THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 421, 6 March 1880, Page 20

THE WEST COAST RAILWAY.

<s, PUBLIC MFETING. A public meeting was held in the Theatre [Royal last Monday, for the purpose of urging upon the Government the speedy construction of the West Coast Railway. The subject of holding a meeting for this purpose had received a good deal of attention during the preceding week, the existing commercial depression and scarcity of employment having done not a little towards causing all classes of the community to take a more active part than usually characterises the public doings of the citizens of Wellington. A petition, signed by 1623 inhabitants, and praying him to call a public meeting on the subject, was presented to his Worship the Mayor on Saturday, and that gentleman immediately complied with the request. By 8 p.m., the time fixed upon for beginning the meeting, the lower portion of the theatre was well filled, there being also a fair number of gentlemen in the dress-circle. •About twenty gentlemen occupied seats od the platform, and amongst them we noticed Messrs. -J. E. Nathan, W. W. Johnston, G. Hunter, W. T. L. Travers, T. Buchanan, T. V. Shannon, Dr. Newman, Captain Mclntyre, and other leading citizens. His Worship the Mayor, who was loudly applauded on taking the chair, said he had not only to thank them for the honor of being chairman of the meeting, but he also felt gratified at having such a large and influential meeting to preside over. He would tell them at once that the movement had his entire and hearty approval. They were now showing that spirit of independence, enterprise, and commerce which had made large and prosperous cities of English commercial centres. For some time past he had questioned himself whether such a spirit existed here at all, and he had come to the conclusion that if it did it was fast dying out. But now he saw that -he had been despondent without cause. They had come there to complain of a common deprivation, of a right which was most important to the city and its surrounding districts—a right to which, as they would presently see, they were fairly and justly entitled. It was of the greatest importance for them to come together as they had done, for whenever they did that, and expressed themselves in an unmistakeable manner in order to get what they were entitled to receive there was little fear but they would get it. He had called that meeting in compliance with what he believed was the most numerously signed requisition that had ever been presented to any Mayor in the colony. There were no less than 1623 names, representing all parts of the town and all classes of the community, and that he thought gave additional strength to it. He would not go into the subject itself, but would refer to a few facts in connection with railway appropriations, which appeared to him to be real curiosities, and altogether incomprehensible. The appropriation for the WelliDgton-Foxton

line, which he sure’y had a right to consider one of the most important iu the colony,* was £40,000 ; and that, it appeared, was for the sake of giving employment to the unemployed. There was a°!itt!e line, eight miles in length, to the north of Auckland, and that also was put down at £40,000. Then there was another Hue in that province—that from Auckland to Kaipaia —al-o not nearly so important as this, for which no less a sum than £202,0u0 had been voted. Hawke’s Bay was always well provided for, and in addition to the length of 64 miles which were already constructed that provincial district was getting £65,000 more for railway puvposes. Wanganui to Patea or Carlyle had £145,000, and Carlyle to Waitara They would see that they stood in a very singular position, and that while other parts of the colony were being crossed and re-crossed by lines of railway, they bad such a difficulty in getting even a little done on a line which was admittedly one of the most important in the colony. A tender had actually been accepted for a portion of the work, yet it was again set aside a short time after, being the only one that had been treated in that manner in the whole of the colony. He would call upon the gentlemen who had come prepared with resolutions to put them before them, and they would then have the oDportuuity of approving or rejecting them as they thought fit. He would, however, first inform them that he bad just received a letter from hi» colleague in the representation of the city, Mr. Levin, in which that gentleman expressed his regret at having been called away by private business, and being thus prevented from being present. He would hand the letter to Mr. Travers to read. (Applause.) . , ... , , Mr. Travers, who was received with loud applause, then rose and read Mr. Levin’s letter, which was as follows : “ February 28, 1880.

“ Dear Sir, —I see from the newspapers that in response to a large and influential requisition, you have called a public meeting to consider what steps should be taken to urge upon the Government the necessity of pushing forward the West Coast railway. “ I should much like to be at the meeting, but unfortunately I have made arrangements, which I cannot alter, to leave for Otago on Monday. As I assume you will be in the chair, I would ask you to be so good as to make known to the meeting why I am not present, and at the same time to say for me that I will do all in my power to aid in so important a matter for this city and provincial district as urging on to completion the West Coast railway. “If I might make a suggestion, I would say that the serious attention of the Government should be called to the importance of extinguishing the native title as speedily as possible over the land still in Maori hands, and lying between Foxton and Paikakariki ; this in order that the railway may be commenced from the Foxton end at the same time it is being pushed forward from Wellington. I believe the land I have alluded to is equal in quality to any in the colony, and capable of carrying a large population, and I think our efforts should at one and the same time be directed towards having it acquired, pierced by a railway, and opened up to bona fide settlers on the most favorable terms. —I am, &c., “ W. H. Leyln.

