WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 12, 11 December 1878, Page 2

WEST COAST RAILWAY.

A meeting of settlers from all partis of the County was held m the, Town Hall, Palmerston, on Monday niglit, m order to urge upon tlie Government "the necessity of taking some immediate, steps for the construction of the West Coast' Railway, and also to get some expression of opinion as the most fitting route. ' His Worship the Mayor, after reading the requisition for the meeting, said that it gave hitn very much pleasure to see such d ! number of faces from all parts of the disr triet present, which was a convincing proof that the object of the mooting had the sympathies of the majority of the residents. It might be remembered that last Session the sum of _L 5,000 had boon pkoed'upoh the "E"stiraates for the purpose of prospecting the line between YYa/kanae and. Manawatu, and 'the people of the' upper portion of the district naturally felt aggrieved that m the various reports tlie matter should bo referred to. as. the Waikanrie-Foxton line. Considering its importance it should, certainly be admitted that the Upper Manawatu }jad not had, that consideration bestowed upon it which it deserved. 'Tins m ' a great measure had been the result of. the action of the Foxton people, who to their credit had lot jio opportunity slip of pressing.'their claims or pushing their ' wants into prpminen.ee. As he would reserve the right to himself of speaking upon the matter later on iv the evening, he would not then further trespass upon their time, hut would ask them to give the speakers their attention, tp put forward any suggestions which they might have m their minds, and" generally to assis"; any resolutions which' might 'be submitted. He would then call upon Mr Halcombe, who from his experience m tbe County was perhaps m a better, position to deal with the matter than anyone present. That gentleman had been a! prominent member of the Provincial Executive m times past, and since then had done more perhaps ' to open up the land of the County and, to develop its wealth and re/ sources than anyone m it. Mr Haxcombe, who upon coming forward, was received with considerable ap- ? lapse, said ;Mr Mayor and Gentlemen, — , have very great pleasure m being present this evening, and, judging, from the'nura- • bers — witnessing the unanimity which evidently prevails upon the matter for which we have met together— a meetings whjeh not only large \t\ "number, but compasQ.d. of all the representative men of the. upper- part of the County^ I have given, great attention to the subject to, be

discussed, have thought it out carefully, and I shall now endeavor to place those facts and materials btfore you for your consideration. The Chairman has mentioned the name of Foxton. Now, I think that we m the upper portion of the district have been altogether too apathetic m the matter, for while we have been solely relying upon the nafcqral advantages, which we possess, the Foxton people have been holding meeting aftey. meeting, leaving no stone, unturned, and working hand m hand with the Sandon people to push their interests. No one can blame them for doing so, but yet so persistently and urgently have they pushed their claims that those at a distance have been led into the belief that theirs was the best and more preferable route. In opening up the discussion with regard to the relative merits of the routes, it was not necessary to travel further back than the deviation which would ha at a common point nine miles fr.oin Foxton. There the line branches off m two directions, as you will s.ee, by. this map [position pointed out by Mr Halcqmhe. qn an eigh)tfeefc map] the one going to Foxton, and the other, going through Fitzherbert and joining on tq the main line at or near Palmerston, the length' of the latter being 24 miles. I^ow, the first matter to be considered m dealing with the question is from the great bulk of traffic, which may be expected m the future, and looking at the great feeders all along the present main line down the Oroua and Pohangina valleys', I think it will take very little time to answer, that question. Then again, while it was 55. miles from Waikanae to Palmerston, via Foxton, it is only 46 by Fitzherbert, showing a direct saving' of 10. miles ; m addition to which, according to the engineers'' report, the route, }s not only immeasurably easier, but the line- would pass through good timbered land, which would be a source of wealth and revenue from the very