THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13374, 29 August 1905, Page 5

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

DEPUTATION TO THE PREMIER. JOINT BEQ^ESTot"CANTERBURY AND WESTLAND.' ' PROBABLE COMPLETION OF LINE IN SIS YEARS. • (Fxok Ode 6w» Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, August 28. The largest deputation that has visited Wellington this session for tho.punibse of stirring up the Government waited *6h the Premier at 5 p.m. to-day. Its object was to urge upon the Government the falsifying of the Kipling doctrine that "East is eset and west is west, and, never the twain, shall meet," sis far, at anyratej as the Midland railway is concerned. Tho proceedings wet-e harmonious, there was a good deal of enthusiasm displayed, and the deputati6ri retired well pleased with a promise that six years will seo thq completion of tho line, tho first sod of wliich was turned n- couple of decades ago. The deputation, which was introduced by Messrs T. E. Taylor and A..H. GuinnesSj M.H.R.'s, consisted of the following:—Messrs ■H. Quane, A. Kaye, H. A. Adley (Canterbury Chambor of Commerce), W. E. Cooper, T. Gapes, J. Badfield (Christchurch City Council); E. C. Brown, A. G. Howland, J. H. Hopkins (Canterbury Employers' Association), J. O'Halloran (Farmeif, , Union). The following oompesed the West Coast .deleJrates:—Messrs J. Mahdle (Mayor of Hokitlka), J. A. Murdoch (Mayor of Kurnara), J. . Hargi-eaves (Grey County Council). .D. J. Evans (Westland Railway Leamie). J. Grimmond, H. A. Eauek, J. I)uff. (Wcstland County Council), E. J. Scantlebury, and W, Irving (Inangahiia County Council), Atkinson (Westport Borough Council), J. A. TetriS (Mayor of fireymouth). Tlie members of. the House of Representatives present were Messrs Davey, Tanner, T. E. Taylor, Ell, Flatman, Sir W. J; Steward. Laurenson. ..M'Laoldan, Parata. Oolvin, Ciiiiniiess, R. M'Kerizie. Tlie Lsgislativo Cburiciliors presnnt 'were. the.. Hons. J. Holmes, J. Marshall, and R. Reeves. Apologies were also received for the abssnee of ilcssrs Witty and Hartfy. Mr Taylor said that the' deputation was one of the most representative that had over approached tho Government on any occasion; and there wcidd have been more Canterbury M.H.R.'s had it not been that several of them wore oh their weeio-chd absence. ' Mr Qnarie, the first sneaker, said that no one in the colony had tho interests of tho -railways, so much at heart as the Premier. For more than ?.O years the people of Canterbury and TiVcstlahtl had agreed ■that connection between the cret and west was necessary, ahd when, at tho Premier's invitation, they had I'isited tho works through Staiiwe Gulljr it became apparent that after what liad been spent the line plioiild IxS completed, and thereby made.reproductive as early as. po-zsible. 'The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, which he represented, Was practically unanimous on Hint point. With respect to the tuiinVl on the.Otirn s n ction, it should he let by tender, to lie finished at a stated time, in'ordor that the work upon it should go oil simultaneously with the work on tho rest of tho line. Mr li. Antill Adloy read letters from tlib Canterbury Industrial Association, tho A. iind P. Assoeiiitibn, and the Northern (Riiiigldrii) A. and P. Association, eiidorsing the views of the ilbputsiion.. a Oil behalf, of the Groyinouth iiorough Council, Mr .1. A. Pctrie said that there was a general iiiiprtssidii that besides coal, gold, and timber, AVestland had iiotliiug loft. This impression had miliiatcfl to a great extent nffitinst the constriibtion of the (inc. There was, on the contrary, a .very largo extent of valuable land on the West Coast. Ho specially cited the Kokotalii district, wliere there . were 30,000 or 40,000 acres partially clear, for a tract of 3000 acres of which £10 an acre had been refused. This was only a email part of the'land for settlement on tho Coast, and there was already an excessive demand for the sections offered, and , this demand could not bo satisficd. As. an instance of the further resources of Westiand, ho mentioned that there had • recently been discovered in tho Paparoa Ranges a seam of coal wliich analysis showed to be identical with the South Waks smokeless coal. This coal, ho added, would cops with the difficulty of running tho train through five ahd α-jlialf miles of tuniiel, Thcro were at least GO million kins in sight, and it could bo delivered in Christchurch at a lower cost than. Was being paid at present for sdaborne coal, ahd it coiild ho easily mined. Mr .1. O'HiiHoran, for the Canterbury branch of tho Farmers' Union, emphasised the union's opinion that the tiiiio hiid come lor tho early completion of the Ilile. Canterbury wished to lie independent of seaborilo coal aiid timber. For vea'rs they had booh wanting to know something alioiit Westlaiid, as Ihb Premier had kerit them iii tho (background.