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“The Manawatu”
A Story of Pioneer Railway Enterprise
(Part II.)

It appeared for the moment as if a deadlock had been arrived at between the Government and the Committee of citizens in regard to the terms in which the Manawatu railway could be built. The next move was that it was rumoured that a combination had been formed of Wellington, Canterbury and Otago members for “log-rolling” in the coming session to secure the construction of the Wellington-Foxton, Otago Central and Canterbury Interior (West Coast) lines. Nothing seems to have come of this, but at a meeting held in Wellington on January 12th., 1881, the following resolution was passed:—

“That, if expedient, a joint stock company be formed for the purpose of constructing a railway to connect the city of Wellington with the Manawatu, and that a meeting of all interested be called for the purpose of appointing a provisional directory.”

Thus had a sub-committee of the general committee of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce set on foot a company to construct and work 80 odd miles of railway worth nearly a million of money.

A meeting on January 21st. was attended by forty gentlemen who had received invitations. To them it was explained that the promoters desired to place £50,000 worth of shares in the Colony, and the remaining £450,000 worth in England. The provisional directory then elected comprised Messrs. Levin, Hutchison, Nathan, Travers, Plimmer, Thompson, Hannon, Woodward, Brown, Lockie, Young, Gear, Moorhouse, Izard and T. H. Wallace. Mr. Levin made it plain that the Company would not be registered until the £50,000 was subscribed, but that after the registration of the Company was successful, the next project of the directors would be to place before Parliament a suitable bill to enable them to construct the line.

Another pleasing feature of the meeting was the recognition of the need for more country names on the list, and for a thorough rural as well as city canvass. Thus the promoters crystallized into a provisional directory, and at once got to work.

On February 14th. the prospectus was published and drew favourable comment from the Press. The terms were easy: 2/6 on application, 2/6 on allotment, and calls of 5/- at intervals of not less than three months. (In the share lists as late as 1900 two surprising features were the number of cooks, labourers, small farmers, and wage-earners who held shares, and the large number of holdings of less than ten shares each.) The prospectus contained another very significant clause:

“The Company propose to ask for power to acquire the native lands between Otaki and the Manawatu River through which the line will pass, and should this power be granted to them they believe that the land, when acquired, would be speedily disposed of for settlement at a profitable rate.”

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The speedy completion of these necessary preliminaries was a good sign. Everyone laid stress on the need to sell shares, bought themselves, and encouraged others. But times were hard, there was a commercial depression, numbers were unemployed. There could not have been in Wellington, from what we know of this period, much more than the amount of money required awaiting investment. So that the eventual subscription of the amount speaks volumes for the patriotism and public spirit, not to mention the sound judgment, of the citizens of the capital and surrounding district.

Foremost among the workers were Messrs. Jas. Wallace and John Plimmer, who, together, made a very energetic and successful canvass of the city, and who spared neither time nor expense in so doing. A meeting of the provisional directors was held on May 14th. The tone of the meeting was decidedly optimistic, although the total shares subscribed totalled only £43,000. Several leading Maoris along the line had offered to give land for the permanent way, stations, etc., some in exchange for shares. Strong hopes were expressed that suitable concessions would be obtained from Parliament. However, the £50,000 was subscribed by May 30th., the date set as the final one for contributing.

The enabling Bill was given a fairly quick passage through the House, and it was read a second time on August 22nd. by 31 votes to 5. From an analysis of the voting it was clear that certain of the Canterbury and Otago members and one Auckland member, all interested in lines in the Bill, voted for it, thus, with the Wellington-Manawatu members making up the necessary totals to carry it.

The Bill was introduced to the Legislative Council on September 12th. There it was amended in several ways, the principal of which was the limiting of the cost of construction for endowment calculations to £5,000 a mile. The Bill had a very adventurous passage, and only passed eventually by the aid of three disputed votes.

In order not to delay the construction longer than necessary, the House of Representatives accepted the amendments, and on September 24th., 1881, it became statute law.

Perusing the contract signed on March 20th. by Messrs. J. E. Nathan and J. Plimmer for the directors, and Mr. J. Wallace, secretary, several points stand out. All construction, materials, rolling-stock, etc., had to be according to Government standards, and common specifications; power existed to enable the Government to force the company to amend any works or even rolling stock if it should be requisite. Another clause required the company, in order to open some section to traffic as early as possible, to page 28 spend £50,000 on it within the following year. For the purpose of ceding the endowed lands the line was to be divided into 12 parts, on the completion of each of which an equivalent area could be selected. As it was evident that the amount of land available was insufficient, it was agreed that if any land in a certain specified area should become Crown property within five years, then the company was to select therefrom lands not exceeding in value £29,805. It was by this amount that the value of all Crown lands in the district, £96,570, fell below the amount to which the company was entitled (£126,375). It was also provided that though the maximum charges should not exceed those on the Wellington-Masterton line, yet the Minister could cause the company, by giving one month's notice, to decrease or increase its charges.

On August 23rd., when it was known that the Bill had been passed, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, Ltd., was incorporated, with a capital of £500,000, in £5 shares. The directors were Messrs. J. E. Nathan (chairman), James Bull, J.P., C. T. Johnson, M.H.R., Jas. Linton, J.P., J. Plimmer, J. S. M. Thompson, W. Turnbull, J.P., and Jas. Wallace. Mr. W. T. L. Travers was solicitor to the company. Meanwhile the directors, in order to increase the subscribed capital by the company, invited 18 gentlemen to meet them at the Chamber of Commerce. Of these 13 attended, and after the terms of the contract had been read out to them, and the prospects of the company discussed, they were asked to subscribe the maximum number of shares allowed to be held by the Articles of Association (£2,000). Each agreed to do so, thereby increasing the subscribed capital by £130,000. Their names are as follows:—Messrs. J. E. Nathan, J. Plimmer, Travers and Case, J. Lockie, W. Reid, W. R. Williams, Thompson and Hannon, J. Bull, T. G. Macarthy, F. N. Ollivier, J. B. Harcourt, Jas. Smith, and D. Anderson Junr.

Between this meeting and the first annual meeting held on 3rd. April, the subscription, aided by such encouragement, had risen to £225,000. The directors, with such hopeful aids, decided to increase the subscribed capital to £300,000, and a prospectus was issued. The directors stated that large purchases of land had already been made. The average price paid for land for railway purposes was 16/3 per acre, but the Maoris had been more liberal and had accepted £1 per acre for valuable Horowhenua land, taking it all in paid-up shares.

As showing the spirit of altruism which prevailed, it may be mentioned that special votes of thanks were offered to Mr. Jas. Linton, who had valued 237,000 acres of land free, and to Mr. J. Plimmer for his untiring efforts. The chairman, Mr. J. E. Nathan, and Mr. Jas. Linton, were offered, and refused, honoraria of £100, and the remaining directors refused £300.

(To be continued in our next.)