Btaft. Devoid as the Fitzherbert route is of all engineering difficulties, according to Mr Kiiorpp it can be made at the rate of £2000 a mile, while , the. small portion reaching Foxton would necessitate an outlay of £&QOQ, per mile passing through a desert waste of alternate sandhills and swamp 3, opening up and developing no new coqntry, an.d being productive of no good end save the very questionable One of of tapping the main line at a nearer point, and thus saving, the making of a few miles of road. Taking up the, question even upon that seeming advantage I am prepared to show that it ;s but one m name and not m substance; for it is quite patent that when the enormous traffic which will flow m one stream down the. West Coast is considered, it will be found that the present light rails will be then totally inadequate, that they they will have to bo replaced by heavier met»l, and m fact, that the present line! will have m a grg.it measure to be . reconstructed. Taking all these things' into consideration^— the saving m distance of ten miles, the character and quality of the land through which the, line will 'pass;, the new land to be opened' up, the fact that from the outset the magnificent timber can be utilised, and when that is gone, it can be followed by wool, tallow, and produce, of all description— the fact is self-evident that everything lies m. favor, of the inland route. Supposing the line did go by Foxton, can anyono for. d moment imagine that until passing Oroua Bridge it would add one unit ta the pppulation 'or, an acre to the cultivated land of the' Country P It is the misfortune of the people of Foxton that they live m the, midst of sandhills,' which never can become country to, equal that along the proposed inland rotate, and m, tho selection -CTC-_li-._-U^-~ >;^- opinion. i£jn tW-dukj-^-f-kW Government to look to the future, and consider whether fcoe traffic will warrant the outlay. The natural advantages of the ; Fitzherbert route proves inconi estably that the line will pay, while, as. I have shown, the reverse will be the diso with Foxton. ' As an example of the. benefit to be derived from a line passing through a timber oountry, I will just make a statement of the return of traffic f rom tho Feilding station alone during the first three months' after the ' opening of the line to Wanganui, and from , this it will be learned, that Hlu3 contributed, fully one-fourth of tho revenue of the whole* line, the figures being— July; Feilding, £$?%> (total, £1860) ; August Fejlding, £_25 (total, £1878) ; September, Feilding/iftOO' (total', £207-1),. This was from timber alone, and from this will be seen the advantagea of bringing d lino through a timber ;couh.ry, wher> s population^ can be put upon the land at once, giving revenue to the line by its^ exports/ and revenue also by the, importing of" thqir supplies. [Mr Hal- ; com.be then read a considerable portion of Mr Knorpp's report, to show' the vast'advantages of the Fitzherbert over its rival route.] Mr Kriorpp has made a great point m the concluding portion of his report m stating that by tho construction, oft lie 'Sian- ■ don and Carnarvon line the 'distance t» Wanganui would be considerdbly shortened i. by Foxton. ' Now, it was a mistake to introduce any such extraneous matter or' consideration ; ihe, line, if it were ever cph- ■' structed, would be a private one, which the [ Government wpujd. have to buy from' the - company ; and it was not at all likely that ever such » atep would taka place, seeing that thero was a parallel line runuihjr through a country, teeming with traffic, with roads being made, and settlement miking' rapid stridesltrom day to ..dpy. Then again, another, honefiib of keeping the road inland ■ wouhl he that d perfect level wonlcl be gjt from tlie Gorge for the Napier luie, taking it down by Pajkakirikd to Porirua and from thence r,o the Kaiwnra Stream to Wellington. Tlio Government* had constructed the line over tho Rimutuka, 'but' from ijjy knowledge of tho country I feel convinced that sooner, or later that will have, to.be abandoned, and the traffic will filter., from Napier through Palmerston. to Wellington. ■ Th;) main object m constructing rail ways is not to gat to a gir<m. point as the crow flies, totally ignoring the 'land through which it , passes, but to so diverge m its course as to take m all tlie great feeders}' When, tlie lino was opened to. Wanganui, I whs considerably abused ; but time would not only prove, but it had' proved, that the traffic is