THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 823, 17 March 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1871.

Both the morning journals in Hokitika have published articles with respect to the proposal to endow the Borough of Greymouth with the rents and royalties of the Coal Reserve, for the purpose of providing a fund for the maintenance and improvement of the navigation of the river. It is remarkable that both our contemporaries commit the blunder of forgetting the original purpose for which the Reserve was made. The Canterbury Ordinance which gave power to the Provincial Government to dispose of the Reserve explicitly mentions that the proceeds were to be devoted to the improvement of navigation of the River Grey, so that the Borough Council, in the representations they have made to the General Government, have not suggested anything that is at all foreign to the original purposes of the Reserve. It is true that the " navigation of the River Grey," alluded to in the Grey Coal Reserve Ordinance, was intended to moan the navigation of boat channels between the Port and the Mine, but as it is certain that this means of conveying the coal will have to give way to a railway, and as the railway itself will be of little value without extensive and permanent port improvements, the devotion of the funds from I one portion of the river to another is only one of those proper alterations that the circumstances of the case demand. Our contemporary, the Independent, seems to have got the idea that it is the desire of the Borough Council to possess itself of the Coal Reserve, and work it for profit. There is no such intention ; all that is asked is that the .irojn^h.e < ..Xeasir i g^:pt'; ( the:' ills ot ; *he 'iipMfil^urpbse v of r f>6rt irii^

provements. The amount from tlieso sources is not likely to bo extravagant ; for instance, under the old lease to tlio Canterbury Company tlio rental was, wo believe £200 per annum, and 4d. per ton royalty. Supposing tho Government to lease tho mine, and royalty was pi i"I on 60,000-tons of coal per annum, this at 4d. per ton would only produce a thousand pounds a-year, a sum that cannot certainly bo considered to be extravagant to apply to such a necessary and costly work as the embankment of the river with stone, and deepening the channel by breakwaters. The placing the Reserve under tlio control of the General Government cannot in the slightest degree prejudice the profitable disposal of the mine. On the contrary, we believe capitalists would much prefer to deal with the General Government, more especially if the Brnnner Mine was included. The Independent speaks of the Reserve as if it were the special property of the County, forgetting that the Avaste lands all belong to the Crown. Westland never had any right as a Corporation to this Reserve, aud has not a shadow of a claim to it. AH that has to be considered in dealing with the question is how best to secure the proper development of the coal field by capitalists. And as we have before pointed out that improved port facilities are a very important element of success, ix, is only fair that the rents and royalties of the mine should be devoted to secure that' necessary condition. We are convinced that this is the light in which the Government will regard the subject, and they will be supported by all the influence the district can bring to bear.