A Descriptive Report.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5649, 19 June 1886, Page 4

A Descriptive Report.

DEBATE ON THE MIDLAND AAILWAT BILL. [Bt Tbl-oaaph.J [fBO_T OUB SPECIAL COBBBSPOWDENT.J WELLINGTON, Junb 18. MISCELLANEOUS. The Municipal Corporations Bill was read a third time and sent on. An Imprest Supply Bill for .£250,000 wa3 passed. The Parcels Post Bill went through Committee, and was read a third time, and the Gold Duty Abolition Bill went through Committee. A new clause was added, the Bill wa_ reported, and the third reading fuced for Tuesday next, when new clauses will be added to it in Committee. This is the usual practice. MIDLAND RAILWAY. Sir J. Vogel moved the second reading of the great Bill. In a few words he sketched briefly Ub position, the negotiations that had taken place in the matter of the railway since last year, explained the position of the Agent-General throughout, and paid a high compliment to that gentleman for the zeal and ability he had shown. The whole question of modification had been left to him, and he had, after due consideration, agreed, on the understanding tbat a Bill should be passed giving effect to them. This was the Bill. The modifications, he felt, were not open to any reasonable objection by the House. The statement of the extension of time for the expenditure of the first J8150.000, was the necessary consequence of the delay that had taken place in the matter. The immediate allocation of the lands was a positive advantage to the Colony. The interest during cost of construction involved a great question. The Government had, by the Act, the right to purchase the line ten years after completion, by compelling the Company to sell. The question of this interest was unsettled in the Act, aa one set of arbitrators might hold that it should be added to the cost of construction, and another might hold that it could not. No question in the world was more discussed everywhere, than this of interest on the ooat of construction. The Government riiyi sent Home for information and advice on the subject, and were in possession of a very bulky set of papers, which would shortly be laid on the table of the House. From those papers the Houße could see that the opinion of some of the best financiers in the world (including Mr Gladstone, who had written a separate report on the subject for the Government) was in favour of charging interest against construction. The Government itself did not adopt that view generally. He said so much to avoid nisunderscandings, but for the particular question of a compulsory sale at the end of ten years after completion, it had agreed to a-lopt it. " Few of us will be here when that time comes," said Sir Julius, whereat there was a murmuring hum, per-

haps not over - complimentary to the prospect- of the railway, perhaps of .- amusement at tte construction to | -which the words of Sir Julius were open | ! — though so unwittingly spoken. Eegarding the running powers to be given to the Company over the Colonial lines, Sir Julius explained that it was not quite clear what exact meaning ia to be attached to some of the expressions used, but there was "| no doubt he said what was meant. It was that the Company should be placed in as ■ ' goodaposition as any other private Company ) ' having running powers over the publio j I railways. For his part, he had never seen • any project brought forward in such a [ genuine manner. There was no promotion I money, and no profit. Everyone connected with the project had been actuated solely by a desire to forward a great and most [ I important Colonial work. With the same j desire, he exhorted the Honse to pass the 1 : second reading of the Bill. Captain - • Sutter took the opportunity to explain . | that, as one who had last year opposed the . railway, he was now pleased to see a Comf pany come forward to undertake it. Whatever reasonable demands that Company might make he would most certainly sup- ' port, but he -would not sit down without I entering his protest against the Colonial Treasurer's constant habit of charging all his outspoken critics with damaging the credit of the Colony. Why, the hon gentleman himself did more to produce that bad effect than all his critics put together. The correspondence, connected , with this very matter, that was on the table proved that. He read one of the letters of the Agent-General — that which waa written ' when the project was thought to be about to fail. In that letter the causes of failure had been stated to be (1) the uncertainties surrounding the Irish Question, (2) the general stagnation of trade, (3) the critical condition of the Eastern Question, and (4) the numerous rumours which imputed to the New Zealand Goverment the intention of issuing a loan policy of many millions. Captain Sutter hoped he was not boring hon members (cries of "go on"), but he was reading the letter for the purpose, not of opposing the BUI, but of showing what effect the Tuapeka manifesto had produced upon the Colonial credit. That j manifesto had done more damage than all the members who were opposed to the Government had done, or could do, by speaking together. At this stage it appeared as if the Becond reading was about to pass on the voices, when Mr G. F. Richardson rose to say a few words. He did so without any desire to oppose or obstruct the Bill, but merely to point out certain facte and suggest certain alterations in the contract. Before doing so, however, he would state, as a preliminary, that he doubted how far the House could in honour go in that direction. As to the land available according to plan B— which hon members had seen in the lobbies — the whole of the lands in the district and the neighbourhood of the line amounted to nine million three hundred thousand acres. There being two and a half millions sold, and half a million of reserves, the total available was .six million three hundred thousand. At a valuation of ten shillings per acre there was in the district ample land to satisfy the undertaking given to the Company, of land to the value of a million and a quarter sterling. But taking the land within the fifteen mile limit, all of which had to be exhausted .before going to the rest of the lands in the district, the House would find a different state of things. The total quantity on the east