The letter which we published yesterday from our own correspondent, containing much valuable information regarding the resources of the Inangahua and Little Grey Districts, will, no doubt, attract a considerable amount of attention both here and in other places. It will be seen from that communication, that confidence in the ultimate success of Murray Creek as a quarlz-reefing district is as strong as ever among the miners. The monied men oE Westport and Hokitika also appear to have faith in this place, snd they are quietly and silently, but certainly cutting the ground from under the feet of the people of Greymouth and the Grey Valley generally. A sum of money has been placed on the estimates by the Nelson Executive (,£1000) for the construction cf a horse track through the Saddle Bush, that is through the few miles of swampy country between the Mia Mia Hotel and the Saddle Range. This money, although it is a comparatively paltry amount for the purpose intended, would do a deal of good if it was expended at once, but if the course usually adopted by the Nelson Government of passing votes and never making any appreciable outlay be followed in this instance, the people of Greymonth, if they hope to hold their position a3 a commercial community on the Coast, will have to make the road themselves with whatever assistance the up-river residents wiil afford them. The Greymouth residents may be well assured that when the machines which are now going on to the reefs, and others which will follow, commeuce crushing, the population of the Grey Valley will bo lessened by one-half the number, because the proper value of the quartz will then be known, and the reef rush to the Inangahua will then set in. Notwithstanding the reports of engineers and surveyors, whose private interests lie at Westport, Greymouth is the natural depot and the Grey Valley is the natural highway to Murray Creek Reefs, and if the inhabitants on this side of the dividing range do not bestir themselves and . tafte every advantage of their geographical position to secure the trade and traffic of the reefing district, they will have themselves to blame when they are lamenting the disappearance of their population and the loss of their trade. This subject has been frequently mooted before, and we trust that it will be seriously considered and some action taken, as we notice that there is also a sum on the Nelson Estimates of LICOO for making a road from the Inangahua Landing to the Murray Reefs, and it is highly probable that this road will be made first, so as to divert the traffic of the district to Westport.
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Bibliographic details
Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 869, 10 May 1871, Page 2
Word Count
449Untitled Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 869, 10 May 1871, Page 2
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