OTAGO LEAGUF.

Otago Witness, Issue 2692, 18 October 1905, Page 38

OTAGO LEAGUF.

-- 'A meeting of the executive of 4he Otago -League was held in the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, theTe" being present the , Mayor (Mr .T. Braithwaite), in ihe chair; , Messrs T. R. Christie, J. Hazlett, J. Cook, . (W, Gow, and W. Henderson. Apologies \ lor absence were received from Messrs It. :'"M. Clark, W. H. Uttley, C. it. Smith, D. - 33. Theomin. and J. C. Thomson. The bank account showed a credit balance <;cf £62 16s 6d. - - - The secretary (Mr Peter Barr) read the letter from Mr T. H. Cahill, bon. sec. of the Water Conservation Committee "* »t Alexandra : — ! - My committee has received a communica- ] tion from Jas. Bennafa, Esq., M.H.E.., re' ''obtaining a vote from the Government for \iriter conservation. He Tecommends that a, '-_ strong agitation got up in order to get 'the to take- action at -once. ~My com--vmittee has decided to write to the -Hon. the " iPreinier re obtaining a grant immedmtely for -water conservation, and we would ask your ;_executiveNto kindly bring the matter .under the - notice of the Otago members of the House of '- Representatives with -a view to obtaining a.- ' giant as &oon as possible. , - The Secretary said -the history of the-r--matter -wse that they had already .written to • r the Premier and members of Parliament, and , _to Mr "Bennet in particular, forwarding & ' petition from the people at Alexandra, "to jwhieh <« number of signatures had been r~ obtained in Dunedin. He- had written to ~ the Premier on Sept-ember 2, and .also to Itfr Bennet, and he had written to Mr Cahill and forwarded him copies of "the , corr«spondence. . -He had pointed out that-- , there was expense in connection with the work. That letter had been written on August 9, -and he lad. i had no reply -. until he received the letter" just read, which ; was dated September 26, and practically - asked them to do what they had already - ~,done. . *.' -Mr Gow -remarked that there was no : - : Jiope of' the Government touching the matter _thTs session. - . " The Chairman, speaking on the subject of ' : ""contributing to the funds, said they hadf hoped a branch of the league would be : . "formed at "Alexandra. .- It was stated that the matter had already "been dealt with in the direction desired by -. the committee, and it =was suggested that it "would be advisable io form a branch of t"he "league in "Alexandra. - The" Secretary^said they had been written - to by the committee in ike Blackstone Hill . District on the 'subject of closer settlement, and the following letter had been received -_- from "the Under-secretary of Lands, Wel- •' lingtan.; — " '• : Your letter of the 2nd instant, addressed to < the Hon. Minister of. .Lands, has been duly „• received, and I am directed to reply that ih© ; ~7tlifficulty is tEat out of "the runs "'held by i Messrs -Soss and Gdendining, the Blackstone JSos. 224 a, b, and c are in class H as j ■r_ -pastoral-agricultural land, Wad can be resumed I -~JEof -.settlement upon the Governor giving 12 j • months' notice -of resumption; -but that the Lauder and Home HiUs iuns Nos." 226 a, b, - and. c, and' 227,. 227a, and 445 are Tinder' class I > -- -bs pastoral land -only, and there is no power '. to resume them, und ,the lease does not expire until the 28th February, 1910. "The whole matter, together with the report which was - specially requested from the Comnfissioner .of " Crown Lands, Dunedin, is now before the ■ Lands Committee, and at the close of the i - lession-the 'Minister himself -will also go into - the matter with a view of endeavouring to ; »ecure* areas for close settlement. -". Mr txow said they had not urged the re- " -lumption of Blackstone Sill run, because ■ - they had not had sufficient information - tbout it, but they had urged the desirable- " ness of closer settlement in Central Otago. :;. "Mr Hazlett thought only a few were ■f- ngitating -in this particular matter. If the j good-"parts were taken out of the run there '" would be a tremendous stretch of indifferent country left. ■ _ It Tvas resolved to send a copy of the -letter received to the Blackstone Hill Committee. The Secretary Eaid that with regard to the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway he had re----Beived a telegram from Mr Bennet, M.H.R., -to urge upon he Premier the necessity of getting the Lawrence railway vote passed. There was strong opposition, and Mr Hanan , was doing all he could to block the vote. '^He .(the sec-retary) had consulted the r Mayor and 'two other members of the executive, and 'had sent the following telegram to - Premier: — "Understand active opposi- "' fcion .renewed to Lawrence-Beaumont rail- ■ way. Hope you will persist in your determination to get vote passed for comrnenoe- >' ment of work." He (the secretary) had . received this reply from Mr Seddon the , -same evening: — "Your telegram received, -'and will be referred to my colleague, the Minister of Public Works." He had then written to Mr Bernet. M.'H.R., as follows: s your wire re QDBOsition, to La-wrfence rail-

way to hand this morning, and I enclose copy of telegram just despatched to the Premier on the subject. I have also seen Mr Cohen, who bad an interview with the Premier while here, and believes that we need have no anxiety as to the matter." He then forwarded to Mr John Bennetts, of Roxburgh, copies of telegrams and letters, and received the following reply :—" Yours containing telegrams and letters to hand. I am very pleased to find that the people of Dunedin _are in real earnest about the railway to Eoxburgh. We here have also fcH anxious about the matter. The vote has still to nass the House. Personally, my faith is fairly strong in believing that the Premier and Minister of Public Works will get is safely through. Mr Hanan has done the best he can to block it. but I don't think his influence is powerful enough to do it. Our combined efforts must be ooniinuous until we attain the object aimed at. If a?, any time you find that a special ■efforb should bs made from this end kindly let me know." — The correspondence was noted. Mr Christie said he understood there was some movement on foot as to the formation of a institute in Wellington, and ne thought they might do something to retain it in Dunedin. — It was left to the secretary to ascertain if anything of the kind was contemplated. Thfe Chairman mentioned th^ matter of the double line of railway to Mosgiel, and asked if it was advisable to a rain press the matter.— lt was left to the Mayor, in view of the number of unemployed about, to again urge the prosecution of a double lii^e.