EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2294, 27 January 1882, Page 3

EAST AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

(Condensed from tho Press.) A genei-il meeting of the mbiieribcrs to the above scheme was held yesterday afternoon at three o'clock m Mr T. S. V.'eaton't. Chambttrp. The object of the ineetinjr was to receive and consider thu report of Messrs Inglid, Beaumont, and Mcllraiih. Thert' were about thirty gen' bmen present, and MrWestoD occupied the chair. The. Chairman said that it was h's duty as cbairmin of the promoter, tocnll their attention to the position they hail now reached m regard to the Ea»t and West Const rail»ay sc'jem*. They nil Lnew the peculiar po-ition m wh-ch tho promoters found themselves a littlo whilo ago. While they had the sympathy and support of the general public m this prnvimUl district, th»y did not receive ilie assistance of reveral of the moat influential bm-neja people io th^ town, whose influence was necessary to forlify them with suffici'i t strenpih to enable them to go to the London or Australian market nnd di.-pose of their shares or tint a loan, S3 that they iniiht go on with ths necesjary works. L'cder these circumstances, the pro^noiers were, so to speak, pulled up htandin;;, and U'\A either to makn an effort to overcome the difficulty m which th.y wire placed or abindon the enterprise. To adopt the latter altei'nntivo tiny Wt rj very unwilling, and f:iorefore, at tho instance of Sir Alian, of Iho firm nf Lightband and Allan, tlmy applied to the Chnirib?r of Commerce for a«si«tance, and m cjntultation with tlmt body it was arranged that they should nominate certain gentlemen to accumjany the proautsrs' engineer, Mr Thornton, and report upon the enterprise It gave him mtu-h pleasure to refer to the courteous and handsome' manner m which the presi.lei t and members of the Chamber of Coiiiincri-v generally met und assisted the promoters m tlio matter. After conaider-ible trouble, Messrs Injlis, Mcllr.iith, and Beaumunt were induced to accompany Mr Thorn ton on a visit to the West Coast, and a report had been submitted by thoaj gentlemen. It was necejsiry, pirhaps, that he should refer mo:o m detml to the suggestions which the proiuot.rs made to the Chamber of Commerce ia regard to the particular line of tction whic'i tho comrnitsijners should take. On tho 2-llh of November the following letter was written to the Chamber of Commerce : — " Christchurch, November 2-tth, 1881. "Tbo Committee of theChamber of Commerce, Christchurch. " Gentlemen, — The C. 'remittee of the promolen of the East and West Coast railway scheme respectfully iuggeat that the deputation appointed by the Chamber thou'.d proceed to Greymouth by the West Coast road, nud f'Om there tako up the proposed line travelling through thn Grey Valley, Reefton, ami tho Inangahua Valley, as far as Cannibal Gorge on the west ; then r<.'truc? its steps, examine the country fifteen miles on each ride of tbe line, collect all information m the oiining and mineral districts back to Greymouth, and then return to Christchurcb by West Cast road or by sea ; then take up the lino from the Hurunui and make a similar enquiry and examination as far as the Cannibal Gor^e on tho east. The deputation wi 1 then have Inverted the whole of the propped rout) twica, except a short distaice of about three, miles through the Cinnibal Gorge, which is more than ordinarily difficult to past ; then to return to Clirntchurch and report to your Chamber : — " First — As to the Und within fifteen milea oa each side of tho proposed route, its general character, quality and resources, and the purposes for which it will become ava ; lable. (A.) The quantity, de»eri| tion, and quality of timber growing thrreupno, and also the extent and valuo of timber country that will bo opened if the railnty be constructed. (b) Ihe mineral deposits, &c, to far as known. "Second — As to the pre«ent value of tne land, to be estimated as if no railway were m contemplation, and the prospective value of fifteen miles on each side of the line (after ths construction of the line). " Third — Aa to the nature, value, or wortli of the probable traffic from all fources expocted