The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 166, 19 February 1878, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

To those who have the interests of the Peninsula, and of Akaroa especially, at heart, the success attained by the recently elected Lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation Trust, will be duly appreciated, and, we believe, be a matter of congratulation to the district generally. When the Trust was appointed to cairy out a scheme for the drainage of the lakes mentioned, and for the laying off of a line of railway to Akaroa, every precaution was taken, and all due care exercised, that the work should be placed in the hands of a competent engineer, and of one who shou'd carry out the work to a successful termination. It is superfluous now to revert to the trouble taken by the Trust, and, notably, the Chairman, in the selection of the officer required to fill that position, suffice it to say, that, having unanimously elected to the office of engineer to the Trust a gentleman of well-known professional status, who was possessed of the very best testimonials, and had already achieved a reputation as a sound practical man in his profession, it was found after due trial, that, owing to failing health, this gentleman was unable to carry out the duties he had undertaken, and, in fact, that some climacteric change had been induced which prevented the fulfilment of the contract, if such it may be termed, being finished by him. Seeing that so much time had been wasted, it was resolved to ask the Engineer to tender his resignation, which was accordingly done, and which the Trust unanimously accepted. It is here that, as the advocates of the public, and more immediately the Peninsula, we step in with a note of warning, the result of past experience, to the present Trust, and urge that a full statement, say from month to month, be made to the public of the progress of this work, which is certainly second to none in the colony. We do not desire to stir up mud. but there can be no .doubt that the business of the former Trust should have been more fully reported, and so kept more plainly before the public, and especially those, who were most directly interested and to be benefited by the completion of the works to be done. However, letting the past bury its own dead, we desire now to congratulate the Trust on their selection of the officer at present carrying out the work : and, we believe, that the progress already made, and the final agreement that the line of railway should be taken via Hudson's road, show every cause to suppose that the work is proceeding as it should have done some six or eight months ago. The question of the completion of a railway to this port is a matter fraught with importance not only to the Peninsula, but also to the colony at large, in the bringing into maritime use of one of the finest harbors in the colony. It will be understood then, with what interest the question of its practicability, and the progress of any work connected with the scheme is watched, and that, while giving the present members of the Trust, and above all the Chairman, a fair meed of praise for the present apparent success of the work, and their action in regard to it, we trust that in future the public may be kept thoroughly au courant with the progress of the scheme.