FOUR VITAL YEARS

Southland Times, Issue 21073, 3 May 1930, Page 13

FOUR VITAL YEARS

PAGES OF SOUTHLAND’S STORY

IN THE DAYS OF DR MENZIES

(BY

A. R. DREAVER.)

(Continued from Last Week.)

Dr Menzies was as keen to lay the foundation of an efficient educational system as he was careful to safeguard the material interests of the province. His “Education Act, 1862” laid down the basis of the system. School districts were proclaimed at Invercargill, Otarewa, Roslin, Mona, Riverton, Campbelltown and South Riverton. School committees for these districts, each consisting of five elected members and one nominee, were formed during the year. An Education Committee to act as a controlling body was set up in March. It was constituted thus: — Messrs Thomas Watson, T. M. MacDonald, Duncan McArthur—appointed by the Superintendent. Messrs W. H. Calder, N. Chalmers and W. F. Tarlton—elected by the Provincial Council. Mr Tarlton was appointed Secretary. By September only one public school was open —the one under Mr Bethune —but. the foundations of the system had been laid, and the following twelve months saw a great increase in the numbers of schools and of scholars. The committee announced that a school for girls had been opened on December 1. Private establishments were conducted by Mr MacDonald and the Misses Petrie. All of these schools were in Invercargill, a town which was steadily forging ahead. The surrounding rampart of bush was gradually being breached, and houses were springing up in the gaps. The citizens were now beginning to clamour for lighted streets, and the boggy state of the main thoroughfares certainly justified their complaints. The Town Board’s apparent indifference to the question was denounced rather heatedly. What particularly ranked was the fact that Riverton already enjoyed the benefits of illuminated streets. These had been paid for out of the Provincial chest to which Invercargill residents contributed. For the purposes of town improvement the latter had to borrow money from the Council at a rate of 10 per cent, interest. The board made good use of the money it did possess. During its first year of existence it handled approximately *£looo (£7OO borrowed from the Government and £331 16/8 raised from the rates). This money was completely swallowed up by contracts for clearing streets, cutting ditches and forming culverts. There had been a minor clash w*ith the Government about the drainage of the cemetery*. The Provincial authorities had taken over this responsibility, but had neglected its task. The board raised its voice in admonition and in return was offered the task and £5OO to execute it.

The system of rating for 1861-1862 proved an unremunerative one. A sounder principle was adopted for the following year, when a rating of l/6d in the £ on the annual value of the sections was imposed. As the board’s financial position was so precarious, Dr Menzies was forced to cooperate with it in the work of draining the town. This assistance he hoped would be temporary*, but there was certainly an urgent need for it. Dr McClure was of the opinion that Invercargill was a particularly* healthy town owing to the prevalence of the strong south-westerly winds but that the presence of stagnant waters and cesspools was a serious menace to the health of the inhabitants.

Dr McClure, who was Coroner as well as Provincial Surgeon, occupied a rather anomalous position on one occasion. A sailor off the brig “Prince Albert” was sent ashore sick. There was no hospital in Invercargill then, and he was admitted to the Immigration Barracks which were otherwise unoccupied at the time. Apparently the man was paid but little attention, and in a fit of depression he died. Thereupon there was witnessed the curious spectacle of the coroner sitting in judgment upon the doctor—himself! The incident served to emphasize the most unsatisfactory state of the town’s sanitary arrangements, and an impulse was given to the movement for the erection of a hospital. At the end of the year Dr McClure was treating three indoor patients regularly* in a room of the Immigration Barracks. As these buildings were simply a row of fern-tree and sod huts joined together it can readily l>e imagined that patients had to rely more upon innate tenacity of spirit, than upon a pleasant healthy environment to restore them to health.

Since being appointed Provincial Surgeon the previous year, Dr McClure had treated 47 patients altogether, 13 of these being in the gaol and 7 being outdoor cases.

At this time Invercargill was well served with doctors. Six medical practitioners altogether were in practice in the capital town whose population now numbered nearly 3500. Three of these men had arrived in 1861, viz., Drs Martin, Grigor and McClure. In 1862, with the influx to the diggings, there arrived Dr Baylie, Dr Berndt and Dr Barraclough. Riverton was fortunate in possessing the services of the hard-riding Dr Monckton and Dr McCristal who settled there in 1861. Forty miles to the west of Riverton, in the Waiau district, Dr Trousdell performed his good offices for a short time. There was therefore no dearth of doctors in Southland.

If the danger that might be apprehended from plague was negligible, there was a very real feeling of insecurity with regard to fires. As has been noted above, the buildings of the town were practically without exception constructed of wood, and were thus in a peculiarly defenceless position. To guard against the danger, Messrs C. N. Campbell and Company, the Southland agents of the Australasian Fire, Life and Marine Insurance Company, purchased in Melbourne a powerful fire-engine which arrived in Invercargill during December. At that time there was no brigade to man the machine.