bound to. go by the beat' course, and trade will flow into ' its legitimate' channel I • tri,ay talk and others, may protest against it, but persons would consult their owji, interests, and if better dealings and greater facilities could be obtained with Wanganui, ! : the trade will flow m that direction. ' 1 j think that if 'the lino be made tb Foxton a | grave aud serious mistake will, be, made, ami it is our duty to see that it will not take.' place without a further protest on our part. 1 have been informed, by a gentleman living at Otaki, who certainly is an authority upon the matter (I allude to Mi* Bright), that & line could be got along the beach from tliat place io Porirua with only a rise^ of fifty • feat between, the two, ancl if that be, so, and. ■ I have no reason to doubt its accuracy, a line could be got right through to Porirua without the slightest trouble, there being, only the last mile and. a half which had any engineering difficulties. The time is not far distant when the traffic of tho ' West Coast will be something enormous, taking m the produce, of the Manawatu, Rangitikei, Wan- . gaehu, and V^augahui Counties, The latter County possesses a river which' is navigable, for one hundred miles, jalbng which there is not as y«st a solitary-white settler, while m addition to that there is the magnificent lands of Waitotara,'Patea, and Hawera. With such a glorious prospect all along the West Coast, a rich harvest waiting to he

garnered m, and the sad experience of the Rimutaka, it behoves us all to do our utmost to prevent such another mistake being made, and to place before the Government the incontrovertible facts which could bo produced m favor of the adoption of the inland line to Palmerston. The Chaieman said he had heard tho remarks of Mr Halcombe with very great interest and pleasure. He trusted a free discussion of the subject would not ho burked as it was a matter that interested not only the Manchester Block, but the whole of the County at large, and consequently he would ask a full expression qf opinion. He might tell them that no programme whatever ' had been prepared, nor no resolution had been formed. That was contrary to the usual routine of meetings, but it was deemed more advisiable to have a spontaneous outcome from those present, so as to prevent ib being that everything had bean cut and dried by a few before hand.' He would therefore, be happy to, hear any gentlemen who would wish to give exprea'siqn to h,ia yiows. Mr Linton said that the meeting had . heard sq much from Mr Halcombe, that that gentleman had left anyone, else nothing to say m the matter. On a former occasion, he (the speaker^ had, the. tumor.' tq form one of a deputation to interview the Government upon the question of a West Coast Railway,' but on that occasion they had been "far too modest, and did not ask that the line should either gq to Balmersto'ri, or that it tie called the Waikanae-Pal-merston line. He could only say then that he regretted having done, so, inasmuch as his Foxton friends had no such delicacy, and oy every means m their power sought to have the line identified with their town — and airmail blame to them. He was sorry that evening ' wliile there were representatives from Feilding, and Karere, and other portions of the County, Foxton alone should be unrepresented, as he would like to see them there and fight out the question m a fair legitimate manner. With regard to the two, proposed routes, there could not be the shadow of a doubt as to which was the. more eligible. He knew a little of the, c.oantry m and about Foxton, as he had travelled on foot, and ho had travelled it.'.on horsehac._, and he could tell the meeting that it could form no idea of the height of the sandhills. With regard to Mr ; Knorpp's report, he thought it was far from satisfactory, and was. calculated to do little else than mislead, as that gentleman had no right to make reference to the Sandon-Carnarvon line. He (Mr Linton) was not opposed to the construction of the line, as it was sought to be made by the. settlers, . but Mr , Enorpp would have just as mucli right to introduce a proposed line from, Feild- , ing to. Kiwitea. If the Sandon people : were, determined upon having their line, : let them, have it by all means, and he : heartily wished them success m the undertaking, but as it a private scheme, keep it entirely separate from public matters. H^epuld heartily endorse the remarks of Mr Halcombe with; reference to, Fitzherbert. He knew a little of the