STRATFORD-KAWAKAWA RAILWAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 60, 30 March 1901, Page 2

STRATFORD-KAWAKAWA RAILWAY.

TURNING THE FlftST SOD. ] ,THB BANQUET. Tn connoMion with tbisevent on Thurs- 1 day evening, the Hod. Hall-Jones 1 was entertained at a banquet held in i honour of the occasion, and needless to i say the function was a complete success. , The County Hotel, in which it was ' held, has a very Urge and handsome ■ dining-roora—in fact the appointments ' of his handsome hotel weie the subject ] of much favourable comment by the numerous guests from New Plymouth , and other places—and it is safe to say it never looked hotter than on this occasion, and Mr. and Mrs. Kirwoid deserve very great praise and credit for • the handsome manner in which the r ables were laid and the aitistic way in which the whole affjir was carried through. The Empire city itself might have hesn proud of such a brilliant, display as that made at Stratford on tha ev ning in question. Over 100 guests sat down to the tables, and seldom has such a representative assembly met in Taranaki, New Plymouth, Hawera, Inglewood and EU.ham all nam,? represented, while bick-block settlors and townsmen, agriculturalists, pastoralists, tradesmea, and professional : men wers intermingled around the festive beard, all joining ia congratulations on the great event of the day. The chair was occupied in a very pleasing and efficient manner by His Worship the Mayor of Stratford, who had on his right hand the guest of the evening, Hon. Hall Jones, and on his left the member for the dis'rict, Mr. Walter Symes. The various visitors occupied seits on either hand. | After justice had been done to the : excellent repast, the chairman rose and proposed tha tnasfr of " The King and ; the Eoyal Family." The company, led . by Mr. McKinnoh Bain's excellent i orchestra, sung the National Anthem. Dr. Oarbery, in an excellent speech 1 proposed " The Army, Navy end Volunteers," to whioh Captain Malone and [ Mr Hammerton responded, the latter • referring to the battle of Waireka as 1 the first occasion on which Volunteers saw service and to the pood work since done by Volunteers in South Africa. Mr. A. W. Ellis then proposed " The , Parliament "in a witty, well-thought-i out speech, in the course of which he 1 referred in detail ta the many blunders ; made in the past as contrasted with : the morejeffloient administration of to- , day. Referring to the railway line, the* . first sod of which had that da.y been ' turned, he spake of the splendid del posits of coil and limestone through . which it would pass. 1 Daring Mr. Ellis' remarks he was 1 iotorruptod by the cheering which took place on the entrance to the room of the Hon. J. G, Ward, who had arrived by the mail train, and concluded by expressing his pleasure at the cause of the interruption, i The Hon. T. Kelly, M.L.0., ia replying on behalf of the Parliament, claimed that on the whole members were good fellows, and even Opposition members were not all bad. He had often been indebted to the good effines of his fellow members. He referred to the action of the TaranHki Provincial Government, who had a flying survey of the Stratford route made, and the. town of Stratford laid out with the junction there. He pointed cut the abso'uta necessity of tin iron ro-id t v deal with the large and growing trade caused by the success of the dairy industry, asd concluded by claiming that the Tnranaki wss the best paying line in the Colony. Messrs. McGuire (Hawera) and W. Symes (Ecrraent) also responded in a

few brief but well-ehoaea remarks, The Chairman then proposed th ruastof the evening, (he Hon. Hal. Jonee, Minister far Public Works, an at Mr Hall-Jones' request also ineludo the name of the Hon. J. G, Ware Minister for Railways and Postmasta General. In doin/} so he express*! th sratitude of the people of Stratford fa fulfilment of the promise made thro montha ago, and the promise mad that day tbat the line should be openni w Toko by Boxing Day, a promise h hoped and believed they would see a faithfully kept as the formt r one, am he had no d»ubt but that they wouli receive a hnarty welcome from th Mayor of Toko. The toast was en timsiastically drunk with musica horiois. Mr. Hall-J ones, who was receive with rounds of applause, congratulate! the people of Stratford on the com pleteness of the arrangements for th day. They had made the small cera mony which it was his pleasure an< duty to perform the occasion of a g*h day for Stratford. The visit hat gived him pleasure because of th< heaity welcome he had received anc the great personal interest taken in tin event by such a large number of peoph from all parts of Taranaki. Ho meam 'o keep his promise to have the trail running to Toko by Boxing Day, whil< be had no doubt about the welcom* they would receive at the hands of the Toko people. He thought he could nl.-r promise thsm that there would then bt another sod turned at h>'s fi-ieiid "Jock" Taylor'.i r-xpensa. Oa his last visit ha had noticed tlio urgency ol some moans of transit and Ilia hardships endured by many worthy industrious Bottlers for the want of roads aud bridges, and fait that the Gnvavnmeiit must make some provision. The figures he had quoted, in the aft«ruuon showed that the Government were not neglecting that dtity, and that thair expenditure of .£28,000 in the Egmont electorate year against the .£3OOO for the whole'of Taranuki vowd by their predecessor.:) in 90-01 prowl this. Th&y had, however, to consider the wants of the wholo co'ony and make a fair division of this funds available between the electorates and districts of the colony and this fact must be ramerabcrod when news-'ary works were not proceeded with. The progress of Taranaki had hpen sor/>pid that it had been impossible to keep pace with it and a few figures would show them thu eootmous development t'm-it had ttikoa place. la the dairy ini!;if,try the experts of butter hud grswn from 9488ou't, vulued »i; .633,2.''3 in 1890 to 80,22(k\vt, valued at .£,115,332 in 1!)00, while choesfj esnorts hs-i )V---->'W*>] from «1,r,v.:- in I ™!mr* at £172 to?-l,Sii-t:'wi, v "....5,1 yi; .£•>■',! 30 ; ■■■■■ '• ..'.■'■ "J,?." "' \" c '' V"""° ,',,'." ■ i "/.!;»■. w.'u.s ;:■<,'•> ■:■:>'.':•. ii.iojse