side of the range was Beven hundred and thirty acres of Crown land and seventy thousand of reserves, while on the west side there were two million seven hundred thousand acres of Crown lands and thirty thousand five hundred acres of reserves. That gave a total of three million four hundred and thirty thousand acres of Crown lands, but the Act provided that these lands must not be taken on the reverse slopes of the watersheds. Interpreting the Act liberally, and taking into consideration only the main watersheds, he found that there were on the eastern side of the range two hundred thousand acres on the wrong slopes of the watersheds, and four hundred thousand on the western. This reduced the available area of Crown lands within the fifteen mile radius to two million eight hundred and thirty thousand acres. Then there were the auriferous lands, and in the absence of data for calculation, he had to proceed by piece-work. Aesuming three hundred thousand acres as sufficient to cover the running requirements, that left us with two and a half million acres Crown lands available at ten shillings per acre, an average which, he thought, would not be exceeded. That would supply the guarantee to the Company, but if the Government insisted on taking the alternate blocks, the area within the fifteen mile limit would be found insufficient by one half the amount being guaranteed to the Company. For his own part, he thought it would be the simplest plan to give the Company the whole of the land within the fifteen mile radius, and he would favour anything to that effect. He made an exception, however. Some work had been done on the Greymouth-Hokitika line, and more would be done. In giving the Company the whole land within the fifteen mile radius, he thought that the block of land covering the Greymouth-Hokitika line should be retained for the Colony. Another objection he very decidedly entertained on the land question was to tho shape of the blocks, or rather strips. A strip of land one mile in breadth and fifteen in depth was an absurdity of the first magnitude. If the land within the fifteen mile radius, therefore, were not to be given up to the Company, he thought there should be no strips. The land, in that case, ought to be in square blocks. As was well known, the square block was the best formation. So much for land. Coming to the contract Mr Eichardson said he had several serious objections to make to it, as an engineer. There were no penalties for securing the proportional completion of proportionate parts; for instance, if the completion of the whole line in ten years was provided ; for, there should be provision for the completion of one quarter of the line in 1 one quarter of the time. In this re--1 spect, he thought the contract should be altered, if possible, due regard being had to the public honour. At present the con- ; tract was, he considered, divided into too s many sections. Thirty-five was the num- ! ■ ber. On completion of each, the Company : has the power, under the contract, to take ) its proportion of the land concession, or, as , he preferred to call it, hoax. The line, he * thought, ought to have been divided into . four main sections — Bay, from Belgrove to [ Eeefton, Eeef ton to Brunnerton, Brunner- > ton to Teremakau, Teremakau to Spring- ■ \ field. Each of these would have been a ■ useful railway in itself, and the pays ment of the land bonus could have been * arranged in such a manner aa to encourage > rapidity of construction. The House must * not forget that the land concessions - amounted, on an average, to JB7BOO per r mile. Some sections -were obviously very . much more expensive and difficult than 3 others. Now there was nothing to prevent * the Company from completing the easy - sections, taking the proportionate amount t of land allowed by the contract, and drop- * ping the line. In that event, the Colony - was powerless for the ten years the conf tract covered, and would have to wait till i the end of the period before being able to i take what little action might be open to it , under the contract. The auriferous lands . were another grave subject for consideral tion. The contract provided for the sur- * render of lands proved to be auriferous, t and the Eesnmption Act provided the I modus operandi. The provisions of the i Ast standing alone were, however, by no E means satisfactory to the miner, or good i for the mining industry. The machinery ! should be simpler, and there should be > provision for prospecting. If these altera- * tions could be made it would be better for I the country, but he would make it clear ; that his proposals were subject to the t honourable obligations of the contract. Mr Eolleiton followed Mr Eichardson ; with a protest against the attitude of the I House, which seemed to deprecate dis- 1 * cussion of this most important matter. : \ The House, he said, was indebted to the I ! hon member opposite for the excellent > speech he had made, which Bhowed in a , high degree technical knowledge as an ■ ' expert and clearness of thought. He agreed

■i-wwawi _— __-_-_-- ■■"■ ■■■ —"■■—■- ■■ ■■■■■■ ■ _ — — with what the hon gentleman said, and was of opinion tbat _h.e Honse should do ita utmoßt to make the Bill a practical Bill, and to promote the object it had in view. This waa not the time for objecting to the prinoiple of the Bill ; that time had gone by. The real time for objection was in 1884. On that occasion he had taken a , course whioh had brought npon him a ' great quantity and variety of abuse, and subjected him to attacks of every kind The position of the matter, however, was different now. Since then the House had adopted a certain principle, and had ap- ■ proved the idea that a contract according to that principle might be made. A contract 1 had accordingly been made. Under these circumstances he would be no party to any breach of faith. So long as the concessions asked for were such as would have been granted by the House when it passed the Act of 1884, he waa of opinion that it would be wise to grant them. But to deal with the matter as if their months were shut would be vory wrong. (Hear ! hear ! from j Sir George Grey.) He would begin his reference to the matter by insisting that ' the Treasurer and his friends ought to I have thankfully expressed their gratitude I to this side of the House for