MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1775, 14 March 1906, Page 52

MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.

PROGRESS OR STAGNATION, SHOULD WELLINGTON BE SATISFIED? THE MANAWATU GAP. The agitation which, lias been renewed in Auckland for the construction of branch lines of railway connecting Auckland with Taranaki and Gisborne suggests the possibility that an attempt may be made to accelerate tnese connections to the detriment of tlio. national undertaking, the Main Trunk connection between Wellington and Auckland. Public opinion on the subject in Wellington—never very keen —appears to nave lulled itself into torpor,'-and in obtaining the expressions of opinion which, follow there was some difficulty in finding half a dozen leading citizens who really knew anything about the subject. All were unanimous, however, as to the pre-eminent desirability of hastening on such ail important undertaking. Now that Mr David Nathan is absent from the colony, practically the only leading citizen who lias been ever the surveyed route of the railway is

MR JOHN DUTHIE. The moment the agitation was mentioned to Mr Uutliie he referred with appreciation to the energy shown by Mr Nathan in the matter before lie left for England. The obstinacy rf the Government as regards the acquisition of the Manawatu line, he continued, was a grievous burden on the trade of .Wellington, in so far as we ought to have through rates for goods from Wellington. It was on Mr Duthie’s motion that the Chamber of Commerce before last session appointed deputations to wait on the Government on the subject, but now that Mr Nathan was away from the colony there Seemed to be nobody to take such an energetic interest in the matter, and the Wellington agitation had fallen asleep again. The mercantile people seemed to have been too much engrossed in their own affairs push on in this matter. _ - Mr Duthie knows something of the work, for he has been through from end to end on two occasions. “As far as we can learn,” he continued, ‘‘there is not nearly the number of men employed between Taihape and Karioi that there ought to be. When I went through in January, 1905, there were ruts three feet deep in the road the other side of Taihape, and nothing was being done to fill them up and make the road passable to carry material forward for the work on that section. This year, I believe, they endeavoured to send up some two thousand casks of cement by way of the Wanganui river, but the road was so bad they could not get it over from Pipiriki, and now they are contemplating bringing it back and sending it round by way of Taihape. A good deal of the road is on the shady side, and with the wet season it is in a very bad /Condition.” * ✓ The Auckland people, Mr Duthie remarked, had been much more energetio than those of Wellington, and the result was they had got the rail carried from Hamilton to Taumarunui, a distance of ninety miles, whereas at the Wellington end we had only advanced from Marten to Taihape, a distance of forty-five miles. Having got SO' far, ‘Aucklanders said to themselves, well it was Wellington’s consideration to get the rest, and they were looking out for branch lines. ‘•When we consider,” Mr Duthie added, “the class of country that has been opened up by the southern end of the line from Auckland, and compare it with the country that is being opened down here, we feel rather ashamed at the longer mileage Auckland has made. Every bit of the line that has been opened at our end has paid its way, and it will pay for some distance yet, whereas at the other end the line goes through rather barren country. That is, of course, all the more credit to the energy of the Auckland people. There is no doubt if the same energy had been shown in Wellington in advancing the railway, the rails would before now have been laid as far as Karioi, and would be paying all the way. Instead of that they are still working largely from the Taumanunui end. After Karioi the line strikes into the Waimarino bush country, which is comparatively open, and which opens naturally to the Wellington end. There has been a marked indifference in Wellington, and that is the cause of the delay. It is only-agita-tion outside of Parliament, i.e., by Chambers of Commerce and the public taking an interest in it, that will have any effect with the Government. But the Wellington people are" so far removed from the country that is being opened up that they do not seem to realise the importance of it. Although Auckland people say we are aggressive, the real truth is that the Wellington .merchant is too much engrossed in his office work, executing his orders, that he thinks he has done enough when he has sent his travellers out, without bothering himself about anything else.”