to employ a line estimated to ccst £1,0.0,000 sterling, and whether the scheme generally, with the Government's conceesion of 30 per rent of £5000 per mile m lnnd, with all the advantages likely to arise therefrom — products, royalties, lease*, sales, <fee. — is Buch as is likely to prove remunerative to the shareholders as well as beneficial to the colony at large. " Fourth — The deputation it invited to give a report upon any matters m connection with the scheme that huve not been referred to, and any comment or criticism up.in the Railways Construction and Land Act, 1831, or upon specimen prospectus will bo gladly reecivoJ by the Committee of the promoters. "The Committee beg to hand copy of tho Act and pro-pectus fir the use of the deputation, " Gentlemen, for the Committee of the prospectus, "T. B. Cbaio." The Commissioners visited th« Wett Coast, and m due time reported as follows : — " Clirinlchurcb, N.Z., January 16th, 1882. '• T. 3. Wceton, E ? q., M.H.R., Chairman East and West Coast .Railway Company, Christchurch. "Dra-3ir, — In accordance with Ihe request contained m your letter cf the 10th ult., addressed to tho President of the Chamber of Commerce, wo have examined the greater part of the rouU of the proposed East aod West Co»st Railway with the view of giving an o:inion on the commercial prospects of the undertaking. We proceeded on the lfith ult., m company with George Thornton, Esq., 0.X., to Grey mouth via Kuruira, thenoe to Reifton and the Maruia Plains. Mr Mcllraith and Mr Inglis were nlrcoHy sufficiently acquainted with tho eastern siJe of the ranges, hut on our return from tho West Coast tho former acro'npnnied Mr Beaumont m o partial exploration of that portion of tho route. " It is not nrccssary that wo should givo you tho ditiilu of eich day's work, suffice it that b>"»idn traversing tho country wo visited variom gold and cual mines at Greymouth, Reeftpn, and Kumara, and collated information from various sources as to the capabilities of the country through which Iho railway i« intended to pass. " Wo 'worn very much impreased with the large quantity of valuable, timber along the route, and the great extent of tho gold and coal fields. Tho ranges for tho mo>t part sre covered with dense birch bush, of a firstclass character, whilo on tho loiter levels the pines find their halilat. Some varieties of the former, which are found m large quantise*, are invaluable for bridge building, railway sleepers, posts and stakes. The pine* are of first-rale quality, and will meet a demand sooner or later for house building. The ooal fields of Reefton and Greymouth arc of very groat extent, while the quilily is admirably suited accordii/g to locality for household, gas, and steam purposes. Tbo goldmining industry is evidently only m its beginning. Alluvial workings and gold-bcariDg quartz ronfa ure to bo lound everywhere on thn West Coast, and there nro indications m various quartors of the province of antimony and other valuable minerals. The Papiroi mountains and maoy other ranges have hardly been examined, and it only requirea eaiy communication and the eoaiaqusnt cheaps-

[• I ing of (In* necos"!irii*» t f life fo enmrc Ibo -, i l)i'i:i.K properly prospected and u|'Ci:i.'d on '- I liuiMint; «to:.e of virimis kincis Jis nl.i.i t;i I lound m nbiu, dunce. Tin 1 profeciilioii of llu> industries under favorable circuinstunct-s nine eventually lead lo l.lie deitl. ircnt. (if n lurg populutiun depending m ft great metsurc fn supplies of inorcliMuisc and produce 1 on cuieil niarke's. The only land available on the <•»• side of Iho riividina nirge to the Adu Snrirtl. would be tecoml class lo in'eriir pastoral lime Fi>r merino ulierp. To Hie ivcrt or 111" Adt Siddlo, towards Rci-fton and GreymoiUh, t,h< only Und nvailablo for roil* ay purposei ricept thn Muruii Plain*, is covered, us w< Imvenlrendy ttatod, by dense bush, and wher clftred and town with English grosses woub only be fit for grazing slock. There might b( v few patches which could be used for cropping. The Upper Marina Plains, say within fifteen miles of the line of railway, can onh b: utili»ed for grazing purposes. The whole of the unsold land is, we. understand, a pnclnimcd gnldficld.and