NELSON AND COBDEN RAILWAY.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 527, 3 June 1869, Page 3

NELSON AND COBDEN RAILWAY.

The following copy of the instructions given to Mr J. Morrison, by his Honor the Superintendent of Nelson, relative to arranging with British capitalists for the construction of the Nelson and Cobden Railway, was recently placed upon the table of the Provincial Council : — To John Morrison, Esq., London. Sir — I have the honor to forward to yon herewith your appointment as agent for this province in England, under the provisions of tho " Nelson and Cobden Railway Act, 1868," with full power and authority to enter into a contract for the construction of a line of railway from Nelson to Cobden and Westport, upon the terms and conditions specified in that Act. I have to request that you take such steps as yon think desirable to bring the subject under the notice of capitalists in London, and that you will do all in your power to obtain the execution cf a work so highly calculated to promote the prosperity of this province, as well as of the whole colony of New Zealand. You will receive, according to advices sent you last month by the Panama steamer, a case containing a map of the province, shewing the watershed of the valleys referred to in the Act, and within which the land to be granted is contained. The map exhibits other particulars illustrative of the character of the country, which are chiefly derived from actual survey, and are otherwise as accurate and | reliable as the best sources of information at our command would enable them to be made. You will observe that the project then mooted, to which this report refers, contemplated but a small portion of the line surveyed by Mr Wrigg, and that the report of the committee was drawn before the discovery of the important gold fields now in operation upon the West Coast, both in the Province of Nelson and the adjoining County of Westland. You will also observe that the estimates of Mr Wrigg, Mr Burnett, and others, of the quantity of available agricultural land within the Grey and Buller valleys, differ to some extent, but not more so than might be expected in a country which is even yet, comparatively speaking, unexplored. But as the main value of the land is obviously in its mineral deposits, the matter is not one of much importance. The land, it may be well to remark, is not offered in payment for the construction of the line, which will remain the property of the company constructing it, but rather by way of guarantee of interest or dividend to be derived from the proceeds of its sale or rental, and perhaps more immediately from royalties upon its minerals, levied mainly, in the first instance, from gold-miners' rights. The first proceeds of land-sales would probably arise from the sale of townships upon the gold fields upon or near the line of railway. The object of the undertaking is, it will be obvious, not so much to conduct an existing traffic as to create one, by opening Tip a large extent of country hitherto practically inaccessible, much of which is believed, and some of which has been proved, to be payable auriferous. The belief of the Government is, that important gold fields would be opened up along the line, as the country became accessible through its means, and that as the means of providing miners with provisions at a more moderate cost than by the present expensive modes of conveyance on pack-horses and on men's backs, through a very rough country, became available, a large population might be profitably and permanently employed, where at present a few adventurous miners prosecute their avocations under great difficulties and hardships, and at an expense for carriage of provisions which forbids the working of any but the very richest patches of ground. It is scarcely necessary to point out that under present circumstances the transportation of machinery for gold-mining on a permanent and extensive scale is a matter of absolute impossibility, as regards the greater part of the country of the Buller and Grey. The great value of the hitherto almost entirely undeveloped coal fields of the Grey and Buller is a matter largely affecting the traffic and receipts of the line, as well as the value of the granted lands ; but as Mr Wrigg has entered at length on this subject, and much information is contained in the reports of Dr. Hector, ' Dr. Haast, and Mr Burnett, the Government do not think it is necessary to do more than draw your attention to the important fact that these coals are shown, by the Admiralty report, to be far superior to the best Australian coals, and to be equal to the average of the north of England coals supplied for the use of the Royal Navy. The various reports upon the nature of this country, with which you are furnished, distinctly shew that with two or three exceptions there are no large tracks of land available for agricultural or, without improvement, for pastoral purposes ; and the Government wish that this fact should be clearly placed before all inquirers on the subject, so as to avoid the possibility of disappointment, or of any ground for a charge of misrepresentation on the part of the Government, of the character of the property offered in consideration of the construction of the rail- ' wayThe statistical tables, published under the authority of the General Government of the colony, of which you are already in possession, will supply you with all the available information as to the present population, exports, and imports of each district of this province ; but if any further attainable information not furnished by the volume of statistics, or by the various other documents sent to you should be inquired for, or appear to you to be desirable, the Government will do their bsst to supply you with it. By the Bth clause of the Act, the nature and amount of security to be obtained from intending contractors is left to your discretion, in reliance upon your judgment in not entering into a contract with mere speculators or other persons, destitute of the means or influence to carry out their undertaking, and in obtaining such security as may, in your opinion, be satisfactory. But in reference to the resolutions of the Provincial Council which formed the foundation of the Act, you will find it stipulated that a sum of L 20,000 should be lodged as security, »nd although these resolutions are of course superseded by the Act of the General Assembly, you are requested to obtain security in this form, if pnwsticable, 1 S,ir,. George Grey has expressed much in-

terest in this undertaking, and has kindly offered to render you any assistance in his power in promoting its success. I have, therefore, to request that you will communicate with Sir George Grey on the subject, and avail yourself of his intimate knowledge of the colony, and of the weight and influence in any matter concerning it which attach to the high position he has so long filled, in any way that might suggest itself to you, and that may meet with the approval of fcsir George himself. The Government hope that the want of confidence which lma prevailed in the London money-market for the past two years may shortly abate, and that among the many proposals for the employment of capital which will doubtless be submitted to notice, as that improvement takes place, the project upon which I am now addressing you will meet with a fair and favorable consideration. I am, &c, (Signed) Oswald Curtis, Superintendent.