KAITANGATA RAILWAY CHARGES MEETING AT KAITANGATA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1325, 21 April 1877, Page 9

KAITANGATA RAILWAY CHARGES MEETING AT KAITANGATA.

[By Telegbaph. J

(fbom oub own bepobteb.) Kaitangata, April 17th. A meeting to consider the proposed increase of charge for goods, &c, on the Kaitangata Railway Line was held to-night. There were about 100 persons present, and Mr Hislop was voted to the chair. The following resolutions, proposed by Mr Stoddart, seconded by Mr Mosley, were carried unanimously :—lst, lhat in the opinion of this meeting it is not conducive to the interests of the settlers that the branch lines of the railway communicating with the main line should be held by private Companies. 2nd, That the Government (where there is a prospect of their paying) should take them into their own hands, whenthey could be more economically worked, and the country would be better benefited. 3ad, That the Kaitangata line, communicating with an im portant and extensive agricultural district, producing? yearly a large and increasing quantity of gram,-should, for the purpose of giving increased facilities to the settlers, be in the hands of the Government. 4th, That as long as the line is m the hands of private parties, the cost of carriage of grain, etc., must of necessity be out of proportion to the charges on the main lines, thus placing the settlers here at a great disadvantage. sth, That as large and valuable coal deposits are known to exist all over the district, there is no inducement to work them so ljng as the only line of communication i 3 in the hands of a rival coal company. Whereas, this line, with a large grain traffic, and a constantly increasing coal traffic, reaching last winter to 1000 tons per month, cannot fail, in the hands of the Government, to prove otherwise than highly payable, thus enabling the scale of charges to be assimilated to those of the main lines. 6th, That a Committee be appointed to communicate with the parties with a view to pointing out and explaining the advantages to be derived through the above resolu- | turns, and that the Committee be instructed to I obtain statistics and prepare a memorial to the Government praying them to take the earliest I opportunity of giving effect to the views of the 1 meeting."

Mr Henry Clark (Tokomairiro) said that the resolutions were very good as far as they went, but at the same time the meeting should bear in mind that it was not at all likely that the Government would agree to take the line over. He saw that a deputation bad waited upon Mr Reid to get ths Government to get a line extended. Mr Reid then said that the borrowing powers of the Government had been already expended, and that the works that were now undertaken would require all their money, aud that tney would be unable to borrow any more for some years to come. He was afraid ' that the same reason for not taking over this line would be given, and thought that another resolution should be proposed, asking the Governent to supervise the rates of charges made on private lines. The resolution was very stringent; indeed, it was supposed by the Provincial Government when they sanctioned the making of this line, that the general public would have as much convenience afforded them by it as if it had been made by the Government. He believed if they could not abolish the exorbitant charges, by-and-b>e the Government might take over the line. It would be well to pass some resolution in the direction he had spoken of. Mr Mosley moved — "That the Committee receive instructions to take the necessary steps to cause the Government to put in force the Ordinance of 1875, in order that equitable rates should be charged for carriage of goods on private branch line 3cf railway." Carried.

The Committee consists of Messrs Mosley, Smith, Stoddart, Smail, J. Mactarlane, Hislop, Shore, Darling, and Mitchell. A letter was read by Mr Stoddart from Mr A. J. Smyth, in which it was stated that the Directors of the Company had determined to make in future the charge for grain only Is 4d more than the present charge to Stirling. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, and to Mr H. Clark for attending and bringing forward tbe Ordinance of 1875, brought the meeting to a close.