The Guardian (Brisbane) 17 October 1865
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY. ARRIVAL OF HIS EXCELLENCY.
To the entire satisfaction of the people of Rockhampton, his
Excellency Sir G. F. Bowen landed on Tuesday at the Railway wharf about five
o'clock in the afternoon. The Platypus was observed steaming up the
river, and within a few minutes afterwards arrived at the wharf. The Volunteer
Band, which, during the afternoon, had been playing lively selections of music,
immediately struck up a march, and continued playing until the vessel was made
fast. There then appeared on the quarter deck his Excellency the Governor,
Captain Pitt, Aide-de-Camp and Private Secretary to his Excellency, the Hon.
Minister for Lands and Works, the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Mr. John
Douglas, M.L.A., Mr. C. Fitzsimmons, M.L.A., Mr. J. Bramston, M.L.C., with
Captain Rundle, Harbour Master, and Mr. W. J. Brown, Sub-Collector of Customs,
who had gone down the river to meet his Excellency.
Mr. H. T. Plews, His Worship the Mayor, and the members of
the Corporation, the Police Magistrate, and other gentlemen, went on board the Platypus
and saluted his Excellency, who shortly afterwards disembarked, the Volunteer
band playing the National Anthem, and the Volunteers and Police presenting
arms. Cheering from all present followed, and his Excellency, with the Police
Magistrate, Captain Pitt, and Mr. Byerley, entered a carriage which was in
waiting, and drove to the residence of His Worship the Police Magistrate. The
volunteers with the band followed, and on arriving at Mr. Wiseman's residence,
Captain White, as commander of the company, was introduced to his Excellency.
Captain White subsequently informed the volunteers that his
Excellency appreciated the honor done him by the offer to station guards around
his residence, but had no desire for them to do so during his stay in
Rockhampton. The company then dispersed.
TURNING OF THE FIRST SOD.
Shortly after the hour of noon yesterday, the first sod of
the Great Northern Railway of Queensland was turned by his Excellency Sir
George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.G. The preparations for the event, organised by
the contractors for the work—Messrs. Barry, Bourke, and Munro—in a style worthy
of the occasion, were favored to the highest degree by the fineness of the
weather. The scene of the inaugural operation was situated within the vicinity
of the Railway Offices, and at a short distance from the Rockhampton Gaol, and
at its southern extremity a small pavilion had been erected for the purpose of
shading his Excellency and quite all the gentlemen who intended presenting
addresses to his Excellency. The attendance on the occasion numbered from
fifteen hundred to two thousand, and included a large number of ladies.
The Rockhampton Volunteer Rifles having first mustered at
the Court-house headed by the band, and under the command of Capt. White,
marched on to the ground about twelve o'clock, and fell into position as a
guard of honor to his Excellency.
His Excellency accompanied by Captain Pitt (Aide-de-Camp and
Private Secretary) and Mr. W. H. Wiseman, P.M., drove on the ground. The
Volunteer Band struck up the National Anthem, and his Excellency walked to the
small pavilion above referred to. Cheers having been heartily rendered, his
Excellency's Private Secretary announced that his Excellency was ready to
receive the address from the Rockhampton Corporation.
His Worship the Mayor, Mr. E. P. Livermore, accompanied by
the members of the Rockhampton Municipal Council, then advanced, and his
worship the Mayor read the following address:—
“To his Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand
Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Captain
General and Governor-in-chief of the Colony of Queensland and its Dependencies,
and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c., &c.
“May it please your Excellency,
“We the Mayor and Aldermen of the Municipality of
Rockhampton, beg to approach your Excellency with assurance of loyalty and
devotion towards Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, and with feelings of the
greatest respect towards the person of your Excellency as Her Majesty's
representative in this the land of our adoption. On the part of our fellow
townsmen and ourselves, we feel it to be our duty, on this occasion to convey
to your Excellency the expression of our deep appreciation of the importance of
the work to be commenced to-day, a work calculated to foster and extend our
prosperity as well as to advance the cause of civilization and science.