is not therefore ar.iilnblc unless umlfr arrangement with th« Governrocnt, but if acquired we do not think a company could reckon Hpon telling it readily, and sellling v large population ihore n. Huving collected Btatittica und made estimates showing thi> Rocd», prnduce nnd stock cimmmcd on the West Co i at, as well as tl:o coal and timber imported into Lyttelton, and having carefully cnlculstrd tho trnffio returns on that basis, we find, assuming as your prospictus suggests, 60 per cent as tlie amount of the vr irking expenjcs, that there is no reasunnblo hope of such an entcrpriee aa that projected prov:ng remunerative to tha shareholders under the present Act. On the other hand, we are of opinion that the posiiio:) of Iho Government m relation to tbis question is a very different one. It is their duty to npeo up the re sources of the country, and we think » railway connecting the iln't nnd West Coasts should be constructed with as littlo delay oa possible, so a< to develop the untold wealth which is now osmparativcly dormant. Wo would reiorumend th.it thn railway lints should be continued from Brunnerton towards Reefton, and north from Waikari, oonreeling by the best route. " We tato this opportunity to tender our best thanks to the various Government officers and other gentlomen at Greymoulb, Reefton, and Kuruara for tln-ir readiness to furnish during our visit. We ali-o thank Mr Thornton for his painsißkingatteation lo our various ueeiis throughout our journeying*. '" Wo ore, dea.- o;r, yours faithfully, " (Signed) John Inqiis, * llcoii Mcllu.wtii, J. Beaumont " On the 23rd January tho Cominitteo received the following lUpplomcuUry repon : — "T. S. Westin, Esq., M.U.K., Chairman E\st and West Co ist Railway Oomiany, Christchurch. " Dear Sir, — We have considered Iho resolution of your Committee of the lMh inst., which wjs handed to v* by Mr Craig, and f lie opinion declnred at our int^rri'nvon tho 20tu inst., which expressed your desire for fuller info-nnti' n than our letler affords you. When we undertook the mission wo promised to give a prima facie opiniou on the nu-rcwitilo prospecie of your prujttctcd railway. We have done so, and you ure awnro wo declined to give an < xlmus-tiio report, as wo had only n few d-iys «t our di^posiil. We think it, therefore, hirdly fair that you should now ask for detuils. Nevertheless, we rote tho s.mrces from which we liavo g .thered our information: — Timber and coal (Chamber of Commero report, 1831, pag--s 21 and 31); Greyraouih imports of merchandise (Returns aituched); etock (per West Coast Boilwny League circular); railway tariff through rates ou Compnny'e l.ne. (See Government Gazette of 12th May, 1881.) " With regard to the value of tho concession which the promoters under the Act expect to obtiin, und on which your Committee asked we should express nn opinion, we would re mind you that as the whole of tha unsjld land on the West 'Coast is included m ih ■ procl-'iiied goldfields(seo telegrani appended), it is quite problematical wh--r« th.i coi'cossion of lind, if made by Government, would bo granted, and until the position is decided it would not be possible to form a correct view of the value of the land, or of the timher on it. When thst is determined a detailed examination of the timbered country would require to be made by oxperts, so as to cs'imate approximately the quintity of timber per acre. Mr Wicket, while giving m information as to the data which wai before the promoteri, estimated that an aore of bush land would produce fay -10,000 feet, and that he had taken 80,000 feet from nn acre, but by the former figures it wou'd only require three hundred acres, or as even that estimate may bs excessive, say 100 acres, to tupply ,\ qmntily rqual to all the timber, except kauri and V.D.L., imported into Canterbury m one year. The concession, therefore, wjuld bo of little or do itnmcdhie value. In the meanwhile there would be an annual loss m interest till the line was opened, and when opened it would, m all probabi'ity, not pay even workinj exp?n9°B, while interest would nlso have to be provided. The royalty on coal has yd to be flxed, and tho revenue which would be derived from this source