The Evening Star SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3148, 22 March 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1873.

Amongst other reasons for deepening the Harbor, it was urged by the deputation to his Honor that the coal trade of the Bidler, should those mines be opened up, would be an immense advantage to Dunedin, if facilities were afforded for vessels coming up to the town. We do not clearly see the force of the argument, because wc do not imagine the town requires a supply of that class of coal so much as steam vessels visiting the Port. The ready communication that a development of our railway system will afford with Provincial mines, and the comparatively low price at which fuel can be afforded, will always check the consumption of coals brought from a distance, commanding a high value because of their adaptation to peculiar purposes. But why look forward to the Buffer for supplies? Is it by any means a settled point that beds of coal of first-class quality are not to be met with in Otago ? Have the value and extent of our Provincial coal deposits been accurately ascertained ? For the past dozen years we have been importing large quantities of coal from Newcastle, and scarcely discovered wc were able to supply ourselves with most of what is needed from our own pits, until on a sudden the produce of the Newcastle pits was stopped by the miners’ strike. To the extent that the Colony as a whole is benefited by every new industry that can be profitably established, it will be well for the Colony if the West Coast mines are opened; but our merchants must not deceive themselves. The very opening up of the Buffer mines will give facilities to the residents at the Grey that will tend to divert the trade from Dunedin. One of the earliest effects will be to open up a large and profitable trade with Melbourne. If it be true, as is stated, that the cost of coal at the Buffer put on board a vessel is less than that of Newcastle, and that the quality is superior, the command of the Victorian market will bo at once obtained. The next step that is inevitable is the establishment of large mercantile houses at the Grey, and since vessels trading between Victoria and Grey River will be sure of a return cargo, they will be able to afford to take goods for New Zealand at a lower rate of freight than from Dunedin, with whicli direct communication would not be so frequent: so that the very circumstance pointed to as a means of extending the commerce of Dunedin might be really the means of diverting it into another channel. This has proved to bo the case in many instances in Great Britain. It has been found advantageous to form ports, harbors, and docks for the shipment of coal, at such places as Sunderland and Hartlepool. The latter place, some thirty years ago, was but a small town on the sea coast, without even the advantage of a river to form its harbor. Docks were, however, formed there at a cost of upwards of £200,000 ; lines of railway, for conveyance of coal and communicating with the interior, were constructed, and the town rapidly sprung into importance as a commercial centre.

Similarly, on the Humber, Goole, once a mere village, became the shipping port for the Yorkshire collieries, instead of Hull, and divided the trade with tliat port. Our merchants here are far too apt to look beyond the Province for some good thing to turn up, instead of calmly taking stock of our own resources, and asking themselves whether it is not possible that we can do the very work for ourselves that they seek others to do for us. If, after careful survey, it is found Otago does not possess the material to command the trade, and that another place does, there is no help for it—we cannot concentrate traffic upon our own port. But, so long as that is a point to be ascertained, the first effort should be to determine it, and not to wait until others pass us in the march. To permit this is to commit commercial suicide. The Superintendent correctly pointed to the way by which commerce could be extended, and it is the best and most economical way. He recommended that mercantile attention should be directed to the formation of lines of railway converging upon the town and port. By this means, produce of all descriptions could be economicsilly put on board of vessels trading with all our Provinces and with ail countries, and in proportion to the rapidity with which cargoes can be obtained, and loading and unloading effected, will the rate of freights be reasonable. By these appaiently indirect, though actually direct means, facilities will be affoided foi the transport of goods. There is one other point worthy of remark. There can be no good reason why an extensive trade with Melbourne, and, of course, we mean Victoria, cannot be done with such coal as can be at present supplied from Otago. The increasing consumption here prov&s that, for domestic purposes, it is very applicable ] and since, if worked with all modern .appliances for cheapening labor, it could be laid down in Melbourne at a very much less proportionate price than Newcastle coal, we should imagine that an extensive market must be open there. We suppose the answer to this will be, “ All this may be true; but who is to be at the expenseof thesurvey.” Wo reply, what might be hazardous for one person to do, when spread over a largo population becomes a mere trifling matter. Reports of valuable discoveries of coal in the immediate neighborhood of the Port, and specimens said to be obtained from them have from time to time been presented to us. We are prepared to expect that over sanguine, or imperfectly educated men may make mistakes. But it is not wise to close our eyes altogether to the possibility of valuable coal discoveries, and that if they be worth anything, they may be made the surest means of securing every improvement that can be shewn to be reproductive.