country, and he. knew that there was not ajv acre of bad ground m the land, and that at no distant day it Jwould p/ova, the homes of thousands or industrious settlers. With a raUway through it it would shoot ! ahead, as it had far greater, natural ..a f?.v;untage3 than was possessed by Palra*rstou. He^ou^c "Ttretjrovernment should send a thoroughly compe tent and impartial man to report upon the" country, and in /making, the dbjserva- ; tion he did not wish m the slightest to reflect upon Mr Stewart, the Djstrict Engineer, but he "thought it would be mbre satisfactory to have the opinion of one unbiassed* and r to. whom/ the .opnntry would be seen for the first time. He might say that he had been lately m Wellington, alui lie had not ! met a single soul who did not ridicule the idea, of the line going to Foxton, while at the same time they one and aji spoke of the' energy exercised by the 'people of that " township as against the apathy displayed by' the • Pajmerstonians. It then behoved them ; to, ' move energetically- m the. matter, au,d let the people in 'Wellington know that they w^ere no{, in.sen«hle to ; the gre,at advantages which nature had placed at their disposal. Suppose even , tho line' would bjff ten or tw.en.ty miles, longer ' by tho inland route, he contended, that the benefits to, be. derived, ; by the divergence fully warranted the* step, for suppose that m the' first instance the line had been constructed, as. now proposed by some, through Carnari yon.' to Sandon, \vhat would bo the re^ suit ?— would tho returns be whatthey haye been, or where would be the set- . tiers of Paluiersebn, Folding, Jkinny* thorpo and Halcombe ? Beside all this, tho proposed lino, to, F°xton, 8 , hampered with expensive difficulties whiea the roturn would never warrant. He "had lately been/ oyer the Rim.utaka^ , and he had quite enough of those fancy ' lines. ' Hje had s&en the' engine almost, over his head, crawling up at the rate" of three, or four miles an hour, while it ; appeared as. if a,rl that were wanting! " was a good puff of wind to. blow it back j again, notwithstanding i,t had but two. carriages and two trucks, with about ' twenty -iivo passenger*. Moreover he , had seen three of the newly-imported 1 engines, from England lying disabled at ' tho 'foot; of tlie hill, ami- that no. doubt, sooner or later, would ho, also the fate of' tho traffic He agreed, wiijh Mr Ha.lcombe that ultimately the line would ' havo to bo abandoned. Ho would be. quite willing fed do anything. ' m bis power, to further the object for which they. ha,d assembled there, either pecuniarily or otherwise. " ' ' Mr Daxbymple said y he believed he conic}, claim tne 'privilege of being the oldest settler. in the rbont, and it gave him infinite pleasure' to. look around and' observe tlie number, of-' represpn.ta,tive men who' were present, and. who must have come from lon^ distances, to take pajt m the proceedings. ' This was a cheering sijafn, andj augured, well for the future, still he should agree with the charge, which' had been made against Palmerston— that it had been too apathetic m the x pas& What they wanted-, wajs for a thoroughly independent man' to be sent to report upon thejtwo routes, and they need not fear for the result. With regard tb the quality, of- the laud; m the vicinity of- Sandon, Mr. Dawson, a late candidate for the honors otthe 4 County Council, had let the cat out of the bag. It had been proposed torate Kun m a certain, anionnt fbi* the cpnjt emplated line, but' lie objected- to" the ratio, 'stating that a 1 irge qnan ity of the land, would not raise forty, bushels i.v forty years. He (Mr. Dairy mple) knew something abMit the land m question, and would not only endorse Mr Pawson'q, assertion, b^t b,e wqahi go

further and say that it would not raisa forty bushels m one hundred years. He would suggest that tho Upper Manawatu should now wake from its lethargy and make amends for its apathy by getting up a monster memorial to be presented to the Minister of Public Works by an influential deputation ; and if that were done, ne would be only too happy to give all the assistance m his power to make up for lost time. Remarks had been made upon the absence of Foxton men that night, Uut it wa.s qne of the characteristics ot the people of that little town to stick m the little hole, and never take part m anything which would cause them to go to a distance and compel them to put their hands into th.eir. pockets for doing so. He never saw Fdxton represented at