PUBLIC MEETING AT GERALDINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XV, Issue 661, 27 September 1871, Page 6

PUBLIC MEETING AT GERALDINE.

J A very large and inilueutiul meeting of Ihe inhabitants of this district, was held at tbe Geraldine JHotel, on the 12th 'September, for the purpose of taking into consideration tho proposed line of railway from Tiiuaru to Christchurch, and other ■ matters connected With the district. v.-JJDe; Fish occupied the chair, and. in his opening remarks Baid, he felt it was not necessary for liim to explain ut any length, the object of the meeting. Their respected member m the provincial Council . (Mr Ormsby). whom he was very glad. to see amongst them, and others, hud brought the matter respecting the direction, of the" raif Way forward m a very' lucid manner ac the publio meeting' recent ly held at Temuka, and be wus ploasod to see- .by So large a gathering there, that uight, that the people of Geraldine took so deep an interest m that whicli was a .matter of vitatioiporlJin.ee. affecting all m the district. ''He know that liia position &s< ohaii'inaii thai; eveuing would be a very easy -and pleasant oue, for, he wus suro that every speaker: . wouid , ; receive a. J'aiiheariug. , , . ;. , ■ ■ Mk Ohm^'by' ; t.9i.eid if, .'before anything further ■' was ; done, hoy should' 1 be' iu order' m .showing the different routes. Upon a map which- ho had brought with- b)i"'; and. which lie ' should be happy to explain to any one preseut. JHe was glad "Mr Tancred was present as he woujd- be able to correct Him if iv error, , ' i ■- ! , The Chairman 'sud ho should 'jbe' most happy if all would fcvail themselves' J of such importanjiinforiuationj: he. wbsi ithaiikful. ta Mr Ormsby. for having brought .the. map., -•.' Mh Ormsbt iiien ' opened the map und explained to thein 'the proposed routes, viz:— the fide 1 originully surveyed; the proposed line to thei bridge now m course of erection over tlio Bingitata, and the suggested lineflong the sei beach frotn. the Opihi to the Kangitata.l ; Great interest was taken' by, the meet-' ing m the explanation prtnbse'plims.'artty*' which,' tbe.Chairiiian- suid he 'should be happy to receive any resolutions upon the subjeot. , ' Mu.W. U. Slack snid he had a resolution to pUI before the meeting, but before, proposing it, he thought Jit would . have been better to have had a little discussibri. He wasiiiubh opposed to the., proposed' Une lower down, for instead of .iti prpving .a . : saving ; ; to them' m years to come, he, thought-itwi^iild he'a great loss. ' Would he bo right m asking Mr Tancred a que»tiOu ? if so, he would j liko to a£k liim whether m the event of the 1 central line bding adopted, the bridges and m some places jthe .lino. it^o|f would be. secure from, the: eft'ects! of' the .fleshes whigh the risers .a^id parts of the pl&ius are subject to.? They doubt-* laitr, ati teineinßere'd the' great 'flood 'which' happppeda few years sinoe, and its attendant' disastrous odnsetpienoes; to . bridges -arid. roadst' Jahdne! could not; dou^t but .that ■ tlißVOXpcri, on'ce'bf the ppst' few years had influenced .the erigideprJ m sclcdtin'g siich',' a site as that !where the bridge was vow Mi-hg erected over the Kuiigitala, where it would be safe from the e.fli'ots of freshes or floods,; he. therefore thought it would be bettor if the. ; line were carried neai* the hills, lt was well known that tlie rivers were taking a southerly course, sud some years hence; if built- lower dowtl, iho railwny bridges would-be left high and dry. However, the meeting was not. called i to discuss these 'engineering difficulties, but: the divei'sion of the Fibe, which would' be" injurious to the whole province. Railways' were supposed to be- remunerative,' Sud, as for them; all would Vjhave to pay, utiles* lhcy.,were remunerative they would be far better without tbem. He would therefore move the j following resolution:— '* That' tlio meeting hating heard With regret the projpbsition to carry the. lino of .railway from, the Opihi to the JRinigitata ,, along tho' beach Btrongiy disapproves of . the. , sanie, believing that such a course would be most injurious to' the mnjority of the settlers nnd highl.v prejudicial to the general interests ofthe distriot."

