The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 10th, 1868.

Dunstan Times, Issue 298, 10 January 1868, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10th, 1868.

Beneath the Rule of Men entihex.y jest, the pek is migutier than the sword.

The letter of Captain A. L. Murray, of the steamer Tuapeka, which appeared in our last issue, is well worth the careful consideration of our readers. A tramway along the banks of the Molyneux, from its highest navigable point, would do far more to wards facilitating inter-communica-tion between the seaboard and the interior portion of Otago, than any other conceivable plan; and we must yield Captain Murray the palm, for having devised the most practicable scheme for opening up the country that has yet been made public. The author of the letter very justly remarks, that in any other country " such a scheme would have been carried out long ago, but everyone thoroughly understands the fact, that, except in the most ignorant and benighted portions of r urope, such a slow going place as Otago, is not in existence ; while, as for En. gineering incapability, we can safely say, that it is peculiar to the Province, for there is no single public work extant, but what has been botched, or in some way made a mess of. It must be patent to all, that unless we possess some more rapid and less expensive mode of communication with the interior, our exportable products, except in the immediate vicinity of the seaboard must be for ever confined to gold and wool, anything else must be consumed on the spot, as nothing, save these two commodities will bear the enormous expense of carriage to a port of shipment, while at the same time the transport of ma. terial inland must still remain so costly, that the development of even these two branches of industry must nccessufJy remnin very circumscribed.

A tramway along the Molyneux from Tuapeka Mouth to Cromwell (for we must unhesitatingly acknowledge that any further navigation of the Molyneux is akin to an impossibility) thence with branches to Lakes Wakatip and Wanaka, would open up the very heart of the Province, and place every habitable part of it, except that small portion, south of the Kakanui mountains, (but which is easily accessible from Oamaru,) in direct and easy communication with the seaboard ; and we firmly believe with Captain Murray, that the carriage for goods, might, by these means be reduced to something like five pounds per ton, or even less for carriage, with a rednuction, of say 50 per cent on down carriage. The facilities for passenger traffic would be also largely increased, and would doubtless prove a considerable source of revenue to the undertaking. Captain Murray's proposal for the payment of the cost of construction by taking land in exchange from the Gov ernment along the line of route at one pound per acre ought to remove any difficulties about the financial part of the business. It is upon this principle, that railroads are made in the United States of America, and we find them there freely undertaken by speculators, who construct lines of railway far in advance of civilization when it is found that population rapidly follwos the iron horse and asquickly as the road is formed the land is taken up and occupied. The rail' way contractor sells his land to the occupier for cultivation, and at the same time he finds customers for plenty more belonging to the State, which, otherwise must have remained unsold The railway now in course of construction and proceeding at the rate of something like a mile a day to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Oceans, could never have been undertaken, wore payment in hard cash required, but by payment being made in land, the gigantic work will be accomplished, and at no expense to the State for without the railroad, the land given in exchange, would have been valueless, and in point of fact, everybody is a gainer by the transaction. Precisely the same principle is applicable here, we have millions of acres of land, under present circumstances positively useless and unproductive and, would it not be wiser to give a portion of it away, that the remainder might be made valuable. The proposed Railway to the Clutha, for the making of which, we are about to incur enormous liabilities, will not benefit the people one jot or tittle, unless it be those immediately residing along its line of route. The carriage of goods to the gold producing districts, will neither be cheapened nor expedited, but a few " old identity" farmers will be enriched at the expense of the inhabitants of the Ooldfields and interior portions of the Province. "With Captain Murray's scheme put into practice, the Hutha Railway may not only be made universally beneficial, but its traffic largely increased, and perhaps in course of time it might possibly supersede the Tramway itself.