OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 34

OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY LEAGUE

The ordinary monthly irieefcing of the Executive -Committee of- the Otago Central' Railway League was held on -Monday evening; present — Messrs W. Burnett (chairman), W. Barron, A. Bathgate, L. D. Macgeorge, W. Ginsberg, E. O. -Reynolds, E. Roberts, H. IX Bedford, M.H.R., J. F.. Arnold, M.H.K., 1 ffollyvjun., and' E. D'Esterre. Apologies for .absence were received from Mr T. Brown and Mr G. Fenwick. The Public Works Department wrote acknowledging receipt of the league's resolution urging that construction of the bridge Dyer the Manuherikia River at Alexandra •Ihould be put in 'hand simultaneously with . ihe bridge near Galloway, and stating that the matter would receive due consideration. —Received. Mr- Syines, ,M.H.R. for Patea, wrote thanking*,, the* league for the information supplied him- with reference to the Otago Central district. — Received. . Sir J. G. Ward wired on November 28 that he understood arrangements were be- . , ing made by the Public Works Department, \ . but he had given instructions for the mem- j bers of the league to be passed to and from Ophir on- November- 29 (the, date of the opening ceremony). He had -wired to the Superintendent of. Railways at -Duneain. — •The .^Secretary said this ; hads arrived in the- evening; , and -he .had communi-cated-with as many;- members of the league' as he could By telephone7~but^no one could get away. He" then" returned ttie. railway passes « to .i:he r . traffic .superintendent. — Mr " Bathgate hitch vsee'med ' tp have occurred; owing- .to the fact that the Public Works- Department should have "issued \he \ invitations, ,to the opening' ceremony, as ■was done' when ~ the line was opened to Hyde, but' the Minister of 'Public Works . had been detained in Wellington,' and probably the matter had been, overlooked. At anyrate, there was no special slight on the league, for the city parliamentary representatives had not been invited.— The Chairman said he did not think the league cared very much' whether it was invited or not. It was the/league's duty to urge on the line to-its destination, and it was only concernedwith "that. — Mr Ginsberg expressed regret that the league had not been officially represented the opening ceremony, and ha _mentioned a- curious idea that ' some people he had met in Central Otago entertained, that the members of the leaguewere" paid for the duties they jierformea.— (Laughter.) . Mr Barron ,said he noticed that in the debate on the Public Works Amendment Bill Mr W. C. Buchanan, M.H.R., after mentioning several railways, the Otago Central amongst them, eaid: "Now, in, the case of every one^of, these lines, I venture to say that no part of the colony, not even, the districts in which- the railways are being constructed, would be seriously prejudiced any extent at all if a single ' shilling had not been expended upon them." He (Mr Barron) knew, of course, j bhat Mr Buchanan was speaking quite in ignorance of *fee Central , Otago " country ! irKen he instanced the Central "Otago line.' l He moved— "That such printed informal fcion : about the ■' Otago Central railway *s^ j may be available be sent to Mr W. C. j Bttah*nan,""Mr.H.R.i together with a letterprotesting against what Mr Buchanan said m^ Parliament on November 1, as- reported in 'Hansard, No.,' 35, p. 668j so far, as the ' Otago -Central railway is concerned, soy that Mr Buchanan may be^ble to arrive atra more, just opinion* of tfce merits' of ■ -that railway; and that Mr Buchanan he respectfully requested to give his valuable assistance towards the more rapid oomple- . 'tion of a work which, he - must -see, is of fcbe utmost importance, not only to the dis- j trict through /which it is being constructed, but to the colony, the development of the , resources of whicfi is being materially hin- I dered by the slow progress of the Une-Ll The motion was seconded by Mr E. Roberts. The Chairman said anyone who ' knew Central Otago would realise that without the railway settlement _would be impossible. Mr Jolly said he noticed that the Premier spoke most strongly in favour of the line and of the country. Mr Barron said he noticed from the Hon. W-. Hall-Jones's speech in the House that the Central railway cost a great deal less than a 'great many other lines on an average per mile since the Hon. W. Hall-Jones had taken office. The average per mile for the bolony from April, 1596 to March, 199+, was £7182, and the cost per mile of the^Central line from Hyde to Ida Valley was £5700 per mile. The Minister also said: "We have work in hand for some miles beyond Ophir, and the line will shortly be open to within 10 miles of Alexandra, and Tre' shall not be wanting so large a vote for that" line as in past years. ■The Canadian-Pacific railway 0f .2990 miles was constructed at the rate of 292 miles a year, but hero we had to be content with a miserable five miles a year. Efforts' •hould not be relaxed to secure full votes till the line was completed. The motion was then carried. Mr Jolly brought- up the subject of cooperative labour* and pointed out the large preponderance of men employed in the North Island over those engaged on public , -works in the South Island. He mentioned ' the recent unemployed difficulty, and urged , *Wt whaa men were out of employment in

this districrt they should he placed on ■public works in this" district, and not sent bushfelling in the North Island. He moved that seeing, that railway construction in. the . North Island already employs an undue prop.ortion df~ unskilled labour, any future , applications for employment should, in the i opinion of this league, be dealt with with preference to the important public works in this district, and that the Otago Central railway receive first consideration. He also moved that th© secretary ascertain how many names of unemployed iver-e still on . the books at the Labour Bureau. j It was pointed out by several members . that it was not within the province of the j league to discuss questions which might be . considered matters of public policy, and the motion was then withdrawn. | Mr Bathgate referred to the matter of . the bridge at Alexandra, and said every l effort should be made to get this work put | in hand. He-moved — "That a telegram be > sent to the Minister of Public Works ask- • ing when tenders will be called for the i "construction of the bridge on the Otago J Central line, over the Manuherikia at Alex- i andra,' and that the members of Parliament | present be requested to assist in obtaining ■ a definite reply." — This was seconded by Mr Macgeorge and carried. The following telegram -was subsequently j drawn up and signed by the parliamentary | representatives : — " Considerable dissatisfaction expressed at meeting of Otago Central , Railway League, regarding reply from department with . reference to bridge at AlexSandra. We would, urge sending definite information." >