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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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ANNEXURES TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR'S MINUTE No. 25 of 1903.

Annexure I.

General Report on THE PROPOSED NEW RAILWAYS, BY THE HONOURABLE THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL.

THE HONOURABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY,

I THINK it right, in addition to the detailed reports I have made on each of the proposed new railways, to submit to His Excellency the Governor, with a request that the same be forwarded to the Secretary of State, and be afterwards laid before the Council of Government, a general report on the necessity of com- pleting the railway system of Mauritius. I feel that, being the Government responsible adviser on the matter of railway construction, it is my duty to throw as much light as possible on a question which is so vital to the interests of the Colony.

THE RAILWAY SYSTEM OF MAURITIUS.

2. The railway system applied to the Colony was the object of a most careful enquiry under the late Sir W. Stevenson's Government.

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In 1858 the want of railway communication being badly felt by the Colony, the Council of Government urged upon the Government the necessity of enquiring into the question. The late Mr. James Longridge, C.E., was sent out from England to make a detailed survey of lines which had been suggested, and estimates for their construction. In informing the Government of Mauritius of Mr. Longridge's appointment, the Secretary of State called that engineer a carefully selected railway engineer." Experience has shown that Mr. Longridge fully justified the Secretary of State's expectations. Mr. Longridge made a searching enquiry into the wants and resources of the remotest parts of Mauritius and made, in February, 1859, a remarkable report on the subject, proposing a railway system which has remained the fundamental basis for all the subsequent developments of the railways originally built in the Colony, Mr. Longridge having had in view, from the outset, in reporting upon railway communication in this island, in his own words: "the broad question of general and future utility." For the purpose of his report, Mr. Longridge divided the island into three main divisions, viz. :

The Northern,

The Midland, and

The Southern.

The Northern," says Mr. Longridge, or, as it is sometimes called, the Windward portion of the island, consists of the districts of North and South Pamplemousses, Rivière du Rempart and Flacq.

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The Midland division contains Grand Port, Moka and Plaines Wilhems. The Southern division consists of Great and Little Savanne.

"Besides these three principal divisions, there are the minor districts of Port Louis and Black River.

"The following summary shows the above divisions and their relative importance:

Northern

Midland

Southern

Black River

Name of Division.

Acreage

Acres in Cultivation.

Bugar Pro.

duced, in Tous.

Population.

166,000 60,071 67,316 102,806

160,640 32,409 36,756 $1,646

58,880 13,019 13,838 13,981

60,160 4,960 7,093 13,527"

MR. LONGRIDGES SCHEME.

3. Having thus divided the island into four railway divisions, Mr. Longridge provided for the construction of a railroad in each division.

(1) For the Northern division he recommended a line from Port Louis, by way of Pamplemousses, Labourdonnais, Schoenfeld and Flacq to the village of Grand River S.E.

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(2) For the Midland division he recommended a line from Port Louis, crossing Grand River North-East, near the third mile on the Mahébourg Road, and going across Beau Bassin, Phoenix, to skirt the Trou aux Cerfs (Curepipe) and passing through Cluny and Union Vale to reach Mahébourg.

(3) For the Southern division he recommended a line starting from Union Vale and passing through Souillac to stop at Jacotet in the Little Savanne.

(4) For the Black River District he recommended a line leaving the Midland line at about 3 miles from Port Louis and passing by Gros Cailloux to the River Tamarind.

Now, with the view of serving intermediate districts, which would have been too far from the main lines, Mr. Longridge suggested the construction of what he called minor lines, viz. :-

1st. A loop line leaving the North line near the crossing of the P'ample- mousses River and passing near the Vale and Mapou (Estate) and joining the main line again near Schoenfeld (Poudre d'Or); 2nd. A branch line leaving the Midland line near Rose Hill and entering

the district of Moka.

The total length of those lines was 1134 miles.

THE GOVERNMENT RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION POLICY.

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4. It is interesting to ascertain why all those lines were not created at the same time. I am able, owing to the records I have in my Department, to make an accurate narrative of the facts connected with that important question. Mr. Long- ridge had estimated the total cost of those lines at £1,082,475, and the net revenue to be derived therefrom at £62,947, being equal to 8 per cent. of the outlay. The Council of Government believed that in offering a guarantee from the Colony, British capitalists could be induced to float a company in London, to construct and work the railways. The question was enquired into by the Secretary of State. Europe was then in a very uncertain state, the Continent had been in flames for several years and England had just closed the Crimean war. Money was scarce and the conditions offered by the Mauritius Government, viz., "A six per cent. guarantee to run for ten years were no inducement to British capitalists to embark money on a venture which was considered risky, the more so that no experiment had yet been made in railway construction and working in Mauritius. The Government then decided to have the railway constructed by a contractor, and worked by a Government staff. Then the question of the raising of the funds had to be con- sidered. At that moment, the late Sir C. Antelme was rising as a brilliant sta in our political sky. His opinions were beginning to weigh with heads of the Government, and, I have it from himself, Sir William Stevenson attached much importance to his advice. The late Sir C. Antelme was of opinion that: "It would be imprudent, in the present disturbed state of Europe, to pledge the Colony to any gigantic expenditure, our resources being dependent, in a great measure, upon the constant influx of immigrant labour, any interruption of which would have the effect of arresting the further development of our resources, of involving the inhabitants of this Colony in pecuniary difficulties, and of exhausting the sources of annual revenue.'

That view was supported by Sir W. Stevenson, who urged upon the Council "the most careful and anxious consideration of the question, before involving the Colony in a liability which, once incurred, cannot possibly be relinquished, and which will put to a severe trial the colonial credit of Mauritius for several years to come."

Mr. Longridge's report had besides been referred to an eminent Consulting Railway Engineer, Mr. John Hawkshaw, with whose firm this Colony, to its great benefit, had been connected for about half a century, receiving from its engineers most valuable advice.

Mr. John Hawkshaw recommended a heavier rail than that suggested by Mr. Longridge, 73 to 74 lbs, per yard instead of 65 lbs., more substantial embark- ments of bridges and other improvements, which brought the estimated cost of the