The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 424, 3 June 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1870.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely just the PEN is jliohtiEß than theswoßD

Xnrj la to AuuClo, wujikd rr-itK --4-lxo complete cessation of traffic between the Northern Goldfields and Dunedin, except by way of Tuapeka, is conclu sive evidence that the route by way of the valley of the Molyneux to the ! Dunstan is not only the best, but seems by nature to be the true one to the heart of the province, and the only highway that can be depended upon throughout all seasons of the year. This has, Upon several occasions, been proven to be the case, and while the Waikouaiti and Rock-and-Pillar roads have been closed from the effects or presence of floods, frost, or mud, that by way of Tuapeka and the banks of the Molyneux has always been available to traffic. We have many times drawn attention to this, and we have as many times wondered that our Teviot and Tuapeka friends have not taken the matter up and forced it upon the attention of the Government. The whole line of this route is through country accessible even in the very worst of weather, and there are no creeks or rivers the flooding of which would Carry away any bridges so as to render it impass able. Its course is through the busiest and wealthiest of Our goldfields ; in fact, all the way from Tuapeka to this is one continuous field of mining industry. On every flat and hillside not occupied by the miner, the farmer is busy cultivating the soil. Homesteads are springing up with the rapidity of mushrooms, and the most unobservant of travellers cannot fail in being impressed that well-applied labor is bearing its fruits upon every side. Mining and the cultivation of the soil are in happy unison with each other, and experience has long ago proved that where this is the case no community is more prosperous. Instead of this being the chosen road between the Dunstan and Dunedin, traffic is deviated into another direction, and instead of passing through smiling valleys, warmed even in the depth of winter by genial sunshine, it is carried through a cold bleak country of almost Siberian severity, and where, for miles together, the only evidences of' occupation are a ■few straggling sheep browsing upon the stunted tufty grass which seemingly struggles hai d for existence in a barren gravelly soil. The principle objections to this route to the northern goldfields are the punts at the Beaumont, Teviot ( and Alexandra; other-

wise, the chain of road is complete. It is only these three links that are wanting. The Frorincial Governj ment in its wisdom expended thousands of pounds in making the road, but stuck at the river crossings and allowed them to fall into the hands of private persons, whoso cupidity has rendered what has been done by the Government all but useless, and public convenience and comfort suffer accordingly. It is all very well to throw dust in our eyes by telling us that it is contemplated to give us a railway. This puts us in mind of the saying of a certain royal personage who, when told that the people were starving for want of bread, replied, “why don’t they eat pastry.” The luxury of a railway by way of the banks of the Molyneux to the Dunstan we are not likely to enjoy for the next generation to come, and it is extremely improbable that population will ever be dense enough to support one. A good road will supply our present wants, and as the difficulties to be removed are of such an insignificant character, an annual subsidy to enable the punt proprietors to pass the traffic at something like the ordinary rates levied at toll-bars would not amount to a very large sum, not even so much as one-fourth of the interest upon the money the Government propose to expend upon the Clutha railway, the benefits of which are ‘exceedingly remote. If Tuapeka and the Teviot will only assist us—and it surely is their interest so to do—but a few months will elapse ere the valley of the Molyneux will become the higli road to the Dunstan and thence to the goldfields still further north, and ultimately connecting the province from sea to sea.