MINISTERIAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2502, 15 May 1909, Page 6

MINISTERIAL.

THE HON. R. McKENZIE

IMPORTANT DEPUTATIONS

The Minister for Public Work's, the Hon. R. McKenzie, and the Hon. James Carroll received a number ot important deputations, at the Borough Council Chambers yesterday morning. There were also nresent Mr. \\. iJ. > . MacDonald, M.P., the Hon Captain Tucker, M.L.C., Mr. Holmes (Cmet Engineer for Public Morks), Armstrong- (Resident Engineer), the Mayoi (Mr i\ r D. Lysnar), Crs. Clayton, Kirk, Pettie, Harris, Maynard, and a largo number of other citizens.

E \ST COAST RAILWAY The first deputation was from the East Coast Railway League, and was introduced by the chairman (Mi. John Temdey) gaid he was pleased to the Minister for Rublic Works m the district,'and to express satisfaction each section k'was completed. The line was developing the district andhml^ml'qiSon the LeSgie desired to urge was the construction of the viaduct over the large creek beyond Waikohu ami to ask that it be put under constinction as soon as possible because wile he lim might be laid beyond the creek rif could not be brought into use until the viaduct was completed. H ie League had no policy as to the route to be taken as long as the best countiy was opened up. The League wished lO ttl iino laid to Motu. and hoped to ultimately see tlio.raihvay oraported with one of the mam lines. Row that the Main Trunk line had been completed it was hoped that the Government would push on the Gisborne i ailv ay witli all P speed. The Minister had seen the district, and could sympathise with the settlers in their difficulties in get tin or stock to town and supplies to thenholdings. The country was rich and would feed large quantities ofstock. There were thousands of acres oi good land and when the line reached too timber districts there would be a profitable return on the expcndituie. At the present time a large quantity of timber was imported from Palmeiston North, and other places) while there Avcre great timber forests only 40 miles away. The League would therefore urge upon the Minister the need of the a iaduct and the extension of the line. He had been told that the viaduct would probably take two years to complete and it was urgent that it should bo placed in hand at once. • Mr. W. L. Rees congratulated the Minister on his accession to office and outlie energy he had put into his work, and expressed the hope that his a isit. to Gisborne would be of great benefit to the district. Tlie G isborne-Roto-rua line w-ould be highly payable as foon ns the 'meat timbei- forests were tapped. Last year 6,765,000" feet of timber were . imported into Gisborne chiefly as posts and rails, at a.-cost of about 16s per 100 ft or a Total value .of -£06,000. ; Instead’ of that quantity of timber coming into the port it should be going out and the quantity exported could be. easily doubled. The loss to the.settlers in raysi 1 tics was about £3500 annually, and the' loss to the railway or Ls-Sd per 100 ft on 7,000,000 ft a year, or equal to £6125. 'When the timber forests were worked he was confident the amounts could be doubled. The labor loss each year alone was £14,000. Then it must be borne in mind that each coal ship that came to the port wont away empty, when if the railway reached Rakauroa it could carry away £160,000 worth of timber. The result was an additional charge of 7s in the price of coal because the boats liad no back loading. Even if a light tramway was laid from the small tunnel to Ra'karoa timber could be brought to the. main line and such a*tramway could lie laid to stop at Tahora, Motu', and Wharckopae forests, at a cost of about £250 a mile, and bring the railway an annual revenue of £IO,OOO in freights. The tramway would be but a small thing to construct and would be of assistance to the Government in building the line. He hoped the Government would use all energy to push on the railway. Mr. O. A. do Lautour said lie c-ould add very little to Avhat liad been said by -Messrs. Towriley and Rees. The League were anxious to urge the need for the construction of the viaduct. It was gratifying! that as- every mile of the line was- completed it was thrown open for traffic and helped to increase theproductive potentialities of tlie country, and the line wa-s ; justifying itself. He regretted that the Minister had not seen' the'-rich iands of the East Coast district. If tapped by a railway they would be equal to -anything in tlie Taranaki districts, and their products Avould be of great, value in feeding the main railway lines. The Coast- was possible of producing great wealth,, and only needed railways to develope the rich lands. He congratulated the Minister on his accession to office, and his visit to the district. Air. J. Whim-ay said he also desired to welcome Mr. McKenzie to Gisborne, and ho had been pleased to see in the papers that lie intended to push along the line with all speed to the timber forests. A report prepared for the Government showed that upon 20,000 acres in the Motu there were 900,000,000 i'eet of valuable timber, worth roughly £5,625,000. The freight to Gisborne would mean £900,000 for the Government, or £SOO a week for 35 years. He regretted that the Minister had not had good weather for his trip through the country, but be was sure he had seen enough of the vast wealth of the district to come to tlie conclusion that the railway would

