OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 31

OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE

THE ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of the Otago Central Railway League was held in '.ho Town Hall on Friday afternoon, when his Worship the Mayor (Mr T. R. Christie) presided. The outgoing Executive Commit f ee -was represented by Messrs W. Burnett (chairman), W. Barron, T. Brown, A. Bathgate., W. Ginsberg, A. C. Stroaach, Steele, T. W. Kempthome, R Gilkison, G. Howden, R. Chisholm, and E. D'Esterre; while amohgbt others present were Messrs J. A. Millar, M.H.R., J. F. Arnold, M.H.R., A. Tapper, C. S. Reeves, G. Fenwiok, W. E. Reynolds, and W. Edmond. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs H. F. Ness, A. Sligo, H. Crust, and C. W. Ratlray The M.ayor, in moving the adoption of the report (already published), said he must confess that he did not know p. great deal about the interior of Otago. Ho certainly had been there, but not having special knowledge about the country's requirements he could not speak much about them, lie believed a great and good work had been done by the league — (" Hear, hear") — in endeavouring to opeu up the country; the work taken up was one of considerable magnitude, and tho league was to be congratulated upon what it had done and the amount of work it had caused to be done in Central Otago. He had recently visiter! the Catlins River district, and was {.mazed to see the possibilities there; he had not the slightest doubt that the same remark would apply to Central Otago. There was no doiibt the citizens would not be iilhe to the commercial interests of Dunedin unless they helped bodies such as the Otago Cenrtal Railway League, and assisted in representing to the Government the desirableness oi bringing the ountry and the town into closer touch. One was dependent upon the other, and it was necessary they should be*- closely allied and brought into closer harmony. In this respect he thought it necessary and desirable that greate^r* interest should be taken in the work of opening up the interior than had been taken in the past. — (" Hear, hear.") There was no doubt that the Dunedin exports had gone back; this was evidenced by reference to the harbour returns. This was a very undesirable thing for Dunedin, and it was a pity that the country should go _ back in this way. He had the idea that if similar work, as that carried on by the league, were undertaken by the business men of Dunedin and pross'ar© was brought to bear on the Government, with respect not only to the railway, but also to settlement round about Dun«din and in Otago, much good might be done. Hitherto there had been no extensive lands opened up in this part of the colony as there had been near other centres, and thecitizens should band themselves together for the purpose of endeavouring to bring about better results for the city than hitherto had been accomplished. One might open aip many subjects in this connection, but he believed if the buoiness men. in this town were to take up the matter more heartily than hitherto better results would be secured to Dunediu. He had much pleasure in moving the adoption of the report and in congratulating the league upon the good work done in the past. — (Applause.)

Mr W. Burnett, in seconding the motion, thanked the Mayor for his remarks. He (Mr Burnett) was very glad Mr Christie had been present at the opening of the Catlins River lino to Ratauui, and trusted the Mayor would be spared to witness the opening of the Central railway to Wjinaka. The Mayor had remarked on the apathy of the people of Dunedin, and while he (Mr Burnett) did not like saying hard things, still it, was a very true remark. The age went too fas>t for the man who was born tired, and when they saw two great nations Jike Japan and Russia pouring out blood and gold like water for the possession of a piece of country that was ice and snow-bound most of the year, surely it was a matter for some interest to the citizens of Dunedin and to the colony at large when it was offered a wealthy province for a few iron rails and sleepers. — ("Hear, hear.' 1 ) It was the fashion some time ago to cay nothing would grow in Central Otago ; well, the league had proved otherwise. Then it was acknowledged that "a little fruit" might be grown. Central Otago possessed a magnificent fruitgrowing area" capable of producing fruit for the colony. In California, where exactly similar soil and climatic conditions prevailed as in Central Otago, it took 77,000 car loads of 10 tons each to carry the fruit for export last year, and that fruit realised the enormous return of ?even millions •sterling. They were not going to pretend suoh a vast quantity could be produced in Central Olago, but enough fruit could be brought from there into Dunedin to give every family what it should haye — one meal a day of tho best fruit — ("Hear, hear"), — and every family in New Zealand, for that matter. All along the railway were seen beautiful homesteads. He spoke from personal knowledge, and could say these homes 'had sprung from the soil. Some 17 or 20 years ago, when this land was taken up, it was matagouri, scrub, and tussock, and the meji who took it up were poor men who took but little more capital with them than their brains and their power for work, and from that soil they had carved out beautiful homes. What was true of the country where the line went now would be true of the country beyond, where there was even greater and rioher lands to be opened up. — (Applause.) Mr J. A. Millar, M.H.R., would like to say a word or two in connection with the report. Of course he was thoroughly in sympathy with what tho league bad don,a

