FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1871 Session I, D-06i

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FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

(In continuation of Papers presented 25th August, 1871.)

VII.—" Additional copies of all Resolutions passed by any Council of a Province relative to the Railways to be constructed in such Province; together with the opinion or recommendation in writing of the Superintendent of such Province, and any documents, maps, plans, or drawings referred to therein, in compliance with section 6 of ' The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870.'"

I.—Auckland. II.—Canterbury.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY COMMAND OF HIS EXCELLENCY. j

WELLINGTON.

1871.

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FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

I.—AUCKLAND. No. 1. His Honor T. B. Gillies to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sib, — Wellington, 4th September, 1871. I have the honor to forward herewith a Memorandum by my Executive, in relation to " The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870," for your consideration. I have, &c., The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Thomas B. Gillies.

Enclosure in No. 1. Memoranuum by the Provincial Executive of Auckland, in relation to the Immigration and Public Works Act of the Assembly. The Immigration and Public Works policy of the Colonial Government appears to contemplate the expenditure of about £4,000,000 upon Immigration, Public Works, and the purchase of Native lands, during the next few years. The census just completed serves to show that the population of the Province of Auckland numbers very nearly one-fourth that of the Colony as a whole; while that population, as can be easily demonstrated, is of a class likely to bear its full share of the public burthens of the country. It would therefore appear reasonable that one-fourth of the amount about to be expended on Immigration and Public Works within the Colony should be so expended in connection with the Province of Auckland, seeing that no reasonable doubt can exist that the people of this Province will be called upon to bear at least one-fourth of the burthen of debt contracted. The amount to which this Province would in this way be entitled, would amount to about £1,000,000. 2. The works as yet authorized by the Provincial Legislature, in connection with the Colonial policy, may be regarded as being only three : a railway from Auckland to Mercer ; the continuation of that railway through the Waikato District; and a water supply for the Thames Gold Pield. Of these it is understood that the Auckland and Mercer Line is likely to be constructed upon the principle of guaranteed interest upon the capital expended—a mode peculiarly suitable in the case of a line such as this, which has been partly constructed already. The Waikato extension of this line, if carried to the frontier settlements, would probably cost about £250,000. The sum asked by the Provincial Council in its last Session, for the supply of water to the Gold Fields, amounted to £50,000, and it is hardly probable that the actual cost of the work will largely exceed that amount. To these may be added a small sum of less than £1,000 advanced for land purchases,—principally within the gold fields districts. On the whole, therefore, the amount to which the Province has taken steps to participate in the Colonial Loan does not at present much exceed £300,000. 3. The Executive feel strongly, that while the Assembly may adhere to the feature of the Loan Policy of last year which provides for a gradual expenditure of tho money over a series of years, there is every probability that the works upon which the great proportion of the loan will be expended will practically be decided upon during the approaching Session. The uncertainty surrounding the question of the negotiation of the loan, accounts, in the opinion of the Executive, for the reluctance of the Provincial Council in its last Session to recommend the construction of public works within the Province. It appears certain from events that have since transpired that the loan will be successfully negotiated, and that the aid proposed to be given to the construction of public works in the several Provinces will be readily available to the full extent anticipated by the framers.of the financial policy of last year. Your Executive did not feel justified in advising your Honor to summon the Council to a Session previous to the meeting of the Colonial Assembly, considering that the short time that would have been available for the discussion of the important subject of public works would not, in all probability, have sufficed to gain for it such a consideration as would have materially strengthened the position of the Province in the matter; they have therefore taken upon themselves the responsibility of preparing and submitting to your Honor such a scheme of public works and immigration as iv their opinion is calculated to advance the interests of the Province, and is likely to command the approbation of the Council at its next Session. 4. By means of the railway between Auckland and the Waikato frontier, nearly the whole of the country south of the Provincial capital open, or likely for some time to be open, for settlement, will be provided with cheap and speedy communication with Auckland. The amount asked for on account of Thames water supply will, it is hoped, prove sufficient for the purpose, and, by providing an abundant supply of good water, remove one of the most serious obstacles to the full development of the gold field. Should the cost of the work provo greater, however, than

