Ministerial Visit

Southland Times, Issue 11751, 2 June 1891, Page 2

Ministerial Visit

The Hon. R. J. Serldon, Minister of Public \Vork3, Mines and Defi-uce, cerUinly made the most of his brief visit to this part of the district— a visi- which, as he mentioned incidentally to a deputation, he hopes to repeat after the session, when he will have more time to make himself bettor acquainted with it. At 8.15 a.m. yesterday the hou. gentleman went out per special train t to Mokotua, the present terminus of the Seaward Bush line. He waa accompanied by Mr J. W. Kelly, M.H.R Mr VV H. Scandrett (Town Clerk), Mr Ussher (District Engineer for Otago), Mr Garstin (District Traffic Manager), Mr H. Feldwick, and Councillor Stead. The party returned to town at 9.30 a.m. and the rest of the day was devoted to a trip to the Western district and the reception of a number of deputations, the majority of whom were introduced by Mr Kelly. Subjoined is a report of the proceedings : — GOLD-SAVINO MACHINERY. Mr W. Cockerell brought under tha notice of the Minister plans of his patent bucket dredge, to be worked by hor3e power, which would be very suitable for beach or river workings and well adapted for small parties of miners. He had obtained a patent for the dredge, a working model of which could be seen near the jetty, and he inquired if the Minister would be in favour of subsidising parties of miners who invested in dreJging plant, to the extent, say, of LI for LI. The Minister replied that if time permitted, he would inspect the dredge. As to the subsidy, his answer must be positively in the negative. Such a thing would be at variance with the principle laid down by the Department. Mr Cockerell had obtained a patent for his dredge, and if it had all the advantages claimed for it, it would come into general use, and its application would give him a very handsome return, and in that case of course the State did not require to assist. VOLUNTEER LAND GRANTS. Messrs C. Kingsland, J. Patterson, and T. Batson inquired when the Volunteer scrip would be issued to those entitled to it. The Minister said that all claims bad been referred to the Commissioners appointed to report on their validity or otherwise. The law as passed simply provided machinery to establish who were the proper persons to receive the scrip, and legislation was required before it could be issued. As soon as practicable the Government would introduce such legislation. It was a question whether the scrip should give freedom of selection in any land district or only be for the land district in which the applicants reside, or be in accordance with the regulations in force when the scrip was earned. That point had not yet been definitely settled, but speaking for himself he might indicate that the right of selection would be exercisable in any part of the colony desired by the holder. SEAWARD BUSH' RAIL WAT. A deputation consisting of the committee which has the promotion of this undertaking in hand, and several other gentlemen brought the question of its extersion before the Minister, there being in attendance — His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. H. Hall), Messrs Scandrett (secretary to the committee \ G. Froggatt, H. Cars well, H. Feldwick, A. Blacke, R. Gilmour, J. P. Joyce, W. H. Mathieson, A. Siorie, J. Sinclair, R. Cleave, and W. Sharp (Borough Engineer).

The Mayor said that there was an unexpended balance of nearly L4OOO from a previous vote for the railway, and the deputation wished to urge the expenditure of this sum in formation work from the present terminus to the Mataura river ; and if, after Parliament met, there were any funds available for public works it was held that the district was entitled to a further vote for the extension of the line. Other gentlemen were present who would furnish statistics on the subject.

Mr Cars well said that a return obtained from the Land Office indicated that there were 50,'2(50 acres of Crown lauds between the Bluff line and the Mataura river, within six miles of the Seaward Bush railway. It had bean mostly covered with timber, but a portion had been worked out by sawmills. There Avas, however, one block or 11,000 acres of heavily timbered land. A sawmiller bad estimated that the timber on this land would average 10,000 ft per acre, and assuming that the output was despatched to Gore — a comparatively short diatance for timber to be carried — in 55,000 trucks carrying 2000 ft. each, the traffic would bring in a revenue to the Railway Department of £137,000. Apart from this, the land opened would be valuable for settlement. The chief thing aimed at was to get the line across the Mataura, from which point it would tap some splendid agricultural and pastoral country. In the Fortrose district there was an area of 350,000 acres of land which would be favourably affected by the continuation of the line, which would be reproductive from the time it was taken across the Mataura. There was a good deal of settlement in that district, and it was extending to Waikawa. The Minister said that pressure was being brought to bear on the Government from two points, the advocates of the Edendale-For-trose line claiming certain advantages for that route.

Several members of the deputation pointed out that in the interests of settlement and economy the Seaward Bush line was the better of the two, being less expensive to construct, opening up a larger area of land, and effecting a considerable saving in distance.

In reply to the Minister, it was stated^that the line would reach Crown lands about two miles from the present terminus ; that 4000 acres of the block of 11,000 acres was held under sawmill rights, and that the freehold of 700 acres had been acquired.

Mr Kelly said that the timber was now completely blocked up for want of means of access. It could not be worked now unless at great expense, and the construction of the line would give the desired facilities. The Minister said that if land carrying timber to the extent described had been sold at 12s 6d an acre, they must, as business men, admit that some one had blundered.

