TIMARU AND TEMUKA RAILWAYS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XV, Issue 661, 27 September 1871, Page 5

TIMARU AND TEMUKA RAILWAYS.

The following Statement has, been., drawn np bythe^ Committed apj&i-ited "byj the late publio meetiug held to consider the question of diversion 'ofthe railway 'to' the .'sisarlward Toote. It'is the intention -if the i f Jomimttee. to to-^rd *tirt ■Sta&imeht to the Colonial Secretary, ' His Honor the Superintendant, and to Kepreaentatives of J;be -Province m the Assembly. We trust that such prompt'action on the part of the Temuka publio will have ite. due, re ward. Backed uu as i£ is by the inhabitants at Ctenddina, who recently held a meeting ou this question (flic. report of whioh wilTbe found elsiyhere,) it will be strange: if the (^venunenk persistently refuses "their united requests ': — "Mr Bracket**, m his report to the Hon. the Minister fdr Public WorH ou the subject of railway wnstraotion throughout this Colony, 1 hariugaHuded to the possible desirability of bridging the Opihi below its junction with the Temuka, and on its being very generally apprehended m the Geraldine district, that, m tne event of this bridge being erected there^ the line of railway will be constructed along, the beach, instead of along the live as originally surveyed, oit thej faith of the construction of which, nlany thousand acres of laud have been purohased, and the whole distiict otherwise geuttfally settled. A public meeting' of 'the inhabitants of the district was called to oonsider the matter, aud to take such steps as might be considered best calculated to give effect to their wishes. | "At the. meeting, which was largely attended by settlers from various parta of the district, a Committee was appoiuted for the pur-tose of bringing the matter before the attention of the Uovernmeat, with the view of "preventing what would r be, not merely an actafjgreat injustice, but one which would fuil lib eifect further settlement, atid indisputably interfere, most seriously, with the revenue, which would otherwise result from alarge and increasing passenger and goods traffic "In accordance with the resolutions adopted by the meeting ref ered to, the following facte and suggestions are. respectfully submitted for the .consideratiou of the Colonial Government, before adopting what, for convenience sake, and as a matter of fact, may be called the "Beaoh Line," iustead of the live originally surveyed and contemplated, which it will be convenieut to describe as the "Original Line." "The original lino was laid off and surveyed some years ago, the land for the railway has been reserved from sale by the Provincial Government, - and several thousand acres have been purchased adjoining it, m tbe immediate neigborhood of it, and m the district generally, on the faith of its ultimate construction. " The original line, so far as regards that part of it between Timaru and the town of Temnka, is expressly provided for by Act of Parliament (Railway Act, 1870, section G, aud 2nd schedule), and bas also been gazetted, so that should the bridge over the Opihi be erected at the lower site, it is not unreasonable to suppose, that any saving which would be effected m its cost of construction would be more than lost, m consequence of the necessity of constructing betweeu three and four miles of railway, from it to the township, lt is also apprehended, that the construction of the railway along the beach would be attended with cousiderable expense, m consequence of the uumerous creeks aud swamps aloug that line, nearly all of which would be avoided by adopting the original line. '* Tiie origiual live, so far as the town of Temuka, is the live of railway, towards the construction of which tbe Provincial Council voted the sum of £7,500, of which sum, £7000. m accordance with Section 8 of the " Kailway Act 1870," is to be, if it has not as yet been, actually paid by the Superintendent to the Colouial Government. The original line, it may also be mentioned, was the one contemplated by tha Provincial Couucil, wheu iv accordance with .Section 6 of the JPublic Works and Immigration Act, 1870, the matter was uuder its consideration nnd resolutions adopted for the purpose of assistiug the Governor to make the necessary recommendations to the General Assembly. " la addition to the fact of nearly the whole of the Crown Laud available for agricultural settlement being situated m the western part of the district, it may be mentioned that m that part of the (listrict there is a very large and yearly increasing production of wool, grain, and dairy prodnee. Timlier to a large extent and uf tirst-rate quality, lime, freestone, aud lignite coal exist m the western jrortious of the district, and will not, m the slightest degree, be assisted iv their development by the construction of the beach line. That the revenue to* be derived from a line of railway constructed aloug the sea beach must materially suffer m consequence of its deriving traffic from but one side, and that settlement must necessarily be limited from the' adoption of the beach Hue, are respectfully submitted as indisputable facts, and as matters of very serious Colonial importance. "Should the beach line be adopted, the railway will be so far from many of the present settlers m thtfdistrict, and from all who may settle m the western portion of the district, that their produce will lie carted as at present into Timaru, the difference m distance to Timaru and the 'railway being so small And inappreciable, . as ; to make it more convenient and cheaper to oart, as at present, thau to make use of the railway. "The adoption of the beach line, it may also be mentioned incidentally, will necessitate the purchase of a considerable quantity of land, and involve legal expense* m its conveyance to the Government. "In conclnsion it may he stated, without fear of contradiction, that the -adoption of the hue,as originally contemplated, wonld meet tke general convenience of all the inhabitants of the whole district (it is not understood that a single person m the district would, on public and general grouuds, prefer the beach line,) and. it is confidently anticipated, result m a large, continuous, and increasing traffic between the whole distriots and Timaru, and the whole district and Christchurch, when the railway to Christchurch is constructed, " For the foregoing reasons, and many others too numerous and minute to be entered upon m detail, it is most respectfully reauested that the Government will not abandon the construction of the line of railway originally surveyed, and which would be of such great colonial and local advantage, for a line along the beach, which will not be of tbe slightest use to thle majority of the settlers m this largely and permanently settled district, and which, withont branch lines to the west, will fail' to effect further settlement m that portion of the district where there are some thousands of aores pf land available for agriculture. (Bigned) " A. Ormsby, M.P.C., Chairman. " T. O. Bayner, M.D., Temuka, " Bobert Fisb, J.P., Geraldine. " 0. J. Bayner, Temuka. "Julius Mendelson, Temuka. " W. H. Wilco**, Temuka."

Post Officb Savings Bawk.— We learn I from a return jast issued ' that the number snd amount of transactions, show steady and continued increase during the year. The amount of deposits was £264,328 5s 7d, as against £240,898 5s 9d. The cum withdrawn -was £208,526 7* 7d, aa against £199,599 10s 6d m 1869. From the, first opening ofthe Post Office Savings Bank on Ist February, 1867, up to 31st December, 1870, tho total amount of deposits was -£796,134 10s Bd, to which has accrued and .been added to principal, interest to the amount of £20,275 13s 3d, making the total £816,410 3s lld. The total amount withdrawn during tho same poriod was £521,088- 2s 4cl, leaving a balance of £295,372 Is 7d to the- credit of debitors at the dose'ef-tbe? ywr'|lß7o; and ttie' number of account* open tf^hat -date-, was-' 8,315, njfawst 6,290 aooottnts open and £231,311 6s 3d to their oredit on *31st December, 1869. Eleven new offices were opened for iMoney Order and Savings Bank business during the year. The number of new depositors during the year, ss compared with, the population. of the oolony, was as 1 m 69.