right through, and in his humble way he had endeavoured to ass-ist them, and would continue to do so. They were, however, placing members who desired to help them in a peculiar position. They placed a report beforo the public in which they esideavot red to belittle th 3 Government. In the report that appeared year by year was shown the amount voted and the amount expendo 1 upon the line, and the public wore led to believe that the position was a singular one. They should show that a similar sum, in proportion, had been, spent upon this lalway aa upon other railways in the. colons'. Where £100,000 had been voted for om-, U ne — tho North Island Trunk, — for instance, £70,000 had been sprat, and where £75,000 had been voted for the Ot-igo Central £50,000 had been spent. The pro rata expenditure had gone on in Otago as in other parts of the colony: It was absolutely impossible to get this Government or any other Government to spend the whole of the money upon the Otago Central. They could only anticipate a fair expenditure, the same as the other line* in the colony. If the league was going to place them in the position it did, after getting a vote pro rata, by turning round and belittling the Government, it was handicapping members in their endeavours to get more expended. He knew he was saying what was perhaps not palatable, but the only way they could get the lailway prosecuted was to go along hand-in-haud with the Government. The way to get it was not by belittling the Government and saying the Government bad not treated this line as fairly as it had treated other lines. He would take the table prepared by the league- and place it side by side with the expenditure on other lines, and would pro.ye that the Otago Central had got as fair expenditure, pro rata, as any other lin-e jn the colony. The league should admit rliat the Government was doing as much for this line as for any other trunk line in the colony. He asked the league whether it was wise to twit the Government about the expenditure upon the line. If members were aoked to approach the Government on the subject of the extension of the line they were met face to face with this report, and what were they then to say? They should be able to go to^-he Government and say, "We fully recognise what you have done, aud thai you have treated us fairly, and what we ask is that you continue to treat us the samo in ihe future as you have in the past." They put members in the position that the Government could turn round and say, " We- have dons what you asked, and now you are placing us in the position before the public that we have totally neglected this line." The continual harping on the Government had militated against thr> lin», amd would continue to militate against its sucoce*. So long as they got what they might reasonably consider a fair share of money towards the completion of the line, they got all they were entitled to and all they could expect. He was not going to be so foolish as to stand up in the House and say, " This line is to be completed before i'-ny other line in the colony." He was sorry to see the same matter had again been put in the re'pert, and considered that alongside the expenditure should be placed the sums expended on other lines in the coiony.

Mr W. Barren did not wish to epeak critically in the direction in which Mr Millar had gone. The league reeogn>ieed in Mr Millar a stout champion, and they recognised tho same m Mr Arnold and other members. The line the league took was the one it had been elected to take by the citizens, which was to push on the- 01 ago Central line as fast as poc-sible. If they went into a comparative analysis between lines they might be going outside their functions. If his memory served him aright, a comparison between the Otago Central and the North Island Trunk lives would not bear out the exact deductions Mr Millar had drawn from the figures in the report. However, they knew Mr Millar had dono his best for the line. There was one point in tho report which Mr Millar would probably agree was not unfair criticism of the Government. The Hon. Mr Hall-Jones, who waa a member of the Government and Minister of Public Works, had, when urged to name a date on which the line would be finished to Alexandra, (-aid he had no hesitation in saying it would be completed in March, 1903. Now, when they remembered how far they were from Alexandra, even Mr Millar or any friend of the Government would admit that they were justified in criticism and in urging that the Government had not kept its promise.

Mr R. G-iikison did not agree with Mr Millar's views. It seemed to him if they adopted Mr Millar's suggestion they would be on the wrong tack- altogether. He seemed to suggest that they should criticise every iine upon which money had bee-n spent. What they said was, the money that had been voted had not been spent, an/I if other lines were in a similar position to the Otago Centnl ifc was for the people there to raise a similar complaint. The Government bad deliberately put a large sum on the Estimates when it knew it would not have the money and did not intend to spend it. If the money was not spent, they asked why it was not spent; and if a promise was made, such -as that made by the Hon. Mr Hall-Jones, and broken, they asked for an explanation.

