OPENING OF THE CATLINS RAILWAY.

Clutha Leader, Volume XII, Issue 596, 18 December 1885, Page 5

OPENING OF THE CATLINS RAILWAY.

The first section of the Catlins River railway — that from Balclutha to Romahapa, about seven miles — was opened on Tuesday last, the whole proceedings in connection with the demonstration proving a thorough success. A special train arrived from Dunedin at 11.45 a.m. , bringing nearly 300 excursionists. The early morning was very threatening, and but for this we are assured the number of visitors would have been at least double. The weather, however, proved delightful throughout the day. The special ' train proceeded to Romahapa at noon, but a large number of the visitors remained in Balclutha. till 2 o'clock, as it had been arranged that those taking part in the formal opening should leave Balclutha at that hour. The Mayor had proclaimed Tuesday a half-holiday ; this was fully responded +o, .and Balclutha was en fete. Mr Macandrew was met at the railway station by the Mayor, and was welcomed by a large crowd of inhabitants. The members of the Kaitangata Brass Band arrived during the forenoon, and did much to enliven the proceedings. Shortly before 2 o'clock the Clutha Rifles mustered, and nndejr command of -Captain Parmenter, marched to the railway station. Here also the school children, under charge of Mr Grigor and the _other teachers, were drawn up in order. Soon all were aboard, and the train proceeded rapidly on its way. The line was' found to be extremely smooth and pleasant ; indeed we question, if many lines in the Colony have been found equally smooth on the opening day. At Romahapa the number of excursionists was largely augmented by residents of the district. On the arrival of the train a crowd of about 800 persons assembled in front of Vial's hotel, where the ceremony of declaring the line open was performed.

His Worship the Mayor of Balclutha briefly introduced Mr Macandrew.

Mr Macandrew said he had always understood that the terminus of- the Catlins River railway was at' Catlins River, 18 miles from B.ilclutha, and he had hoped that it would have been opened long ago. However, it- seemed that this event was still in the womb of futurity. He looked upon the action of this Colony in relation to this railway as being very well described by the Latin proverb about the mountain in labour. Some of his classical friends would furnish the quotation. — (Laughter.) There was no doubt that so far as it went the railway was a sterling piece of work . He had seldom- been on a line where the train ran so smoothly. It was said that they had better get half a loaf than no bread at all, and that being so they must be thankful for small mercies ; tbongh in this case they had only got a third of a loaf. — (Laughter and applause.) Probably there were many persons present who were not acquainted with the history of this line, and it might not be out of place for him on such an occasion to say shortly what he knew of it. The first they heard about this line was some 11 years ago. when a flying survey of it was made by the Public Works Department, in consequence ot a resolution passed by the Provincial Council in reply to a message from the Superintendent. If ho recollected rightly, one of the then members for the Clutha district (Air J. M'Neil), who was now present, had something to do with this resolution. Of course nothing came of the matter. Then as the Provincial Government and their contracts were soon after knocked on the head, and Otago, very much against her will, was compelled to rejoice in the golden age of abolition, which was to have done so much for her, and which, as they all knew, had been the means of tailing their land fund away up to the North Island. There was no doubt of it that abolition was intended to prevent Otago from making her own railways, and he had no hesitation in saying that but for abolition the ceremony they were now performing would have been performed five years ago on the banks of theCatlins River. — (Applause.) The next time they heard of this line was in the House of Representatives in 1877, when he (the speaker) brought forward several proposals for the construction of certain railways in Otago, including amongst others, the Catlins River line of 18 miles. These proposals would have been carried but for the action of certain Otago members. As it was, they wer3 negatived by a majority of three — six of the Otago men voting against them. Had these six men been true to their promise, the proposals would have been carried by a majority o£ nine ; and had they abstained from voting, they would have been carried by a majority of three — and this in teeth of the fact that the Atkinson Ministry voted against them to a man, and used all their influence towards defeating the proposals. He thought it said a good deal for those who desired to see the Otago lines constructed that they nearly carried the proposals in the face of these circumstances. The next occasion on whioh the matter turned up was in 1878, when the line was placed in the schedule of the Railways Act, and approved of by both branches of the Legislature, and confirmed by the Crown. It was proposed to spend LSOOO on it in 1878, L3OOO in 1879, L 30,000 in 1880, and. L3o,oooin 1881-2. The total estimated cost of the line to Catlins River was L 95,000. His own belief was that the aclual cost of construction would, have turned out to be considerably less. Twothirds of this amount was intended to be taken out of the five-million loan of 1879, and the other third was to come out of

