PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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C.O. 882
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
2.
No. 32 of 1901.
298
Enclosure in No. 236.
MINUTE.
Black River Railway.
The Governor has the honour to lay before the Council of Government the corre- spondence* noted in the margin respecting the construction of the Black River Railway.
Surveyor-General, A '897-22.9.04. Telegram to Crown Agents, 23.9.04.— Reply: 28.9.04.
Receiver-General, No. 1392–29,9.04. Railway Boar:1, 1st October, 1904. Surveyor-General, A 928—7 10.04. Auditor-ieneral, No 3260-18.10.01. General Manager of Railways—21.10.04. Telegraph Inspector, 27th 0. tober. 1904. Surveyor-General, A 1010–28.10.04.
Ordinance No. 19 of 1903, which was passed by the Council at a meeting held on the 8th September, 1903, authorised the raising of a loan of £40,000 (or Rs. 600,000) to meet the cost of the Black River Railway Extension.
The works were entrusted to the Surveyor- General, Mr. de Coriolis, but the Governor regrets to have to inform the Council that the amount authorised to be spent has been exceeded and that the line has not been completed.
On the 5th August last the Surveyor-General was requested to furnish a state- ment of the expenditure incurred up to date for the railway and of the sum avail- able for the completion of the line, and, on the 22nd September, he transmitted the report which forms the first annexure to this Minute. Mr. de Coriolis fixed the expenditure in England at
and the local expenditure at
making a total of
Rs. 229,574.07 365,000.00
Rs. 594,574.07
and stated that a further sum of Rs. 34,000, made up as follows, would be required
to complete the line:-
a. Permanent way
b. Stations and station buildings
c. Gates, gate huts at roads level crossings
d. Delimitation of lands and levelling near stations
e. Telegraph
f. Compensation
g. Contingencies, including accommodation works 10 per cent.
say, Rs. 34,000.
299
to carry on the works until the end of October, and, in his Minute, No. A/928, of the 7th ultimo, he fixed the amount at Rs. 12,011.72. The Governor, after fuil consideration, has signed special warrants for the specific sums mentioned, thus bringing the excess expenditure up to Rs. 18,592.66, for which the sanction of the Council is now asked.
The General Manager of Railways has furnished a report on the construction of the line and an estimate of the cost of completing it and of supplying the neces- sary rolling stock. This document is annexed. Mr. Pitot estimates that an expen- diture of Rs. 86,215 will be required to complete the line in addition to Rs. 21,000 to meet the cost of the second-hand railway materials required to construct the sidings, and that the cost of the necessary rolling stock will amount to Rs. 159,000. It will be necessary to extend the telegraph from Médine to Tamarin, the terminus station on the line, and this is estimated to cost Rs. 3,100, making a total expendi- ture of Rs. 269,315. A
copy of the General Manager's report was transmitted to the Surveyor-General for such observations as he might have to offer, and his reply is among the annexures; also an extract from the Minutes of proceedings of the Railway and Light Railway Board, at a meeting held on the 1st October, expressing
a hope that the necessary funds will be provided to complete the ballasting of the line and the construction of stations.
In view of the state of matters referred to above, which cannot be considered as satisfactory, the Governor directed that the works on construction should cease on 31st October last, as it is impossible to provide the necessary expenditure to com- plete the line out of General Revenue. The General Manager of Railways has taken over the line, and will continue to carry on goods traffic and a limited passenger traffic; but the completion of the railway will have to stand over until means can be provided to meet the required expenditure.
Government House,
November 3, 1904.
Rs. 8,000
12,500
1,900
714
1,500
1,000
6,000
(No. 16.)
Rs. 30,900
SIR,
3,090
Rs. 33,990
In the meantime, in reply to a telegram sent to the Crown Agents, the Acting Colonial Secretary was informed that a last payment of £470 3s. 9d. had been made by them on account of materials supplied for the Black River Railway, thus bring- ing the total expenditure up to the 22nd September last to Rs. 606,580.94. The correspondence exchanged with the Crown Agents is annexed.
The Surveyor-General, in the eighteenth paragraph of his letter, refers to an understanding between himself and the late Governor that the premium at which the loan would be issued, which he estimated, after deducting the usual expenses, at £2,000, would be applied to the construction of the line. There is no mention on record of this agreement, and Sir Charles Bruce, on being referred to, has stated that he did not authorise the Surveyor-General to assume anything not openly stated in the official papers bearing on the question. Mr. de Coriolis also refers to a sum of Rs. 7,000 expended on the Beau Bassin Tramway and paid from the Black River Construction Funds. This arrangement was proposed by the Surveyor- General himself in order to obtain stone from the Beau Bassin Prison to ballast the line. The stone was supplied free of cost and the tramway conveyed it to the Beau Bassin Railway Station, whence it was carried by rail, thus causing a con- siderable saving on the item "Ballast "-- Rs. 33.000-included in the Surveyor- General's revised estimate, laid on the table of the Council on the 16th June, 1903.
In view of the fact that the amount available for the construction of the line had been exceeded, the Surveyor-General was asked what sum would be required
Not printed here.
No. 237.
CAVENDISH BOYLE.
MR. LYTTELTON to GOVERNOR SIR C. BOYLE.
Downing Street, January 19, 1905.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 434, of the 7th ultimo, reporting upon the reasons which have rendered it necessary to leave unfinished the Black River Railway.
3871
SIR,
(No. 463.)
No. 238.
I have, &c.,
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
GOVERNOR SIR C. BOYLE to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received February 6, 1905.)
Government House, Mauritius, December 31, 1904. WITH reference to your predecessor's despatch, No. 215, of the 21st September, 1903, and to previous correspondence on the subject of the town tramway of Port Louis, I regret to have to inform you that, on a report received from the General Manager of Railways in November last, after the line had been worked for four months, I have decided, with the advice of the Executive Council, to stop the traffin and to call for tenders for the purchase of the plant, as the result of the operation of the line during the above-mentioned period showed a loss on working expenses of Rs. 4,441.
19234
• No. 236.
† No. 100.
2 P 2