Balmerstqn but once, and that was when an invitation was sent to a dinner. Mr EJaucß perfectly agreed with. Mr Linton that Mr Halcombe. had so ably dealt with the question, and had so thoroughly exhausted it, very little was left for. others, tq say on the. sub-, ject. "In his opinion the matter' lay m a ni^t-shell, and m dealing with it they would have to be guided by principle, and they were there that evening tq decide, what the principle should be — whether the line should be constructed hy the straightest and shortest route, by a hee.line to Wanganui, or whether it should open up and develop' hew country. The policy of Government was to construct railways over such country as would prove its gratitude, and yield a generous return for the outlay, and .as a settler of Fitzherbert all he wanted was fair-play. He did not think the shortest route should be selected, but the one which would confer the greatest, benefit on the Colony— which would not only develop, its resources, but would yield a satisfactory return upon the outlay. That was the principle, by which Government should be influenced, not that a journey could be made from one given point; to.anpth.er with the greatest "speed without doing a particle of good to the land through which it was ma,de. The Cha,ibman. said he. wished to make one or two remarks m order to show that the Provincial Government, as far back as six or seven years ago, had had the matter of a road through Fitzherbert m contemplation. In * ; time before the bjrth of the great Public. Works Scheme, which was initiated by Sir Julms Yogei and the. Hon- Mr. For, the AProviucial G;Ov'ernu\eht of which Messrs. * Buhhy and Halcombe were members, had had the matter under, consideration^ and the following ;is an extract of the report furnished by Mr Holds^orth, the, Commissioner, of Crown Lands :— r Should the efforts which are now being, made, by the Government to purchase from the Native owner's that extensive and valuable tract of Country, situated between Waikanae and the southern boundary of ' the Manawatu River, prove successful, a most important' acquisition will be made to the landed estate of the, province. But before this addition of territory could be rendered avadable as a source of Land Revenue, it would be indispensable that a sufficient ! sum should be appropriated and expended ia defraying the cost of exploration, surveys, and the formation and metalling of ; at least one, inland, line of road from Paikakariki through Fitzherhjert, to Palmerston. And should this be done, it may confidently be anticipated that when the lands contained m £tipse b\ocks are thrown open for sale a i large number of intending settlera would bs found both willing and^ ready to purchase. But m the, case, as m all others of aii dnalo- ' gous kind, large land sales to intending settlers are only possible, when the, work of opening. up the country by roads has been ' previously accomplished. That was quite sufficient to, show, that i even as far back as §ix or seven years ago the Provincial Government vtere .alive to the importance of opening up the road, and would show their Foxton friends that m taking. the present steps they, were not infringing upon their rights. Mr Halcom.bb said that m order to. (bring the matter to, ah. issue, he would move — " That a deputation, consisting of Messrs, Halcombe, Snelson, Dal- ■ rymple, 'Linton, McNeil, Macarthur, and Bruce, interview, the Minister of Pubjic Works for the purpose of pressing upon his notice the great necessity of at onae appointing some competent and. independent Commissioner to report upon the best Y'^iid railway route from, Waikanae to Palmerston. North, and urge the necessity of exploring the, route, via,. Porirua from, Wellington.'-' The resolution was. seconded by Mr Linton, and carried unanimously. Mr Linton moved v and Mr MacARrnTTtt' seconded — "That a petition be drawn up to the Minister of Pub'ie Works, and the signatures of every resident m the Upper Manawatu obtained* if possible, praying that the Government would accede to the, request of- the deputation." Carried, unanimously, A subscription list was then opened m the r,pom to. defray the expenses of hiving the memorial signed^ and over £lO,weije handed m m a few moments. aVtr P. Warburtox propised.a vote of thanks to Mr Halcombe fay attending the meeting, which was. heartily responded to, and a similar courtesy to the Chairman, brought one, of- the most si^ecesslFul meetings which ha,s ev^p been held at Palmerston to a close.