THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2006, 4 August 1892, Page 33

THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY.

DEPUTATION TO MINISTERS.

(Fi:o\i Oun Own* Correspondent.) Wkliangton, July 30. A. deputation comprising the Hon. T. Fergus, Messrs Valentine, Scobie Mackenzie, W. Hutchison, Eirnshaw, Pinkerton, Camcross, Parata, and Hons. It. Oliver and W. H. Reynolds met the Premier, Minister for Public Works, and Minister for Lands to-day. The Hon. Mr Fergus said that this was a deputation of Otago representatives in both Houses of the Legislature, and that they waited upon them for the purpose of urging that the Otago Central railway should be continued at a reasonable pace, so as to afford employment to a number of people in Otago just now and to open up a very "large extent of country not otherwise so productive as it might be. It would be useless for him to take up time in recapitulating the arguments used on the floor of the House in favour of this railway, but lie would remind Ministers that the land through which this railway would pass already yielded a considerable amount of revenue to the colony ; for of the L 120.000 derived in rents by the Crown, L 60.000 came from the lands on the Olago Central route. It might be urged that at the present time the difficulties from want of funds, the depression, and so on made it impossible for the Government to spare any revenue in order to facilitate the construction of this railway ; but he would point out that there would be an ample return for the expenditure in tho increased revenue from the Crown lands if the land was cut up in small areas. The increased customs duties paid by the people, and the greater revenue in other respects would far more than compensate for the railway. At a meeting the other day of those in favour of carrying on the Otago Central railway the expression of opinion was in favour of the scheme proposed by the late Sir H. Atkinson. The Hon. J. Ballance asked Mr Fergus if he could indicate at what rate the railway should proceed, or to what point he thought it should go before it would stop. Mr Fergus replied that he was in favour of taking it to Lake Hawea. The sooner the better. He knew that he differed from many people in that respect. There were in Duuediu a good many people unable to obtain employment, who would be glad if the construction of this railway were gone on with. Mr Fish said that the people would be satisfied for the present if the line were carried to Eweburn. They asked that the Government should adopt the scheme propounded by Sir H. Atkinson, and he thought there should be no difficulty in doing that. That scheme was briefly this : He proposed to allocate the sum of L 15,000 from the consolidated revenue, to pay the rents accruing from the lands into the Trust Office, and to borrow the remaining money from the Trust department, under the contract of the Government, paying interest at the rate of 5 per cent, upon the L 15.000. There was no more difficulty in carrying out this proposal now than there would have been then. If the L 15,000 were deducted in the way proposed, they would not require to appropriate the money from the public works fund, and by borrowing the trust funds they would be able to let contracts up to Eweburn. He pointed out that Mr M'Kerrow, chief Railway Commissioner, had stated that if the line were taken from Middlemareh to Eweburn it would be in the open country in the middle of the Maniototo Plains. The actual appropriations for the line amounted, he believed, to a million pounds, and he believed that there were still L 270.000 or L 280.000 due to this line. To show how earnest the people of Otago were in reference to this matter, he would instance the petitions presented to the House in favour of the work, and beariug 15,000 signatures, while all over the country affected by the line large meetings had been held, at which leading men had presided. He maintained that the question should be taken out of tho region of party politics. Altogether the work had exceptional claims, and, with the increased value of the land, the Government would make a great deal of money out of it. They asked, therefore, that there should be a permanent appropriation for the line as far as Eweburn. Blr Scobie Mackenzie said, as the person who represented by far the largest number of those affected by the work, he felt it incumbent on him to say a few words. He thought it only fair to gi% r e credit to the Government for the way in which they had pushed on the line so far as the moneys appropriated by Parliament had permitted them to do. The Minister for Public Works had dove his utmost with the money at his command. He (Mr Mackenzie) was of opinion that they ought to be reasonable in their demands. If they talked of constructing the line to Hawea, or any where near it, they were defeating their own ends. If any big scheme for which no money was available were demanded by them they would have the whole of the other members of Parliament against them, and would not be able to light against any such combination. In order, therefore, to be reasonable, they should first adopt the suggestion to carry the line to Eweburu. It was he who had suggested Eweburn as a terminus for a while. It would be desirable to get it at least to Clyde if the position of the colony were such as to admit of that. They would, in the meantime, do a great deal of good if they got it to Eweburn, and then from time to time, as the money was available, it could be carried further very easily by stages. But, failing to get it to Eweburu, every effort should be made to get it to Hyde. If the line were taken to Hyde at once, it would certainly do for the interior of Otago what the Dunback railway did not do now. Mr Fergus quoted some remarks of Bishop Mouan (who knows the district well) as to the necessity for the railway. Mr Carncross remarked that the petitions from the Taieri in favour of this work should bear great weight, because they were entirely disinterested. As a matter of fact the people in one district would be ruined if this railway were made, but nevertheless they recognised that it was a national undertaking, and had signed petitions in its support. The Hon. W. H. Reynolds said that while he had always opposed the Otago Central line because he thought the wrong route had been chosen, yet so much money having been expended on the work he considere.l it desirable that it should go on. The Premier, replying to the deputation, said that the Government recognised very fully the importance of this line. It had been recognised, as shown by the remarks of Mr Mackenzie, that the work had been pushed on with earnestness last year, and of course they must also recognise the earnestness of the people of Otago from the petitions presented this session in favour of the line. There was a slight difference between the views urged by Mr Mackenzie and Mr Fish. Mr Mackenzie thought tho line should go on by easy stages as the money would allow whereas Mr Fish wanted a permanent appropriatir for Eweburn-LISO.OOO, he benevedTwasthesum.Astotheconstruclionofthe netoHawea, thatwas not advocated now. That >v- s the ultimate destination of the line, but it