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that contemplated, the Executive would still be prepared to urge the construction of the works, the additional cost of which might be provided by the curtailment of the scheme now submitted to your Honor in some other direction. 5. The large area over which settlement has extended in this Province, and the peculiarly difficult character of much of the country, has at all times rendered the question of public works a difficult one when an attempt has been made to deal with such works as parts of a great whole, and not merely as small local efforts at improvement. For this reason the Executive feel that any scheme which confined itself to the construction of a railroad to the Waikato and a water supply to the Thames would be most unjust to other parts of the Province, ignoring, as it would, the claims and grievances of the north, and wholly overlooking the existence of the important settlement at Poverty Bay. The position of settlers in the northern districts of the Province has for years been one of great hardship, if not of considerable injustice. The expenditure connected with the Native Avar of 1863, while it benefited and opened up the southern districts of the Province, was worse than useless to the north. Its districts were too often deserted by its settlers, who were tempted to the neighbourhood of the Provincial capital by the ephemeral prosperity introduced by the war expenditure. Its farms were left uncultivated, owing to the high price of labour near Auckland, and the many inducements which led its settlers to seek success in some career —civil or military —less toilsome and more profitable than that of bush farming. Even the cessation of hostilities did nothing for the north, as the opening of th 9 Waikato, with its greater accessibility, turned the stream of capital and labour in that direction, and away from the northern districts. The Provincial half-million loan, while it improved the city and harbour of Auckland, bridged the Tamaki, erected large public buildings, and partially constructed the Auckland and Drury Railway, did nothing for the north beyond introducing a number of assisted immigrants. Some of these immigrants, no doubt, found their way into the northern districts, but, owing to the absence of all means of communication, and to the inferior land on which, in most cases, they were located, very few have become permanent settlers. It is not, indeed, too much to say that ever since a revenue has been raised in this Province available for public works, the northern districts have received the scantiest justice in comparison with other parts of the Province ; and the result is that the macadamized roads, which extend some forty miles to the south, are found to cease wholly within seven miles to the north of Auckland. This is the more remarkable because for many years the north furnished the principal exports of the Province, while even at present it contains, besides a largo and peaceful Native population, not less than 12,000 inhabitants, or one-third the population of the Province, exclusive of the inhabitants of the city and gold fields. These considerations appear to demand, in any Provincial scheme of public works, that a generous recognition should be given to the wants and claims of the north. 6. The character of the country north of Auckland, as well as the circumstances of its ownership, appear to call for a different policy in relation to public works from the southern districts of the Province. In the north, European settlement of a partial and very scattered character extends for a distance of about 180 miles from Auckland, and is generally confined to a narrow fringe of settlement, which on the eastern coast borders the sea, and on the west the waters of the Kaipara and Hokianga estuaries, with their tributary rivers. The general character of the country is broken, hilly, and densely wooded, and a large proportion of the land is still in the hands of Native owners, although the title to very much of it has been individualized through the agency of the Native Lands Court. In the present state of settlement, any extensive system of railroads through the north would be manifestly impossible. It is doubtful whether a practicable line could be obtained from Auckland to the Bay of Islands, even were it conceivable that sound policy could dictate a line of railroad extending about one hundred and thirty miles through a country scarcely settled, and much of it unfit for settlement. The only railway work which the Executive would be prepared to recommend for the North at present is an extension of the line, about to be undertaken by t tie Province, to connect the waters of the Kaipara, aud Waitemata with Auckland. The distance from Auckland to a point near the southern terminus of the Kaipara Railroad Line would not exceed eighteen miles ; and when it is considered that the cost would not be likely greatly to exceed £60,000, while the result would be to give a direct connection with Auckland to all the settlements on the Kaipara estuary and its tributary rivers, it can hardly be doubted that the undertaking would be of the greatest practical benefit to the country as a whole. Perhaps the largest extent of really fine land in the Province is to be found in the district between the Wairoa River, where it bends eastward, and the Awanui River to the north of the settlement of Mongonui. This land is chiefly volcanic, and lies in rich but not deep valleys, characterized by great richness of soil and mildness of climate. It is comprised within a district extending for about seventy miles in length, by a varying breadth of from ten to twenty miles, and is nearly all in the hands of Native owners ; but there is little if any doubt that much of it could easily be purchased at fair although not excessively low rates. 7. The proposals, therefore, of the Executive, with reference to the application of the loan to the northern districts, would comprise the following divisions : — First, —The construction of the railway line already mentioned, from Auckland to the point of junction with the Kaipara Railway, for which a sum of £60,000 would be necessary. Secondly,—The acquisition of as much of the good land in the north, and especially in the district already referred to, as possible. This could not be done, it is believed, but at a cost, including surveys, &c, of about 6s. per acre, which however would not be too high a price to pay for the best of the land ; and to provide for the purchase of 250,000 acres, a sum of about £75,000 would be requisite. Having thus acquired a large estate for settlement, the Executive would propose that the Colonial Government should be moved to set aside a sum of about £75,000 for the purpose of opening up roads through the various districts of the north, and that the co-operation of the Provincial Government should be tendered to the Colonial Government, with a view to securing the economical expenditure of this fund : an end only to be attained by the most vigilant administration acting on the spot.