“ His Worship the Mayor, Wellington.” Mr. Travers then said that he had been asked to move the first of a series of resolutions that would be put to them, and he believed he owed the honor to the circumstance that he had been the first to bring the subject under public notice, by suggesting the construction of the line when he was their in Parliament. He then succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a Select Committee to report on the proposal, and subsequently authority was given to construct the Jine and set aside certain lands in the district, the proceeds from the sale of which would just about have covered the outlay on the whole of the line. He assumed then that they would understand why he felt gratified that he again had the opportunity of taking a leading part in the matter. When he addressed them from a similar platform some time ago he had advocated the same work, but he then met with but little snpport. Now, however, he the gratification of seeing that no less than 1600 people had subscribed their names asking that the matter should be taken up. He was pleased to find he had been a true prophet. There were a good many other speakers who would have to follow him, and he should therefore be as short with his remarks as he could, in order that they might get the expression of as many opinions as possible. This was necessary if they wished to convince the Government by fair reasoning and argument that, even in the present state of finances, the work was of colonial importance, and should be carried out with all rapidity. V* hen he represented them in 1877, as he had before said, a Select Committee was appointed to look into that matter. The members of that committee were all men who occupied prominent positions in the Legislature, and many of them had since then, and were now occupying seats in the Ministry. It consisted of Mr. Ormond, and Mr. Richardson, both of whom had occupied the position of Minister for Fublic Works ; then there was his own colleague (Mr. Hunter), Mr. Bunny, Mr. Ballance, Mr. Kolleston (now a member of the Cabinet), Mr. Reader Wood, and himself. These formed the committee, and he was happy to say that they all concurred in the report, which he would read to them, and which showed most indisputably that the work was necessary and would prove remunerative. The main part of the report was as follows :—“ The select committee appointed to inquire and report to the House upon the suitability for railway construction of a line of read leading from the Upper Hutt to Pabautanui, and from thence by the Horokiwi Valley to Waikanae, with a view to the connection of Wellington with the Foxton and Palmerston railway by that route; and as to the expediency of an immediate suryjiy for the ssme, have fthe honor to report,——