the proceeds of Crown lands, which would have been rendered available by the railway. It was not intended that the line should stop at Catlins River, but that it should be carried on towards Waikawa, and ultimately, no doubt, this would have been done. , He had often regretted very much that this work had not been carried nut, because in that district there were 80,000 acres of magnificent land splendidly timbered, which only required the efforts of men of the stamp of the early settlers and of the backwoodsmen of America in order to turn it into a perfect garden of Eden. Just fancy what the result would have been if that part of the country were only properly accessible to them. There would be no unemployed about the streets in the principal towns, and he thought it was a disgrace to this country that we should have unemployed 'at all in its With a soil such as they had here and an abundance of land belonging to the people, he maintained that no man ought co be starving iv this country; provided they were able and willing to work In connection with the matter of this railway, he might explain that one of his lust acts as Minister for Public Works was to direct the engineer in charge of the Middle. Island to expend LIOOO in opening up a horse track from Catlins River to Waikawa. Labouring men, who had plenty of elbow grease and were good axemen, with their families, were ' to he entitled to a homestead in any part of the tract they choose free, gratis, and for nothing. But as had been said, " the best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft a-glee," and so it was in this instance. Had the Government that intended this line been allowed a fair start instead of being misrepresented, the line to Catlins River would hare been opened three years ago. .He sincerely hoped he might live to be present on a similar occasion, when the line would be opened 10, 20, or 30 miles further on. — (Cheers.) In conclusion, he wished to say that when the mayor and town councillors of Balclutha did him the honour of inviting him to be present aud open the line, it was with some hesitation that he accepted. Somehow or other he had got to believe that a new king had arisen who knew , not Joseph. — (Laughter),— and, moreover, there were others doubtless who were more anxious for prominence, and equally deserving of it. But on .reflecting on the days of ancient times, and on the many reminiscences connecting him with this district, extending over a third of a century, he could not resist the temptation of putting in an appearance once more, and paying his respects to old friends and their descendants, and congratulating them on the manner in which they had succeeded to a great extent in subduing the wilderness. Many of them might not be aware that he was the first representative of the Clutha district in the New Zealand Parliament, and he had always taken a somewhat prominent part in public affairs on all occasions which marked an epoch in the history of this district. He should never forget when he first looked upon this magnificent district from the top of yonder hill, and thought it the most beautiful panorama he had ever seen, -enshrouded as it was in Native solitude There were very few houses then ; probably the whole of them might have been counted upon one's five fingers, while now there were comfortable homes, churches and schools, and evidences of peace and prosperity in all directions. — (Applause). He thought that the surviving pioneers, tbe men and womon who had created these things and borne the heat and burden of the day, had no cause to look back with regret on the hardships they had undergone in those early times, and well might their children and descendants look back and feel proud of the old people. — (Cheers). He had formally to declare this part of the line open for traffic, and he concluded by calling upon them to give three cheers for the Queen. The crowd then dispersed, some climbing the neighbouring hills, others going to Glenomani, Port Molyneux, &c. The Kaitangata Band played on a flat near to the railway-station, where a number of young people enjoyed a dance on the green. Mr Vial's hotel was crowded throughout the afternoon. He had made extensive preparations for the occasion, and we believe kept a well-supplied free table for all and sundry.

The return -journey was commenced at 5 o'clock, and all reached Balclutha in safety. The special train started shortly afterwards for Dunedin.