OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2055, 13 July 1893, Page 13

OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE.

The Executive Council of the Otago Railway League submitted the following report to the annual meeting, held on Wednesday evening :—

At a public meeting held in Dunedin, 9th June 1892, convened by Mr Vincent Pyke, for the purpose of determining what steps should be taken to secure the more vigorous prosecution of the Otago Central railway, it was resolved to form a permanent league to watch over and urge on the construction of the line. The Otago Central Railway League was brought into existence at that meeting. His Worship the Mayor of Dunedin was at the same time elected cbairman of the league. Nearly all those who attended the meeting gave in their names as members, and an Excutive Council was appointed, consisting of : The Mayor, Dr Drysdale, Messrs Barron, T. Brown, S. N. Brown, Burt, Bathgate, Carroll, Denniston, Esther, Fenwick, Gore, Mackerras, Mitchell, Pyke, Reeves, Robin, Roberts, Sligo r R. Wilson, and Sargood. The Executive Council met next day and appointed Mr Vincent Pyke as itschaiiman, and Mr William Barron as honorary secretary and treasurer. At the same meeting circulars were prepared and sent to the chairmen of tbe Vincent and Maniototo counties and to the mayors of Naseby, Alexandra, andCromwellinvitingco-operation, which resulted in the formation of branch leagues throughout those districts. The names of the following gentlemen were also then added to the Executive Council :— Messrs J. A. Millar, R. Slater, and L. Shaw. On 16th June a Finance Committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs T. Brown, Esther, Sargood, Denniston, the mayor, and the honorary treasurer, to collect subscriptions and control expenditure. On 21st June a public meeting convened by the league was held in the Choral Hall, at which resolutions were passed urging the more rapid construction of the line, and these resolutions were forwarded to the Minister for Public Works, and also embodied in petitions to be presented to Parliament. A temporary office m Princes street was subsequently secured and a body of canvassers employed, under the control of Mr Asher, for the purpose of obtaining signatures to the petitions. This resulted in a large number of petitions in favour of the railway, signed by about 12,000 male adults, being presented to Parliament then sitting. As it was considered to be necessary m the interests of the movement that permanent arrangements should be made for office accommodation and clerical assistance, the Executive Council made an agreement with Mr R. H. Leary which enabled them to secure the use of an office and the valuable assistance of that gentleman as secretary on favourable terms. On the 19th June the Otago Trades and Labour Council held a very successful public meeting in the City Hall, at which Mr Judge (the vicepresident of that council) presided, for the purpose of strengthening the hands of the league. Resolutions expressing sympathy with the efforts of the league, urging that in the interests of labour, as well as in the interests of Otago and of the colony,' the completion of the railway should no longer be delayed, and pledging to do all in its power to push on the work were passed, and the chairman was requested to forward copies of them to the Minister for Public Works and to the Otago members of the House of Representatives, and to urge those gentlemen to use their best endeavours to give effect to them. On the 23rd July, a report of a speech by the Rev. Bishop Moran appeared in the Dunedin Evening Star in which the claims of the railway were strongly and eloquently urged, and the Executive Council of the league ordered copies of the paper to be sent to each member of the Government and Otago members of Parliament. Early in August, the secretary, Mr Leary, being in Wellington during the sitting of Parliament, held several interviews with Ministers and Otago members with the view of furthering the object of the league. In consequence of unsatisfactory communications received from Wellington relative to the attitude of the Government and Otago members ■ of the House of Representatives, the executive called a meeting of the league and the friends of the movement, which was held on the 2nd August, in the Chamber of Commerce. The resolutions unanimously passed at that meeting and transmitted by the mayor to the Government and to members of the House representing this provincial district strongly urged " members to do everything in their power to compel permanent provision being made this session for the continuous progress of the line." On October 3 the executive again telegraphed members, through Mr Pinkerton, M.H.R., pointing out that the provision made in the Public Works Estimates was altogether "inadequate, unjust, and. detrimental to the interests of Otago," and again urging members to induce Government to recognise and fulfil its obligationß in the matter of the railway. On October 7 the following reply was received from Mr Pinkerton:— "Handed your telegram round to Otago members, but it was felt that nothing mere could be done, the matter having •been discussed before." On October 25, in consequence of discovering that no tenders had been called for ironwork for the culverts and bridges necessary for the section between Middlemarch and Hyde, the council invited members to meet them to consider what should be done. At this meeting Messrs Pinkerton and Mackenzie, M.H.R's., informed the council that "the Hon. Mr Seddon had definitely promised that the line should be opened and running to Hyde during the current year." There is room for doulit whether these members properly understood the Minister as referring to the financial year ending March,3l or the current year ending December 31. As a result of the meeting, telegrams were sent to the Hon. Mr Seddon urging him to call tenders for the ironwork without f urtherdelay. Thesetenders were eventually called for about a month later on, after the executive of the league had again called the attention of the Minister to the matter. . ,' Mr James Gore, who kindly placed his services as an expert at the disposal of the league, examined the tenders on their behalf, and reported that 11 months had been allowed for delivery of the last 33ft span— that is until November of the present year (1893). If the contractors keep faith the Hyde section will therefore be completed during the current year. On Friday, February 3, several members of the executive, accompanied by Messrs Pinkerton, Earnshaw, Carncross, and T. Mackenzie, M.H.Rs., paid a visit of inspection to the line as far as Kyeburn, thus enabling members to become more thoroughly conversant with the country through which the line passes. On April 10 circular letters were sent to country branches of the league inviting their co-operation in urging the Government to make provision in the Estimates for the section beyond Hyde. On the 21st of April a conference of representatives from the league, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Trades and Labour Council was held for the purpose of considering what steps should be taken to secure adequate provision in the Estimates of the ensuing session for carrying on the line to the seventysecond mile, which would tap the Maniototo Plains. At that conference it was resolved to invite county councils, municipal councils, and other representative bodies to send delegates to a further conference. On May 1, Mr Haynes, as mayor of Dunedin, was appointed chairman. On the 11th of May a conference of delegates from the Dunedin City Council the borough councils of