Mr Feldwick : Undoubtedly. Mr Sharp pointed out that with the exception of one area the land still belonged to the Crown, only the timber having been parted with, and on this royalty would be paid. The Minister said that while out on the line that morning a settle had told him he had sold the timber on his land at 30s an acre, and it was not so well timbered as the forest land under discussion. If it were the case that the freehold of land carrying timber worth, for sawmilling purposes, L 2 an acre, had been acquired at 12s 6d an acre, that in itself was a drawback from a Government point of view, for it meant that if the line were made public moueys were to be used to give a profit, to private individuals. The Mayor pointed out that the land would be opened up and settlement promoted. The sawmillers did not pocket all the profit ; they employed a large amount of labour and gave traffic to the railways. Further reference having been made to the sawmill areas, Mr Sharp pointed out that at present the lessees were unable to cut the timber. The Minister : But they have got it reserved. Has the State the right to cancel this ? Mr Kelly said that the Minister of Lands was getting up details of the timber monopoly in Southland, and the matter would be laid before Parliament to ascertain if it was not possible to compel the lessees to work their holdings or surrender them. Mr Feldwick mentioned that in 1880 a block of 17,500 acres had been set aside pending the construction of the line, but the reservation had been set, at defiance by the I*te Minister of Lands. Tfte Minister said that the sale of timbered land at 12s 6d an acre appeared to be a very serious mistake, and he would like to ascertain who was responsible for it. A certain measure of responsibility rested on the Minister, but the main responsibility attached to the Commissioner and Land Board of the district in which such tilings occurred. This was the first time the locking up of bush, and the securing of large blocks of timber covered land, had come before him, and he certainly thought the Government were right to institute inquiries into the matter. It had always been claimed that the Seaward Bush line would tap a large area of Crown lands, ft*! if valuably blocks weft being k Newttl jg

this way, it seemed to him that Parliament was being placed to a great extent in a false position. If the Government expended money on the line it would increase the value of private properties, the holders of which would say that the officeie of the State who had contiol of the land should have ascertained its value, and that they (the holders) had a right to make a bargain if they could. Upon tho result of the inquiry now being made by the of Lauds would greatly depend what action the Government would take in connection with the line. Personally he believed in the soundness of the principle laid down when the Public Works scheme was originally formulated, namely, that all lands increased in value, if held by private people, should contribute in the event of there being a loss on the working of a line. Where, on the other hand, a railway waa made through Crown lands the enchanced value of th« areas repaid the cost of construction, but there was no provision for making up a loss in the case of private lands, and this was in itself a serious drawback and took away one of the strongest arguments advanced in respect of the forest lan Js along the proposed line. He waa further told that although considerable areas of timber had been reserved, a man who might want to cut firewood was not allowed to touch a stick, and if that were so, it was high time Parliament interfered and adopted drastic measures to bring about a change. With regard to the balance said to be available for the line, there was no appropriation, and without that there could te no expenditure. Hence he was not in a position, were | he ever so willing, without authority from Parliament, to expend money on the line. There was to be no borrowing, but people wanted works carried ont in different directions. The Govei nment had no money for that purpose unless from the savings effected through the conversion of loans. He anticipated that there would be about L 300,000 available from this source, and ife would fall in during the next twelve or eighteen months. The Seaward Bush line he looked upon as being to Southland whafc the Otago Central was to Dunedin and Otago, and it involved a question of policy — whether it should or should not proceed. All questions of policy must be decided by the Government, and the first to know what the policy of the Government is in respect of public works should be Parliament itself. The Public Works Statement should be the first answer given to an application such as the one the n before him. He would weigh very carefully the representations made, and make inquiries as to the extent and value of the lands to be served by the line, and in this connection he thought one of the first things done should be to prevent the further alienation of land on the route of the line and the granting of more timber rights. It was a matter deeply to be regretted that the existing condition of things had been allowed to co.ne to pass, but there were always two sides to every question ; he believed in fair play, and would not condemn until he heard the other side; at the same time he must say that unless some strong grounds were advanced for the action taken nothing more likely to retard the line had been done for sometime. He had made no promise, nor indeed could be, but would only e»y that the matter placed before him would receive consideration. Various proposal! had been made regarding the disposal of the windfall of L 300.000 to which he had referred, one being that it should go to pay off liabilities, but the Government were nob going to be ad vised by the Conservative press, nor would they allow their opponents to advise them as to their policy. The expenditure of loan money had given an advantage to certain parts of the colony, and if there happened to be a saving in the conversion of loans it should be used in carrying out reproductive works, and when they were allocating that money the Southland Pro« vincial district would not be left ,out in the cold.

The Mayor said that the Committee had passed a motion iv reference to the ex« pediency of a site for a Government township being laid oft at the Mataura terminus of the line, and the Minister said he would ascertain if :here was any laud available for the purpose.

At a later stage Messrs Miller and McKenzie, of Fortrose, appeared on behalf of the railway committee in that locality, and strongly urged the continuation of the Seaward Bush line across the Mataura, a work which was anxionsly desired by the majority of the settlers.

The Minister replied that Southland had claims on the present Administration in the matter of public works, and it would receive justice when the allocation of moneys for that purpose took place. DEMCRRAGK OK TRUCKS. Mr T. Hodgkinson, Makarewa, called at* tention to correspondence which had pasted between the Railway Commissioners and himself on thiS matter. The Minister said the question was not in his control ; it was one for the Commissioners, and he did not wish to trench on their functions, but as Mr Hodgkinsoa had spoken to him he would simply write- to them, and he advised Mr Hodgkinson to do the same. •:■■ Several other deputations also waited on the Minister, but our report of these, with an account of his trip to Orepuki, is crowded out of this issue.