ii<'Mk];M^ot3ON seconded. the and paid-' i, •jho :-,-.ljne „if.,;carrie4, if., ; carrie4. across the . Opihi near Mr, Hornbrook' Bj ( tlience by Mr is across the Kukahii,' and hearer the hilj-f 'woS^d be more ceutral 'and of gi-eater benefit to Geraldine ; still as it could not be obtainedj it. would be better to, join with the people of the Teniuka district aud see that the line was carried tlirough as originally intended, on the faith of \v Inch people had settled m tho district arid bought land. This having beeu done it would of jjreat injustice to the Bettlers to take it either eui-fc or west of the central or surveyed line. They should the.'bro drop all .self interest m tbe -natter and look to uiiity of I actiou : with the people of Teinuka and otln-r parts ofthe distriut, by -which ineaus alono t.hej could hope to gum the object m view. .Mr Oumbbx* would like tti say a few words, though ib was not necessary to support such a resolution, because it spoko for itself. He asked why tlie Colouial Government was going to sut-h expense m providing railways unless if was to optu up the country? Wouldaliuo aloiig the beach. .elfscL this? Pmctioally speaking it would opeu up but a few ucres, ioi- oil one sido there was uothing but a.i-par-iug »l!i^ from whioh tliey could gut nothing iv the shape of produce from wliieli to derive a .rpveuub unless thi-yJ extraoted salt, lv supporting.- the resolution, he hOped that the meeting would bum- iv mind the necessity of working iv hurmoiiy. There were three proposed lilies j and the central line, it they all weut iti for it, they would obtain. Individually ho should go' m for it, and if necessary ho should fight for ;it. Some years ogo they had had to light for. the Opihi bridge, tho contemplated erection of which was au act of injustice to tho district similar to the Suggested diversion 'of the ■ lino of railway, .but thoso -who opposed them- then had only .brought iguouuny and ridicule upon themselves ;. uud such would be tho case with those ' who opposed them vow. It was always understood that this ceutral ' line would be built wheu funds wore forthcoming. Funds wore vow forthcoming- so, on cardinal points of policy, he .should think Government would not go against tlio expressed wish of the people. Thoy all had settled and bought property on the faith that this line would ultimately be wade. He had done so himself ; und though tho lino, if carried nearer the hills,, would be of greator benefit to bim, aud indeed to all iv that neighbourhood, still, having settled on the faith that it would be carried as originally surveyed; he should do all m, his p-i wei* to, cause this to be dove; though it might, if built through the country by.aPystem of judioious ' Ss" embrace all the more settled parts, and thus become aigrcater, benefit to the community, and become at the eam'e-tiino remunerative. As their representative m the Council, if necessary, (though he trusted it would not bt; so), he should fight the -battle of the central line, aud he had no hesitation m saying it would be won. Mr "iVS; Takchbd said before the resolution was put he should like to say a few words. He appeared there not as an engineer, bufj as a;lan(Jjpwner, and one. largely interested "ih'4.ho -wolfare of the district,, and he thought iti tha duty of ull to give their opinions upon a subject 'so important as the railway schome. The olwee' routes shewn upon the map wero only possible lines ; but the oue via tho present : JEliuigitata bridge being eight miles longer,, was almost prohibitive on account of the great additional expense which would be .incurred not only m its construction, but also upon the working expenses of same. On 'present .railways -working expenses amount to seven shillings and live penoe halfpenny per 'train milt- : therefore, upon a main line over which six train? pass per day, the increased cost over eight additional miles of railway, with construction at 6 per cent, capitalized, would amount to £130,000. In laying out a lino the cost of construction and maintenance greatly influenced engineers. It should bo borne m miud thnt this was not a Provincial but a General Government scheme, uud as a certain, sum would have to be expended m euch province, thoy could not expect to huvo lines constructed for their individual or district ad van tagesut the eoatofotherprovinces. > One thing often lost sight of was proximity of farms, otc, to stations; but it would not do to follow, the example of Southland, whore