THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 49

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

DEPUTATION TO THE PPvEMIER. JOINT REQUEST BY CANTERBURY AND WESTLAND. PROBABLE COMPLETION OF LINE IN SIX YEARS. (Fbok Our Own Coheespokdent.) WELLINGTON, August 28. TJie largest deputation that has visited ■Wellington this session for the purpose of stirring up the Government waited on the Premier at £ p.m. to-day. Its object was to urge upon the Government the falsifying of the Kipling doctrine that "East is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet," as far, at anyrato, as the Midland Tailway is concerned. The proceedings were harmonious, there was a good deal of enthusiasm displayed, and the deputation retired well pleased with a promise that six years will see the completion of the line, the first sod of which was turned a couple of decades ago. The deputation, which was introduced by Messrs T. E. Taylor and A. R. Guinness, M.H.R.'s, consisted of the following:" — Messrs H. Quane, A. Kaye, H. A. Adley (Canterbury Chamber of Commerce), W. H. Cooper, T. Gapes, J. Hadfield (Ohristehurch City Council), E. C. Brown, A: -G-. Howland, J. H. Hopkins (Canterbury Employers' Association), J. O'Halloran (Farmers,' Union). The following composed the West Coast ? delegates : — Messrs J. Mandle (Mayor of Hokitika), J. A. Murdoch "(Mayor of ,Kmnara), J. Hargreaves (Grey County Council), " D. J. Evans (Wtes-t-land Railway -League), J., Grimmond, H. A. Bauck/, J. Duff, tWestland County Council), E. •J. Scantlebury,- aud W. Irving (Inangahua County Council), Atkinson (Westpori Borough Council), J. A. ' Petrie' (Mayor of Greymouth). The members of the House of Representatives nresent were Messrs Davey, Tanner, T. E. Taylor, Ell, Flatman, Sir W. J. Steward, Laurenson. M'Lachlan. Parata. Colvin, Gilinness, R. M'Kenzie. The Legislative Councillors present were the Hons. *T. Holmes, J. Marshall., and R. Reeves. Apologies were also received for the absence of Messrs Witty and Hardy. Mr Taylor said that the deputation was one of the most representative that had ever approached the Government on any occasion, and there would have been more Canterbury M.H.R.'s had it not been that several of them were on their week-end absence.

Mr Quane, the first speaker, said that . no' one' in u the colony had the interests of ihe railways so much at heart as the Premier. For more than 20 years the people of Canterbury and Westland had agreed that connection between th© «?e.t'and west .■was neosssary, and when, at the Premier's invitation, they had visited the works through Staircase Gully it became apparent that after what had been spent the line should be completed, and thereby made re- , productive as early as' possible. The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, which he represented, was practically unanimous on,' -that. point. .With respect to the tunnel on , the Otirft section, it should be let by tender, to fee finished afc a" stated time, in order that the work upon it should go on simultaneously with the work on the rest of the line. ' v