“The immense advantages likely to accrue to a district such
as this by the introduction of Railway Communication, as evidenced by the rapid
strides made by Victoria and New South Wales, and we, therefore, deem it
useless to comment upon them.
“It becomes our pleasant duty on behalf of the town and
district to offer your Excellency our congratulations upon the auspicious
ceremony in which your Excellency has condescended to take so prominent a part,
the remembrance of which will ever be fresh in our minds.
“We would beg of your Excellency to accept our heartfelt
thanks for your presence amongst us, coupled with the assurance that the people
of Northern Queensland claim a place in the front rank of loyal subjects of our
beloved Sovereign.
“In conclusion, we beg to offer to your Excellency our
warmest wishes that you and Lady Bowen may long continue to occupy your high
position in our colony; that you may enjoy true felicity in the happiness and
prosperity of those you govern; and that when circumstances shall have called
you away from our colony that your reminiscences of Queensland may be
brightened by the knowledge that during your period of government the progress
of the colony was rapid—telegraphic and railway lines, together with other public
works of great importance, were initiated and carried to success; that your
presence in all parts of the colony was hailed with pleasure, and that your
departure was looked upon with unfeigned regret.”
To which his Excellency read the following reply:—
“To the Mayor and Corporation of Rockhampton.
“Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,—I thank you for this loyal
address, and for the hearty welcome which has been accorded to me on this, as
on my former visits, to the chief town of Central and Northern Queensland.
“When I first saw Rockhampton, in 1860, it was a small
hamlet of wooden huts, with scarcely five hundred inhabitants, who had recently
settled down in the primeval wilderness. I recollect well that what Lord
Macaulay has termed ‘a rude kind of patriarchal justice, which was, however,
better than no justice at,’ was then administered in a canvas tent, whenever a
magistrate might happen to attend. On my second visit, in 1862, your population
had trebled, and the hamlet had grown up into a thriving township, with about
fifteen hundred inhabitants. Now, on this, my third visit, I learn with much
pleasure that your population has again more than trebled during the brief
interval that has elapsed since my second visit. I see around me a flourishing
town of nearly five thousand inhabitants, with public buildings of every
kind—churches, schools, a Mechanic's Institute, a Post-office, a Telegraph
Office, and numerous banks and warehouses. I find a Judge of the Supreme Court
surrounded by the leading members of the colonial bar, holding the assizes for
Northern Queensland, in a commodious and substantial Court-house. I am welcomed
by a Mayor and Aldermen; and I remark with great satisfaction in the wharves
which line your noble river, in the well ordered streets of your town, and in
the other signs of material prosperity—the rapid progress of those advantages which
Municipal Self-Government, when prudently and vigorously administered, is
certain to confer.
“I entirely agree with you, Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, in
attaching high importance to the great public work which is to be initiated
this day. It is acknowledged in every quarter that the most pressing need of
the entire colony is the improvement of our internal communications. With this
object, the Colonial Parliament has decided that trunk lines of railway shall
be carried into the interior, one for the Southern Districts, from the head of
the navigation of Moreton Bay, and one for the Northern Districts, from the
head of the navigation of Keppel Bay. It is well known that in 1862, in
consequence of my urgent representations, the Imperial Government annexed to
our Northern territory, an additional area, larger than the United Kingdom; and
that during several years, I have spared no exertion to push on two enterprises
calculated to be of great advantage to the interests of the North. I mean the
establishment of steam communication through Torres Straits, and the extension
of the Electric Telegraph from Rockhampton to our North Western frontier, where
it will meet the international line, which will ultimately connect Australia
with Asia and Europe. Both these projects received the sanction of the Colonial
Legislature in its last session, and both will be carried into execution
forthwith by my constitutional ministers.
“I am emboldened to refer briefly to my own exertions by the
gratifying language of your address, from which I learn with much satisfaction
that the manner in which I have performed my duty has earned your confidence.
Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, and that of the important Municipality which you
represent. You express the hope that I may long continue to occupy my present
position: and you may rest assured that so long as our Sovereign shall be
pleased to employ my poor services in this colony, I shall follow exactly the
same course in every respect, that I have pursued hitherto, and which has
gained for me the loyal support of the Colonial Parliament; and, indeed, as I
am informed in all parts of Queensland, (and in addresses similar in language
to that now presented by you), the respect and regard of the educated and
independent portion of my fellow-countrymen here, of all political parties, and
of all social classes. If any reward at all were required for public labours, I
have fully received that reward in the rapid but solid progress of this colony,
and in the high reputation which Queensland enjoys in the mother country.
“Rockhampton, 27th Sept., 1865.”
Addresses were then presented to his Excellency from the
Oddfellows' society, and the committee of the School of Arts, to which his
Excellency read suitable replies.
Mr. H. T. Plews, Chief Engineer of the Great Northern
Railway then addressed his Excellency to the following effect:—
“To his Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, K.G.C.M.G.,
&c., &c.
“May it please your Excellency,
“As a resident of Rockhampton and of Northern Queensland,
and as one feeling a deep interest in the prosperity of the whole colony, I
respectfully desire to welcome your Excellency to Rockhampton, on this your
third visit, and to express my most earnest congratulations, that on this
occasion you have visited us to inaugurate the extension to these districts, of
that system of Railways which your Excellency and your Excellency's Government
have, with wisdom and true enlightenment, pronounced the best means for
developing the vast resources of this large colony.
“As the engineer to whom you have entrusted the planning and
construction of this, the ‘Great Northern Railway of Queensland,’ I desire to
lay before your Excellency the following data regarding the line, and
especially that portion of it, the construction of which your Excellency will
this day commence:—
“The Great Northern Railway will run from Rockhampton nearly
due west into the interior, passing through the townships of Stanwell,
Westwood, Gogango, and Gainford, on the River Dawson, &c., in the Port
Curtis District, traversing the extensive district of the Leichhardt, it is
proposed, shall eventually reach the township of Springsure, or the township of
Clermont, Peak Downs, or both, the first distant from Rockhampton about 190
miles, and the second about 220 miles; and besides giving the benefits of cheap
and regular carriage, and largely developing the material resources of the
districts named, will offer the facilities of conveyance and communication, now
so much wanted from and to the rising district of the Mitchell and the southern
portion of the Kennedy.
“The first section from Rockhampton to Westwood, the
construction of which has been sanctioned by the Legislature, and the first sod
of which will this day be cut by your Excellency, is thirty miles in length.
The gauge, as you are aware, will be the same as that adopted in the southern
portion of the colony, namely, three feet six inches. The gradients obtained
are good, the steepest gradient is one in fifty, but that only in three short
lengths of 5½, 53, and 63 chains respectively, all within a distance of five
miles from Westwood; the country which to that point from Rockhampton is
tolerably level, rising thence rapidly till, at the twenty-eighth mile, where
the line crosses the range dividing the counties of Livingstone and Pakington,
it attains a summit level of 600 feet above the wharf at Rockhampton.
“The curves I have been able to obtain are all easy, the
sharpest, which is on the spot where we now stand, and close to the terminal
station, being twenty chains radius.
“The line from quarter of a mile from Rockhampton, to the
four and a-half mile stake crosses a very level and rather low country, subject
to inundation by backwater from the River Fitzroy, for a few days during times
of flood,—and besides crossing Middle Creek, Neerkol Creek—twice, Stewart's
Creek, and Well Station Creek three times,—runs for a considerable distance
through a narrow valley corrugated with numerous small watercourses now dry,
but all carrying large volumes of water during the short continuance of a
tropical storm. Provision has thus had to be made throughout by means of flood
viaducts and large bridges and culverts for a water-way, of much greater extent
than is usual, and to raise the rail level in every part by piles or
embankments above the highest known flood mark. The unprecedented floods of
March, 1864, have by giving me the highest flood marks ever known, enabled me
to do this with certainty.