South Dunedin, Roslyn, Mornington: West Harbour, Port Chalmers. St. Kilda, and Caversham, the Taieri, Bruce, Maniototo, and Vincent County Councils ; the Otago Harbour Board, the Otago Dock Trust, the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, the Maniototo Farmers' Club, the Trades and Labour Council, the Workers' Political Committee, the Otago Central Railway League and the branch leagues at Blacks, Clyde and Maniototo, met and passed the following resolutions :— (1) "That this conference/held in Dunedin 11th May 1893, representing local bodies and organisations, respectfully urges upon the Government, the Minister for Public Works, and members of Parliament the necessity of making provision during the ensuing session- for constructing the Otago Central railway to such a point beyond the Taieri river as will ' Command the traffic of the district, including the Maniototo Plains, inasmuch as the rugged, nature of the country between Hyde and Kjebura renders existing roads unsuitable for and impedes such traffic, and prevents settlement on a large area of Crown lands which, with railway facilities, could be profitably occupied." > - . . / (2) "That the main traffic from Central Otago has not yet been carried on the railway/ and, until the line is constructed and working to the point indicated, such traffic cannot, and will-not, be so carried ; and that in consequence the large expenditure already incurred remains unproductive." (3) "That to prevent the work beingunnecessarily delayed, it is requisite that the bridge to cross the Taieri river near Kyeburn, and such other iron work as it may be necessary to import, should be at once contracted for, bo that it may be ready for use when tbe railway reaches the point at which it is required." 4. " That the line should be opened for traffic from point to point as constructed." ,- 5. That a copy of these resolutions' be forwarded by the chairman to the -Premier, the Minister for Public Works, and to each Otago member of the House of Representatives.'" „ On the 20th May a deputation feom .the league waited upon the Colonial Treasurer (the Hon. J. G. Ward), when he said that he was in favour of assisting the league as far as the Government possibly could, because he believed that 'Otago had been treated badly in the past in reference to the railway, and he would, on behalf of the Government, promise that of the funds at their disposal a fair share should be devoted to it. He furtherpromised that he would go over the line before Parliament met. This, however, he has been prevented from doing by pressing business. The position at the present time is that the earthwork has been completed to within a short distance of Hyde, and 170 men are now employed in this work. A further section beyond Tlyde, on which 100 men are employed, is nowinprogress. The material for the bridges on the Hyde section is now in Christchurch, and, the council is informed, the girders will be placed. in position and the permanent way on the Hyde section formed without any avoidable, delay. The sales of land, in the vicinity of the line, which have recently taken place, and the eager competition which occurred thereat, is a sufficient answer to the few persons who.are yet so foolish as to oppose the construction or the railway. A statement of receipts and expenditure acconipanies this report, and the council nowplace their resignations in the hands of the league in order that by a new election any change may be made in the construction of the executive that the league may deem desirable. ' , Vincent Pyke, Chairman of the Executive Council.