EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY,
PUBLIC MEETING.
A very large public meeting, convened by his Worship the Mayor (Mr J. G. Thomas), was held at the Volunteer Hall last evening, for the purpose of considering the proposals of the Government in respect to the construction of a railway from Canterbury to the West Coast cia Nelson.
The Mayor, who occupied the chair, briefly explained the object of the meeting. One of the first objects of the meeting was to evoke an expression of' opinion from the public of Greymouth, in order to strengthen, the hands of their representative in Parliament, and inform the Government of the views of the inhabitants of this district in regard to the railway scheme.
MrM. Kennedy said the point for them to consider was whether they were prepared to accept the new terms with which the scheme was presented to them. It was found impossible to get capitalists to undertake the work on the terms previously offered in the shape of land grants. Conditional arrangements, however, had been made that if the line did not pay a certain amount the districts directly benefitted should pay 2^ per cent on the cost of construction, 0r "£97,000 per year for 20 years, fo be raised by a property tax of a halfpenny in the pound. Fault had been found with the proposal to give away so much colonial land, and they had also been told that there could not possibly be any traffic over such land, and that the line could not pay ; but why object to giving away what was not considered of any value. At any rate they were all well aware that of whatever value the land was it could not be utilised to any good purpose in their time, except by means of such a railway. It had been said that mineral traffic could not be carried over the line. He failed to see the force of the contention. The average grade of the line was' only one foot in 50ft, except in crossing the main range, or over the Alps, a distance of only 14 miles, which easily could be got. over by the employment of another engine. That was a very simple matter, and to his mind presented little or no difficulty. It was not easy for anyone to speak conclusively on this matter unless he had practical experience in the trade. For his own part, speaking from practical experience, he could say he would willingly sooner pay 17s 6d per ton to Christchurch for the carriage of his coal than pay 7s 6d per ton for its carriage by steamer — so great was the damage to the quality of the coal by being crushed and broken in the course of transit and in loading and unloading. One thing, however, that struck him as being worthy of consideration. Why should they be called upon to bear a share of the guarantee on the portion of the line to Nelson. He had no doubt that the line from Greymouth to Canterbury would soon produce a revenue, but he was not prepared to speak in such hopeful terms of the Nelson branch of the line. However, he would not in the meantime say anything that might be made a handle of by the opponents of the scheme, and construed into a division in the csmp. He would therefore content himself by merely proposing the following resolution :—" That this meeting agrees with the proposals of the Government on the subject of the Christchurch and West Coast railway, and that this resolution be telegraphed to the Government."
Mr Sheedy seconded the motion, and spoke at considerable length in support of the scheme. This was the greatest scheme ever brought before the people of the West Coast, and one of the last importance to their welfare and best interests. In fact it would dwarf the importance of even the harbor works, which was at present all-in-all to them. Mr Sheedy referred to the experience of the Australian colonies in the way of railway construction, but notably instanced Victoria. There never was such a chance before presented to them, and if they missed the opportunity probably none of them would live to see the railway completed. He had not the slightest doubt that the line would prove a great success, and strongly condemned the opposition of other parts of "the colony in opposing a scheme that took nothing out of their pockets, although benefiting fbe colony as a whole.
Mr Petrie hoped the motion would be carried unanimously, and that no subsequent resolution, such as was hinted at by the mover, would be passed. Lst (hem have no dissension at this stage. They wanted all the assistance they could get from Nelson, and it would not do for them to fall out with them. What if the Nelson portion did not pay as well as that between Canterbury and Greymouth, it would help to make the latter portion pay better than it otherwise would do. Mr Petrie then proceeded to argue upon the financial terms of the proposals to show that it was much better for the line to be constructed by contractors than by the Government. Much of the opposition against the line originated in the mo&t selfish motives, and he instanced the remarks in a leading article in the Otago Daily Times recently, which argued how much more judiciously the amount that the work would cost could be spent on the Otago Central line and the North Island Main Trunk line. The worst possible thing they could do would be to ha\ c the slightest dissension in the camp, which weuld bring total failure with it by wrecking the whole scheme.
Mr Wicks expressed the gratification he felt at the question having been brought to a stage that might be considered a final one, and equal almost to an assurance that the work would be undertaken. He referred to the action taken by himself and Mr Westonf during two years in order to bring the merits of this line under the notice of the Canterbury people. It was only after a very hard struggle, and the most careful 'collation of statistics that they enlisted the sympathies of the Canterbury public. It was owing to these exertions, aided by others who took a deep interest in the question, that the Canterbury and Nelson delegates came to terms and resolved to act in complete harmony. He had no doubt whatever that the line would pay, and he spoke with some knowledge acquired by the interest he took in the question! It had been said at first that the Brunner line would not pay, but it paid from the very first, and he might say that if all the lines of the colony paid as well as that they would pay something enormous. He a mcerely hoped that as every one of them
was deeply interested in the line they would carry the motion unanimously. Mr Kennedy pointed out, in reference to the remarks of Mr Petrie, that he would prefer to see the motion made more specific by stating that Nelson ivas included. The reason that he spoke as he did was that in the future when they would have to reckon the cost, as they undoubtedly would have to do, it could not be said that he .supported. the. inclusion of Nelson in the resolution, when he did not believe that that portion of the line would pay. However, after making this explanation, and as it appeared to be the wish of the meeting he had no objection to the inclusion of Nelson. The resolution was accordingly amended ; and passed in the following form :—" That this' meeting agrees with the proposals of the Government on the subject of the Christchurch to West Coast and Nelson railways, and that this resolution be telegraphed to the Government." • The resolution was carried amidst enthusiasm, not a voice or hand being raised against it. A- vote of thanks to the Mayor concluded the proceedings, and the meeting broke up.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18850728.2.13
Bibliographic details
Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5254, 28 July 1885, Page 2
Word Count
1,349EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY, Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5254, 28 July 1885, Page 2
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.