THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1898, 19 June 1890, Page 16

THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY.

As pre-sessional speeches accumulate it becomes increasingly plain that the no-borrowing fervour will prevent the Otago Central from being carried any further than Middlemarch, unless the extension of the line to Eweburn is insisted upon by Otago electors and representatives much more strenuously and co-operatively than in the past. We will not go so far as to say that it is a matter of life or death for Dunedin to get the railway continued to Eweburn, though that is the expression that first runs to the tip of our pen. Exaggeration never does any good in the long run. But we do say that it is of immense importance to this city that the line should be continued so as to place us in connection with the Maniototo, and we say further that it is mainly the fault of the apathy and contentiousness of our own. citizens that the line is not at Eweburn by this time. We hear plenty of complaints on all sides of industrial and commercial depression. But where is relief to come from if not from the settlement of land, and where is there any considerable quantity of Crown land remaining to be settled in this part of the colony except in Central Otago? Next to the opening up of the lockedup lands, which is a colonial question, there is no political matter which has so direct a bearing upon our immediate and future progress as this of the continuation of the Otago Central railway to the nearest point where it becomes of sensible service.

It is very curious to see the halfhearted way in which most of our representatives deal with the subject. They dwell upon the mistake of having ever commenced the railway, the mistake in the route, and then plead apologetically for a small extra sum to wind the thing up. That way of going to work never won an uphill battle. The past is of no consequence in the matter except in so far as it affords a fulcrum for future operations. " What is " proper and prudent to be done in " the position in which the work now " stands " is all that is material to the issue. At the end of this year the line will reach Middlemarch, at which point it will not open up enough country to command traffic sufficient lo pay working expenses. By an extension of 38 miles, at a cost of 1.200,000, to Eweburn, "it would command, there " is every reason to believe, traffic suffi- " cient to pay beyond working expenses, " interest on the cost of construction, " not on the half-million already spent, "but on the additional L 200,000, " with the reasonable expectation at 11 no distant day of a substantial sur- " plus." These are the words of the Premier in the memorandum which prefaced last year's Bill. Keeping still entirely to the financial aspect of the question, let us see what the Railway Commissioners have to say : " This expenditure (the L 520.000 ex- " pended in taking the line to Middle- " march) is of very little use to the " colony unless the line is extended to " Eweburn ; but even then it cannot " be expected that any interest on the " L 520,000 would be realised for many " years. Some little time must elapse " before the extension of the line can l{ be expected to promote much in- 1 " crease in the traffic which already " exists between che interior and Dun- ] " edin. While it is probable that if " the line is opened to Eweburn it will " pay working expenses on the whole, " it must not at first be expected to " pay much interest on the cost of ex- " tension." This, it must be admitted, is very guarded. The Commissioners do not like to commit themselves definitely to the statement to which the Premier commits himself, that the extension to Eweburn will pay full interest on the L2oo,ooothat it will cost to construct. But it has to be borne in mind, in weighing the Commissioners' words, that they are all three cautious Scotchmen and officials, liable to be called to account if a line constructed on their recommendation does not completely fulfil their prognostications. Their dispositions and their interests alike tend to keep them well on the safe side. And leaving the matter at their estimate, what does it come to I—that1 — that the line at Middlemarch is useless, and to work it would entail positive loss ; that to take it to Eweburn will cost LBOOO a year for certain, minus a yearly increasing profit which cannot at first be expected to cover the whole LBOOO. It is not in any case a very serious financial risk, and for want of it the L 520,000 previously spent, representng an interest of over L 30,000 a year, ails to attain any object, It might as

well, indeed, have been thrown into the sea — indeed better, for then there would be no need of expense for maintenance.

Now let us see on the same authority what prospects there are of a return for the L 520,000 by spending another 1i200,000 ; what object — to put it another way — do we achieve by spending L 200,000 9 We shall not quote the Premier on this point ; he may be considered a partial witness. The opinion given beneath is that of the prudent and responsible Kailway Commissioners, and it is fair to presume, both from his previous evidence and his special experience, that the words of the Oommissioners on this point represent the opinion of Mr James M'Kerrow, the Chief Commissioner. The strongest opponents of the line will admit that on a question of this kind it would be difficult to obtain any higher authority. Mr M'Kerrow knows the value and capabilities of land as well as any man in the colony. He is well acquainted with that particular land, and his evidence before the Waste Lands Committee three years ago shows that he is by no means an out and out supporter of the Otago Central — that he holds as strong opinions as to the undesirability of taking the line beyond Eweburn as he does of the desirability of taking it to Eweburn. It was the importance attached to the former part of his opinion which caused the rejection of Mr Pyke's Bill. The importance attached to his latter portion ought pari passu to make the House carry the line to Eweburn. This is what the Railway Commissioners say : — " The " extension of the line from Middle- " march to Eweburn —38 miles — " would take it to the centre of the " Maniototo Plain, and to a point that " would absolutely command the traffic " of an open country of about one " million acres, mostly Crown lands " now accessible in every part by " a network of excellent roads, and " occupied by a pastoral, agricultural, " and mining population of about 5000 " persons. It would also bring another " million acres of similar country in the " Upper Olutha Valley nearer the rail- " way system than at present with "an additional population of about " 4000 persons. The goods traffic " from the coast would be general " merchandise, mining appliances, and " timber j and from the interior dis- " tricts wool, stock, grain, and other " agricultural produce, and the dis- " tribution along the line of native " coal. There would also be some " passenger traffic. The cheapening "of carriage would give a decided " impetus to the agricultural settlew ment of the Crown lands, and to the " mining industry." The question is reduced to this : Is the largest estate of lands still in the possession of the Crown to remain inaccessible for want of an expenditure which entails an outside risk of LBOOO for a few years 1 Is the progress of Otago and the prosperity of Dunedin to be indefinitely retarded for fear of a risk no larger than is frequently faced by a private merchant? — a risk not much larger, if we consider the contingencies, than the Union Steam Ship Company faced when they built the Monowai. By all means, let us have no more imprudent borrowing ; but to be frightened out of a practical benefit by the "no borrowing" cry is surely unworthy of sensible people who are competent to manage their own affairs.