cunnot therefore bi determined at present. "In justice to ourselves we shall expect all the correspondence to be published with our report. " We are, deur girj, " jours faithfully, John Inglis, J. Beaumont, Hugh Mcllhaith" Now what was tho position ? As the promoters regnrded it, it was this— That the Commissioners m tho first plajo concluded that there rould be no concessions of land, aid that if thore were they would be of no vulue. It was said that the l:\nl -was wilhin a proclairco.i goldfield. That miijht be; but Mill it was not out of the poworol I he Government to grant the land, inasmuch as under tho Goldfieldß Art they could withdraw it from t hi' fiilii and devote it to meh purpotes as they pleased. Then, suppling tho land to be withdrawn from the. gold Gelds — wis it or was it not of any valuo ? It would bo diflk'ult to imagine, l.c apprehended, tliit fomothing like a million acres of land would be altogether valueless after a lino ol railway had been thkun thrjugh it. Surely there, would be eomo portions of it of value, and which could ho utilised for a variety of p'.i,po«e<. Therefore it was difficult to believe that tbn portion of the report was absolutely reliable. Then, as to the trade. Of course every ptrson was üblo "o form his own opinion m regard to the trudic ; bHt Mr Wickes, m his cslimalo, up-m which the prospectus was based, gave the following figures: — Co»l», 60,000 tons at Os freight ; timber, l-t,OOO,COOft at 3s j wool, grain, hides, freight £15 000 ; 40,000 tons merchandise, eqml to 2t:>nspor head of population on Coast, at £1 freight ; horses and cut : le 4000 head at £1; sheop. pigs, &c.', 25,000 at 13j; passenger tralfio, 200 head per week £1 j mails, say £2000 ; parce'e, £1000; ileipors, pile*, &c, £4000; building stone, sand, gravel, £10,000. Tho committee reduced tho total, £181,000, to £175.0C0, as appears m tbo prospectus. With tlicec figured beforo Ihem it »ob difficult to liclic o that Iho lino would not pay evon working expense?, aa suggotti;d by the Commisfioners. In oorrohoration of flic t.>timony of Mr Wiokos thcro wer.i Iho returns of tho Kuft and Wo^-t (-'ou-t Railway League, prepared m 1879. In that return it was estimuted that tho cos* of the rsilwny, if oonstrm-ted along Arthur's Puss, would be £1,168,000. He had now stated the position of affairs. They had an adverse report without plainly substantial grounds. That being so whut win to be done P It was for tho meeting now to determine whither they would let the mater drop, endeavor again to ttarl % company, or recrnnmend the Government to conetruct the line. To ink the Government to mako a lino ncrosj those, mountain! would be, m his opinion, to aek them to do mi absolute impossibility. As the; all knew, the resources of tho colony, m the shape of loan*, were now Bt a very low ebb. The balance of tho loan, if ho was not mistaken, had been already appropriated ; and although, m common with others, he firmly boliuved that ucxt cession would ree another loin sanctioned, yet that loan would bo raited for specific purposes, and I hey could shandy expect, m the face of tho Urge demands from other parts of tbo colony, thai th»y could obtain a vote of a miilion, or al all events a Mih»lantinl rum with which U make any progress with the work. Even supposing the Government wero diepoiet to lend a friendly eir, it yrould by nc »ie»ns bs cutkin that this p»itioul»'

» lirp wmilci b* nc.'-p'fd. On llis conirnri t. i:i» nwii o|>ininn \\n* t-'m'. i' would n" >i' b" architect ; that w.s lo say, if he ooul '0 judge by the strong expres-ioi of npinio'i hi !t .«!r B|.