“Thus, during the three months of the year (the rainy
season), when, usually travelling over the ordinary bush roads is all but
impossible, and during which all traffic from and to the interior is at a stand
still—passengers and goods will be carried with the same safety and certainty
as at other portions of the year. In this alone, the benefit conferred by the
railway will be manifest and great.
“The line, although light and cheap, will be constructed
with every care, and in a strong and substantial manner. The rolling stock now
being constructed in England, under the superintendence of Sir Charles Fox and
Sons, will be light, but strong; the carriages roomy, well-ventilated and
suited to the climate; and the locomotives fitted with all the most recent
improvements—light, but sufficiently powerful, to be fully up to all the work
required of them.
“The contractors, Messrs. Barry, Bourke, and Munro, are not
untried men, having constructed the line from Sandhurst to Echuca in Victoria,
and completed it to the satisfaction of the Government of that colony. They
have undertaken to have the first section completed on the 1st day of May,
1867, when I trust we may have the happiness of again welcoming your Excellency
to open it for public traffic.
“The survey of the second section, from Westwood to
Gainford, in the River Dawson, is being prosecuted, and will be finished and
the plans ready to lay before the Legislature early next session.
“That a single doubt can still linger in the minds of any,
that your Excellency and the Government have not adopted, in a cheap and light
system of Railways the best and most economical means, which under the present
circumstances of the colony you could possibly adopt—to open up the country and
develope its now dormant resources, by facilities of carriage and
communication; I will not believe, whilst published traffic receipts on that
short portion of the Southern and Western Line from Ipswich to Bigge's Camp,
since its opening must carry conviction to all that the calculations of the
Government, as to the returns, will not be fallacious, and that these railways
will be reproductive in so far as they will, even from the first, pay their
working expenses. This is a direct return, more than we ever anticipate or look
for from the roads, however much we may expend upon them.
“The indirect returns in the increased revenue of the colony
will be very large, and will year by year increase, but can scarcely at present
be estimated, and it is only reasonable that they should, for some time at
least, bear the burden of the annual interest on the capital expended in
construction.
“With regard to this line of railway, it will in all
probability, even if stopped at Westwood, pay its working expenses; but, if
continued thirty miles further, i.e., to Gainford, on the River Dawson, I feel
confidence in asserting, from estimates which I have laid before the
Government, that it will at once pay the working expenses, and in every
probability return a small percentage on the capital expended besides; and I
hold the opinion that it will well pay the colony to push it on still further
into the interior.
HENRY T. PLEWS,
Chief Engineer for Northern Railways.”
Mr. Plews then said, “I have respectfully to request your
Excellency to inaugurate the work of the Great Northern Railway by turning the
first sod.”
His Excellency replied:—
“To the Engineer of the Great Northern Railway of
Queensland.
“Mr. Plews and Gentlemen,
“I have listened with much interest to the address just read
by the Engineer of the Northern Railway of Queensland, and to the details so
clearly stated by him of the great work which is to be initiated to-day. I
think that every confidence may be placed in Mr. Plews' vigilant
superintendence, and on the zeal and energy of the experienced contractors,
Messrs. Barry, Bourke, and Munro, who have been so successful in carrying out
similar works elsewhere. I feel sure that in good time I shall have the satisfaction
of congratulating these gentlemen on the completion of the first section of the
Northern Railway.
“When I opened, a few weeks ago, the first section of the
Southern Railway, I addressed a few words of friendly sympathy to the artisans
and working men, who by the successful labor of many a hard day's toil, had
raised a structure scarcely more honorable to the heads that had planned than
to the hands that had executed it. I wish to follow this precedent on the
present occasion. I trust that the men employed here will emulate their
fellow-workmen on the southern line in preserving good order, and that respect
for the law which is one of the most promising characteristics of our English
race. I would remind them that, in a new country, the respective claims of
capital and labour should adjust themselves according to the national law of
demand and supply, without any of those artificial disturbances, which, in
older societies, have often caused results so disastrous to the interests alike
of the capitalist and of the labourer. I would remind them further, that under
the expansive freedom of our Colonial Institutions, even more surely than in
the parent isle, England opens for all her sons a cheering prospect of wealth
and fame, to genius combined with virtue and industry.