HON- T. KENNEDY MACDONALD. The Hon. T. Kennedy Macdonald treated the subject exhaustively. Be said:—“The Railway Construction and Land Act, 1881, deals with the whole question of the purchase of private railways constructed under the powers contained in that act. The Mana/watu railway was built under that act, the construction being commenced in 1882. Under the act if the line was purchased by the Government within between seven and fourteen years from the date of its opening, an advance of 5 per cent, on the cost price had to be paid; if purchased between fourteen and twenty-one years 10 per cent, had to he paid, and after twenty-one years the prioe had to be determined by arbitration, in the usual manner, the company appointing one arbitrator, the Government one, and the two arbitrators selecting an umpire, This period of twenty-one years having elapsed without the Government dealing with the matter, the company has now lost all claim to the extra percentage which it otherwise could have claimed. The position is, therefore, clear. The Government, in accordance with clause 114 of the act, can at once give the company twelve months’ notice that it intends to purchase at a price to be fixed by arbitration. That the Ctovernment should take this step without deley is admitted by every person in the colony, and if they desire to pay proper attention to the wishes of the people of the North Island, their intention to do so should form one of the principal clauses in their submission to Parliament of their proposals for the session.

“The present conflict of interests between the Government and the company and the inconvenience and loss occasioned to settlers and merchants by the absence of a through freight from and to Wellington and Napier and New Plymouth are very great. The company, knowing that they are tenants at will, subject only to a year’s notice, and knowing also that their decease as a business concern is absolutely certain, cannot bo expected to givo that intimate attention to detail management which means outlay at the expense of the shareholders, for which they may not get any return prior to the Government taking possession of the line. This has been specially exhibited in connection with the suburban traffic of the city of Wellington. The townships of CJrofton. Kliandallah, Johnsonville, Tawa Flat, and Porirua would have been trebled in size long before this had the Manawatu Railway Company some years ago had the courage to risk the Government allowing them to retain the railway for a long period, and doubled the number of their trains between Wellington and Porirua, and also minimised the time occupied in the journey. Their timidity in this respect, has cost them many thousands of pounds sterling of revenue, besides keeping back the development olf these suburbs. As an example, there are only eight trains leaving Wellington each day for Johnsonville. on the Wellington-Mana-watu line, distant only seven miles from Wellington, while there are twenty trains a day leaving Wellington for tho Lower Hutt, on the Government line, which is nino miles distant. If the Wel 1 i ngton -Man aw at u railway was in the hands of the Government such a state of affairs would not bo allowed to exist for a month; the pressure of public opinion on the Government would be too great.. On a board of directors public opinion is absolutely ignored; one might as well expect to move a mountain with a crowbar. There is one feature in connection with the Government taking over the railway which is particularly worthy of note. The WellingtonManawatu. Railway Company has £680,000 worth of debentures .maturing in London next year, and it is fio6ly said that Mr W. M. Hannay, the secretary, is proceeding next month to London, with a view to interviewing the shareholders, and re-arranging these debentures for a long period at a low rate of interest I am afraid if Mr Hannay thinks he is going to come into personal communication w’ith the bondholders he will find himself very much mistaken. He will find he will have to trust to liis bankers and them circulars to make any arrangement in this direction possible But why should any recasting of the debentures be necessary if the Government act promptly in the purchase of the line, as they should do. In the present state of the money market, the company will probably hwve to pay 4i- per cent, interest, while the Government could arrange them for 4 per cent. More than this, d e Government take over the line burdened with 4-i- per cent, debentures, th arbitrators are bound to take tin into consideration when assessing value, and the shareholders may possibly lose the difference between 4 pel and 44 per cent, for the period for which the debentures hare to run. In any case the position of the debenture account would probably cause fno- ,• „ „ m i loss, which could easily be avoided by an early understanding beSrarrived at between the company and the Government. A very strong representation on this head should be made to the Government by the Chamber of Commerce, as representing the merchants and traders of Wellington and the country districts.

‘You ask me as to tho progress Of the Main Trunk railway to Auckland. During the Christmas and New Year holidays I endeavoured to get some information on this head, and went through from Auckland to Taumarunui. The line was then some fifteen miles beyond Taumarunui. I understand there is a gap of about forty-five to fifty miles still existing between the Taihape end and the Taumarunui end, which it will take a very considerable period of time to fill, and that it will be necessary to have a coach service to convey the passengers between the two ends. A good road could be made so that the through railway and coach service could bo in operation in November, in time for the Christchurch Exhibition, if sufficient energy w«?s imported into the matter. The exact details of the position, however, you will, no doubt, bo supplied with by the Minister of Publio Works, should you apply to him.”