Air H. Antill "Adley read letters from the Canterbury Industrial Association, the ? A. " and P. Association, and the Northern (Rangiora) A. and P. Association, endorsing the views of _the deputation. On behalf o'£ the Greymouth Borough Council, Mr J. A.- Tetrie said that there was a general impression that besides coal, gold, and timber, 'Westland had nothing loft. This impression had militated to a great extent against the construction of the lme. There was, . on the contrary, a very large extent of valuable land on the West Coast. He specially cited the Kokotahi district, where there were 30,000 or 40.000 acres partially clear, fora tract of 3000 acres of which £10 'an acre had been relused. This was only a small part of the land for settlement on .the^Coasfc, andtthere was already an excessive demand for tne sections ; offered, and this demand^ could not be satisfied. As an instance of the further resources of Westland, he mentioned that there had recently been discovered in the Paparoa Ranges a seam of ooal which analysis showed to be identical with the South Wales smokeless coal. This coal, j ho added, would cope with the difficulty of j running the train through five and a-half mites of tunnel. There were at least 60 , million tons in Eight, and it could be delivered in Christchurch at a lower cost than was being paid afc present for seaborne coal, and it could be easily mined. Mr J. O'Halloran, for the Canterbury "branch, of the Farmers' Union, emphasised | the union's opinion that the time had come , for the early completion of the line. Can- 1 terbury wished to be independent of &ea- j borne coal and timber. For years they ihad been wanting to know something about Weslland, as the Premier had kewfc them in. 'the background.— (Laughter.) They looked upon tho Premier as their king and thoir father and their governor, and they wanted this line pui; through. . . "Mr 3. Handle, the Mayor of Hokitika. spake of the isolation under which Westland suffered. They, had been a back-blocks district for over 40 years, and the tiinc had come when they should be in touch with the rivilised world.' ("With Canterbury," said the Premier, in a tone that might hove been ] endorsement or correction.) There was some civilisation amongst them. Mr Mandle continued. The question, he went on to say. was not simply a West Const matter, hut a colouial matter, and the line would te a financial success. There was a population of 25.000 on the Coast, and they Jiad millions of acres of erood agricultural and wastora"! land in addition to the minerals. They also wanted the Government io leb Ihr tunnel in one contract, because unless this were rloiv* its construction would never be assured. Dealing with the 'oss of interest on oaoital. ho Quoted some Utrures which had been calculated to show that if the line were finished in five vcars afc-woul'' cfisfc £1.491000. if in 10 wars £1.69? 000. and if in 20 years £2.205 000. Tfip line would onen «n two mil' inn acres of forest land two million acres of tiastoval •fand. and 240.000 acres of agricultural land. fhv v^avlv outvnjt nf o'old in WVsfcland was f.Fino (WO of coal 800 000 tons, and of timber 2n million feet. Thi<s n'Pnt to fipnWhurv. *fi.;« +imbpr r<*nre«mtpd between £30 ODO and £ ifl 000 a vpar in ravnase. and it. was asbimnbpd that t'v> timber shinned H-ou'rJ ■nyceerT 30 nn'llion f<" of this year. dniW-pr-l>urv alon-p. he nornlc^ out. wanted 370.0003 7 0.000 tons 0? coal a year. The completion of the

' line would double or treble tho Westland population. His figures, he pointed our, did not take count of the tourist and passenger traffic. j Mr A. G. Howland, representing the Canterbury Employers' Association, spoke of his long advocacy of the line since before the first sod was turned at Brunnerton 20 years ago. They had now, he thought, , waited long enough, and if the line could be completed in five years it would confer benefit not only on Canterbury and Westland but on the colony as a whole. He strongly urged the letting of the tunnel contract. Mr Grimmond, on behalf of Westland County and Ross, quoted figures to show the cheaper cost of coal and timber if taken across tho South Island by rail, and of the isolation of the Coast and the disadvantages of its ports. The sea carriage of timber was 5s Id per hundred feet, and of coal 15s per ton, and these would be only Ss B_d and lls per tern by rail. The completion of the line would improve the valueof tHe Crown land in Westland. Mr W. H. Cooper also spoke on behalf of the Ohristchurch City Council, and urged that if Christchurch could get coal at 4s less per ton than at present it would be a great boon and a strong argument in favour of an early completion of the rail-