—(Laughter;) They looked upon tho Premier as their king and their fatlrer and their governor, and they wanted this line put through. Mr J. Mahdl.o, tho Mayor of Hokitika, spoke of the isoiution under which Wcstlhnd suffered. They had been a back-blticks district for over 40 years, and the.time had coiiie whoii they should be iii tpucti with the civilirod world.' ("With Cj.ntorbiiry," said tho Premier, in a tone that might.have been endorsement or correction.) Them wlis Goino civilisation amongst them. Mi , Mnndlo continued. The question, he went on to Pay, was hot simply a West Coast hiiittor, hut a colonial matteri anil the line would ho a financial success. There was ii population of 25,000 on the Coast, aiid they had millions of acres of good agricultural and pastoral land in addition to the minerals., They also wanted tho Govcrnlriont to ict the tunnel in one contract, hcciUise unless this were douo its construction would nover bo assured. Dealing with the loss of interest on capital, ho quoted some figures wliich had been calculated to show that if tho lino wero finished in five years it would icsfc £1,491,000, if in 10 years £1,692,000, and if in 20 years £2,205,000. Tiie lino would- open up two million acres nf forest land, two million acres of pastoral lnnd, and 240,000 acres of agricultural land. Tho yearly output, of gold in West-land was £500.000, of coal 800,000 toiß, and of timber 26 million feet. This went to Canterbury. This timber represented between £30,000 and £40.000 a year In carriage, and it Was estimated that the timber shipped would exceed 30 million feet this year. Canterbury iiloiie, ho' pointed out, wanted 130,000 tolls of coal a year. The completion of tlie line would double or treble tho Wostland population. His figures, ho. pointed out, did hot take couiit or the tourist and passenger traffic. Jir A. G. Howlahd, representing the Canterbury Employers' Association, spoke of his long advocacy of tlie lino sinco before the first sod wns turiled iit. Bninuortoii 20 years ago. They liad now, ho _ thought, waited long enough, and if the lino could bo completed iii five years it would confer botlefit not only bri Canterbury .and Wcstlririd liiif on the colony as a whol.e. Ho stroiigly urged thti letting ot tho tunnel contract. Mr Grimmomt, on liehalf' of Westlitiid County unit Ross, quoted figures to show the cheaper cost of coal and timber if taken across, tlie Solith Island by rail, and of tho isolation of the Coast and the disadvantages of its ports. The sea Carriage of timber was 5s Id per hundred feet, and of coallss person, awl these would bo only 3r 8d and 11s per ton by rail. Tho completion of tho line would improve the value bf tlie Crown land ill Wrstland. Mr W. H. Cooper also spoke on hohalf of the Ohriatchurch City Council, and urged that if Christchurch conld get fcodl at 4s less per ton than at present it would 1 bo a groat- boon ahd a strhng arWmeht iii favour of ah early completion of tho railway. ... Messrs J.. M'Lachlari and T. H. Davey M.H.E.'s; also sbolid briefly, ami Mr 'J. A. Murdoch] bf Grcymouth, urged that the Government waa in every sense pledged to cbmpiefe the line. Mr.R. Jl'Kcnzie, JI.H.R.i who had been an interested spectator,, then entered a speoies .of protest. lie didn't know whether there was a West Coast swindle or not; but that Kelson- would nbt allow Canterbury and Wcstland 1 to rob it. THE PRiMlEfl'3 REPLY. 'Mr feedclor/ expressed his pleasure at seeing the miidn.of Canterbury and Westland, as represchted by tlip joint deputation. In looking baok over the past 25 years h<! could not but regret, that the .liiio had riot been completed ycara ago.-("Hear, hear/ , ) Another matter which ho regretted was that other lines, which, had been,commenced after tlie Midland line, antl whose importance was nbt l*y any iiiearia preateri would be completed yeflrs before .the connection, would be iridde between Canterbury and the West Coast. It was Unfortunate for tlie people bf -these two districts that the construction of .the line had been handed Over to a private compa-ny.— "Hear; hear.") He had recognised at the tinie that it was a mistake to'bring, ih a private cbiiipaiiy.