pay. The Hon. Captain Tucker said that lie knew that if the Minister made a promise that promise would he loyally kept. When at Puha. last year, Sir Joseph Ward had promised to push on the line and the promise had been loyally fulfilled. Tie merely wished to direct the Minister's attention to the need for the construction of the viaduct for the line was useless until the viaduct Avas complete, and he hoped tin.* work would lie put in hand as early as possible- , Mr. W. D. S. MacDonald, ALP,,.also -urged tire construction' of the viaduct at” as earlv a date as possible. Lie felt sure Mr’ McKenzie was convinced that the railway was a profitable undertaking. The people of' the district appreciated the opening up of the line in sections, and he wished to thank the Engineer (Mr. Armstrong) for the assistance he had given to make the railwav of use to the settlers. The Mayor (Mr. W, D. Lysnar) brought under the notice,of the, Mmister~t!ie need of having a survey made of the proposed line from Gisborne to y vi : i- • r,c\ !’)/. • ■<•>.' .... {••• the warm Ve v no fl ev had extended to him, nod he would inform them that .. ; . \ y ~ y.. ' ' ,

the plans for the viaduct were well in ( hand, but there was no reason why the ; line should not meantime be opened as ; far up as the creek, and a temporary - station erected. That could probably , be done 1 by next spring. Ho was glad he had visited the. country parte and , seen the wants of the district, and there was no question of the great possibilities of the railway. The Public • Woi'ks Department had enough data to justify the pushing on of the line as far as Motu with all possible despatch, and he saw no difficulty to prevent Motu from being reached within the next 3 or 4 years. There were many portions of the country crying out for railways and people wore always pressing their claims, but the Government had to remember it was a question of money. If the tramway would return £IO,OOO a year surely it , would be a good speculation for private enterprise. At the present rate of procress the line should reach llakauroa well within three years and. after ltakauroa there was level country. Three years was not a long time to wait. After Motu no definite route- lor the line had been fixed. His duty as Minister for Public Works was to lay tho line on the route that would pay best, but if any locality could be served by a alight deviation then the line would be'diverted, but costlw-deviations would not he made, even though rumor said otherwise. In regard to the railway to Napier the Government had to cut its coat according to its cloth, and it was bettor to have one lino out of hand before another was commenced. A survey would cost £3O a mile and it would serve no purpose to spend a Jot of money oivthe survey if there was no intention of going on with the -me. The money would be gone and there would be interest to pay upon it. He was satisfied the survey could wait a ievv r years, or until a few of tlie railways now under construction were com- * Mr. Townley thanked the Minister for his hopeful assurances and the deputation withdrew. BOROUGH COUNCIL MATTERS. The Mayor, on behalf of the Borough Council, .asked the Minister to support u request that, the Government should subsidise the Council £ for £ to purchase a reserve on the Kadi Hill, uoc to exceed 50 acres, tie said the town was badly in need of recreation grounds and had'no scenic reserves. The Minister: What would he the cost P - - - The Mayor: About £I2OO or £ISOO. Mrs. Carroll generously • gave the Borough two acrc-s. but more ground is wanted, Tho Mayor,-continuing, also asked the Minister to support the Borough to get its proposed sewage and road loans guaranteed by the-'Govern-ment-under the Loans to Local Bodies j -\et. The loan would probably amount to £150,000 and spread over 5 years would moan about £30,000 a year. The town also needed a new gaol. The pre..<ent gaol was oldV and insanitary and prisoners had to be taken to -ghols- in . other towns tii servo their sentences while the. Charitable Board* was often called'upon; to support "the prisoners wives and families'. If there was a gaol here some of the prison labor might be used in atone breaking. In reply, the Minister said the Government often assisted towns to purchase reserves, and it was quite possible that with the support of the Hon. Carroll and Mr. MacDonald they might ho able to get .some assistance for the purchase of the Ka.iti Hill. -In regard to the request to guarantee the Borough loans ho had no doubt the town would get its fair share of the £500,000 at the disposal of the Government each year, but until the application was made he would not give any definite promise. T He recognised that Gisborne was entitled to a new lock-up gaol, hut the policy of the Government was to close small gaols and had done so at Wanganui and Hokitika, and the Napier gaol should be also closed. Even if there was a gaol in Gisborne it would hardly be right that the Borough should ask for prison labor, as the Country settlers would he entitled to the same privilege. The Government subsidised the Charitable ■ Aid Boards- and the prison labor be-. onged to tlie State. He would sup--1 port the request for a lock-up gaol, but 1 not a large gaol.