Among other improvements were those affecting postal facilities. This department reflected the general activity. The postal revenue had mounted rapidly from £45 11/11 for the June quarter of 1861, to £266 14/11 for the December quarter of 1862. At the end of 1862 a bi-weekly mail service between Invercargill and Dunedin was commenced, while a contract was called for a weekly service with Wakatipu. Mr J. G. Hughes’ express was speeding up communication with the Bluff, and Mr McMichael also ran a service thither. Some extensions made to the jetty at New River facilitated the loading and unloading of cargoes. There was also a prospect that the long-hoped-for public hall would be built. Spurred by an address from the council, the Government set aside £3OO for

the construction of a building for a Mechanic's Institute in Invercargill. On September 1, the first pile of the new Presbyterian Church was laid. Probably* the most important social innovation of the year was the appearance of the Invercargill Times, a paper whose first issue appeared on November 12. Messrs Fitzgerald, Reynolds and Downs were the first proprietors; and the editorial work was in the able hands of Messrs George Smallfield and G. Fitzgerald. The paper was somewhat conservative in tone. From its inception it favoured rapid land communication with the Bluff, combined with the development of the interior east and west from the Great North Road. The Times led the opposition to the proposal that the New River should be the chief port of the province. The editor’s policy in this respect was amply justified and ultimately vindicated; for Nature was on their side.

Meanwhile the third session of the Provincial Council had drawn to an end. Two subjects of particular significance were in the limelight of attention. The first was the scheme for linking up the towns of the South Island by a line of telegraph. The proposal came from the General Government who offered to pay half the cost of construction. The council enthusiastically supported the proposal. The other project was that of Dr. Menzies for the linking up of Bluff Harbour and Invercargill by rail. In the opening address of the session the superintendent declared his belief that the advance of the province would shortly make the building of a railway an absolute necessity. In closing the session he stated that he hoped to have information with regard to the scheme before the end of the year- . Another interesting, if minor, incident was the unsuccessful attempt by Dr. Menzies to change the name of the capital to ‘'Clinton,” in honour of the gentleman in England who did a good deal to secure the passage of the “New Province Act” and to prevent its repeal. Dr. Menzies had brought the matter before the Legislative Council, but his bill was rejected. The bills passed by the council this session were, like the previous legislation, of a strictly business-like character. A tribute to the sobriety and lack of loquacity of the council as a whole was paid by the Southland correspondent to the Otago Witness. He wrote, “We don’t waste much time in talking,—to the disgust of the gallery, the nightly frequenters of which have a hazy idea that the Provincial Council is an institution got up for their especial delectation, and are much disappointed at the lack of froth.” The only member somewhat inclined towards dialectical pugnacity was Mr Tarlton. His appointment to the position of Chairman of Committees effectively curbed his loquacious ardour. The year as a whole saw the consolidation of the advantages gained during the previous year. The trail of progress had been worn deeper. A full exchequer, a remunerative land fund, a growing customs revenue, an increasing population—this was a picture that few could cavil at. CHAPTER HIT. 1863—THE ZENITH. This year was specially noteworthy as marking the culminating point in the fortunes of the province. The continued prosperity bred a feeling of confidence which prepared the imagination for tackling schemes of a comprehensive and ambitious character. The Government embarked upon the railway enterprise which henceforth was to dominate the affairs of the province and cause its humiliation. At the time of its inception the scheme seemed a very sound one. Very encouraging reports were drawn tin by qualified men, and these were laid before the Provincial Council which was summoned for that purpose on February 21, 1863. In his opening address the superintendent sketched the position of the province. He pointed out that during the last year the tonnage of shipping had doubled, the imports had trebled and the exports had almost quadrupled. The territorial revenue for the preceding four months# had amounted to £23,000. With these resources Dr. Menzies considered the burden of railroad construction would not be unduly weighty. The reports he submitted estimated the cost of a line from Bluff Harbour to Invercargill, including permanent way, -rolling stock, and plant, to be no more than £6.500 per mile. The completion of the railway would necessitate the extension of the Bluff Harbour jetty accommodation, which, without the extra traffic a line would bring, was unable to cope with the shipping. For the whole work the Superintendent proposed raising a loan of £120,000—£105,000 for the railway, £15,000 for the jetty works—to ba paid off gradually over a period of twentyfive years. If the affairs of the province remained at the level then existing, little difficulty would be experienced in paying off his loan, especially as the works contemplated would be' of a highly productive nature. The savings effected from the discontinuance of a heavy expenditure on the road to the Bluff, combined with the actual revenue from the working of the line, should yield a substantial margin of profit over the working expenses. Dr. Menzies was not content to let the scheme be limited to a railway line with the Bluff. He advocated laying down a horse tramway system between Invercargill and Winton. The object was to keep open the route to the goldfields during the winter. As there were between 8,000 and 10,000 men working on these diggings, and the greater part of their supplies was drawn from the south, the necessity for an efficient system of communication was an urgent one. The Great North Road during the previous winter had been an almost impassable quagmire as far as Winton, from where it continued, on higher ground, over the “natural surface.’’ The gravel available for repairing this road was not of a sufficiently good quality to stand up to the heavy traffic in the wet season, while supplies of stone were too distant to be readily made use of. The cost of maintenance of the road had been a constant drain on the Treasury so that Dr Menzies considered that his proposal, for which a loan of £130,000 would ba required, was a most satisfactory one.

(To be Continued.)