-.ir and his ollc-.gur.. Thoje gentl," ',<■ men strongly favored the Aithur'ri Pass route ir which m tliv humb'o opinion nf the promoter c wm a mistake. Then, wern they lo mak >t further effort* to carry on tin's enterprise c Tln're could be. no del ying ibo fact tha 1 el there nits on tho part of a greut many i » strung prejudice ngiii st thii propo'Cil line c ond no one could hnve a better opportunity i> of expressing an opinion on this point thui c tliono who had us-Med to cunvnjs the peopl< i of the town on the subject. The money con 1 tributed to eend Commissioner* to the Wcsi c Coa«t wns eivin not with tl'C view of taking • (litres m tho enterprise, but moro an n tub i seripfion to n temporary purpoee. Iff doubted v whether the subscribers to the fund would bt f prepared lo throw their lot m wi-li theirs and - emtmrk their capital with n view ti prosecute ;• the enterprise. Without the n-nnes of smnc • of the leading penplo ho was very mucli • afraid tho undertaking would r.cvor be i brouaht to a satisfao'ory conclusion. They ! had the people with them there could bo nn • floutit, but tliore wns a want of inclination on i tho part oC somi> leading merchants to artist. r Hid the report m any way altered their posi--1 tion ? It scerood to him that it hud not done ' to m any w.iy. The rcnourcea of the country 1 were trstifl-d to by the CommisMO'ier*, but • they reported adrers-ly without groundi, po tliat the promoter* wore eneily us they were ; before— no weaker owl no stronger. If tho ■ (übderibors p-eseat thought there wu any chnnco nf moving some iutluentml peop'o m . the matter he for one would be. very Imppy indeed, and continue to lend liis a#i>i«tunco. But unli-si they saw a probability of doing sonciliirg eubstnnt.ini within a short time, it would become a question whether or not. the enterprise should he abandoned, at all events for the present. It might bo said thnt if a few shares wore subferihod for m Christchurch, ilio balance of tho money required oaulil be obtain' d either m Australia or England, but although no djubt th.-y oul.l arqiiiro a very lnrgo credit at Home, ytt m the first plane they would require a stronc directory, and m the tcoon.l pUi-e tho rharoi wouM havn to ba eubfcri'.ol for, became it would only be. upon .•übjcrib ra to tbo loj'n would have tlio sicurit.y, ini'l Ilio diOicully would be to get tlio shiirc* subscribed. Now if thoro was thia ilifliculty, Ilio ncxtalrp would bo for n numbrr of men to bo prepared to put down £«00 or £1000 n piece, net >:s proitiotora m tlio true f bust (if the word, fjrm a company, and then niako such firms with the company for ilio aulo of the property as they might think fit. But let them I. ok r^und, nnd aek whether m thfl present state of feeling hero it was likely that they could get n synr!i?ateof 20 or 30 men to put down £50j e»cb for prolimi'iiiry expenses with the vi.^w of making n contract with tho Government. In his judgment it would take £20,000 to form n company m tlin way he had mentioned. A number of contla<npn Inking the matter up as a apeculativo nncUriiiking would linvo to mnko surveys and adveitj>o largely, send eini«9»ri»s to Aui'ruliu and Enclar.d, ond would then havo to make terms with thf Government, and before tlio thing was finally completed tho expenditure would amount to between £15.000 "and £20,000. Now if a company was not to be established, liow wns it likely that twenty or thirty men could lie found m Christrhurrli to form thermelve* into a syndicate If ha give an opinion on that point it. would be m the ncgutivp, judging from their eiperienco during t'so last few months. If the thing wee not to bo done that war, the only alternative left win for tl:ein to abandon the scheme for the present. For his own part. «n:l speaking for hi* colleagues, Messrs Wickes ond 'Ili3rnlon, and eoino others who had been engaged actively m tho matter, and taken more than ordinary trouble over it, Ihi-y were of course disinclined to do so ; but. after .working so long, and ppending so much money m prelimirary expense*, it became a question whether they should not accept the alternative, unpleasant though it might be. Having ma-le theio remarks, all ho cou'd do was to aak thorn m the fir.