THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1866.

Grey River Argus, Issue 78, 12 July 1866, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1866.

The inhabitants of Westland have now had ample opportunities of ascertaining the feelings with which Mr Moovhouse as Superintendent of the Province regards them and the interests of the district.* And we think we may safely say that Mr Moorhousa's visit has in every sense been a satisfactory one—to him in affording a proof of the friendly . sentiments of the people, and to the public in enabling them to learn the policy of the Government towards them. Mr Moorhouse has evidently been actuated by a sincere and honest desire to ascertain the real necessities of the district, and the patience with which he listened to the various complaints and suggestions is a proof of his wish to learn the public feeling. On the other hand he has endeavored to make the public acquainted with the exact position of the Government and the limits within ■which its powers of usefulness are confined ; and has disabused the public mind of a good many mistaken ideas and prejudices with regard to the administration of affairs. Taking a review of his Honor's speeches on the various occasions on which he has addressed the public during his recent visit, we can form a" tolerably accurate idea of what we may expect the policy of the Government towards Westland will be. We do not "gather that there will be anything like the radical changes that some persons desire and expect; .but we are justified in believing that there will be a marked alteration in the general relations of the Government towards the gold fields, and that the policy of the Government will be one of cautious progress. As Mi; Moorhouse told the public thei finances of the Province of Canterbury are not at present in a very flourishing condition ; and the direct revenue of the Gold Fields hardly doe 3 more than defray the cost of their administrationThe policy of the Government must be, and we hope will be, to endeavor to expend the revenues of Westland in such a manner as -will most conduce to the development of the country. . The expenditure on the towns must be cut down, and every farthing of available" revenue devoted to opening up the country and the construction of works of general public necessity. Hid Honor expressed himself very plainly on the subject : of the sale , of of the land for agricultural orbtlier purposes. It is quite pertain that if the Government is to be supplied with funds to carry out as it blight to do the great work of developing the country, it runs

iell some of the land. Perhaps our readers are not fully aware that the General Government, or rather the General Assembly, can appropriate the whole of the customs duties] and it is extremely probable that an attempt will be made during the coming session to lessen, the. proportion at present allowed to the Provincial Governments. If this be successful then the Provincial Governments will have, to look about them for anothor source oferevenue, or depend entirely upon their lancf fund. Mr Moorhouse's ideas on the subject of the sale of land were thus expressed by him at the public banquet at Hokitika the other day: — "He would desire to " see some of the lands on the West " Coast sold, and thought it might be " done without injury to the nriner» " He would have the land surveyed* "and laid out in suitable blocks, in '? parallelograms— land which had not "been opened as a gold field; and it ' mightHbe put up for sale after three " months' notice had been given. If it " was auriferous it would be worked in "that time ; or, if it was found to be " auriferous after sale,. the public would "derive the same advantage as from " the working of any other gold bearing "lands. (Cheers.) These lands occu- " pied, and settled, the great want of " the country would be roads ; and the "cheapest arid most efficient of all " roads was the tramway. With these, "and the intersection of the country " by tracks, as he had suggested, the " work of exploration would progress, " the digger would be able to penetrate "the country without any fear of not "being able to find his way out of it, " and the poorest diggings might be " fairly and profitably worked, owing " to the cheapness with which provisions could be supplied." We are fully aware of the difficulty in dealing with lands supposed to be auriferous j but we say this, that it were better to run the risk of selling land that is auriferous than to shut up the country against occupation and settlement There is one point in Mr Moorhouse's policy which deserves attention, viz., Government assistance to public companies formed for the purpose of carrying put important public works. His Honor is opposed, to granting any actual subsidy to such companies, but he is favorable to giving them a guarantee of a certain interest on their capital. Now if this system be wisely and cautiously adopted it would be of immense benefit to the district, by inviting the investof capital. We trust that some practical effect will be given to his Honor's idea during the next session of the Council. Whilst on this subject we may quote Mr Moorhouse's. words respecting what he conceived to be the duty of the merchants and capitalists of the place to do: — "Let them, then, " open«vip the countiy by constructing " tramways, which he had no doubt " would be a great success, but which " ought to be undertaken by private "enterprise, under the guarantee, if " necessary, of thegovernment. (Cheers.) 'f He spoke to them as commercial men "and asked them sometimes for half an " hour to lift their noses above their " noses above their ledgers, and look t{ upon the undertakings that claimed '' their assistance. .They .ought to em- " bark in these what capital they could " legitimately spare from their ordinary ." business, and they should remember " what assistance they could render in " floating many valuable schemes by " giving them the influence of their " name." There can be no doubt of there being great room for improvement in the public spirit of the West Coast. The community has been not unlike the peasant crying to Jupiter to get his wagon out of the hole, and neglecting to put its own shoulder to it. : The Superintendent tells us that he will heartily help the efforts of the people of Westland in the work of opening up and improving the countiy, but that the Government must have the cooperation of the people.