That they have taken a cr nsiderable amount of evidence with regard to the matter referred to them, and are satisfied that the proposed line would bring into immediate use a very large extent of rich and valuable land, which must otherwise, for want of communication with Wellington, remain un available. I he proposed line, moreover, appears to your committee to offer the shortest route by which the whole of the country on the West Coast of the Provincial District of Wellington may be brought into direct communication with the city of Wellington. That, in the opinion of your committee, it is expedient that a survey of the line should be made with as little delay as possible, in order to determine whether it affords a practicable route tor the construction of the proposed railway.” He would further say that surveys were at once undertaken to ascertain the best route through the bills to the open land on the West Coast. The line he had suggested had been abandoned, as they no doubt knew, and they were now going through Porirua, reaching the coast a little below Waikanae. By referring to the diagram which had been prepared they would at once see the great advantages which the city, as well as the country, would derive from the construction of the line. He would read his resolution to them, and then give them the various distances to stations, following the routes on both sides of the island, in order to show the advantage they would have by taking the West Coast route. The resolution was as follows : “ That this meeting is of opinion that the rapid completion of the Wellington and Foxton railway is of vital importance to the colony, not only as a means of opening up communication between the city and the harbor of Wellington and the. present settlements on the West Coast of this island, and of bringing into profitable use large tracts of fertile land available for settlement ; but also because it would tend materially to lessen the difficulty of settling questions now open between the Government and the native population.” They would observe that the first part of the resolution would affirm the rapid construction of the line as a matter of importance to the colony. That was no doubt the first and chief portion of their, text. Those who knew anything of Canterbury in its present state, and of what it was before railway lines were constructed across the plains, would also know that without those lines the present- state of agriculture could never have been attained, for the immense products would never have been brought to Lyttelton in order to be shipp-d to other parts of the colony, to other colonies, and even to England. Nor would they now derive the large income which formed such an important item in the receipts of the colony. Without them Canterbury would be in a stagnant position without any signs of the life and trade which are now apparent in every part. And what the railway did there it would do here to the country on the West Coast, 'l hey wtre not using the country in a proper manner. Even if they used all the magnificent land. on the West Coast for growing wheat or other kind of grain, they wou'd still be using it in an improper manner. That land would grow the lemon, the olive, the grape, and other valuable fruit, and produce it in abundance, and such products would make the country as rich in these things as France, which it would fully equal in the variety of its products. Such industries would support a far larger population than the mere farming of grain. It was only necessary to go and see the country to convince any one that they only required to make that country accessible in order to get the people there, and the oftener he passed through, the more he saw its capabilities. They needed nothing but this railway system, the completion of which would do a vast deal more than it had done in the South. Those who knew the country knew he was not exaggerating. Wellington was the only harbor on this island, from its southern extremity to the Waitemata, that was capable for carrying on a large commerce ; they would, therefore, have to look upon it as the natural centre for that part of the colony, and as such they would have to centre all their inland lines to it ; and the sooner that was effected the better. They would then be able to count their population by thousands instead of hundreds. Coming to the second part *of the resolution, he would . quote a few figures which he had obtained in the office of the Engineer-in-Chief for this island, in order to show the importance of the work. On referring to the map they would see that lines started from Napier, Wanganui, and Wellington. They would also observe that the two coasts were separated by a high and continuous mountain range, called the i’ararua rauge, in this province, and the Ruahine in Hawke s Bay. On the east coast there was a large tract of pastoral land which, though parts of it were rich as regarded soil, would not be under cultivation for years and years to come. From Masterton to Woodville they had some good land, but it was all timbered, and though the soil was good, that part of the country would also require years of labor and expense before it would become an agricultural district. There was no comparison at all between these districts and that of the West Coast, where they had large rich and open alluvial plains, with here and there forest land, the whole of which was so easily accessible. Any one who had ever stood on Mount Stewart, near the Oroua, and looked around him, could not help admiring the magnificent expanse of open and forest land which stretched for a hundred miles in almost every direction. That land wanted only be opened to produce wealth for the colony. Ibey had only a line open to Featheriton just now, but by the end of the year it would extend to Masterton, a distance of sixty-five miles. From thence to Woodville was fifty-three miles, and to the Bunnythorpe junction twelve more, or one hundred and thirty miles in all. On the other hand, from Wellington to Foxton was sixty-seven and a half miles, and to Palmerston direct eighty-seven miles, and to Bunnythorpe ninety-six miles., showing a saving of thirty-four miles ; besides which the