the manner in I which they had prevented the acceptance of the proposal of the Messrs Meiggs. A j more profligate proposal, one more utterly careless of the true interests of the Colony, had never been made. (Hear ! hear ! Sir George Grey's voice being prominent.) Fortunately that proposal had not been entertained by the House. Those who had opposed that proposal were entitled to the thanks of the House. It was quite true that a large section of the public mind in several districts of the Colony felt very earnestly the necessity for the construction of this railway, and very justly so, but this publio opinion had been accompanied by the most unfair pressure upon all dissentient-. All who thought for themselves on matters of detail, or opportunity or anything connected with the line, were per- 1 aistently treated as obstructionists, men false to their pledges, unfit to be members of the Legislature. A section of the Press (he would more particularly refer to the Lyttelton Times) had made it almost impossible for public men to divest themselves of responsibility for courses to which they would not give their approval. That journal had advocated corruption of the worst kind, and had gone to extreme lengths in abusing and vilifying and persecuting those who differed from it. He took the opportunity now to call upon the House to have no fear of this kind of thing ; to remember rather the interests of the railway, the interests of the Bill, and the interests of New Zealand. (Hear, hear, from Sir George Grey.) Coming to the principle of land concessions, he quite agreed with the decision the Government had that day announced. They had come to Bet their faces against the principle in future. The experience of America waa against the principle. In that country, railway companies and railway rings exercised the most mischievous and baneful power. The House had decidedly made a mistake with regard to the principle, but he wa3 glad to think they were not to be asked to go any further in the same direction. He endorsed what the member for Mataura had said about the auriferous lands, and agreed with him that some simpler and more efficacious provision should be made in the contract lor the resumption of lands found to be auriferous. This was all the more important, as on that very day the Government had carried through Committee a measure which would destroy the revenue out of which must come the funds for the resumption of the lands under the Act. In this direction, ho foresaw endless complications. Speaking of the railway itself, he ventured to observe that for yearß past he had held the opinion that this line should be constructed ; that it had always been part of the public works scheme. The Government of which he was a member had been of the same way of thinking. In pursuance of that view they had shaped their railway policy. They regarded the best route to be by Amberley northwards, and in that direction they had spent .£300,000 with the intention of carrying the railway eventually through the Amuri, and so on to the West Coast. The present Government, he might say, had only just got to the point their predecessors had left, but in the meantime an agitation had been got up by people who had "never troubled themselves about the West Coast Eailway, and by them another route had been adopted, and then the matter had gone to a white heat. Was it to be wondered at that he could not throw himself into the project for adopting a route of which he disapproved, and conditions of construction which had not his assent. The half-past five adjournment, Mr Eolleston remarked, was at hand. Therefore, as he did not wish to be obstructive, he would sit down, in order to allow the House to read the Bill a second timo before dinner. (Hear, hear.) Mr Fisher, however, intervened, but found the House in rather a ferment. Cries of "Go on," "Adjourn," "Question," increased the volume of murmurs, bo that Mr Fisher had to come to an anchor, which he did after consultation with the Premier, by moving the adjourn- j ment of the debate till after the Order of the Day No. 11, i.e., after the New Hebrides j debate. EDUCATIONAL STATEMENT. After dinner the Premier made his statement. Mr Turnbull made his annual remarks in favour of tbe Catholic claims, and the Premier (on the question of Mr Ormond) fixed the debate at the time for taking the first vote of the Educational estimates. The two intervening Orders of the day being postponed by consent, the New Hebrides debate was resumed by Mr Montgomery. NEW HEBBIDES. During the afternoon sitting, tho Premier suggested that for State reasons it would be advisable to postpone the debate on this question, which was on the Order Paper for this evening, but the Houso refused (there were signs of dissent) to adopt the suggestion. When, therefore, the debate came on Mr Montgomery resumed it. He moved an amendment, narrowing the question entirely to the New Hebrides, and made a speech bordering on the warlike. Mr Ormond thought the convict question was the greater question, and found fault with the Government for not leading. Mr Downie Stewart supported Mr Montgomery, and spoke much in the Jingo fashion. Mr Wakefield made a really fine speech. He rose head and shoulders over the three speakers who had preceded him. His knowledge of the subject, the freedom and variety of his reasoning, the appropriateness of his language, and his wide viewß, all made a speech it was a pleasure to listen to. Having replied completely to all points made during this and previous debates, and thrown the oil of common _ense over the subject, he suggested an adjournment, on the ground that unanimity had become impossible. The Treasurer, foUowing the hint, took higher ground. He administered a grave rebuke to the House for their conduct in insisting on discussing a question which had come to involve issues of peace and war between two great nations. He advised the House to follow the example of the House of Commons, and refrain from passing embarrassing resolutions. The leader of the Opposition seconded Mr Wakefield's motion, and the debate was adjourned. It will be adjourned, if necessary, from day to day till the proper time comes for speaking. The upshot of the matter is that the Government has at last taken a commanding position on this important subject. ________________