complete the i£asfra€d West Coast line, and £1*300,090 to aomakte the north and south line, makiug a total oi £2,900,000. If the money for the _aita»_ aud West only is raised, the Company require •-.guarantee of 3 per cent, interest. If the North-and South is added then 5£ per cent. on both s'unis.. ' You must, clearly see _sat -if- we urge the' borrowing to give rantee it will be difficult to got concurrence,- of the Northern Trunk and the ,Otago Central lines, which means s huge loan; anil" which moat of us thihk'injttdtcious in the interests of the colony.,-It. is true that by former pledges we are entitled to this assistance {apart from the others) as part of the "Vogel policy, buttfiafe argument has not much weight with the - pre- ' sent .members of " tha House. So the dilemma we are iii is this r Either" the Company must be allowed 'to'Btrugg» lon without much chance of completing the line within its contract time, or we -must get them a Government guarantee/ I dislike both alternatives, and wish for your opinion on the matter. I may say that up to date :the Company have taken for the East and West line about 195,000 acre?, worth £125,000, and for the STorth and South 30.000 acres, worth" £30,00 Q. *x> that so fur the Canterbury people feel them' selves the sufferers, 'as'they liave only ' &* miles of useless formation at- Springfield in-exchange for the loss of their land, and the Nelson people have only six milesi of equally useless work at -Belgrove.. - _n< West Coast alone has benefited ]V-*g Company's expenditure. I would *«3**? that the experience' now gained shows that the original-estimates of traiSs upon wbicb the lino was started are under tfee realised, and that, in my opinion, tw whole line will pay fully 3 per cent, inters**} after deducting the wo'eking expense*. He also read the following reply irom tee Secretary of the-Nelsou League :—" Meeting Railway League to-day wasunaakuoialf resolved this League is pleased to know taw the, Chairman of the Canterbury League & as loyal to the Nelson line as ever, «_fl to hear, from him that he deems the co j£ a ? pledged to complete the entire line. Tub League holds very strongly tbe same view of tho question, and emphatically protests against.any action being taken with fcba , view of inducing the Government and the House of' Representatives to depart from the present contract. _arttVv resolved, this resolution be telsgr-v*--you, with request yon' have s&tf* read at your meeting to-morrow.' He pointed out tbot he had put tlm case rather adversely to Nelsou so as to get their vi** B on the nutter. He understood the majority of the members of tho Government;, niciuOj ing the Premier, were not opposed to the line, but come of the others, no_.o»y.t?» redoubtable Minister for Public Work*, was opposed to it. Ha had before bi» & e ?fl of the petition which the Company .baa laid before the House, which stated under various headings their reasons for asEJag tha Government to consider the ww* matter. 'He wished to say the aeotJSJ were not taking .up any position *or verse to the Government, for it f"» only with the Government's assistance tßey could hope to win. (Henr, reasons given by the Company for Jg unable to continue were the reserving lauds tor niiuing V*W»fi£**er in respect tothe deviation by *22£ delay*!* the Government ™**&<g£g >t_ei_ approval of the Abt *y* tort 2£*iT , (had beS_ recommended by the «iggg ! and delayin replying to the f 1 extension of tim* S** C«»aa_ff *^

