THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY,MARCH 21, 1867.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 185, 21 March 1867, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1867.

Now that his Honor tlie Surjermtendent lifts had the 1 : ■opportunity of witnessing the efficiency of the tramways oit^this'-cq?ist: yt'tru^tjGq;^rintroduce- ;- . the system into tire Govfp|bent road making wherever a tx-amway vis Yikely to 'bp. sufficient for r the^traffic. :|jgp?he personal observations his Honor has hiajd ; the opportunity pi|| making are worth a thousand red-tapo reports from Qoyernnient engineers. He must have seen that" alfch^ijgh rudely constructed, and nob ais^iher presenting that'de;ji£htfu]ly 'l^ilet appearance which 'g^t^c ■■ cyeC iilco ir>- look up/m, thje^

"^ .. . . .. ... „.,.... . . . ,™*« -.■■'.." ■ .-. '■. ■"»•". - ■ .- ( ." ':■ ' K . - .„..■ . ■ "1^ svoodeu tran^ayji?; comsn\ : many ad-^ vantages oyer^ any; other _ kind ofri:oad.| is applied to $|fchickly timbered; and? linequal : couni|y|? like Westland these brahiways are jiferliaps tLeibest.description of .road 'that- could be devised for ordinary purposes, and will last quite long enough.,.-,: .It. is. not ;,,prob ajble; that j there will be : any material alteration in the nature or extent of the tragic at present existing: . . between ...the town depots and the various diggings* The tiirie". ■ ; may come, ; and ■-. doubtless I will ultimately arrive, when the traffic for which cheap; and, expeditious means of transit will have to v be provided will consist chiefly of the coal and timber to which isj Moorhouse:; looks fqvwai'd with so . much solicitude. -But- with every faith in the ultimate future of West Canterbury, and unbounded confideuqe in -Us. resources, we are convinced, that many years will elapse before its mineral or agricultural development will reach that stage at which iron railways become a necessity. In; the meantime the simple wooden tramroads will suffice for the wants of the population, ami as they cost but little as compared with other roads, and are I p kept easily and cheaply in repair, they I seem to be the only kiiid of shbulcV be coustiaicte^^ijj*|Jß|P^^" j^i^rr^^^/ff^^Scepb m special of money has been tor roads and tracks on the West Coast ; would it not be a sensible plan to -try the tium way principle here and there? Take the proposed road to i Maori Gully for instance. The Pror vincial Council voted £3500 for' this road, which when "completed will probably coat several hundreds a year to .■^BJi} in repair, oven if it can be kept in « Supposing tlie Governm^b to make the usual kind of road, we may form a tolerable idea of Avhat it will be in coui'se of time, however well constructed it may be. A single wintei^s rains will very soon reduce-an ordinary metalled road into a complete "via dolorosa" of quagmires, ruts and waterholes. What is the present condition of the Arnold tracks after all the thousands that have been spent upon it 1 We believe : that for, at the most, a wooden tramway could be constructed from Grey mouth to Maori Gully— a road which would last for years,' and reduce the cost of carriage to a minimum. Besides, there is another view of the matter which the Government should not lose sight of^-a tramway, even =if it did not pay a large profit, woxild at least pay for the cost of its maintenance, which is more than can be said of any ordinary road, l^iit we believe that in nine cases out of ten the Government would fiud that the : tramways would produce a revenue instead of being the constant drain on the public funds that other roads are. At any rate let thenvmakc the experiment : the new road to Maori Gully affords an excellent opportunity for testing the thing at a not veiy considerable expense. Everything can.be had on the spot — labor and material ; a month or two , woiild suffice^ fpr its completion, and the Government would then be able to decide whether or not to adopt the tramway system more extensively.