THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,- 1867.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 164, 31 January 1867, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 31,- 1867.

It is rather strange that although the. question of traiuways vei-sus ouliuavy roads has long been a subject of discussion in New ■ Zealand,., it/should have 'remained for its practical solution to be established on the West Coast. In all 'the .older' settlements' of New- Zealand they have contented themselves with folldvyiiig:, in \tlie footsteps of /their fathers,, and expanded untold sums on a class of roads which in many instances have served auly fis an abyss iv which ■ the public money has been lost. Take ptago as an example, for that, province affords perhaps the most illustrious instance of how much money it is possible tq; throw away on road making and at the same time be little the 1 better for it. ': There are scores of miles of costly ami inefficient roads in Qfcago which for half tlieiv ovigiiuU cost inight-

have been good useful tramways, the ! annual repair/of which' would be. a trifle compared, with, the maintenance of a metalled road. At any time better and more econoniical than a macadamised road, tramways have an immense advantage in costing so little for repairs as compared with common roads, ]3eyond replenishing the rails occasionally and regulating tlie ballast i at long intervals, a well ulade tramvoad I will, barring accidents, . Ice-ep in good f Qrdev for as many years as a metalled roacl will months, particularly in a climate subject to ho much Jjumulity as this portion of thp colony, From tho. 'very iirst a tranjroacl is easier of coustfuction than a common road, ifc can be inacle nioro rapidly, and can -be made '.'quite as clieapl) 7 -. With"" regard to the exigencies of communication in W"esfv land, -. tiamroacls are 'peculiarly wa]} adapted to the wants of the inhabitants. Here it is not as in older and more thickl} r populated': couufcries, where a network of branch roacls is necessary to connect the numerous villages, &c, with the main lines of communication. For many years to come a few main lines of road between the , chief centres of population will suffice, but these arteries of communication .would pass through tracts of country where the construction of a metalled road would be enormously costly, and the maintenance of. \vhich would be a very heavy tax ou the. public revenues. Passing for the most part through thick bush, the clearing of which is difficult anil' expensive, and with no/convenient supply of metal, the macadamised road 'would -at best. be a very inferior sort of tiling. The fi'-e_ quent rains soou reduce the metal, an d when oncethe crust of the road is broken tlie rest soon, becomes a hopeless wreck. Not so with a trainroad. Its less" width necessitates less clearing, whilst;? the timber which is merely an obstruction in the one case becomes a useful element in the construction of the road in the other, The material for ballasting can be easily carried on the tramway from its very commrncement, and when once the line is well completed it. is but little affected by the wuather. All the various advantages we have enumerated point to tramways as the most suitable means of communication in this part of tho colony, and we may add that they can be made a source of direct profiteither to the Government or the companies which construct them. But this part of the question is not of so much moment, as the consideration of direct profit should not be enteituined by the Government in matters of this kind. The duty of ! 'making tlie coiintiy available for occu pation devolves on the Government, and. it is bound to adopt those- means that are best calculated to elfect the-pur-pose- — and these are to our mind 'train-;, roads. This leads us to the consideration of the schief want of this district in the matter of communication, — aroad to the Arnold. district, which may be considered the key to '■& vast extent of valuable territory. Everyone who knows anything of the co'uiitry in the neighborhood of the Arnold is aware how much the development of its re-" sources has been and is hindered owing to tho absence of means of commuuica 1 •tion with this port ; '-and few can doubt that the establishment of aii efficient and direct road would lead to the opening up of a large tract of country available to the miner aud. the agriculturist. "Wo venture to say indeed that a tramway to some, central point iv the Arnold district would effect a complete revolution in the progress of miniug iv that district, and proye of immense benefit to the trade of Greymoiith. A line of route presenting no serious engineering difficulties can we think be found that would bring Maori Gully to within about eight miles of Grey mouth, and a good tramway ought to be eonvStructed for about £4000. There.; ought to be no. difficulty in inducing the Government to carry out this road, for it can easily be shown to be one of the most effective means of attracting and retaiiiirig j)opulation in this ■district, "VVe believe the Superintendent is personally favorable to it, and we trust that on' his return to Greymoutli strong representations will /be, made to him on the subject. J .