T * " was tbinfed out that the °£f™g ra had elapsed v Sgned in 1885, and Company got before the Midland Sg*£» hod elapsed to work. They say /*£&, and they "before getting y^ 3 from asked to be fKe work. The Comtbecommenceinentei They were to pany next refused »^ ct tiement, but the get the into force, and graduated *J»SSSeupmore land than they wereafr»a^ t impossible for they conld lj* fin6 _ce the line any longer. the^f*?f n ?fae_ referred to the amounts OT»e Cl *feffine and went on to say that tnwtou.t^ 1 * 6 .' and West line-was tK»»**-S'that the line would pay. a Z, was the Company to be and a'half years i Jjoiredtohnf r*«w able t0 ° they the line, or g^ntee _,y the Government cent ., tbe money at o & c money, Jf the Government X could not he done tor . to J per cent. c to JTfor this gaarautee,^ *«* P tho the A held as a whole of the the line. Any ,_<»,_, for the oonstructtonw the hafc guarantee % wouldbetaken line ofloss of interest -should be set ss.d(»» He would read I for the fi" fc f * w / that day received * ofVingfield, i fr° a necessity for the !T hi^ 0, in'his. letter lm __4__ since the League was inactive valuable coal measures on the Broken River, kM l_bfefre_apoint about thirteen miles on the hue of railway as at Without the railway ESS wSireiyinacce S3 ible,and useless purposes, while the position __ Wrtent of the seams were snch that, '% facilities for conveyance.to market Sb the construction of the Midland Say to a point seven miles beyond SSon's Creek would give, the coalconld .jTsapplied to Christchurch and the Plains it a rate relatively much lower than L other coal now in the raa.rket. jg to the character of the coal . fie report of an expert wai that with - regard to quality it appears to tho best brown coal discovered on this side of the 'ranges, and better than any other coal in ' SeMalvem district, and entirely free from .tone and dirt." The analysis proved.£ to be the best coal yet discovered in theiUuir Kury district. There were two Jlarge Mams of fourteen feet thickness, besides about five others, varying; from seven feet to'eighteen inches. The whole of the seams were traceablo oyer a large .extent of country, and were computed by pert to cover an area/0f 750 acres. Swing to tlie situation wid lay of the seams, their thickness and the proximity of suitable timber for nse m mining, the coalconld be placed on the railway at a Very low price, as tliorc would be absolutely no expenditure for pumping and liftioe, and gravitation would take the coal from the pit mouth to the point where the mine tramway would join the railway. Mr Meares said that ho had been apBlinted with Mr Chrystall to represent the hamber of Commerce. They were to advocate a railway to connect the East and West Coasts, but as far as the Nelson part »f the line was concerned they would not advocate that. He simply stated this so that there would be no misunderstanding later on. He questioned whether it was advhable, if they were going to take any action, that the discussion should -be reported. He simply threw out the suggesAs regarded the Chairman's own ternaries, he had put the matter very fairly fßta fully in grasping the whole position. / $r Weston endorsed Mr Meares' re-: •fpttkl It would be better to form them#b_intoa Committee and keep things 'grfeate, especially' as the discussion would Msf»' somewhat conversational character. -Be moved—"That the meeting go into Coaaniitae." : v

. seconded the motion, to-

<~ Upon resamiug, the following ■ ■ motion, tpioptsed by Mr Chrvstal_ and seconded joyJlr Jjmeson, was carried:—■?' That as Were appears to be no probability of the Company ever completing the Nelson line under the present contract, and-as it is not expedient to ask the Government to •guarantee the large amount required to complete the Nelson Hue, the Government to be requested .to endeavour to arrange a toatract under which the Company might be induced to construct the line between •Omterbnry and the West Coast."

, At a meeting of the Executive Committee _sld subsequently it was resolved that a general meeting of the members of the RailWay League should be held on Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock in the City Council Chambers.

(PRESS association telegram). . NELSON, August 25.. . : A meeting of the Nelson Railway League . Was held this afternoon, when a letter from the Chairman of the Canterbury League '".Was read. It was unanimously resolved :— , ''That this League is pleased to know that the. Chairman of the Canterbury League is as loyal to the Nelson lino as ever, and that he deems the colony pledged to complete the entire line. This League holds • very strongly the same view of the question, . fc&d emphatically protests against any action being taken with the view of inducing the Government and the House of Representatives to depart from the present contract:" Mr Alexander Sclan'ders, of Condon, was present, and expressed complete concurrence B» the action of the Nelsou League. That - geatlem&n's valuable services in connection with, the railway contract were duly Kkuowledged.

