The Argus at KellyGang 15/7/1867 (3)

From KellyGang
Jump to: navigation, search
(full text transcription)

see previous

Mr J K BROWN.-My motive in speaking was to show that the league was a properly constituted body, and that there was no reason for not maintaining its organisation.

The CHAIRMAN.-Yes but that is not the object of the meeting. The business of that meeting was to say whether they should not take independent action. They were not supposed to know anything about the Railway League.

Mr GRIFFIN, as a member of both bodies, said the conference had submitted a very fair proposition.

Mr D H EVANS thought they were not there to extinguish anybody, but to distinguish themselves; they were there to organise such a powerful body that they must get a railway. (Hear, hear.)

Mr H S PARFITT then moved, and Mr THOMSON seconded, that the following gentlemen be appointed a committee to draw up a report and standing orders for the guidance of the meeting:- Messrs A J Smith, chairman of committee; Mott, L Brown, R Wood, R Thomson, W Witt, F Brown, J K Brown, and D H Evans.

The meeting then adjourned for half an hour, and, on resuming, the sub-committee brought up a report recommending certain resolutions for the consideration of the meeting.

His Honour the CHAIRMAN, after reading the report to the meeting, said that the meeting should be prepared to follow some decided course of action. He need not go into the arguments in favour of a railway; they were all aware why it was necessary for that district. They had been along-suffering people, travelling over the dreadful roads in coaches which had no doubt been conducted as well as coaches could be under tho circumstances, and being occasionally pitched out, as he had been. At last their supplications had been heard, and the only thing now was for them to act with unanimity, and no doubt they would have their railway. The Government had been exceedingly kind in giving them surveys, and were no doubt well disposed towards carrying out the railway; but if they were to consult their own interests, they would not disagree amongst themselves, as if they did so they would have to go without a railway. A good deal had boon said about the expense of such means of intercommunication, but he thought that had nothing whatever to do with it. When it was proposed to make a road, or to put up a treasury, or to establish a county court, they heard nothing about whether these matters were directly remunerative or not;- they were in fact necessary, and the question of repayment did not enter into the calculation.

But the question of course remained, that it was necessary to have money to construct a railway. For that they had to go into a foreign market, and to do that they must be able to know they were in a position to pay interest on the outlay. He believed there were gentlemen there who would be able to show them that their railway would pay better than any railway in the colony, or perhaps any railway in Great Britain . (Applause.)

The next question was as to the route; and he hoped there would be no difference of opinion on this point, which he believed was likely to engage their special attention. One way in which this part of the question presented itself was, the cost of different lines. Now, he thought that had really nothing to do with the matter. It was of very little consequence whether any particular line cost £1,546 17s. 6d. or £1,500,000, because they not only got the advantage of the railway as a means of transit, but they could not ship a railway from England as they could get a ready-made coat off a peg. They had to make their railway, and by doing so they derived a certain degree of advantage from various sources. There was a great additional amount of labour employed, and they had to utilise stone and timber for ballast and sleepers, and many other things which would otherwise lie idle. It was like a man building his own house with the help of his sons, having the work done, and at the some time paying the wages into his own household.

The surveyor-general told then that a railway would cost £1,595,000. He for his part, did not suppose it would cost a million. Besides the large number of persons a railway would attract, it would employ a large number of persons whom they were now obliged to support in idleness. As to the route, they were in exactly the same position as a paterfamilias who was about to present a silk dress to one of his girls. He went into a shop, and the shopman said, "Here is a sweet thing in silks," or "We have a very handsome material coming out in the Sussex," or "Here is an old-fashioned thing which only wants a little trimming;" and on the little girl being offered the old-fashioned garment wanting trimmings, or the sweet thing in silks, another girl says to her, "No, don't you have that, Sissy, it will make you look like an old frump; wait a little for the goods coming out by the Sussex." That was exactly their position as regarded a railway. They were in a position to obtain it if they only acted in concert, and he hoped they would be a happy family on that occasion.

continued

, .1. , .2. , .3. , .4. , .5. ,  


 ! The text has been retyped from a microfiche copy of the original.

We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged.

We also apologise for any typographical errors.