figures spoke well for the class ef settlers and some of the productiveness was no doubt dne to their keeping a better class of cows than formerly. With such eettlers and such a productive district, he had m doubt but that the railway would pay good interest on its cost, and would materially "■ssist in a further development of the distuei and promote the welfare of the colony. The cost of the first section to I Toko, which was only light formation, was not expeotsd to exceed £IB,OOO. That the colony at the present moment was prospering wai beyond question. The policy of their predecessors of high rate' and low trafiio have given place ander their administration to low rates find large traffic The figures wore going up in a wonderful manner, notwithstanding the peniny post, the large railway and customs reduction of over ,£300,000, our revenue was increasing and we were sending up our exports. The marriage and birth rate wero increasing and not a man in the colmyneod be out of work. He was very much gratified at the kind reception thay had given him that day, and regretted that the Hon. the Premier was not with them to join in their enjoyment, j The Hon. J. G. Ward who received quite an ovation, said he was glad to ho with them that evening but rejretted he had not been able to be with them at the ceremony of the day. He was certain his colleague would redeem his promise to open the line to Toko on Boxing Day. Who ever was responsible for putting Stratford on the map this was certainly a red letter day for Stratford and went to prove that while other Governments had promised but not performed the present Government accompanied promise with performance. In his administration of the railways it had ever been his object to as far as possible annihilate distance and place the settler in the interior in the same position aa those at the seabeard. He was ploased to say that notwithstanding the enormous reductions already made, that the railway revenue was increasing in a remarkable manner and with some weeks of the ysar still to go, that had the substantial net gain of £BO,OOO. He hoped to be able to bring about great improvements in the carriage of dairy products and to assist producers by establishing a uniform charj e, thus annihilating distance in the way he had said. This would give a great impetus to the value ef land sow considered too far from a market and in benefitting the producer you were benefitting the farmer-rVTwenty years Kgts tfeny had"b~een~lSldthere was no 'Stratford and ten years ago ne Toko, but what do they do in America. There they thought nothing of running n line through a country without inhabitants and settlement quickly followed. In Canada tb»ro was mora money in one line than the whole rational debt of New Zoaknd and what better asset could any country wish to have than its railways. He was not in favour of a big harrowing policy but we were too slow in the prosecution of our public works and the time had arrived when a more vigarcus public works policy must be followed. The question of markets for their produce had been engaging the attention of the Government, and Mr. John Graham Oow, of Dunedin, had just ba*n appointed as produce commissioner, whoso duty it would bi to prospact new markets and get information for the guidance of the producer and the merchant. Notwithstanding the t;reat reduction of taxation lust year he he.s glad to tell them that they would he in a position to begin the new financial year with a balanoe of £400,000. He thought this indicated