If the,.line : had. been.undertaken under the Public ,Works'- policy arid kept on a level with other, lines; it'-..would -;h_»vo been.completed yeate. ago.' Tho. 'company had,, kept back tho line for" .about 10: years. When tliey considered the proportions .contributed by Westland and Canterbury to tho revenue they must all. t agree that theso two provinces had a-greater, cl'ajpi, on tho expenditure of: public money- than any other part of. the colony.. . • . • ..Mr; it. M'Kenwe: You are entirely wrong; They got.all theirs.years ago. ' Mr feddon: Taking-the contributions to revenue, and ah-o'tlio .payable nat'iro of the work into consideration, the claims of the .'Midland lino «r6 overwhelming.- Westland, not only bad it? mineral and timber; but it.also, had scenic beauties, and when the lihe was , completed they would have an excellent round' trip From Olfristolmreli to the West! Coast; and,thence, to Nfelsoti; Blenheim, and Picton, whence tiiey iioulcl take thq boat'to Wellihjton.jHe also looked , , forward to tho time whtii the late Mr Jlrcaridrew'9 Scheme of a, railway to girdlfe the South Island would bo 'realised, and when they Would, be ivblb' to. gb through frbin" tho West Coast ahd join the liiio iii Otago. The. deputation was ddiilg the iainc is the Aiicklaiut aiid-dtheJ district', liad dohd in .bringing their fcquircriients befbro hini. Ho agreed that the Midland railway should bo gono. on witli rndro, expoditiously.— ("Hear, hear.") . One fact iii connection with the lino, was generally overlooked, and that was that.'.there were four noinfe in conhedtiori with.the line upon which work was proceeding—viz.', t.li.e Nelsoh-Tadmor section, , the Reefton-lnanjahua Junction section, the dtira Gorge section, and .the Springfield end. ■ . T.liero woro thus four distiticfc 'liries, and.there should bo four distinct votes. The amounts voted, however, were , .all. gathered up under tho heading of "Midland railway." Eut ( considering the importance of tfie work to be done; the'amouht was really small. A Delegate: You had bettor split up the votes. ' Mr Seddo'n, referring, to Ivlr M'Eenzie's remarks, said that,, although the .Nelson people n - ere not represented there that day by .invitation;.he,was. quite sure..that the deputation had rip wish to do anything that would be prejudicial to 'the Kolsoh...connection as originally proposed.—("Heavy, hear.") ■ . ' Mr Guinness:. Mr. M'Kcrizio and Mr Colvin . wero. both, asked to, attend. Mr Seddon said he would now come to the main point urge'd by tho deputation , — viz., " the hole through the hill." In the first place; it had been rccomiiiendfid that the A B T system should be adoptetl. Tho Government's awn engineer had; however'; advised a tu.rinol. lfinit a tunnel of {hi'eo milea in length was urged; theii one of seven miles, and finally it hail been decided that the - most . practicable sclienie would be a tunnel, of .u little over five, miles in length.'The dotnils of the surveys' had bepn completed, and arrangements were being; made for the Bridge's aiid other nocessary work to bring the' lihe uri to tho motith of tho titririel oh llio Otira side. Preparations had also'been made for calling for tenders for tho .tunnel itself;— (Applause, and "Hear, hear.") Whilst not overlooking the merits, of the cooperative, system (which should stiil be co'iitinued)j tho .Government thought that, the tnnriel was a work which should l>o let fey tond&r in ohe contract.—{" Hear; rfch'r.") Tho Government had also had ah investigation made in'regard teytho question of an electrical installation in'conncetibn with the tunnel, for, with all diio deference to Mrj Petrie, hfl thought'that the' motive,power for tho tunnel should be electricity, .and' npt coal. The Minister of Piiblic Wbi'ks was iiow putting the finishing touches on his Public, "rt'orks Statement, arid that morning they had come to the conclusion that hn (Mr Seddon) could go to the loiiffth of tolling tho deputation that the titniiol wtiiild bo doiio by contract. Next year they hoped to have tho liiio so far exteticteti as to niiko it poasible to do Hie journey between G-rev-motith . Christchiircli in ono day. Ho clso hoped that during, if iiot nt thoopen-. ing of, the. Cllr'istehurch Exhibition they would ,bo able to.connect the two ends.of tlib North Island main trunk line In' coach, .so .that the journey between Auckland and Wellington may bei made in a day. Passengers would then lib ablo to run through to Ohristchiirch by boat ..and take another , diiy in reaching tho West Coast. Tliare was." however, olio phase of Hie question which had to lie ctilisideiwl, and that was that there wns only a limited atnouht of inbitey iiyailable'. for Expenditure bn public work's. SlemUars were natiirallv anxidus lo ktrow lio\v their districts would faro. ■ As Oo'lciniSl Treasurer, ho had no anxiety except to see that a fair allocation was mntle. A million loan was already jirdposed They were finding £600,000. Wit'-of r?vehiie, aiid ih .-itklilion fcy liad bi-er £800,000 to the good iii the Public Wol'ks I'iiml in last, so that so far as public, works were concerned matters might b'c said to ije ratlipr ensV. Takins the small expenditure on tlia Midland railway,during.thh jiast foiv noinpared with, such lines. Hi?,.the fjfago Certlrdl nhd North Island Main Thiiik lines, ho did not thinl:. even Hie most fastidious ivoiild coiiiiilain if a was voted for the Miiliiind line. ..Ho certainlv was glad to see -Canterbury, West-land, and Nelson united.

Mr K.. M'Kenzie: Nelson is not in it at nil. Mr Seddoii said tliat Canterbury and Westlaml lad always shown a liberal spirit in reprard to expenditure in other parts of the colony, ink l ho thought he would not be asking tob much in asking to get the twinel through within. the liext six years. The estimate wns five, years, but it was well to nllow n littlo latitude in regard to thrss difilciilt oiicifio&vhig fedts. and lift thought they would dn very well to pet the tunnel tlirbi'?l> withiii eix years'. If Parliament vot c d the nidiiey. he honed 'the work would socn bti protfoddsd with, aiul ho hiiil uH doubt that whou. the line'was cdlrirlcte:! it would lid nno of ihe fe.t paying raiUfays in. tlio colony. . .' . Tlio. / (lele<;nf<?s tlieh thanked the Premier and wifclidrew. •