THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1490, 14 May 1873, Page 3

THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

The following report of the debate on the proposed West Coast Railway, which took plaoe in the Nelson Provincial Council, is from the Colonist of the Oth inst. :— - The ProvincialSecretarymoved— "That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable that the railway from Brunnerton to Greymouth when constructed should be leased to a company undertaking the construction of the through line from Foxhill to Brunnerton, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon with such company by his Honor the Superintendent, with the advice of his Executive Council, and with the sanction and assent of the Colonial Government and the County of Westland." No doubt most of the members iad studied the report of the Inland, Communication Committee, For continuation of News, see 4sh page.

and the object sought by this resolution was to give an additional inducement to a company to form" a through^ line to the West Coast.. The Provincial Government had fought hard for sbrire year's to getjajj railway made to -tKe West Coast, arid, 1 indeed, had been. so. nigh to success in the matter, that & contract was abbtit to be signed by an English firm, but the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war caused the contractors to retire from the speculation. The people of the Province were now unanimous in favor of such a line. If such a state of, feeling had existed a few years ago, the litie would to-day have been one to travel on, instead of one to '•• talk about. At the present time: the inducements to form the line were greater than before, as, now rich auriferous reefs are known to exist at the Lyell and Inangahua. No one excepting those who have travelled over the Grey, Inangahua, and Upper Buller districts had any idea of the vast tract of country there was fit for settlement. To make any country prosperous it must be settled, and its inhabitants have easy and cheap means of communication with the centres of population. There was no other way of properly opening up, and settling the West Obasf districts than by making a railway from cfne end of the Province to ,the other. He •would riot now enter into the details of the railway scheme, but would leave them to other members of the Council who were also members of the Inland Communication Committee. The iJruhnef line would be handed over to the company 1 under conditions that the General Government no doubt would see were proper ones. He hoped the members, although they might not be unanimously in favor of the resolution, would not offer any factious opposition ; but would assist to help forward a scheme which, if : carried, out, would add materially to the" prosperity of ti^e. Province, and vastly increase the' nunibers §r its population. ,' /;,.., ° r Mr Shephard.secpnded the resolution ', Mr Bonne considered the resolution premature! ! ' It' was ' brought on at . top early a stage of the session, if indeed, this' Council went into the question at all. He proposed this and the two following resolutions 'on the Notice Paper should be postponed. The matter would have to come before the General Assembly.,; as ,the alienating of large quantities of land og the gold fields, a&d. others Vital points in the scheme, would have to be carefully considered Toy the members of House, therefore, he' thought these, -resolutions ought; ty>< ;be dealt with; by, tf^.nqw: Provincial Council twelve monuwhgnce!., But if the. members were, bbiig'eja to qiscuss the scheme, he thought they should 'first ; ';be called upon to consider the' report' df the Inland Communication ' Committee. He complimented the members of that Committee on their elaborate report, and suggested the postponement of the rks'alufidii until the , Council [had considered, that report. .^ , . . . ; ,- . 4 . ,. , : Mr Kelling was of opinion that delall's were necessary. Before' 1 passing stich a resolution they should see if the company would be formed — as the attempt to form One, might be unsuccessful. t He clid.not see that the 'Cdxihty of WcStiand' had any right to be consulted in the matter I ,' aß' the General Government should be able to de^l with the line ;in quesfcioojas it thought fit. He thought .the matter" should be postponed. Mi Reid thought the subject :h£&.'3%&r!L brought fprw#rd,Qn.j a^wrpng^asi?;-; thly were discussing it at the taU pn<J instead pf the head. It wouldise lnip J e : rtine r At J f6r thaVGotfnwHo pass a^WolMib'n-affectiiig the disposal of a.propertyr that was !ou,<r Bifte this., Province^- . „^[6,., considered' it preferable to postpone tie subject. , Mr Shephard did not see any necessity for the-'introductioniof a /resolution de|H ing with the general question. The laid had been already^giveritindfei? the provisions of the Nelson Arid Cobden Railway Act, which were still in force. The i Council ia former ! years 'Had by decided. ! majorities settled i the! general) questions j He felt assured the ProvjncialSecretajy ! had brought dqwn , the resolutions. 4a tie : manner he had 'done oply/withg,, view to '■ narrow the issue. '. The suggestion' t>y, Mr l Donne thai there 1 was ho occasion to pass the reselutions until the- Company- r was formed, would,:if -acted upon;- be fatal to its formation, as a large portion 6f - the capital that would be required must be obtained out . of the :Colpny,- Thej-ip/os^ pectus must ,go . Jprjth to- the world ■ founded on a'sohd b'asis',' and must states what, inducements ,, tve were; prepared- to ; offerta a company.; 5e believed tlje i company would succeed, but we mustgpf orwajrd ''■ intending towin,andthenaU:thedifßcuittes! would disappear. The benefits r accruing i from railway commuhioation with -tbje ' heart of the Province would be greater! to Greymouth, than. te. Nelson, asit ,woaM| open up a large trade to Greywoat>j merchants. He deeply regretted tiat ■'jftj representatives from r that part «>!+>,« Province did not appear to reeogbr 40l +v,U the Inland Communication Comn>' it 2 Jj,*! entered upon the matter in. -_J Si treated those gentlemen to^elp us S) gaining y^,^Op- 6( m&'i^ & M* T^"Gibbrand~Wßßtney-deßired-th)B matter to M iXe&TT(tfl t tQ ** Select Committee, whilst the Provincial Solicitor most .heartily supported j;he resolution, f Mr Acton Adams considered the^ubject of the ' utmost iiiiportarice to th» whole Proviface^-amd particularly to. thje gold fields. M ;Th,e,cc>mpany had i^p .desire to work the land for its auriferous wealtn. The object, of the company was tfr encourage as' l'arge a mining population as possiole to settle' in ! tHe-comitryi tn the districts through which the railway wouM pass,' 'the' Province possessed i a/gte^t estate, which at present had beeA !>nly proapected; J TITe railway-would be the means of working that eßtafe -properly. The winpany would simply be employe 1' in carrying-rthey would be carriers on a large . e^cale— and , mqre benefit woul 1 accrue to the miners' than the settled di - tncts if thy objects of' the company ai s Oirried bW.< ! It was d;mte possible for tl c Government^opla6e. atich restrictions o\w the land, that on a surveyor, appointed by the Government, reporting any portion of it to fe irontorouß. it should be

open to the miners on the same conditions is at present exist on the gold fields. The miners would be immensely benefitted by the railway, as the e^l|aKeiiofnio\is.cosl; 6f carriage, and coSe|fueß*^iifg]i prices pf provisions on the diggings would be removed. The company had only been p.dopted as a last resource, and it was intended to make it thoroughly popular by fixing the shares at such a price as; Would place them witbLi the reach of all Bettlers and miners. He hoped that when jfche West Coast members thoroughly understood the motices by which the proinbtei's ofTjihersdiernß had J>ewi~acbuated jin iiiaking; %.o\s pbipre' ,trfemi they would*) oin witfrtife people of [Nelson in assisting to promote a great jProvincial work, that would^seterire, ; in.crease of population, and do genejrally. He trusted the members would ;deal with the question in a fair and equit- ! able manner. ! The Provincial Secretary agreed to postjpone the resolutions until Thursday, the ilStht^jS^t^ujg^^^g^^Kt^fethe meML-:; 'time the West Coast members"snould have an opportunity of meeting the Inland Committee. i Mr Tarrant moved the adjournment of the debate until the above date, which was carried on a division by 18 to 2.