line would open all the magnificent country between the Waikanae and the Manawattz rivers. He did not wish to be invidious, but thev could not help seeing that the settlements on the West Coast were far more prosperous than those in the Wairarapa. Masterton, Carterton, GreytowD, and Featherston were, no doubt, very nice villages, but Wanganui alone had more inhabitants than the lot together, and Palmerston North more than any two ® them. Referring to the third part, he thought there was no better way of settling, the native difficulty than by constructing railways, and thus bringing the natives into more constant and reasonable contact with the Government and the Europeans. There was a map in the General Survey Office, which was known as the fiddle string map, which showed all the different native blocks, as claimed. There was a regular army of men who made this map, and its strings their bread and butter, and the consequence was that many of the cases were interminable. Yet, he ventured to say that if the lot were put out on commission they would be settled in six months. In conclusion, Mr. Travers referred to the Kaiwarra railway works now in progress, and expressed himself highly satisfied with the work that had been done there. He did not think that it bad. been done by grinding, but by good honest work, which had been fairly paid for by the £IB,OOO already expended. (Loud applause.) Mr. Quick, in seconding the resolution, said it was an astonishing tbiDg to him that Wellington people had not gone in for their rights before this. He thought they had been treated shamefully. People were on the verge of starvation, and though there were railways branching off into other parts of the country, very little had been done for Wellington since the public works scheme was adopted. True, there was the vote of £40,000, which had been nearly all expended .on the West Coast line, but a portion of that had been set aside for a bridge and for rolling stock that would not be required for some time to come. fihe West Co ist line would open up a splendid country, but one argument which was used in opposition to the line being gone on with was that a large portion of the country was still in the hands of the Miaoris. 1 his, however, would always be the case so long as the Government wentonas they aregoing. (Applause.) The land should be opened up with the rail•way, and taken up in small farms, and the West Coast would then become a smiling and happy district, and the prosperity of Wellington would be greater than many people even contemplated. ‘ The motion was then put, and carried unanimously. Mr. J. E. Nathan moved the next resolution, as follows “That this meeting of the citizens of Wellington and inhabitants of the surrounding districts, believes that the construction of the West Coast Railway will materially add to the progress of the City and its districts by extending facilities for commerce, and affording scope for locating the rapidly increasing population.” He said that, after the description they had already heard of the land to be tapped, very little needed to be said by him. People travelling along the coast would see nothing but sand hills, and could have but little knowledge of the fine land bevond those hills If they only penetrated beyond the sand hills they would, however, come upon a splendid wheat-growing country. This was the case in the Foxton district, but wheat was not grown so plentifully as it should be, simply because the growers first had to cart it some twentyfive miles to find a railway, and when they got to one it only takes the stuff to the first port, there to be transhipped iu order to forward it to a market. I he population of the Provincial District of Wellington had increased between 1874 and 1878 at the rate of 71 per cent., but no means had been taken by the Government to open up country for this rapidly increasing population. He had much pleasure iu moving the resolution. , , , . Mr. Wii. Dawson seconded the resolution, and said that by proceeding with this line the port would be able to benefit the country, and the country the port. At present the Foxton district labored under great difficulties by being cut off from Wellington, and it was only by carrying out this iine of railway that those difficulties would be removed. The resolution having been put was carried unanimously, Mr. Geo. Hunter, who was received with prolonged applause, moved—That the meeting recognises the difficulty arising from limited appropriation with which the Government have to contend, in any attempt to hasten the progress of the works now being carried on, but hopes that a liberal interpretation of the charges placed against the vote for the West Coast railway will enable them to devote the amount set apart for rolling stock and bridge to the employment of more labor, or to call for tenders for the portion of the line betwixt Wellington and where the works have been commenced. . , , ~ , ~. He said it had been pointed out, that of the vote of £40,000, some had been expended on the works, and a portion had been allocated for a bridge and rolling stock. Many people thought the bridge and rolling stock were not wanted yet, but that the money absorbed by them should be used for making the railway as far as Juhnsonville, and this would be a, practical commencement of the railway. He could not altogether agree with Mr. r lravers in the view he took of settling the difficulty with the Maoris. Sir Donald McLean, who had died in the service of the country, had expended weeks and months of labor upon this question, his object being to get on wirh this line, but although he had done all the good he could, he had not succeeded iu extinguishing the native title. One of the practical objects of the meeting was to force upon the Government the importance of carrying on this line. It is true a part would go through native property, but the coast was clear for a considerable distance, and if the line was pushed on, the natives would soon be convinced that the railway was as much for their benefit as for

ours, and would then readily assist in having it carried out. (Hear, hear.) He believed the Government had in hand one million eight hundred pounds, which they proposed to allocate for railways and public works. He thought the Wellington people could make out a fair case for a share of it. He did not believe in stopping yet, for the railways could never be productive until they were completed. (Cheers.) They would then, first of all, pay the cost of construction, after which they would be a source of revenue to the country. That was the principle that would have to be carried out. The Royal Commission upon Railways was now sitting, and he hoped they would consider this feature of the subject, and he trusted we would then receive justice. (Cheers.)

Mr. Falmbk, in seconding the motion, said he thought with Mr. Quick that Wellington people had been rather slow in not making their claims heard before this. Enormous tracts of good land were lying idle for the want of better means of communication, and it was no uncommon thing for steamers to be detained in the rivers. He had been upon several occasions bar-bound in the Wanganui river for 11 days. The opening of this line would give facilities for regular and speedy communication with the capital, and merchants and others would not then suffer the inconvenience and loss to which they were now subjected, by their goods being detained and damaged.