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The Kaipara Railway, with the extension already proposed, and steam services on the Kaipara waters, which, in common with other local steam services, the Executive recognize as coming properly within the sphere, and in all probability within the means of the Provincial Government, will, it is believed, go far towards providing means of access to the settlements and lands immediately abutting upon the Kaipara harbour and its tributary rivers, but it would appear requisite for the profitable settlement of the country that a good road should be opened from the settlement of Port Albert to Mahurangi, another across the country from Paparoa to Wangarei, aud a third following the coast line, and connecting Mahurangi with the Nova Scotian settlement at Waipu, and both with the Wangarei district. From the fork of the Wairoa, the natural terminus of the steam services on the Wairoa River, a main line of road should be opened, passing through the rich country above referred to as existing in the northern district, communicating at the same time with the Bay of Islands and Hokianga districts and harbours. In addition to these proposals for the purchase of Native lands and opening up communication with the north, the Executive propose that the Immigration Loan should be taken advantage of for the purpose of procuring and settling on the lands and in the districts thus acquired and opened up, an agricultural population suitable to the wants of the Province. It is considered that this could be done without difficulty, by offering, to suitable classes in the mother country, the inducements of cheap passages for themselves and families, and free grants of small holdings on conditions of settlement and improvement. The experience of the Government immigration promoted some years ago to the district on this side the Waikato River is considered by the Executive as affording sufficient proof of the extreme feasibility of the scheme, and indicating the difficulties to be met within carrying it out. By a judicious use of the road works to be carried out in their neighbourhood, and a careful reservation of lands adjacent to the various settlements, to be sold to these settlers when they shall be in a position to purchase them, there can be little doubt that a very large amd most valuable population could be settled in the northern districts without difficulty, and with the happiest results, both to the immediate neighbourhood settled and to the country at large. The cost of introducing immigrants is not very easily calculated ; but if it is supposed that persons of a suitable kind could be obtained by an expenditure of £7 10s. each person, in addition to their own contributions, it would be possible to introduce 3,000 families, averaging four adult members, at a cost to the Province of less than £100,000. 8. The proposed expenditure on account of the north, if we suppose three-fourths of tho immigration proposed to belong to those districts, would thus be—for land purchase, £75,000; for roads, £75,000 ; for railway extension, £60,000; and for immigration, £75,000 ; making in all a sum of £285,000 ; but little more than the probable cost of the construction of the extended railroad line from Mercer to the Waikato frontier. This division of expenditure does not appear to the Government to be wholly equitable towards the north, but it is proposed as a measure of justice, which may, upon its proving a success, be supplemented by further expenditure in the directions already indicated. 9. In addition to the proposals already made, the Executive would urge the desirability of such a modification being made in the Public Works Acts of the Assembly, as would admit of an advance being made out of the Loan in aid of improvements for the Harbour of Auckland, to the extent of say £75,000 ; and a sum of from £60,000 to £80,000 for a water supply to the city and suburbs of Auckland. It is scarcely necessary to urge the great desirability of these works, as the importance of the improvement of the harbour of Auckland, not only to the Province but to the Colony at large, can hardly fail to be apparent to all, while there can be little or no doubt that the supply of water to tha city at such a cost would prove not only a useful but a highly reproductive work. 10. The Executive, in making these proposals, do not lose sight of the great advantage to be derived from the construction of a line of cheap railroad connecting the Thames Gold Fields with the valley of the Waikato, near the frontier settlements. The valley of the Thames would, it is believed, afford exceptionally great advantages for the construction of such a line ; and in view of the benefit to be derived from thus connecting the agricultural country with a market, the Executive would not hesitate to advise the immediate undertaking of the work, did such a course appear to be feasible. At present this is not the case ; but, as it is impossible to say how long the obstacles to opening the Upper Thames may continue, the Executive would recommend the reservation of a sum of at least £200,000, with the view of providing the means for undertaking this work as soon as circumstances render it feasible. 11. A recapitulation of the above proposals will show the following results : —Tho Executive would recommend the construction of the railway to Mercer, if possible upon guarantee. They also recommend the immediate prosecution of the work of its extension to the delta of the Waikato, at a cost probably not exceeding £250,000. They would urge the desirability of connecting the Provincial railroad from Kaipara to Riverhead with the City of Auckland by a line of railway about eighteen miles long, probably costing about £60,000. They would advocate every exertion being made to induce the Colonial Government to authorize an expenditure of £75,000 for roads, and of £75,000 for land purchase in the north of the Province ; and they would most strongly recommend that provision should be made for the immediate introduction of the water supply to the Thames Gold Fields, even should it appear that the cost of the work would be likely to exceed the £50,000 asked for by the Provincial Council; and that a sum of £200,000 should be reserved for the construction of the Thames Valley line of railroad so soon as the attitude of the Natives renders such a work possible. To these proposals the Executive would add the gradual introduction, at a cost not exceeding £100,000, of a suitable class of immigrants into the Province, in accordance with tho scheme already prepared and submitted for your Honor's approval. Finally, the Executive would strongly urge the importance of such a modification being introduced into the Immigration and Public Works Act of the Assembly as would enable the Colonial Government to sanction an expenditure out of the loan of £75,000 for harbour works, and about £75,000 for a supply of pure water to the city of Auckland. The proposals thus made will involve, if carried out, an expenditure of about £960,000, a sum which, large as it may appear, is not greater than may be fairly claimed by the Province as its legitimate 2