would have to be left out of consideration for the present. There were, therefore, two plans before them. Mr Fergus, and also Mr Fish, had stated that the people were in favour of the scheme proposed by fair H. Atkinson four years ago. He would like to point out to the deputation what that meant. The Government were in favour of pushing on the line as fast as they could. It was purely a question of money ; but what that scheme involved was borrowing on the strength of the revenue. The Government were asked to borrow on the strength of the revenue, and that did not differ materially from other loans. He hud asked Sir H. Atkinson, "Have you sufficient revenue to spare — can you spare L 150,000 ? " and his answer was " Yes." The question now was : Could the Government spare the revenue for this particular work to the exclusion of all other works in other parts of the colony. Looking at the matter as Colonial Treasurer, he did not think they could spare any more revenue at the present time. The sum of L 200.000 was to bo devoted to public works, and the allocation of that would be made known when the Public Works Statement came down. They must take into consideration other works in other parts of the colony, and he felt perfectly sure that members from other parts of the colony would not allow borrowing on the strength of the revenue for the construction of this line. The intention of the Government, however, was to push on the line as fast as the means would allow, and the deputation might be assured the Government would keep in mind the petitions from the people of Otago, and the representations of the Otago members on the subject. Mr Fish asked, assuming that L 15,000 was appropriated for the work this year, where the difference was if L 15.000 was permanently allocated from the course he spoke of.

Mr Ballance pointed out that next year they might not be able to afford L 15,000. Mr Fergus said that if they got L 15.000 increase in rents from tho lands through which the railway would pass they would be recouped almost at once for the expenditure.

The Premier said that the rents were part of the consolidated fund, and there was uo difference between taking the rents and taking the consolidated fund or the land tax or anything else. The Hon. R. Seddon said that it would take about L 15,000 to complete the line to Hyde. The whole question was one of ways and means, but the Government would do their best to push on the work.

Mr Earnshaw wished to make his own position clear in this matter. If they went in for raising money upon Ihe rents in Otago it meant that other parts of the colony would dehire to do the same thing, and that would force other parts of the colony to go iv for loan money. He did not think that position should be faced until they had met the people of the colony. He had opposed borrowing, and would do it still. While assisting the Government to complete the Otago Central railway, he would not be one to force them to go in for a loan.

Mr Fish retorted that they were not there to discuss the question whether there should be a loan or not ; they were there to represent the wishes of the people of Otago.

The Hon. J. M'Kenzie believed that the railway should be proceeded with iv the best iuterests of settlement, but it was entirely a question of finance, and he did not think the Government should be forced into any position which would involve a large loan.

The Premier repeated that the Government recognised that the people of Otago were thoroughly in earnest in this matter, but until the Public Works Statement came down i£ would be premature to say anything in regard to what they proposed to do.