“Finally, I earnestly pray, that the ceremony of this day
may prove auspicious to all concerned. May the important public work now
commenced realise all the hopes of its promoters, and endure throughout the
great future of the Northern Districts of Queensland, a source of permanent and
ever increasing prosperity.
“Rockhampton, 27th September, 1865.”
His Excellency then proceeded to perform the ceremony, and
having lifted with the shovel a sod of earth into the barrow, trundled it along
an inclined plane, and having emptied the barrow of its contents, brought it
back to its former position. At this stage of the proceedings, the crowd rushed
in, and somewhat hampered the concluding portion of the proceedings. His
Excellency on turning the sod, called for cheers for Her Majesty the Queen, and
the Mayor and Corporation of Rockhampton. Cheers were accordingly given, and
further cheering was given for the Great Northern Railway, His Excellency the
Governor, Lady Bowen, the Hon. Mr. Macalister, and Mr. H. T. Plews.
CONTRACTORS' DEJEUNER.
After the proceedings connected with the ceremony had been
completed, His Excellency and about one hundred and forty gentlemen, sat down
to a sumptuous déjeuner, provided by the contractors, Messrs. Barry,
Bourke, and Munro.
The Hon. the Minister for Lands and Works occupied the
chair, and was supported on his right by His Excellency the Governor. The
vice-chair was filled by his Worship the Mayor. There were also present the
hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Bramston, M.L.C., Mr. Douglas, M.L.A., Mr.
Fitzsimmons, M.L.A., Mr. H. T. Plews, the Police Magistrate, the Sub-collector
of Customs, the District Surveyors and several other Government officials,
clergymen of various denominations, bankers, merchants, storekeepers, and others.
On the table being cleared—
The Chairman rose and said that he begged to propose a
toast. He would, however, first offer an apology as a mark of justice to
himself, for his appearance in his present position as chairman. Those present
were aware that the firm contracting for the performance of the formation of
the Great Northern Railway, consisted of three gentlemen, Messrs. Barry,
Rourke, and Munro, and they fancied that they would be placed in a rather
awkward position by having three chairmen. Having been consulted for the purpose
on the then occupied, he proposed the health of the greatest sovereign in the
world—Her Majesty the Queen—whose many virtues were displayed on all occasions,
and in her interviews with her subjects.
The toast was most loyally acknowledged.
The Chairman again invited all to fill their glasses, and
join him in drinking the health of the Prince of Wales, and gave with it the
Princess of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family.
The toast was suitably acknowledged.
The Vice-Chairman on rising, said that there was one toast
which nothing that he could say would enhance its worth. He proposed the health
of his Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Governor of Queensland. They were
very happy to receive his Excellency in Rockhampton on such an occasion, to
perform the interesting ceremony that had been gone through. They had received
him, he (the Vice-Chairman) was happy to say, on an occasion that formed a
great era in the prosperity of Rockhampton, and they might, at no distant time
have the honor of receiving him at the opening of the Great Northern Railway.
The toast was drunk with all honors.
His Excellency, on rising, was received with continued
cheering. He said that he thanked his friend, the Mayor of Rockhampton, for the
kind terms in which he had proposed his health, and thanked all present for the
hearty manner in which they had responded to the proposal. He assured them that
it was with sincere pleasure that he had accepted the invitation to perform so
interesting and important a ceremony upon that day, and thus for him to visit
once more the metropolis of Central and Northern Queensland. If there were any
merit consequent upon the occasion, he could assure them that in this case, as
in many others, virtue was its own reward. But it was always gratifying for a
public officer to be so warmly welcomed by so many of his independent and
educated fellow-countrymen.
