KELBURNE TRAMWAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 140, 7 March 1908, Page 6

KELBURNE TRAMWAY.

SHOULD THE G!TY ACPUIRE THE PROPERTY? ' i ... INTERESTING DETAILS. ■ ■ ' Should tho city acquire the kelburne and 1 Karori Tramway Company's property is the .question that is agitating the aggregate Kel- ' burne mind. It is agitated for one reason 1 only, which, put squarely and bluntly, means that tho hilltop dwellers consider, and have considered for a long time, that the fares are too high, and -jshat the inevitable couvso pursued by tho Council would bo 1 to reduce,them. At the present the single faro I up or down tho hill between tho Kelburno Kiosk and Lambton Quay is 3d., but four | "up" and four "down" rides may be ob- , tained for a shilling by purchasing a coupon, a section of - which is snipped oif for each trip taken, "The total length of tho section is 32 chains, and its course is'a direct one to tho hilltop from Kelburne'Avemie at ail even grade of one in five; so that it will be seen at a glance, that Kelburne people aro not unreasonable in asking for a reduction. ;Eight rides for, . a shilling does not sound oxtravagant, but; most of Kelburne's residents prefer to walk •to tho city, which leaves their coupons used up on the "up" sides aud perhaps untouched on tho other, as tho Company insist on two "downs"- being equivalent to one , " up." Thus, to those riding up only, . tho 32' chaintrip, performed in'five minutes or under, is a twoponny proposition. Tho Kelburne ratepayers are moving in the direction of getting the Citj Council to take over tho property as from the end of the first period at which it can do so. To understand exactly how tho city stands in regard to the Kelburne Tramway Company, it is necessary to go back a bit. Parliament of 189S passed ■The Wellington High Levels Tramway Act, empowering tho City Corporation to construct a tramway such as that now in existence, which authority tho Corporation delegated to tho ; Kelburne and Karori Tramway Company. Tho .Company (the shareholders in which'were interested in the development of the Uplands Estate) went ahead with the work,.which was completed in February, 1902, and. has been running for six years. ■. , POWER OF PURCHASE. ' ; The power under -which tho-city may purchase the property is contained in the. deed of delegation, Clause 4 of which reads as follows:— . ,-■ ' ..At all times allow'.the Council and; its authorised officers to inspect the said tramway and.all plant and rolling stockjisc'd iin connection therewith,. and will' comply with and carry into '.effect all . reasonable requirements made by, tho _, Council- or. ;&ny • such; officer. -Will .not,/ . without the 'consent in. writing .of the . Corporation, given • under its common : seal, assign, 'lease',';or .''mortgage' any of- • tho.rights, powers, privileges, or obligations conferred,' or imposed' by virtue of the'said Order-in-Council or those pre-' -sents,' ;or " Tho Wellington High Levels ' Tramway Act, 1898," or tlio undertal;-' ing, or any land; works or plant con- . "nected therewith or any .part thereof respectively., ■ And' it', is horoby. ■ expressly . agreed and declared "that the Corporation may at tho. expiration of seven, fourteen, .'or twenty-one years respectively from the date of the completion of . tho tram- • way,' purchase .the ; undertaking upon the terms of .paying to the Company, its successors,_ or assigns, tho amount of. . capital trhich shall have been from time •'■ expended bona-fide by it or! them . upon, tho said tramwayi. and, upon, all lands, buildings, works, material, ','plaut •' of . tlio Company, ..its . successors, nr-. assign's, > suitable to and used by it. or them for the purposes of; tho said, under-. ; taking . within tho ; city -of - Wellington? including in "such amount, interest, at .7 per centum por annum upon capital expended during construction upon tho said tramway, arid also ;upon terms of ~ paying; to the Company, its successors,' or assigns, such a further sum as shall make the. total not.profits earned by.it or them from the time of beginning to work the tramway to tho date of com-' ~ pletion'of 'thi purchaso'up to £7 per ccnturn per annum or such'capital as afore-,/ said. Provided that in estimating such total profits, as aforesaid no sum shall . bo 'written" ciff for depreciation on the - : lauds, buildings,, -works,. materials; and plant ,of 'the said property. . A. fiirther provision states that on lio pur r cliaso made by tho Corporation shall anything be charged for, goodwill . STATEMENT BY . CHAIRMAN OF THE .'