THE TAUPO RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1259, 16 October 1911, Page 8

THE TAUPO RAILWAY.

CONCLUDING EVIDENCE. THE AIMS OF THE COMPANY. STATEMENT BY MR DAL/JELL. The special Parliamentary Committee appointed to report upon the application of tho Taupo Tobra Timber Company, lor permission to extend its railway from Mnkai to Taupo. and to acquire certain area.s of Xative land, continued tho taking of evidence on .Friday. Mr. T. 11. Davey presided. Mr. Blow Gives Evidence. The first witness called was Mr. IT. J. H.. Blow (Under-Secretary for Public, Works). He stated that, the Taupo lino lnd been authorised, not as a railway, but as a tramway. Tho. Department would not therefore inspect the work as closely as if it had been a railway. He had besn ovor the line once tome years ago, and the condition was thea very good for a tramway. It was of light construction, there were many curves, and it was worked' at present with special rolling stock, including a scar engine. Its maximum speed was twelve miles an hour, but this is seldom attained. The line wos not authorised for the conveyance of passengers. There was a clause in the Ordcr-in-Council setting forth that it' passengers were to be carried special vehicles must be provided, and approved by the Minister for Public Works. An Agricultural Expert. Th« next -witness called was Mr. E. Clifton, Director of Agricultural Experiments. He stated that he Was familiar with tho area controlled by the company, save for the portions at the end of the line. Answering questions by Mr. Newman, Mr. Clifton stated that the land was pumice country. The vegetation was principally silver tussock, with black scrub on the plateaus and plains. Tho hills were mostly bush-land, of better quality than the other portions. At present this country would have to bo opened in large holdings; even with a railway the holdings would have to be large. It was certainly pastoral and not arable country. A great part of it would grow roots if fairly liberally manured. To Mr. Guthrie: Experiments that had been carried on encouraged the idea that a permau'ini p&itim- could lie established. To Mr. Myers: Fruit-growing could be profitably carried on if the land were fertilised. The snbdivis'on should be in any ease not less thaa 510 acres. To Mr.' Dalziell: Apart from the quality of the soil, the district would be eminently suitable for settlement. It was at present isolated, but the climate was one of the finest in New Zealand. Member and Witness. Sir. .W. I). S. Macdonald, a member ol the Committte, was nest examined as a witness. The greater part of this country, he stated, was in the Bay of Picntv electorate (his own). He had been much interested in the country, and had travelled through it on tlir;e occasions. On each occasion he had considered the best method c,f settling it. He had come to the conclusion that large areas could be profitably occupied for sheep-farming purposes. Large portions would he of no value at all for grass or agriculture. The greatest nccr,ssity for opening up the country would be the provision of means of transport for manures and other materials and for stock. The best means would ba a railway. In his opinion th? land should be developed if possible by Ihe construction of a Government railway or n private line. The land at present was lying in a neglected state,. If the laud were profitably occupied it would save tho State a considerable sum annually in the destruction of rabbits and noxious weeds Settlers in the district wero at present paying a rabbit rate in order to stave oft' an invasion of rabbit's from the Taupo district. If it were shown that the land under review could be profitably worked, adjacent areas of 850 thousand acres of Native land and 450 thousand acres of Crown land could also be opened. What the Company Wants. Mr. Dalziell said he desired to remove misapprehensions upon one or two points upon which he had apparently not made himsalf clear. He wanted to make it clear to tho committee that, the aim of tho company was not to hold the laud only if it could dispose of it at a profit and reject it if it. could not. It was a condition proposed that the company should complete the line before being permitted to acquire the land. Ho hoped ths Natives- would insist ujren this coni dition before consenting to sell. Thus G50.000 acres of Native land and 350,000 aires of Crown land would get the benefit of improved access. Tho company would have to take tho risk of loss upon the capital invested in the railway. The company would ha.ve to pay in carfi fcathe land it acquired. If it taught 200,000 acres it would have to pav not less than five shillings an acre. It would have to dispose of tho land at tho end of the term agreed upon, pay, 10 or 15 years. To do this the company would have to spend a large amount in improving tie land. It was clear that the companv could not hops to make a profit without carrying out these conditions. Not a Monopoly. It was said that the company intended to have a monopoly of the thermal sites. This seemed illogical. The interest of the syndicate, since, it was a railway syndicate, was to attract as many people as posablc to Taupo. Its very existence depended upon tlio people having free aeccss. Mr. Dalziell mentioned that hotels and the terraces were held under lease from the Government, subject to a stipulation that fixed rates should be charged. Ho hoped that if the committee was favourable to the proposal it would not impose specific conditions which tho parties might not be able to fulfil. The conditions should be general as far as possible, so that there might bo no obstaclo to a fair arrangement. Mr. Dalziell offered to answer any further questions that might be put. Mr. l'raser asked whether the company was under any obligation to acquire anv area, Mr. Dalziell stated that they did not hopo to get the line through unless thev got the .urea asked for of 200,000 acres", the idea had not occurred to him that the company might be forced to take up any stated area of land. This- would place it at the mercy of the Natives in the matter of price. . Mr. Eraser: The conmiitteo might bo inclined to facilitate a proposal with a view to encouraging the settlement of an area of land that is absolutely uuproauctive Hist now. It might not lie inclined to favour a proposal to mako tho thermal district at Taupo more accessible. Mr Dalziell sajd that they had to take an Urter-in-Council upon tho terms fixed by Government experts. They wero asking tor a concession that would confer an all-round benefit. The necessary capita] would only be made available If they could purchase something like the area they wero asking for. Jlr. Eraser: That is why I am rather surprised that those who propose to give this scheme effect did not make arrangements tq get « certain amount of land, on conditions, before approaching th rt committee. Mr. Dalziell: You could not get an option over this country without an (Jnler-in-Conncil. Mr. Fraser: An Order-in-Council bo issued conditionally on certain things being done. Mr. Dalziell: That is probably what we will have to do. Tho matter had been brought before the House this session because the capital now available could not he held and would not be available next session. Mr. Davey: Suppose you suggest a price of 4s. fid. per acre and tho Maoris decline to \ake it?—"lf they ask a reasonable price. I expect, we will pay it." Mr. Dalziell added that the proposition would have to Iw a paying one owing to tho conditions that existed. Tho company at present was making substantial profits. The inquiry has now concluded, and it remains only for the committee to deliberate and report. In the House yesterday afternoon, tho Hon. J. A. Millar stated, in reply to Jfr. Davey, that if he found tlio Government Printing Otlice could not get the cvidenco taken by tho Taupo Committee printed in time for members to have copies when the matier comes up for discussion, ho would causa it to be printed by some outside firm. The (jovernment Printing OHice was extra busy this session, owing to the printing of the evidence of the Mokau Inquiry, Ihe Railways Committee, and other committees.