» -A general meeting of the members of the Ettt and West Coast and Nelson Railway League was held on Aug. 31st at .the City wuncil Chambers. There were about thirty ,8»nle preseut. His Worship the Mayor (President of tbe League) occupied the *«~r. He biiefly opened the proceedings, Wd then asked the Chairman of tbe Execu.hve to submit tho report of the last meeting of that portion of the League. Mr Acton -Adams read the report referred • -„», which covered the points that have already been published, ana they went on *!5 8 5® a^t * Q e present crisis in the affairs ] , ',*-• the Midland Railway Company. His *ea»rka were a recapitulation of those he Uttered at tho mcetiug of the Execu- | ,«ve, or similar to thoao of the PreBldeiit of the Chamber of Commerce. J« then went on to say that the question *>» whether we should lose by the proposed " v^_^ ate6 * H( * bought not, for all the Querent estimates from different sources *to*ed a result of more than 3 per cent. - 3 pep cent., the meetiug had to re- ' meant £ 48,000. The estimates °f 187% after allowing for working esaKs iishewed a balauce for use of £78,000; Mie eatifiafc. Q f t ue Company's promoters -88,000; the Railway League's were the Weat Coast Commission's (S» ac_ tbe estimate worked out by f rom examination of St* Boß * *nd public works documents, 325»" £96,000. The average oa the »So_ was £85,000 per annum, whereas w money -required to be paid for interest £48,000. Having explained the which had passed witli the ~**«i branch ho said he was personally Ibmv 1 * to "'ything that would preju**S«elsonor suggest the possibility of her *** Obuiuing her railway. The condition JJ«r which he first entered into the "wtterwasto get the line to Nelson, and «intended to loyally stand by that condi•j 00 - In concluding, he said that the qnes- ~» oi the meeting had to decide was what under all the cir- _\»" tta,lces * n answer to questions, he •aui that out of the £160,000 the Company gf^ oß *" to invest, cr leave in the hands of •jj c Government, £30,000, which would pay rjjy possible deficit for some ycais to come, *** after that time it was hoped the from the hue would pay the gj>«totee. Under the contract the Comply Was allowed to raise money on aeeealures, aud he understood they had the railway to trustees of the ÜBanture holders. If the Company jrouna yp, the line might go to the dew»te» holders or to the Government, who •ii*/' J* Paukes expressed his surprise "«c tfce Company, after its great flourish of ~ce&r? CtSj auoula he continually seeking con- _ JV Adams desired that his position shonld aot be misconstrued. He was not there as the Comoany. He felt it was

a great pity that such an undertaking was let on so _ small a capital as the Company possessed. ','' " ' . Mr A, G: Howland, _fter a short review of what the League had done in keeping the matter before the Government, and urging on the railway, pointed out the great loss Canterbury would sustain if the Cbmpa_y were to wind up. The land for which for years they had been striving' would be lost to them, and the patches of the line completed would be useless. He would move a resolution, which met with the support of the executive. It was— "That the Government- ha requested to endeavour to arrange conditions,; by way of a 3 per cent. guarantee in exchange for the land grant or otherwise, under which the Company might be enabled to construct the Nelson line to the Motueka Valley and complete the main line between Canterbury and the West Coast."