A sportive friend of his once remarked, that a chairman at a
public dinner was like a “bagged” fox, which, as soon as he had recovered mind,
was let out again for the diversion of those present on the occasion. Now, it
struck him that the Governor was something like a bagged fox too, for he had
already made four speeches before lunch, and he then saw that he was set down
for at least a couple more. He felt so refreshed and invigorated after
partaking of the repast that their munificent hosts had placed before them,
that he was ready to perform any amount of public duty (cheers and laughter),
and especially so after all the pleasure that he derived from the address,
expressing loyalty to their sovereign and good feeling to himself, of the good
people of Rockhampton.
There could be no doubt as to the importance of the work
that they had inaugurated, or the part they had to enter into detail of their
plans and course of operation. In every country it was the duty of the
Executive to carry out the wishes of the people—that was, the wishes of the
people expressed in Parliament by the people's representatives; and the
Queensland Parliament had most unanimously decided that it was desirable to
improve the internal communications of the colony, and the best mode of improving
the internal communication of the colony was to lay down iron roads. They
proposed having one line of communication from the head of the waters of Keppel
Bay in the Northern Districts of the colony, and another in the Southern
Districts of the colony from the head of Moreton Bay. He thought, seeing so
many Members of Parliament around him, and amongst those the two gentlemen who
so ably and so worthily represented the town and district, that he had a right
to take that opportunity of publicly stating that, in his opinion, the
Queensland Parliament desire to deal impartially with the Northern and Southern
Districts of the colony. The Assembly held the purse strings of the Government,
and the North, if they chose, could hold the balance in the Assembly.
The present atmosphere there (in the pavilion) was so
parliamentary (laughter) that he hoped he would not be transgressing the
standing orders by stating that they were well represented by their Scotch and
Irish members; other constituencies were lucky if they had but one
representative of Great Britain, but in the present instance they were
fortunate enough to possess two. They had the fervour, the ability, and
patriotism of both gentlemen to advocate their wants.
He would therefore conclude (No, no) with the prayer that
the great work might prosper, and might realise all that was expected of it;
that it might prosper, and might secure to the Northern districts a permanent
and never-ceasing prosperity.
His Excellency resumed his seat amidst continued applause.
Mr. Fitzsimmons next said that he would at once propose
“Success to the Great Northern Railway of Queensland.”
The toast was drunk.
The Vice-Chairman then proposed the “Health of the Ministry
and Parliament of Queensland.”
The toast was duly honored.
The Chairman, in rising to respond to this toast, was
received with loud cheers. He said he felt great pleasure in rising for the
purpose of returning thanks for the very great honor done to himself and his
colleagues by the Mayor of Rockhampton, in proposing his and their healths upon
this auspicious occasion. He felt a pride as well as a pleasure in alluding to
the public works initiated and begun by the present Government of
Queensland—works which he fervently hoped he would ere long see fully and successfully
terminated, and which would, he firmly believed, ultimately prove of
inestimable value to this young, vigorous, and enterprising colony. (Cheers.)
He felt proud of the honor done to him in drinking his
health, and a still greater pride in meeting the people of Rockhampton upon
this eminently auspicious occasion. (Cheers.) The commencement of a railway to
open up the country from Rockhampton would unquestionably be hereafter looked
upon as a very great event in the annals of the colony. But the people of
Rockhampton who would be greatly benefitted by this important public work, had
not himself, but the present “Railway Parliament of Queensland” to thank for
the fact of its commencement—that they had that day witnessed. (Cheers.)
It had often been asserted, and was of the present day the
main argument made use of by those who were opposed to the development and
improvement by the Government of the Northern Districts, that they could not be
made reproductive—in other words—that the Northern Districts were not yet
sufficiently advanced to need public works, such as a railway, or the electric
telegraph; and that such works could not be made capable even of paying their
working expenses in this portion of the colony. He would tell the people of
Rockhampton that he had turned a deaf ear to arguments and assertions such as
these which he knew had no foundation whatever, except in the prejudiced minds
of those detractors of the Northern Districts who could not—because they would
not, see any advancement or progress made in those districts which they never
visited, and therefore knew little or nothing about. (Loud cheers.)
