EVENING SITTING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5689, 7 October 1896, Page 4

EVENING SITTING.

■Tho Tlouso i-t-Miiii'..',! :.ifc 7.30 (•.!»., ia I committee on the i';Uiti« Works Estimates, j Mr O. VV. jJ-ust-Kui. saiVi. ii»a utt^r Mr I M'KenKie's cx;>iriuutiou in.- ehouiil with- j draw his iniieudiuont. Votti i-hsswl. Midland Hallway, J&o.OCO. Sir E. Stout nsked for some wpljination of this vot*\ iio t-aal that tlsi:> r.alwjiy had not yet been sanctioned us an ordinary railway by Parliament, not that, he objected to something being done for this line, but he wanted to know " Whore they were?" He moved a reduction of the vote by ,£IO,OOO. The Hon "W. Hall-Jones said that Sir E. Stout must know the whole position of the line. He held that it war, a moral duty for the Government to go on with the line till some arrangement was come to between the Company and the dehentureholders. The Government having taken over the line, could not let it lie idle. Sir R. Stout asked how long it was to go on, or would it be for ever. The Hon W. !Hall- Jones said that -it would end with the end of the contract. After a long 1 debato, the- Hon E. J. Seddon sail that Sir E. Stout was acting ungenerously, and he might say selfishly, in moving to reduce this vote, and he had taken care not to move it till all the Wellington votes had passed. He pointed out that .£182,000 was on the Estimates for the Wellington . district, and only .£23,000 for " poor Canterbury." The Government •was ' advised, lie said that it could go on with this work, and that was the reason why .£25,000 appeared on the Estimates for the Midland line. It followed as a natural sequence that they must go on with the work, especially as the colony had already spent ,£252,000 on the line in land grants. Mr Fbasek said that the Premier was an adept at trailing a red herring across the scent, and he had given no information at all further than he had given last year. He contended that they were entitled to more information about this matter before they were asked to sanction this vote. Mr Graham supported the vote, and said that if all this money were spent at the Nelson end, it would carry on the line to a place where it would be remunerative. Sir E. Stout said that he had nioved to reduce the vote because he considered that .£15,000 would be sufficient to carry on the line till they saw what the Company and the debenture-holders were going to do. That would also be ample to give work to the unemployed in Canterbury and Nelson during the winter months. The Hon E. J. Seddon again justified the vote and said that this railway was by legislation passed by .the House as niuch an, ordinary railway of the colony as any other line. SirE. Stout said that the position was that the Premier wished the House to commit itself to the construction of this line out of borrowed money, although it had never been sanctioned by Parliament. •••-.••. The Hon E. J. Seddon said that Sir E. Stout was on the horns of a dilemma', as he was willing that they should vote .£15,000 out of borrowed money for this line but would not grant .£25,000. He should undertake that the colony was not committed to more than this vote whether it were .£15,000 or .£25,000, but he "preferred to see the latter amount carried. Mr Montgomery opposed the vote, and said that there was no necessity whatever for expending this money. After "- further debate, Sir E. Stout's amendment to reduce the vote by .£IO,OOO was lost by 37 to 20, and .£25,000 was carried. Lawrence-Roxburgh railway, .£2OOO. Sir E. Stout did not know that it was of any use protesting against tho line, ■which was a new ■work, and it was an titter waste of money to attempt to construct this line, which had never been sanctioned by Parliament. > The Hon W. J. M. Laenach said that Sir E. Stout was trying to mislead the House in this instance, as he did in many others. He said that this line really should have been she Otago Central, as it was much shorter and would have been less expensive. Those who knew this route would, he felt sure, vote for this small sum of .£2OOO. Mr Buchanan said that they were told in the Public Works Statement that the Government intended to reduce the expenditure to the lowest possible limit, and putting this .£2O6b on for a new work was quite in 'keeping with that promise. Mr E/uixshaw strongly opposed the ( vote. Ke said that the Dunedin people did not want it, and the Dunedin papers were against it. If they constructed a line from Lawrence to Roxburgh it would cost six or seven thousand pounds a mile. Mr Fkaskb asked whether this money was to be spent of the line or mei"ely i'or survey of it. Mr Collins also asked for information on the subject, and said that this line would cost £'120,000. The Hou W. Hall-Jones said that he expected to receive a report- "on this line and the Heriot route, and if he found that the Lawrence route was the better he might spend .£2OOO in surveying the line, but no money would be spent in, constructing the line without the sanction of 'Parliament. '..■■'" Sir E. Stout said that if they voted for this .£2OOO they would be sanctioning a new railway which the colony could not afford to go in for. Mr T. Mackenzie said he should oppose the construction of the line by the Roxburgh, but should support it by the Heriot route, as he considered that the more suitable. Vote struck out by 28 to 25. Otago Central, .£30,000. Carried. Forest Hill Tramway, .£3OOO, elicited a lengthy discussion. Passed. Additions to open lines, .£BO,OOO. Sir E. Stout thought this sum should not como out of loan, and he moved a reduction of After a long discussion the amendment was lost and the vote carried. Main roads, .£12,000. During the discussion that ensued the Hon J. M'Kenzie said that it would take two millions of money to provide all the roads and bridges asked for by members of the House. Vote passed. Miscellaneous roads and bridges, £21,604. Mr Pirani moved that the vote should be reduced by .£1 as an indication that the Government should contribute .£6OOO towards the construction of the Manawatu Gorge bridge. The Hon J. M'Kenzie said that the Government had been waiting for the local bodies to do something in tbis matter, but they could not agree amongst themselves, and would do nothing. He suggested that Mr Pirani should withdraw his amendment. Mr Pirani complied, and the vote passed without alteration. Development of thermal springs and natural scenery, .£41,715. Sir E. Stout objected to this money being expended on roads. He moved that the vote should be reduced by .£6,715 so as to leave it at .£35,000. (Left sitting at 2 a.m.)