Mr R. Chisbolm thought a little healthy opposition wae a good thing, and he had been, glad to hear the expression of opinion from the City member. While it -nais perfectly true the main object of the- league was to concentrate its efforts upon the Otago Central, sxirely one's mental horizon was not so terribly narrow but they could look round and see how things were going in other directions ; and if the Government Could only spend a certain amount of money, it would be preposterous to expect that the whole of th,ftfc money should be spent upon the Otago Central, when there were other lines — euoh as CatHns, which was a. pet of his^ — wanted going on with. It was unreasonable to cay that the Government should have an amount placed upon the Estimates for a particular line expended and allow several other lines in the colony to go without. If the Government had only a certain amount of money to spend, it was utterly impossible for it to spend it upon one thing; it must expend it as equally as possible. He had said before tha.t the league might adopt a little more policy in drafting its annual report, because finding fault was not the way to get favours and help. Speaking as the ohairman of the Catlin's River Railway League, ho was safe in saying that, in proportion to the amounts placed upon the Estimates, they had not had anything like the amount spent upon theCatlins line that the Otago Central had had.

Mr Arnold, M.H.R., said the. league was to be congratulated upon the progress of

the line. Tho amount expended last year wa9 not ascertainablo yet, but if the three I previous years were compared with any three I years previous to that it would be fieen that a very great improvement bad been effected. — {"Hear, hear.'") Perhaps the line was not being forced on as rapidly as some of them, would like, but that it was being pushed on no one ecukl deny. The only way to force tho Government to do a certain work was by the influence brought to bear by member? on ih<=> Government. Tho league had th<3 support of the city and suburban member', but th^re had never been a united Otago in the House as far as tins question was concerned. As a matter of' fact, the majority of the Otag-o and Southland members cither did not care about the line, or were too much intere c ted in linos in their o^n respective districts. He specially commended the work of the leaguo in the past, and went on tp say that the people in this city absolutely knew nothing and cared le&s about the groat interior. The Otago Daily Times first ly and Dunedin secondly was to be congratulated on the series of articles on Central Otago, which had been published, and which bad been embodied iv a pamphlet circulated in Parliament. He had no hesitation in saying that the work had been the means of educating- many numbers of the House, and had been the means of removing a large amount of opposition to the vote. — (Applause.) The league, if it continued its present work, would have no need to complain about the support accorded it by the city and suburban members. — (Applause.) Mr G. Eenwick moved — " That the present Executive Committed be re-elected," and in doing so said the committee had don© very good work indeed, and the citizens had reason congratulate themselves upon the manner in which the committee's duties hpd been carried out, and the w&y in which the execxitivo had advanced the progress of the railway works. He listened to Mr Millar's speech with somewhat mixed feelings. There was some justice- in his criticism. The report went a little further than, it should have done — it was a little* strong in its language ; but at the same time there was reason to eritioiise the action of the in not expending a very much larger proportion of the votes. If the report was correct, it showed that only 60 per cent, of the votes had been expended since the beginning of the work. If that were true, then the Government had failed in its duty. Ifc was true that during the last two or three years there had been a considerable increase in the expenditure, and therefore it was right to assume that the Government w - as awakening to a sense of the importance of this great line. He hoped they would be able to' congratulate themselves next year upon a very material progress in the carrying on of the Jine. There had been imported into the discussion a comparison ac to the respective merits of the Ofca-go Central and the Catlins lines, and it was unfortunate that that comparison had been instituted. Both lines deserved the support of Otago and of the colony.— ("Hear, hear.") At Oath us there was a very great asset in the timber areas, and it wa% to tho interest of the colony that the railway should be taken into the heart of those' magnificent forests, for the great destruction of timber that had up to tho present taken place was to be deplored. It could not be helped, of course, for the settlers had to clear tbeii* sections to make homes for themselves. There was no validity in Mr Chisholms' remark that the Government was "hard up." He (Mr Fcnwiek) did not believe there was one atom of necessity for the Government holding its hand in respect to the Catlins railway. If the Catlins Railway League had done it? duty in the earlier days, as it had been doing lately, then •Ministers would liove visited the count ry before, and the line would have been much further ahead. Mr J. A. Millar seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

The Executive Committee thus remains as follows: — Messrs W. Burnett, A. Bathgate, W. Barron, T. Brown, W. Ginsberg, A. C. Stronach, C. W. Rattray, Steele, T. V . Kemptborne, R. Gilkison. Tonkin ,- G. Howden, R. Chisholm, E. D'Esterre, H\ F. Nees E. Roberts, *nd J. Jolly. A vote of thanlcs to tho chair concluded the meeting.