Questioned as to the feeling in Auckland on tho subject, Mr Macdonald said: “I found feeling in Auckland very strong on the question. They are just as desirous as Wellington is to get the line completed, and the Government will have the .support of every public man right through the North Island in bringing this about at the earliest moment. The enormous benefit to both Auckland and Wellington of the completion of tho through railway can hardly be overestimated. It will mean a great increase of settlement right along the line, the creation of large numbers of new settlers’ homes, and a wonderful expansion of trade and business both in Auckland and Wellington. The impression I formed in going through tho Waikato and the King Country of the land abutting on the railway was that, although covered with fern and looking somewhat uninviting, it ooukl be. made very rich and productive. The country is full of extensive limestone formations and large areas of splendid sawmilling bush. It was quite pitiful to see tens of thousands of acres belonging to the native people, which could have supported theusajnds of sturdy settlors, lying absolutely idle and unproductive, paying no rates or taxes to the State, and doing the Maori people no good. It has intensified the opinion I hs.ve held since 1890 that if there is one question more than another which has to be settled as early as possible by Parliament, it is that of taking over the wsste and unproductive lands held by the Maori people, and turning them to practical account, and in doing so to act justly and honourably by the Maori people. “You will have gathered from what 1 have said,” Mr Macdonald concluded, “ that the eighty-four miles of line now owned by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company will have to carry the whole of the through traffic between Auckland and Wellington. It is impossible for the Main Trunk line to be worked economically unless this is done. Tlio purchase of the Wellington and Manawatu railway is, therefore, the natural outcome of the completion of the Main Trunk line. But while the gap to which I have referred is being filled, the inconvenience and loss to settlers which is now occasioned in connection with through rates between Napier, New Plymouth, and the city of Wellington should at once be brought to an end by the immediate acquisition of the Wellington and Manawatu line.”

THE MAYOR OF WELLINGTON. The Hon. T. W. Hislop said he felt almost in a state of despair about the completion of the railway. The position to-day could be best described in the words used by Mr Scobie Mackenzie at tho Theatre Royal during the DuthieIvirk contest in 1898. He said: “ This was a lino—an important and necessary line—that bad been delayed by the Government for years. Imagine his surprise, therefore, when lie saw in a recent issue of a local paper the fact that the Government had decided to press on with tho line, and that, two surveyors—two, mind —had been put on in order to complete it without any delay at all. But they could not complete the line without ways and means. Since the Government had come into power, despttT their non-borrowing, self-reliant policy they had borrowed four and a half million pounds net. Properly expended this sum would have completed the whole of the North Trunk railway and the other chief lines of the colony, and left plenty for roads and bridges besides.- All that had been done during tho six years on the North Island Main Trunk railway was ten miles. And now, forsooth, on the eve of the general election, after years had passed and the matter had been shelved, two surveyors were to be sent up, and the line would be almost completed by the time the general election was over.” Speaking for himself, Mr Hislop said they had been told that when the Makohino viaduct was completed the work would be through arid finished in a very short time. That was always supposed to be the block. It bad always been estimated that the lino would be completed in a period of from Two to five years. These years had vanished long since, and still we were told it would be another throe years. THE CHAMBER QF COMMERCE. The council of the Chamber of Com-

merce discussed the subject yesterday, and Mr Shirtcliffe, as president, was asked to make a statement. He said although no resolution was passed yesterday, the Chamber was still quits sound on tho question. It was only about nine months since a deputation waited on the Minister of Railways, and they could hardly see that they could do any more than that. Still, there was a feeling that the Government was not making as much progress with the work as it should do. The statement was made, although, of course, lie could not vouch for it, that the appropriation could not bo expended. They could not help feeling that other subsidiary lines might bo almost abandoned until these more important works the N ort.l Island Main Trunk and the Midland —were completed. They were works of a national character, and ought to be pushed on. It was far better*to urge the completion of these two main lines before any branch lines were undertaken. Although tho Chamber felt that not sufficient progress was being made, it was only fair to state that they understood tho Government bad considerable difficulty in getting men for the work. In those circumstances, all other works should be subordinated to those two. The Chamber had bad no recent communications from the Auckland Chamber, but the last deputation represented that body also, and they had no reason to believe they did not still have the same objects in common.