They had that day heard the facts stated in the address of
the Engineer-in-Chief of the Northern Railway to His Excellency. Those facts
which could not be gainsaid or controverted, showed clearly that this line
would pay not only its working expenses but the interest of the money spent in
its construction. Every line of railway should at least do this; and he felt
quite positive that the Great Northern line which they were now met to
inaugurate would do this, and even after a short time.
He had been at considerable pains to collect information
with respect to the line of railway about to be commenced, the result of which
was that he fully anticipated that in the course of two or three years, at the
furthest, it would pay its working expenses, and also yield an average interest
on the capital expended. He had been credibly informed that even eighteen
months in some instances had been occupied in the carriage of wool from a
station. What a boon then a railway line will be in such a district. Economy
was synonymous with speedy transit. It was the delays met with in the
conveyance of the wool to the market which formed the greater part of the
expenses incurred by the squatters.
Now there was a fair hope that those expenses would be
considerably lessened. He was of opinion that any colony or state which
expended its money on the formation, or what might be termed the improvement of
bush roads in preference to constructing a good and serviceable railway, would
not fail to go to the dogs. The capital required to maintain such roads could
not fail in time to be eaten up by the interest payable on the money borrowed
to form the roads. Although he was well aware that there were many who differed
from his views respecting the advantages of railway communication between the
sea coast and the interior, he still held that the establishment of the “iron
horse,” which might be termed the railway policy of the present Government, was
the principal and most important of their public acts, the true value of which
would, he believed, be hereafter more fully appreciated. (Cheers.)
The honourable gentleman here resumed his seat, amid much
cheering and general calls for “Mr. Douglas,” which were repeated again and
again.
Mr Douglas's speech
Mr Douglas, who on rising was greeted with loud and
prolonged cheers from all parts of the pavilion, said:—He was hardly prepared
to answer the toast which had been proposed, inasmuch as he did not belong to
the present Government. (A voice: “Your time's coming, old fellow.” Loud
cheers.)
A great statesman, one of the present day, Mr Disraeli, had
observed that “Ministers were the accidents of history.” (Cheers.) Now, they
sometimes had read of “melancholy accidents” (laughter), and occasionally of
“shocking accidents” (renewed laughter), and “dreadful accidents”; but he
sincerely hoped they would not connect the present Ministers by any of these
epithets with such accidents. (Laughter.)
They had no doubt often likewise heard of “happy accidents,”
and of fortuitous accidents; and such possibly might be said of those gentlemen
who formed the Ministry of the day. Such was, he knew well, frequently said by
those who aspired to high offices.
It was perhaps because he represented the views and opinions
of the people of Rockhampton that they now called upon him to respond to the
toast which had been proposed, viz., “that of the Parliament of Queensland.”
(Loud cheers.) He was proud to see that he still retained the unabated
confidence of the people of the town, after the late parliamentary campaign.
(Renewed cheers.)
They must remember, however, that a representative and
legislator, such as they had elected and chosen him to be, was hardly the same
sort of animal as a Minister. It was true that, as their representative, he had
at times been fit to hold a different opinion from the Ministry, with respect
to the railway question; but, nevertheless, he would freely admit that the
people of the North were very much indebted to the present Minister for Lands
and Works for the great and manifold advantages they were about to derive from
that same railway policy.
That Minister possessed more than ordinary foresight, for he
was perhaps more than an ordinary man who foresaw the importance of early
developing the resources of this colony, by at once opening up the country, and
giving advantages to the rapid, easy, and economical transmission of goods into
the interior, and the carriage of wool to the seaports.
Understanding well the extreme importance of such a measure,
and seeing that the welfare and prosperity of the colony was concerned in its
adoption, he lost no time in carrying out his views, and soon had the
satisfaction of seeing his project adopted and successfully undertaken.
It was to the Minister for Lands and Works, more than to any
one else, that the colony was indebted for the Southern Railways, respecting
the success of which he had invariably manifested the most indefatigable zeal
and assiduity. It now only remained for him to exhibit an equal amount of zeal
and care respecting the Great Northern Railway. (Loud cheers.)
