The Evening Star. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1870.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 299, 24 December 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1870.

Fuoir a -question and ansvror in the Provincial Council, it would appen.that enquiry is about" to be made respecting the feasibility of connecting the Waikato river with the Manukau. This public ,work ia clearly in the womb of the future, and no time is more fitting than the present for instituting such enquiry. An extensive scheme of public works is about to be inaugurated; and, though railways constitute the main feature of the system,- the peculiar circumstances of the province of Aiickland in the possession of such an extensive means of water communication, should prompt enquiry as. to whether we would not most benefit by completing these lines of communication. It is true it seems like retrogression to advocate canals before railways, but it cannot be denied that in our circumstances as a young country it is cheapness with regularity of communication that is the great object to be attained, and that rapidity of transit can be dispensed with, as one of the luxuries of a higher stage of advancement. In the matter of cheapness, water traffic must compare favorably with transit by rail ; and when we take into account the serious expense and injury resulting from every transhipment, the advantages are apparent that would result from taking cargo on board in the Upper Waikato, and with the same barges or steam - boats coming alongside the wharves or vessels in the Manukau or TVaitemata. If an easy passage can be effeated from the Waikato to the Manukau, and ultimately from the latter to the Waitemata, more would bo done for the development of the magnificent valley of the Waikato, than would be effected by any amount of railway communication. And it'that waterway can be effected without the aid of locking, giving uninterrupted and inexpensive passage to barges, and enabling in the case of the Waikato at least, by the rush of waters to keep that passage open, and possibly even enlarge it, a public work will have been effected second in its results to none that is likely to be undertaken under the colonization scheme of the General Government. It is true, such a proposal is not contemplated in the scheme of the General Government, but tho enquiry promised by the Provincial Government may place the matter in such a light as may ultimately lead to such a modification of the scheme as will be more adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the Province of Auckland.