OTHER! MATTERS, The Progressive League, headed by Mr W. F. Crawford, Avaited upon the Minister with "at number of questions. Mr. R. M. Birrell asked the Minister if lie thought the Government would permit .the proposed Patutabi tramway to cross the railway line at Makar aka, and nointed out the benefits' that would follow if the tram Avas taken down Gladstone road instead of deviating* aeross couutry. The Minister replied that he saAv no reason why the permission should not ;;he giA-en. He saAV no need for a high'level bridge as many tramways in the Dominion crossed raihvay lines. Hoavcyer, he avould place tlio question before the Minister for Railways. Air Tustin impresed upon Mr McKenzie the need for closer settlement in the district. and asked that land for the purpose should be acquired at Wairoa and Tologa Bay. The Minister replied that the GoA'Crnniout Avas aware of the benefits of closer settlement and was already negotiating for an estate at Wairoa. Mr Harris urged the construction of the Wairoa-Gisbonic road via Man-, gapoike. , , , Mr McKenzie said the road aa as alreadv being formed, hut lie would pass tlio request on to the Minister for Roads. Air H. Aiiller said he Avas to bring under notice the question of the survey of the Gisborne-Napier raihvay, but in view of Air Lysn.ar’s request would retire, . , Mr J. B. Leydon asked the Minister if the Government Avould construct about two miles of railway to connect the Waihirere quarry with the main line if the Borough guaranteed interest on the cost of construction. The Ministei* said, he saw no reason avliv the request should he refused, and he would have -a report made upon the cost. ;/ COUNTY NEEDS.. The lion. Captain Tucker, Crs. MaV thews, White,* and F. Lysnar, asked the Minister to support Government grants for the Aforere, T.’ologa Bay. 'Wairoa, Wainni, /f Ahikauri, Pouaway the Aral deviation, and the Tokonui roads. 1 The Hon. (‘apt. Tucker- spoke in support of the request and also asked that the Government should spend £2OOO to form the roads on the Arai settlement: The settlers on the coast were anxious to build a, bridge on the T ologa p.av coach road, and would find onethird''of the cost of the b-idgo if the Cc.V'i'- Council and the Govern mono -v V " :/ 1 vy? '’•’■y] • t, '' , 11 • ••esy -i----i... , for Roads 1 and hewould place the. wishes of the

Council before Mr Hogg. The Government was always willing to assist the settlers in the back blocks. He advised the deputation to keep the questions constantly under the notice of the Member for the district, the Hon. J. Carroll. The Mayor, on behalf of the Farmers’ Union asked tho Minister jf the Government would assist the land-holders to erect a rabbit fence near Nuhaka to keep the pest from invading the district, and also that the telephone might be available from'half-past five in the morning to allow people to make inquiries as to the arrival of the steamers! , Mr McKenzie promised to put tlie first request before the Minister for Agriculture, and to support the request provided the fence was erected to the satisfaction of the Government, In regard to the telephone tlie attendant would have to be paid for the extra work, and if some arrangement could be made he had no doubt the request would receive favorable consideration. The Mayor then thanked tho Minister for his patience in listening to the various deputations, and spoke in praise of the work of Mr Armstrong, the railway engineer, and Mr Day, tlie station master, in their readiness to always oblige the'public. Tho Minister said that he recognised that it was his duty to go. about tho country and see the various' 1 works that wore being undertaken. He knew the value of the services of the engineers, 'Messrs Holmes and Armstrong, and was always ready to support thorn in their work. He thanked tlie Mayor for the welcome he had received in Gisborne. The Hons. R. McKenzie and J. Carroll will visit the Gisborne Oil Co.’s bore at Waitangi to-day, leaving by the 7 a.in. train for Pulia.