Original Correspondence.

Dunstan Times, Issue 197, 3 February 1866, Page 3

Original Correspondence.

[ We do not identify ourselves with the opinion* expiessed by our correspondents.)

GOVERNMENT BLUNDERS,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " DUNSTAH TIMES." Sm, —" Make the best of a bad bargain" as I mentioned in my last, and having then stated that the Government had made many of them, allow me to point out another on the list, and endeavor to show how it can be turned to advantage. Bad bargain No. 2, to which I refer, is the road constructed on the west side of the Molyneux, commencing somewhere in the neighborhood of Clyde, and ending nowhere at Cromwell, at a cost of, I believe, about .£5,000 —money thrown away, as all must admit. From personal experience I can safely assert that this road has been impassable for many months for wheeled vehicles, is now impassable for equestrians, and is and always has been difficult .for pedestrians. As we have a capital road on the east side, equal to all requirements, I presume the Government will not be foolish enough to supplement the first extravagant cost by an amount nearly equal for the purpose of repairing the western track, I would advise them to strike it off the list of roads in the province, and allow the miners to work the ground it occupies, wherever it is auriferous, without the fear of being caught in flagrante ifelicit; and, perhaps, heavily fined for the offence. lam assured by several parties working in the vicinity that payable ground exists in many places under it, and in others so near that mining cannot be carried on to advantage without causing further damage. Therefore I think the best plan would be for the Government to give the digger some assurance in the shape of an advertisement that they would not be interfered with in mining on the said road, and then, in place of the present desultory scratching at the mnier.il wealth contained in it, a systematic method of working will take place, and the revenue receive the benefit of the numberless half-crowns as duty on the precious metal obtained, and thus repay at least a tithe of the original useless expenditure. By the adoption of this" plan I believe the Government may make the best of tiiis bad bargain. As there are many more such blundei-s visible in the province I cannot f.iil as 1 travel about to witness their operation, and from time to time 1 shall give my opinion on them, always hoping that it may meet with a small amount of consid?ration iu the proper quarter. I remain, (fee, VIATOR. January 21, 1866.