Messrs J. M'Lachlan and T. H. Davcy M.H.R.'s, also spoke briefly, and Mr J. A. Murdoch, of Greymouth, urged that tre Government was in every sense pledged to complete the line. Mr R. M'Kenzie, M.H.R.. who had been an interested spectator*, then entered a species of protest. He didn't know whether there was a West Coast swindle or not. but that Nelson woi'ld not allow ' Canterbury and Wostlaud to rob it. THE PREMIER'S REPLY. Mr Seddon expressed his pleasure at 6-ee-ing the union of Canterbury and Westland, as represented by the joint deputation. In looking back over the past 25 years he could not but i % egret that the line had not been completed years ago. — ("Hear, hear.") Another matter which he regretted was that other lines which had been commenced " aftei* fcbe Midland line, and whose import--ance was not by any means greater, would bs completed years before the connection would be made between Canterbury and the West Coast. It was unfortunate for the people of these two districts that the construction of tho line had been handed o\ r er to a private company. — "Hear, hear.") He had recognised at the time that it was a mistake to bring in a private company. i If the line had been undertaken tinder the j Public Works policy and kept on a level ! with other lines it would have been completed years ago. The company had kept back the line for about 10 years. When they considered the proportions contributed by Westland and Canterbury to the revenue they must all agree that these two provinces had a greater claim on the expenditure of public money than any other part of the colony. Mr R. M'Kenzie : You are entirely wrong. They got all lheirs year 3 ago. 1 Mr Seddon : Taking the contributions to revenue, and also the payable nature of the work into consideration, the claims of the Midland line are overwhelming. Westland not only had it<?\ mineral and timber, but it also had vscenic beauties, and when the line was completed they would have an excellent round trip from Christchurch. to the West Coast, and theDce to Nelson, Blenheim, and Picton, whence they could take the boat to Wellington., He also looked forward to the time when the late Mr Macandrew's scheme of a railway to girdle the Soutih. Island would be realised, and when they would bs able to go through from ihe West Coast and join the line in Otago. The deputation, was doing- the same as the Auckland and other districts had done in Winging their requirements before him. He agreed that the Midland railway should be gone on with more expeditiously. — ("Hear, hear.") One fact in connection with the line was generally overlooked, and that was ,that there were four points in connection with the line upon which work was proceeding — viz., the Nelson-Tadmor section, tho Reefton-InangaJiua Junction ' section, the Otira Gorge (section, and the Springfield end. There were thus four distinct lines, and there should be four distinct votes. The amounts voted, however, were all gathered up under the headj ing of "Midland railway." But. considering the importance of the work to be ! done, the amount was really small. j A Delegate : You had better split up the votes. 1 Mr Seddon, referring to- Mr M'Kenzie's remarks, said that, although the Nelson people were not represented there that day by invitation, he was quite ?ure thai tho deputation had no wiah to do anything that would be prejudicial to the Nelson conI nection as originally proposed.— (" Hear, [ hear.'} 1 Mr Guinness: Mr M'Kenzie and Mr i Cclvin were both asked to attend. Mr Seddon said he would now come to the main point urged by the deputation— viz., " tho hole through' the hill." In the first phxec, it had been recommended that the A B T system should be adopted. The Government's' own engineer had, however, advised a tunnel. First a tunnel of three miles in length was urged, then one of seven miles, and finally it had been decided fhafc the most practicable scheme would be a tunnel of a little over live miles in length. The details of ihe surveys had been completed, and arrangements were being made for tho bridges and other necessary work to bring the line up to the mouth of the tunnel on the Otira side. Preparations had also been made for calling for tenders for the tunnel itself.— (Applause, and '' Hear, hear.'') Whilst not overlooking the merits of the cooperative sj-stem (which ohould fetill be continued), the Government thought that the tunnel was a work which should be lei- by tender in one contract. — (" Hear, hear.") The Government had also had an invcf.tig-a-tion made in reg-ord to the question of an electrical installation in connection with the tunnel, for, with all due deference to Mr Petrip. he thought that the motive power for the tunnel should b© electricity, and not coal. Tho Minister of Public Woiks was now putting the finishing touches on his Public Works Statement, and that morning they had come to the conclusion that he (Mr Seddon) could go to the length of telling the deputation that the tunnel would he done by contract. N<?\t year they hoped to hav-e tho line *~o far extended as to make it possible to do the journey between Groymouth and Christchurch in 0110 day. Ho also hoped that during, i£ not at tho opening of, the Clmstehurch Exhibition they would be able to connect the two ont I ,=, of tho North Island main trunk line by coaob, so that Ibe i<aur.ney be-

tween Auckland and "Wellington may bo made in a day. Passengers would then be able to run through to Christchurch by boat, and take another day in reaching the West Coast. There was, however, one phase of the question which had to be considered, and that wag that there wa,s only a limited amount of money available for expenditure on public work-s. Members were naturally anxious to know how their d.stricta would fare. As Colonial Treasurer, he had no anxiety except to see that a fair allocation was made. A million loan was already proposed. They were finding £600,000 out of revenue, and in addition they had over £800,000 to tho good in the Public Works Fund in March last, so that so far as public works wore concerned matteis might be said to be rather easy. Taking the small expenditure on the Midland railway during the past few years as compared wi<h such lines a?, the Otago Central and North Island Man Trunk line, he did not think even Ihe mo-.t fastidious would complain if a little more was voted for tho Midland line. He- certainly was glad to see Canterbury, Wcstland, and Nelson united. Mr It. M'Eieiizie : Nelson is not in it at all. Mr Seddon said that Canterbury and Westland had always shown a liberal spirit in regard to expenditure in other parts of the colony, anc l ho thought ho would not bo asking too miic-h in asking to oet the tunnel through within the next six year 1 ;. The estimate was five years, but it Mas well to allow a little latitude in regard to these difficult engineering feats, and he thought (hey would do very well to get tha tunnel through within six years. If Parliament voted the money, he hoped the work would soon be proceeded with, and ho had no doubt that when the line was completed it would be one oE ;he bce.t paying railways in the colony. The delegates then thanked the Premier and withdrew.