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proportion of the £4,000,000 Loan ; and the Executive are sanguine that, if expended with care and judgment in the directions indicated, the permanent benefit to the Province will be so great aB largely to vindicate the policy of the Government. Hugh H. Lttsk Superintendent's Office, Auckland, Ist August, 1871. (for the Executive).

No. 2. The Hon. W. Gisborne to His Honor T. B. Gillies. Sic,— Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 11th September, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's letter of the 4th instant, in which you forward for the consideration of the Government a memorandum by your Executive in relation to " The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870," and shall be obliged if your Honor will, as required by the terms and spirit of that Act, favour me with your opinion of the several proposals ■which your Executive therein make. I have, Ac., His Honor the Superintendent of Auckland, Wellington. W. Gisborne.

lI.—CANTERBURY. No. 3. His Honor W. Rolleston to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sic, — Superintendent's Office, Christchurch, 29th August, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, in which you request to be informed as to my opinion of which would be the line which should be followed by the Northern Railway to the north of the Southbrook Station. The opinion of the Provincial Council has been already forwarded to you, and I now do myself the honor to enclose a copy of a Minute passed by my Executive Council on the subject. In forwarding this, I am bound to state that, after reading the very clear report of the Acting Engineer-in-Chief, in which he states that the estimate for the Parliamentary Line is £15,000 lower than that for the Ashley Township Line; that the distance is more than a mile shorter; that the height which the latter line rises is 47-j feet in excess of that of the former; and that the cost of maintenance, as well as the working expenses of this part of the Ashley Township Lino would be materially greater, and therefore recommends the adoption of the Parliamentary Line, I do not feel competent, in a matter involving so many engineering considerations, to express an opinion adverse to that given by him.- the more so because it had been agreed between the Hon. Mr. Vogel and the Provincial Government, in accordance with the terms of my letter of 21th December, IS7O, and your telegram of the 28th of the same month, that the question of deviation " would be referred for decision to the Colonial Engineer, Mr. Blackett." In reply to your present request, I have to state my individual opinion, that if, as suggested by Mr. Blackett, the saving effected by the adoption of the Parliamentary Line (£15,000) be devoted to making a line of light railway through the township of Rangiora, in the direction of Oxford, so as to supplement the vote of the Provincial Council of £10,000 for the Oxford Tramway, the special interests of the township, and those of a large and growing population in the east and Oxford districts, would by this means be most effectually served. I have, &c, W. Rolteston, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Superintendent.

Enclosure in No. 3. Northern Railway — Ashley Crossing. The Council, having before them a letter from the Colonial Secretary, dated 11th August, 1871, requesting to be informed of the opinion of the Superintendent with reference to the Resolution of tho Provincial Council relative to the line of the Great Northern Railway via Ashley Township, advise His Honor to inform the General Government that the line by the Ashley Township is the one which, in their opinion, should be adopted. At the Government Buildings, A. Blakiston, Christchurch, 22nd August, 1871. Clerk to Executive.

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AUCKLAND. No. 4. His Honor T. B. Gillies to the Hon. the Colonial Secretabt. Sic,— Wellington, 13th September, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of 11th instant, and in reply have the honor to state that the Memo, sent you was that of my responsible advisers, with whose advice, so long as I do not conceive it to be injurious to the Province (as I do not in this instance), I feel bound as Superintendent to concur. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Thomas B. Gillies.