WEST COAST RAILWAY AND NO SYNDICATE.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1429, 11 August 1884, Page 2

WEST COAST RAILWAY AND NO SYNDICATE.

TO THE EPITOR LYTTELTON TIMES.

Sir, — Yet another view of the question and no axe to grind. Owing to the surprise expressed by some of my'.-iiicjuds at the stand I took the ojbhev might against syndicate construction, and to those that agree ■with me, 1 have been requested to formulate my ideas, so that those interested may understand my reason for setting my face against all but the one course. 1. That it is not a Colonial concern in any way, no more than the Harbour Board works in Taranaki, Auckland, Napier, Lyttelton, Timaru and Dunedin are. 2. That it is strictly a local affair, one which only concerns Canter bury and Westland, or more properly speaking, Canterbury East and West. 3. That it is a matter of vital importance to those districts that the work should "be proceeded with at once, and completed as quickly as possible. 4. That the worts, if carried out by any syndicate, must be eminently unsatisfactory, unless the same be under the guidance and complete control of a locally-elected and non-political Board. 5. That a foreign syndicate would only work for its own profit and existence. It is only natural, and consequently certain then, if to work for its deviation or extension should mean either profit or loss to itself, as against great advantage to the locality and community, profit would rise uppermost, and the general benefit and convenience to the community go to the winds. 6. That on account of the uncertainty of the several estimated quantities and value of the minerals and timber

in the district other than that of a purely local value, no foreign syndicate can in justice to itself accept pf any terms that would not be doubly good or advantageous to any local body. 7. That in whatever body the survey and construction of the line depends, the maintenance and successful working of it shall be with the same body, and that body shall be a locally elected one. 8. That it is practically first to establish a Board of say, eleven gentlemen elected in a manner somewhat similiar to that of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, (no lifers, the retiring members being eligible for re-election), to do and to manage the whole work for the benefit of all parties con- r cerned. ■■:■&&■ 9. That in a locally-elected .Bpai%* every member would be directly intej-^ terested in its success, and to a otjjftaint} every member of the Board would have the private interests o£ himself, his family, and friends, a* well as the good of the Province, always before him. • '■ 10. Experience has fcragbt us that elective non-politioal'>: Vt lioardg are the best for the management ag'tiell as for the carrying out, of largespublic works. . . 11. That the Government have done and can do again — hand over the power and entire control of equally large and important undertakings, if we take for instance the Taranaki breakwater. Here we have a Board with the whole management, and in the receipt of its special . Land fund, a | work, according to Sir J. Coode's estimate, to cost about £300,000, and the work is being satisfactorily done. I may s-iy the same of Napier, Auckland, Dunedin ; or to come nearer, to* Timaru with its breakwater as an accomplished fact, and notably LytteKon Harbour Board with its unparalleled harbour dock, slip, wharves, &c, all manag.d successfully. T might say without a hitch, and' every advancing change provided for. Contrast, in your imagination, what it would have been like under a Central Government or a foreign syndicate. 12. That for the profitable working of the line, the whole of the existing lines which may form a part of the through line, as well as the unmade portion, should be placed in the hands of the one Board, as also all the branch lines and extension Feeders, sidings, and stations shall be entirely under the control of the same Board. 13. That if any deviation of route should b(i found necessary, a local Board could best judge of the necessity and value- of snah chango. 14. Thnt tho financial arrangements can be better man^d by such a Board providing that they shall have all the concessions that any syndicate would ri'ncessarily have, whether in the disposal of lands by sale or by tho raising of such loans as may from time to time be required, or by the letting of contracts in the most convenient and advantageous shape and manner, and at the mfef suitable time, and by the purchasing of rolling stock &c, as from time to time that it may be required. ' - . ; ... 15. That the magnitude of the work is not of such a character as wonld cause a local Board to hesitate in accepting it, Canterbury having so many practical and qualified gentlemen living in our midst.

16. That a clear case of indebtedness to Canterbury exists of about £1,500,000 according to returns mad© to Parliament by the Officers j6f the Crown, and as published. £<dont'fc think it is necessary for me to go into details on this occasion as to the way this indebtedness came, nor as to the manner ia which Canterbury has b«en robbed, as also all the settlers, who, after having paid their £2 per acre for the land, saw the money go away to the North, instead of being spent in making roads, bridges, harbours, railroads &c, as was originally intended according to the assurances of the agents and the Land Board. 17. That if the poople of Canterbury, east and west, will unite in asking the Government to concede to some pratical plan or scheme, and not listen to the voice of the commission agents, and the would-be financiers, and those who have an apparent axe to grind, we shall have in a short time the fullest evidence that the West Coast Railway is developing into a reality, on a sound, solid, and permanent basis. 18. I venture to affirm that anything short of this will not be acceptable to the people of Canterbury East and West, nor to the Colonists, as a whole. Without presu ming to be a prophet, or even the son of a prophet, I say, as sure as "coming events^ tjjtfjt their shadows before them " Iveh^fe to pre- , diet that everything in the* fcnape of Public Works will shortfy-be-done in this manner. We have our Municipalities and Town Districts, Boad Boards, and County Councils, our Harbour and River Conservatore* Boards, our Drainage and Public Health Boards, our Domain, and our Educational Boards, and others. Surely, if the people willingly give their time and attention to successfully work, as they are doing on the abovementioned Boards, they will work, and that satisfactorily, our railways. Let the Government give us one at the time, then others will soon follow. But let them give us at once' our railway from the east to the west to construct and manage, with all the advantages any syndicate may require, and we shall hear no more of railway jobs, no purchase of political support ; every work will have a ring of genuineness that can only belong to works emanating from elective responsible Boards. — - I am, &c.> S. P. ANDREWS.