the lines were unfeuced, and the trains would : stop and pick any one up upon the road. The object of colonial railways wus not to bring tho live t<> everyone's farm, but to bring a direct and better market nearer to all, so that a hotter prioe might be obtained for grain uud pther produce, and this could but be done by ' one direct line. Mr Ormsby thought it would be better to carry tho line by a system of judicious ' Ss' ' as he had happily termed it, so as to cmbraco all the more settled parts of the conntry. But it would be better to' have one diroct line with branch lineß or feeders to those settled parts. With regard to the action of freshes and floodß upon . railways .and bridges, it wiis proved, especially m India, where tbey wero of frequent occurrence, that by laying the rails close to the ' surface the damage done waß immaterial, and riVersj could be eusily diverted as had been prowl by the works atthe Waimakariri, so, . that- the danger to bridges was not so great . as generally imagined. , As one who had a very large stake iv the, couutry he was deeply, interested p the matter, he trusted thut the lincuwoUld'be carried us originally intended, for, not only had- the district been settled on the iuith.of this, being done, but he believed it would be of more advantage to the district as ii whole. . . - The resolution was then put to the meeting i and carried unanimously. JMr Shikhs quito agreed that it would be impolitic to advocate* the line to the upper JRaugitata, and respecting; the other two routes 'i Everything was unquestionably m favor ofthe , lino origindUy siui'Viiyed. Even the nature of 1 ttie ground favored its con sthietiou there, '■ to -say nothing of its .general benefit to the district by, being central, for the ground was. of , sucl^a nature thot the Une could be laid at a comparatively trifling cost, whilst the Buggested line near the bench was nothing but . 'swamps arid creeks. He begged to move — "That this meetiug is iv favor of the central linp by ,tlio Waihi Crossing; to the Eangitata, ■as'lald put, by the Canterbury Government., Mr GkimMbh seconded this, and it was car-, tied uiianiihpUßly.' ' ■ ' ' i;• ■ Mr ' Ohmsbv though (that these resolutions .should be, forwarded to the General' Govern- . .mont. He. would move — " That tho chairman send a copy to the Hou. Mr Gisborne, His vßtonor the Superintendent, the Hou. Mr Stafford, 'and to Mr Pai*kerJ , Seconded by Mr Megson, and carried. „: The meeting, then discussed, matters of local interest, particularly relating to a possible anuilgaiiiation of the Raukapuka and ' Mount Peel Roud Board.*, the Geraldine postal ser--1 vioey and ■ the Park ReWrve, When it ' was de- , 'elded that a correspondence be opened up between tho respective Boards; that a memorial! be Brn't to the Cliief /Postmaster prayirig him ibr'a'tri- weekly service to 1 apd, from Geraldine, and that a petition bo presented tothe' Provincial GovemniiSnt, praying that the present Pork Reserve may be thrown open fpr, Bale." This, seems an absolute necessity, for tlie Government township is so peculiarly situated that it cannot possibly extend beyond its present confined limits unless this ground is thrown open for salo, and there is plenty of ground ia the roar of the present reserve, for forming another, and it is to be ' hoped that the Provincial Government and 'Council will grant this roost reasonable request. ; •■ ■' i '• ' ; , Mr J08H687 begged to propose a vote of thanks to Dr Fish for tho able and efiicient manner m which he had fulfilled his duty as chairbiah. * Mr Tanokbd cordially seconded the Bame, which Was oarried by, acclamation. Dr; JFisii said he had been happy at presiding over such a meeting, whioh scarcely required a phairnian, all had boen so unanimous. He 'was veiy glad of this, and more especially to find thnt the people of Geraldine would act m unity with othor parts ofthe distriot- The Government would see that the whole district was unanimously m. favor of the "cen tlid line as 'originally .'surveyed, and without n doilbt they would accede to the wishes of the- people, independent of the fact

—whioh musfiheaveiySi^o^^ ithem— that. from it^thi^wfl^dv d-^riyej.tl-ie; greatest, returnß. He thank'edJ tnem Tor the manner fn, which the ' meeting had • been oon* - dupted, and for 'their cordial vote of thanks to himself, aijd should . always' be happy m Mp*. : porting aU maters of, local and. general interf» test to the district. „./,,/ A. , The meeting then separated!