The motion was carried unanimously. Mr. J. H. Wallace moved—“ That the meeting, believing that the West Coast Railway will eommand a large goods and passenger traffic, and will yield handsome returns against the interest of the cost of its constrection, claims that, to insure its being made at once, its cost should be taken from the recently raised loan. At the same time this meeting submits that the attention of the Government be called to what has already been suggested to a former Government, and partly acquiesced in, as a means of recouping the outlay, viz., the application of the proceeds of the reclaimed land in this city, and the land between Manawatu and Waikanae.” The difficulty of communicating with the West Coast had been under consideration ever since the first settlers arrived in the colony, /and the question was one that always seemed to hang fire. Their former representatives had been very lax in their duties in allowing such an enormous amount of money to be spent in the South Island, to the neglect of the North. (Applause.) The fertility of the Manawatu district was acknowledged by everybody ever since the arrival of the first settlers of the New Zealand Land Company, and Colonel Wakefield had looked upon it as the garden of New Zealand. (Applause.) It had been a great source of regret to many that the settlement of the Manawatu lands had been hung up as it had been, and that so much of it was atill in a primitive state, although the native title had been extinguished with regard to some of it. The only way to finally settle it was to have the railway gone on with. It was a line that ought to be made, for it would be one of the best paying lines in the colony. Referring to the latter portion of the resolution, be said the promise had been obtained from the Government in consequence of pressure brought to bear from time to time, 'and he hoped that further pressure would be used until they were rewarded with success. The whole of the £40,000 should be employed without any further delay, and Parliament should vote any further sum that was necessary. The Manawatu district was purely a wheat growing country, but the Waimate Plains, about which they heard so much, was not so good for wheat growing as the former district.

Mr. Taylor, of the Working Men’s Club, said he had been asked to second the®resolution. The club did not meddle with politics, but they had thought it right to move in this matter, for it was a movement that would benefit every inhabitant of Wellington. The May on, in putting the resolution, said the £40,000 was already exhausted, although so little had been done with it. Of course there was the bridge and rolling stock to show for some of it, and that would be useful some time or other.

The resolution was then carried unanimouslv.

Dr. Newman moved—that the members of the General Assembly for the Provincial District of W ellingfcon be requested to support, in their places in Parliament, the rapid prosecution of the works of the West Coast railway. He had been reading a book recently, in which he learned that a former custom with the French when their generals returned defeated, was to behead them, and this treatment served to stir the others up. (Laughter.) Something similar might be done with our representatives, that is, if they did not do their duty, don’t return them again. Napoleon had said that “ the God of battles was always with the strongest battalions,” and their members should bear this in mind when dealing with the West Coast railway, and should act together. Some important works had been carried out in Napier, but Napier had two members, and both were in the Ministry at the time. When Wellington got two members into the Ministry the West Coast railway would become an accomplished fact. (Laughter.) Colonel Gorton seconded the resolution. He said he was from the district they had all heard so much £about, the land flowing with milk and honey. In this district there were large quantities of land which could take the plough at once, but the plough would not be put into it because, if crops were grown, there were no means to get the produce to market. He had seen in Sandon 10,000 acres of grain growing, but it cost so much to get away that it disheartened the men who grew it. He had known 55 bushels to the acre to be grown on one farm, and that was not by any means an extraordinary yield for a good season. If there was direct communication with Wellington 50,000 acres more would be under crop at once, and that meant at least 40,000 tons of grain. (Hear, hear.) But grain was not all they *.ou]d grow there, for he had seen at

Feilding one of the finest hop grounds he had ever seen in his life. (Applause.) He thought that the line should be commenced at both ends, instead of at Wellington only—(cheers),—and the middle could wait. In conclusion, the Colonel humorously remarked that he had frequently branded stores, and he wished he could brand a line of railway for them as easily, and he sat down amidst applause, which was continued for some minutes afterwards.

The Mayor said the Wellington people were just as anxious as Colonel Gorton that the line should be begun at both ends, and at the middle too, if Government would only give the money for it. A public meeting was then being held at Foxton for the same purpose as the Wellington one, and it was gratifying to know that they were co-operating at both ends for this common purpose. (Cheers.) The motion was then carried.

Mr. Krull briefly proposed “ that a deputation be appointed to wait upon the Government with the resolutions of this meeting, and to support them ; and that it consist of the chairman of the meeting, the movers and seconders of the resolution, and the members of the General Assembly of the district.”

Mr. James Wallace seconded the resolution.

The Mayor stated that the people of Wellington were very much indebted to Mr. Wallace for the interest he had taken in the matter. He had spent a deal of time over it, and something more. (Mr. Travers had an action against him for it.) (Laughter.) The motion was then carried.

This terminated the business, and a vote of thanks to the Mayor brought the meeting to a close.