-t place to pass a very hearty vole of thanks to the Commissioners, who had tiken so much trouble, and having done that they could consider what futuro rction it would be desirable to take. (Cheer*.) Mr Robert Alhn bad much p'ei'ure m moving that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded to the Commissioners for their report. While thanking tho Commissioners he could not but regret that the report was not of a more glowing charaoter. Yet. it was certainly not an unfavorable report., and was no dou'it a most conscientious one. The Couiinia'ioners confirmed what had been rcpeited over aud over again as to the v*et resources of tbo West Const, but they had looked at the matter from a purely business point cf view, and had dealt with the commercial ntpect alone. No doubt many of the promoter* of this enterpriie regarded it fram another point of view, and considered the advantages that were likely to accrue to tho oo'ony at largo. This would explain an apparent inconsistency m tho Commissioners' report. While on the ono bund they condemned tho enterprise as a commercial speculation, they recommended tint tbo Government should cirry it out. It wns m that view that most of the railways were constructed. Thi* undertaking might prove very unfortunate for the ihireholders and jot bo a remarkably good thing for the colony at large, aud that was thj view tho Commissioners Cook. But there wore no doubt Daws m the report. Ho was astonUhod that the Commissioner* should not e.«timalo the concessions as being of any value. Every gentleman connected with this enterprise had l»id greut stress on tho prospective vbluo of tho lind. The Commissioners lud utterly disregarded that viow, and their policy m dcing to was open to grn.it, question. On the other hand, h» would not Imvo been surprised if they hnd »aid Iliat the conccsuoos wore not sufficiently valuable— (bat 30 per cent of the land whs not cnuunh to grant to tlio company j a'idthry ciuld not chut llu-ir ftyos to tho fact that one flaw m the vuluo of tho concessions would nriso from the Government competition. Whilo tho company were to got 30 p;r cent tho Government rotaino 1 70 per cent, and would g.) into tho market al sellers. So that the BO par cent concession was not so valuable as might nppoar at. tho first, blush. In their supplementary roport tho Coramiaiionors laid stress on tho fact llmt the West Coont was pra-ticully a prochimod goldfiald. That, he thought, was of very mnall moment. It wns customary to proclaim largo districts goldfiolds, but tbo proclamation could bo removed, if necessary, and, of course, tho Company would not rely upon thrsa concessions unless they wcro of value. The criticisms of the Commissioners with regard to the valuo of the timber were rather weak.. They pointed out that inasmuch »s 300 ncrcs would probubly .upply tho whcl-j of Canterbury with Umber, therefore th« c mcession was of no valuo. Tlioy seemed to be staggered by the very plot horn of wealth thai was tlioro. The promoters now found thcuwolvos m tho position they starttd from. They hnd hopod that tho C'omuiißMonors by their report would hare helped them on thoir w.iy. They should now determine either to abandon tho enterprise or romit the matter baok lo the pro. inotcrs, m order that they might, fully onsider it. after it hid been thoroughly veut.i'a'ed. He prejumeil that lh» promoters bod not. teen the report, and tfcey should fully consider it, and then submit somn recommendations to tho general body of subscribers. Mr T. Pavitt seconded tho voto, which was carried unanimously. Mr J. P. Jameson thought it would be well that the report should have somo consideration, bud they had hud no opportunity yet of studying it. lie would move— " That Hie report presented by tho Commissionora bo referred to tho following gentlemen, namuly, Messrs WcsLon, AlUn, Nathan and Brings, as a Committee to coneiiler tho same, with the viow of presenting recommendations as to the abandonment ur otherwise of the project, « meeting of tho subscribers to bo summoned ut r'S early a dnto as possible to receivo such recommendations." ' Mr Allan suggested that tho names of th( proposer) provisional directors should bo m serted m tha motion instoud of tliosn mootionoJ. Mr Jameson nccoptod the suggestion, unr the motion was union, led accordingly, thi following names bo ng inserted : — Johi Anderson, Richmond Bethel, Charles Clark E, W. England, James Gois, W, S. King, T

y, O. Kel«y, W. S. Smith, Henry Thcmsoi 't Juhn Waller, R .hert Wiikin, W. Vincent, G rl 11. Mo"rr>, Robert All m, P. Brennan, Jess y Coates, James Gapes, J. P. Jaime-ton, Wm - Moore, Wm. Pratt, A. Stenhouse, Fr.di ;. Trent, Edmund Wickej, L. E. Nathan, T. 8 s Wei-ton. " Mr H. D. Thomas seconded the resolution P which, afttr some discussion, was carried.