prosperity. The rolnny, he was glad to e say, was not now dependent on the for- '■~ eign capitalist as it bad enengh money •j in the savinps bank to carry on the busi- [> {nf ss of the colony. What a grand com- '■ pliment this was to the industry of tho people. They were also told that wages e were higher here than in any of the r other colonies. It was a good thin? to 9 hfi able to keep up a high rate of wages. There wai no doubt a scarcity of labour, * hut he believed that the general pros--6 pmty would attraet people to the J B-jlony. Already it wa« attracting atJ tnntion outside and the visit of the Diiko and Duchess of York was going 3 to ho of advantage to the colony in the direction of welding togsther all 1 parts of our glorious Empire. The , Government; had bean accused of being 1 imbued with a spirit of militarism, but ' this wis not so. They hid only done th«ir duty and the men Pent to South 3 * f rica had nobly done their?. He be- " tiered the war was aoon coming to an | end, but we had a great deal to he proud Mof in connection with it. We had (' proved that our young men had the *!s*ammaof the ereat race from which | thoy sprupg. He congratulated them >jo» the success of tho day\nd the fios | 1 weather. A great deal was iajd of their ' rainfall but ha could assure theWjt was ' ono of their most valuable assolsv' In ' conclusion ha urged th«m to preserve 1 the same unity as in tin peat find not ' squabble about routes which gav» 1 j Minist»Tß an excuse to delay the work. 'I Mr. E. G. AllsM-orth proposal th.-i .Fanning and Commo'cifll Interests. In ' 1 doing so, ho oxprpssnd his pW'uro ir: jl'Hing prr-si:' t to ssqist in starting nj' (work } M lad a-Ivicalod for ininvj' jyoars. As re-ards t] l( , ioll t-., ],,-, „,„'> niiro i.hdy m«!i! safely leave tint in t'if.J Ihvuids of Mr. Hall-Jones. Tho funi- j lug anil agricultural interests vrme so bound up together that the Rucce*s ef the one on the other. Ono refill; of cha devdopinesit of their products caused by the vigorous rowing ami udlway policy of <hn Government would be the need of a port of export. Many pfople thought there was a doiiro on tho part »f tha poop'o of New Plymouth to force (Joan on thorn, hut he brlisvcd | many of tho strongest; opponents of tho j loan would bo found amongst tha im-pc..-<>,-s of >7ow Plyoio'iMi. List month the Harbourmaster reported that ships j of b tote; of 27,000 t.ms had visited jthftpo v. while tho total imports wwvi ! only Utile mo:;- than 4000 tons. It was! | t!w f»:mor.-,' produc-.j that attracted th ; s.j |':iyni sViipp-ne, and he beloved tha> | ( KMi>-(! 1 ■!':;; tho prassuro for hat hour I • l'.c.iio' i.»,-i vuh would cvmo frcin tho j jcouut-v .•■■(■'tiers, who must hivo news-1 |>:;ny f.l-ippiiig facilitim. j Mr'! ':vttou very b: i ully repl ml for l ho j l H)Uiu'.ora\i\\ iuture;il:j. j Mr .iiart:a<<s« tho brevity, of I - :'*- "•Vsc i .'.' l! :"!.■)>■>• as„! ;u •■ voiV

able speech sketched the history of the dairy industry in Taraniki during '•be 1 ! 2 years he had known it. He believed Stratford's commercial was sound and this railway would give them a great* impetus He was exceedingly glad to see that Mr. Ward was going to give concessions to the dairy industry. yThe dairy exports of Taranaki now reached half a million of money. The figures quoted by Mr. Hall-Jones were large, but only showed the butter shipped home, while there were large quantities shipped to other parts of the colony not shown. Their butter had i now reached 112s and 118s at home, and was, he chimed, of better quality than Danish, which was not subjected to the same trying conditions as ours. If it was he doubted if it would stand the test. He referred to the efforts being made to form a combination of dairy factories, and regretted that there were i hose promoting division, as he felt sure they must have concentration of the industry at a few suitable ports. He urged that the Government should assist them by lower railage, and to secure lower sea freights. Mr. Taylor said he could safely sty that if Ministers came to Toko they would get a reception that would outshine Stratford. He and his friendt were there to ohow the appreciation of the back-bleck settlers at the action of the Government in giving them this line. Stratford people thought the line was going ta do then a lot of good, and he hoped so too, but he was quite sure it would be the salvation of the backblock settlers. He would like to test Mr. Ward's ability to keep a promise, like Mr. Hall-Jones had done, by getting him to promise bim the erection of the Toko Post Office.

Mr. Ward said he had much pleasure in doing so; the work was authorised and the p'ans ready, and as soon aa seme legal questions regarding the site were settled the work would be put in band. Mr Boddy in a neatly worded speech proposed " The Pioneer Settlers." Ba doing se ho congratulated Stratford on the event of the day, although Strati ford had won the fight, Eltbam peopla had the most friendly feeling and' would now direct its energies in thej direotioa of a railway to Opunaki and hoped to have Stratford'sassistance, He referred to the hardships often endured by pioneer settlers many of which would be removed by the construction of this line. Messrs W. Fisoh, P. Ralfe and F. Bayley replied, each giving some interesting reminiscences of the early days of settlement in Taranaki. Mr Monkhouse proposed Local Bodies in doing so he thought the old Toko Tramway Company were deserving of a word of praise for showing that the line chosen was practical. Dr. Valintine, Chairman of ths Inglewood Town Board, replied very briefly, conveying Ingleweod's congratulations to Stratford. Mr. T. 0. Fookes proposed "The Visitors " expressing the gratitude of Stratford for the response made to their invitations. Mr. Dackrill, Mayor of New Plymouth, Mr.O. Samuel, and Mr. Griffiths, replied in suitable terms. - "The Ladies" were proposed by Mr. R. H. Nolan, of Hawera, and responded to by Mifsos Arndt and H. Valintine. " The Chairman" proposed by Mr. 1 HaU- Jones was very heartily responded to. Cheers for the hosr, Mr. Kirkwood, brought the proceedings to a olose at 1.15 a.m. During the evening songs were sung by the Hon. J. G. W»jd, Dr. Oarbury, Messrs. Liardet, Rapley, Gardiner, and others.