THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1869.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 540, 3 July 1869, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1869.

If the propositions made to the public meeting held last Tuesday evening, for the purpose of considering the advisability of forming a new company to work the Grey River Coal Miue, and construct a railway line to the mine and on to the Arnold, bear the endorsement of the directors of the old company, the acceptance of them by the people of this town and district, will do more to establish our prosperity upon a .solid foundation than any work which has yet been carried out, or any scheme which has been propounded. The deputation from the directors was not present, but there was not the slightest reason to doubt the statements which were then made on their behalf. Those propositions bear upon their face the very excess of fairness. They ought to be met in a correspondingly liberal spirit by the people generally, and it is in order to induce this that we again draw public attention to them. The company which was formed in Christchurch some years ago for working the Grey River Coal Mine, obtained its lease only a few days before Westland became an independent County, and not by the fairest of proceedings. But still it was obtained, and some of its stipulations were that a railway or tramway was to be constructed from Greymouth to the mine, and 5000 tons of coal brought down within eighteen months, otherwise the lease would be void. The company, for reasons best known to themselves, failed to construct the line, and consequently, on the 23rd ult., the original lease lapsed, unless some extension of time was granted* Some such extension was granted by Mr Bonar, when County Chairman, upon certain conditions, but it is a question whether any of these have been complied with. The deputation above referred to came here, not to assert any right to the lease they held, but to acknowledge that the company, as originally constituted, with the directory in Chrisfcchurch, had been a fai!ure,"and they wished to organise a new company, with a directory of local men in Greymouth. Upon being satisfied that sufficient interest was taken by the residents here in the undertaking, so as to ensure the formation of a strong local directory, and shares to the amount of LIOOO were taken up in the district, they offered to guarantee that they would raise the balance of the requisite capital in Christchurch, on condition that they received shares in the new company to the amount of £4000— already expended in opening up the mine, clearing and surveying the railway-line, &c. They asked no preference shares, as is usual with promoters of such undertakings, or bonus of any kind, but simply shares to the amount of the actual cost incurred. These propositions were acceded to by a number of the principal residents in town at a private meeting, and it was resolved to submit the scheme for the construction of the new company to the public. This was done on Tuesday evening, at the public meeting above referrc d to. It is now proposed to form a new company with a nominal capital of ,£50,000, in £5 shares, but it is proposed for the present only to raise .£25,000, whicli will be sufficient to open up the mine, and construct a line of railway from town to it, while the expenditure of a few additional thousands will carry it on to the Arnold. The business men in the district ought to require no inducement to invest a portion of their capital in an undertaking which must, from the very commencement of its operations, add so much to the permanent prosperity of both town and district ; for though they should never reap a penny cf profit from their shares, they must be benefited in a direct manner by the great impetus which it will give to the trade of the port, and by the increase of permanent settlement which the opening up of the country will induce. But still there cannot be a doubt that the speculation will be a profitable one, apart altogether from the guarantee of 8 per cent, which the Westland Government offers upon the c ipital invested in the construction of the railway. This speciqs of investment ought to be readily accepted by the artizans and miners in the district, on the simple ground that they wjill receive double the amount of interest on their money given by airy of the- Banks. It ought to be borne in mind that the directory will be a local one, that those who take up shares in the new company will only do so con* tin»eut upon two things — the obtaining of

a fresh lease of the coal reserve from the County Chairman, upon more advantageous terms than that held by the old company, ! and the great bulk of the capital being raised in Ohristchurch, as promised by the deputation who recently visited us. About both of these we think there is very little doubt, but the result will be definitely known in a few days, Meantime, those who take an interest in the concern will not be compromised in any way ; and it is to be hoped the scheme will be seriously considered in all its bear' ings, a,nd that it will be very favorably entertained and supported, not only by the business men of Greymouth, btit also by the working-claases throughout the district,