. - - COMPANY. Mr. R.-M. Simpson, Chairman of Directors of' the Company, was seen- yesterday .by a Dominion '-representative, chiefly, to ascertain what the acquirement of,tho,-pro-perty would cost the city,..assuming the Corporation ..were likely to.take - advantage • of its option in February next.- That, gen T ; tleman, in ,tho .courso of '.conversation, ex- * plained that tho original intention ' of .his . company haid been to run the-tramway from tho top of the hill,ithrough- tho Upland and Pharazyn properties, ,to Karori, '.hence ■ the Kelburno aucl Karori Tramway Company. That fell through, because Karori. did not feel inclined to assist, in ' financing the thrpugh lino. Later on: another gqod offer was made to Karori, which, had it been accepted, would have brought the suburb a good deal nearer the City than it is today, and .' would . have ensured "a cheaper faro., But Karori was always suspicious. It thought'that one car was th'o limit, and whon two'wore put on it was the iafite.; As a matter of faot they could put ou another car and still bo the 'safost line in New Zealand, and" "by running' up a,' power ■ cable to a motor "on the hill-top • they could, reduce the time occupied by the journey from five to three minutes-—three cars up 'and three down every three or four .minutes. Karori thought that; someone ■ would, be -making of' it 'if the 'Kolb'ume rp.uto was adopted,', so the: Tinakori, route was This was not wise, because a. car bound to Karori by way,of Tin'akori Road could be given ten minutes' start>of one climbing the hill and proceeding along'the flat road that runs from tho Kelburne Kiosk to the tunnel, and yet be thero firstsjßut that was all done with. '" Some months ago they made another proposition to the Council, that tho company be allowed to construct' a tramway from the Kiosk ' to connect. with the -city line at the viaduct, 1 the property to bo placed in the 'samo position as the. other .property of the Company; viz., to bo taken over at one of the times mentioned in tho agreement, at 'cost plus.7 pero cent. The Council did not' approve of the scheme, and more than one Councillor,' when asked why the proposition had not been entertained, had stated that too many people would travel to Karori via Kelburno instead! of by tho City lino, which proved there was something in the Kelburne routo after all. Mr. Simpson, in reply to a question; stated- that- tho-tramway line, plant,-power-house, rolling stock, eto., had cost approximately ' about £32,000, but ,in addition -to that there Was £4000 for the Kiosk, which goes over with tho tramway under a subsequent agreement to that effect, so that roughly there was £36,000 as tho amount to ■be reckoned with, which sum.would not include the residences erected on the Company's properties away from tho tram-lino. Tho Council had ,to guarantee payment of £7,' per cent: per annum for scvon years on that sum', subject to a slight' variation in .regard to the Kiosk. . Of course that would be a very large sum to find had the company been making no profits, but' though tho 20,000 ordinary shares had earned no dividend for four out of the six years -.gone, 5 per cent, had been paid regularly from the beginning on tlio ' 10 ; 000 preference shares that made up the capital of tho company. " Then,"'asked the,.reporter, " the Company would not mind if the City did take over tho line? " "No, .! don't think' wo'vo any say tlio matter. Sorao might like to hang on, but thoro aro others, who, I know, would bo glad to realise. Personally 'I don't see who it is going to : benefit by ■the City taking over ; thc : property—they would not care to run' it as a loss." " Wouldn't a cheaper fare pay better? " " I .believe we might try the penny fore, and enter into an agreement with the City to do so if it does not take over the pro- , uerty next jreui "■