If he (the Minister) was only prepared to do the same for
this railway, as he had done for the Southern line, the issue must be
successful. (Cheers.) The chairman had told them he fully believed that this
line constructed as far as Westwood, would pay, not only its working expenses,
but interest upon the capital expended. If that were the case, how much more
then it justified the Government in pushing it still further out. (Loud
cheers.)
Then it would undoubtedly prove an inestimable boon to the
country residents. He had heard with extreme satisfaction the promise made here
by the Minister for Lands and Works, that he would carry this railway beyond
Westwood, and he (Mr Douglas) would certainly hereafter claim from him in the
House the fulfilment of that promise (Loud cheers.)
The Vice-Chairman had, in the course of his speech, alluded
to the desirability of having this railway extended as far as Springsure. It
seemed obvious, even now, to think and speak of the possibility of such a
thing, when it was remembered that only some five years or so ago the place
itself was not in existence, or rather, he would say, was uninhabited save by
blacks. What would have been thought of such a project being undertaken in five
years only, that short period since. Well, if five short years had accomplished
such a truly wonderful change, was it too much to expect that another five
years would witness the entire completion of this railway.
A friend of his sitting near him whispered to him, “Why not
carry it to the Gulf?” (Cheers.) Well, he ventured to hope he might yet live to
see even that scheme an accomplished fact. (Loud cheers.)
There could be no question respecting the immense advantages
to be derived by the colony from such a railway. It would, for one thing, place
us almost in contact with the great Eastern Nations of the Globe, and would
only complete what the telegraph had already begun. An important trade will
probably in a few years hence spring up between this colony and those nations;
a trade which might ultimately rival in extent that created by the late gold
discoveries on this continent.
He went so far as to say he anticipated the carrying out of
a line of railway to the Gulf before many years were passed, although it seemed
a wild project at the present moment. It must be remembered that the railway
followed the telegraph wire, which would soon stretch to the Gulf and soon
would place us in almost instant communication with India and Europe. The
advantages which would accrue to this colony from this fact alone would be
incalculable.
He would not detain them any longer, but would simply, on
the part of Mr Fitzsimmons, his colleague, and on behalf of the Parliament of
Queensland in general, thank them for the kind manner in which their healths
had been drank.
The chairman now proposed the health of the ladies of
Queensland, connecting with the toast the name of Lady Bowen. (Loud cheers.)
Had it not been that her health would not permit her to undertake the voyage,
Lady Bowen would have had the greatest pleasure in accompanying his Excellency
to Rockhampton. (Cheers.)
His Excellency, in rising to return thanks on behalf of Lady
Bowen, said he sincerely regretted that her health prevented her from enjoying
the pleasure it would otherwise have afforded her of meeting the people of
Rockhampton. It was she who turned the sod of the first railway of Queensland.
The Chairman then proposed the health of the Mayor and
Corporation of Rockhampton.
The Mayor returned thanks on behalf of the corporation.
Mr. Feez proposed the health of the Colonial Treasurer, the
Hon. J. P. Bell, and complimented the hon. gentleman upon the occasion of his
first visit to Rockhampton, stating that his well-known integrity, honesty, and
uprightness, both in public and private life, had gained him considerable
popularity in the Northern portion of the colony, which he hoped would be
benefitted by his presence here as a Minister of the Crown, his department
being one, that if judiciously managed, would “fill all our pockets.”
The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, in a brief and very
agreeable speech, returned thanks for the honor paid to him. The people of
Rockhampton, he said, had their traducers as well as others better known to
fame, but a personal visit was only necessary to cause their good qualities to
be known and justly appreciated. His visit on this occasion was one of duty,
but it was an exceedingly pleasurable duty as he had already found. There was a
time when the present Government certainly did not look to Rockhampton, for its
compliments, but matters had agreeably changed since then, and Rockhampton was
now better known, and more thought of.
Mr. Munro (of the firm of Barry, Bourke, and Munro),
proposed the health of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, which having been drank
and duly responded to, the company broke up.
