RAILWAY NEGOTIATIONS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XII, Issue 3347, 21 June 1879, Page 4

RAILWAY NEGOTIATIONS.

¥e are glad to learn that the negotiations for permission to carry the railway line through native lands between Parawai and the 0 i-ahu river, about three miles beyond Puriri, have been satisfactorily concluded, so that no obstruction need be feared from that direction, if the Government will only authorise the calling of tenders for this portion of the work. It is true there are lands nearer the municipal boundary for which satisfactory arrangements seem out of the question, judging from the preposterous sums asked by certain landowners, but these are not native lands, and the owners are not so readily persuaded to grant the necessary permission, unless they are extraordinarily well paid for it, in some "cases. Of course the Government have an alternativeundcr the Public Works Act in such cases, and wo hope they will not hesitate to allow the matters in dispute to be decided by the tribunal therein made and provided for, before which some of the extravagant claims will melt like snow on the house-top, and disappear as rapidly as the fleeting shadow. It is creditable to the Native Committee, Air Puckey, and the County Chairman, who presided over the Committee, to find that terms so reasonable have been imposed in the acquisition of all the native land required for the line from the Hapo Creek, the County boundary, to the Omahu river. The six days spent in ascertainingthe owners and defining the titles, as well as talking over the terms, have been well cmployed, for we learn that in many cases \ the natives have consented to accept i

one-tenth of the amount of compensation asked by European landowners. In s one case a European asks £517 for ■ permission to carry the line a certain s distance, and the natives have accepted s £10 for the same length of line. Some . of tho most valuable of tho land in tho s hands of tho natives, that at Totara i Point, where there is an important i tapu, has been acquired at £1 per ; chain; some has been given gratis, some ■ at 10s per chain, and much of it for . about one-tenth the ordinary price ; asked. The committee seem to have i dealt honestly with the native owneis by informing them of the sums asked i by the European landowners for permission, and the confidence thus reposed in them has not been taken ad- ■ vantage of to their own gain. They seem to have been told that many of these claims were ten times higher than they should be, and to have based their claims on that understanding. The' Chairman of the Committee has notified the Hon. the Minister for Public Works of the fact that satisfactory arrangements have been completed for the land required up to Omahurivei, and requested the Hon. Mr Macandrew to authorise the employment of native labour in the formation of tho permanent way, in accordance with a promise made by the Hon. the Native Minister when last here, and recommended 'by the District Engineer for adoption. Of course all this refers only to native laud, whilst there are some j blocks of land nearer the Borough owned by Europeans who may stand in the way of a continuance of the work so long as their claims remain undisposed of. The' Public Works Minister: may desire to sec these claims arranged .without reference to the Court provided for that purpose under tho Act, and in that case the work will be retarded until an arrangement can be come to. We would suggest that arbitrators be appointed, to whom these claims shall bo submitted, and the amount of com pensation determined by them without further loss of time. This delay is most dangerous to the carrying out of railway works in tho Thames district, as Ministers have already laid themselves open to censure from the Opposition members for what they have so far accomplished; and it is but reasonable to suppose that if obstacles are thrown in the way by tho residents themselves-after all the agitation in favour of the line—Ministers may be excused if they take ad van■tage of the same to pursue a policy of masterly inactivity, or even to abandon the line altogether. The following telegram was sent to the Hon. tho Public Works Minister :-~ The Hon, the Minister of Public Works, Wellington. I am instructed by the Committee appointed to acquire land for railway purposes to forward the following resolution adopted at a meeting held to-day .'--"lnasmuch as the native landowners between tho Hupc CieekandOraahu have agreed to accept what the Committee consider a fair price for their land ri quired for railway purpose?, represenlations be accordingly made to the Hon. the Minister of Public Works and the Hon. the Native Minister, and that the Government be requested to employ the natives forthwith on that portion of the line between Tot ira Point and Kirikiri, in accordance with promises made to them by the Bon. Mr Sheehan, and which the District Bngineer agreed to recommend ; and that the Government be requested to take other lands required for the line, and for which exorbitant prices are asked, under the provisions of the Public Works 4ct.1876.-A. BuoME, Chairmm of Committee appointed to acquire land for railway purposes." A copy of this telegram was forwarded to the Hon. tho Nativo Minister in Auckland, in order that ho may seo the good work accomplished by the committee, and take steps accordingly to assist the further progress of the line. A deed, tho heads of which wore Bent down by the Hon. the .Native Minister, is now in course of preparation by the County solicitor (Mr J. A. Miller), to 'which tho signatures of the native owners who have thus consented to terms of compensation will be appended. Some idea of tho amount of work gone through by the committee may be gathered from the fact that the titles to the following blocks of land,- all situate, between the Hape Creek (tho County boundary) and Kirikiri, a distance of about tbreo and a-hnlf miles-had to be investigated : — Taiuwlia, A and B Totara, 2 Huikaretu, A, Band 0 To Ngutu 0 Te Mauu Parawai Highway Dis- Tc Poro 0 Tingohitnct, Nos 38 and uioaun 39 Waiu Toroire, B Waipape, 1 Te Daunga Ha-rongakahu Oboupo, 1 and 2 Tamatipo, 1 and 2 Paetehe Tapapehie Tawaitirahi, 1 and 2 Matakwawlmwln Iwitawa Te Perau Karemotai Taiiiari Parahui Te Kopu Para'mi, 2 an j Maramurabi, 1, 2& 3 Te Kauri, 1 and 2 -In many of these blocks the owners had sold and leased, and the ownership was found to bo vested in some dozen persons, but the work of investigation has been completed, and the committoo desorve great praise for the diligence and expedition shown in the matter.