Mr A. W. Bbavex seconded the motion, and observed that in endorsing it tho League would only be acting consistently. He objected to assertions which had been made that the League should not step in until the Company was wound up. This was the very thing that ought if possible to be avoided if we were not to lose that which we had already got. The Government could not raise money under 4 per cent., and here they had an offer to get the line done for 3 per cent., which was not so much as was being asked for the Otago Central. It would be a great misfortune if the Company did wind up, and it would not improve the colony's position in the London market for it to be known that £250,000 had been subscribed to a Company, and suuk in an unsuccessful attempt to make a railway line. He had pleasure in second ing the resolution. Mr Bull suggested that as the question was now before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, it should be delayed. The Mayor answered that no doubt the. Committee had made up its mind what it' intended to recommend to the Government, and he did not think it would be wise on the part of the League to. stay their hand !at present. He hoped to see the motion carried. Mr Parker was pleased to learn that the League intended to, remain loyal to Kelson, and regretted. the position into' which the Company had. fallen, which he thought might have been avoided had more care r>een taken in respect .of the financing of it. Dr. Symes, was sorry to see the small attendance, bat judged it arose from the fact that the people were satisfied the matter was in good hands, the hands of the Executive, who deserved their very best thanks for the prompt action they had taken. When the time arrived for public support, he felt sure that, support would hot be found wanting. At.present he considered the Company deserved the greatest sympathy. Mr Higgins felt- that the proposal meant separation from Nelson, and ought not to be discussed in the absence qt a Nelson representative. He deprecated any separation as likely to weaken rather than strengthen the cause. He asked what would be the Company's position supposing the present objections regarding the reservation of land were Withdrawn. Mr Corley asked for a definite answer whether or not the motion meant separation from Nelson, v" *■ ' Mr C. B. BiiAKisioir was also; of the Opinion that Nelson should not be left out. If he were assured that; Nelson would-not be severed from-them b.e Was prepared to support the motion. ", ' Mr Howl and replied that the motion did not mean the throwing over of Nelson at all.-'- It showed they had every good feeling for Nelson by urging npoti. the Government to construct a portion offline 7 to make good that portion which was not of much good up to now. " %: '■-'? iV.* : '-'.■"'" .'•'./."-•' Mr Actox-Adams answered that he had only to look at the medal he carried in his pocket to be reminded of their connection with Nelson. The question was; what was the best thing to be done. ,The Executive had considered what was -practicable more than what: they preferred, and had come to the conclusion that at present—distinctly at present—it would be folly the colony for a guarantee of £2,900,000, which was was the total amount required. They had considered it were better to ask the Government to guarantee thia portion of the Hne and complete the Nelson end to a practical terminus.- When this line was finished it would probably pay 5 per cent. Then, with the aid of the Nelson land, which was always better than Canterbury, matters | could be arranged to continue the line. If 1 the lino were: continued to Motueka Valley, ' the money already spent would be useful. If the other portion referred: to was hot constructed, we should lose all the money | that had been spent between Brunuerton and Jackson's and between Springfield and Kowai Bush, He Would never waver in.his allegiance to Nelson. Still he felt that all parties most agree that the course suggested was ;the better one.. -As to - wiohdrawing the restrictions about mining reserves on the West it was impossible to say; if the Government in thoir action were ; right.or wrong, and there was no,; idesire to castflections oh them. , It; was impossible what would bo the position the Company would be placed in, or could place,itself in if the restrictions;, referred .to by' Mr Higgins were removed. The motion was then put and carried by 16 votes to 4. ' v : ' ; : - : : ■■-*-.'- Mr Weston moved that a copy of the resolution should be forwarded to the Government by the President, and observed that if the figures given were reliable they showed that the guarantee would eventually save the colony £400,000, for the cheaper the Company could raise money, the leas in the end would the colony have to pay for the line, presuming of coarse it were bought by the Government. ; " Mr MrrcHßiiL seconded the motion, which was carried. . - '.;/'.'* A' characteristic letter was' read from Mr J. T. Matson, supporting the object of the League.''' On the motion of Mr H.B. Kirk, seconded by Mr HicteiNSj it. was resolved to ask the Canterbury members to support the Government in carrying the matter to a successful issue. :' ' ; ' ' "'' >**' On the motion of Mr Parksr, seconded by Mr Corlexv it was decided to recommend the Government to open up the mjning land at present locked no in the vicinity of the linei in order-that tl 9 work of colonisation and the construction of the line might proceed together. - *,v Mr Acton-Adams said that there; was no other busiuess. The' question brougnkforward had been considered very closely by the Conference, before. Jbhe League was called together. It was not proposed to cal a public .meeting, and as the matter was now before the Public Accounts Committee, nothing further than had been done would be done at present., The meeting then closed. , ; , ; ;