THE WANTS OF THE INANGAHUA DISTRICT.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1078, 11 January 1872, Page 2

THE WANTS OF THE INANGAHUA DISTRICT.

: ; [sPEfclitLY ' hWoRTED.] A monster open air meeting was held at Reef ton,. Inangahua, on Saturday, Qth instant, to consider the a.dvis,al>ility of at once petitioning th£ Govterndrih Council, praying that legitimate .Dreasure may he put on the of Nelson, to sujiply^the^waiits. of this rich. and importent%ismSfr . . ... .. , r On' the motion of ,Mr iPrancis AfLean, Mr Pitt was called' to the, chair. Wduly explainedjthe object of the ■ toeetingj said that although not at present a.restdent here, I shortly hope io be so, and consequently feel au interest in any/movement that may. be set oorn r foot calculated to improve and benefit' this rising and important gold field. Everyone present , is aware, of ■ the, con firmed ; I apathy and neglect of the Nelson Government with respect to the gold fields of _the^ Province, Wangapeka^' the profitless pet, ex'cepted ; and possessing that knowledge, it becomes the duty of every man in the district to use his utmost endeavors' in the furtherance of the present object. During the last three months, the General Government has.been alive to the necessify of cultivating " the mining interests, and, during the. past session, has displayed, by the several .money grants. ypted, ; , a desire to foster them. Such being the case, I advise a direct appeal !to headiquartera, to ensure arecognition of the rights which, as British subjects, we justly^ claim. Resolutions embodying. those rights will now be submitted for your consideration. Mr PENN^F/iHEKsaid^ Gentlemen, I think we are all unaninidus in the opinion that we should have some better, means of communication with,' the. sea.b6.ar.<i b|? fore the winter months again came round, Many here have already experienced privations that we have no desire to. see again', and which could have ; been avoided butfotihe shameful neglect of the Nelson Provincial Government in the matter of roads to th?s outlying ; but manifestly rich district ; and ;in view -of the present rapidly-increasing population, it is but a reasonable, inference to expect that; unless measures are at cnce instituted to that end, the supplies ofi the, common necessaries of life will not be obtainable. Li the face of- such a contingency^ instant action should be taken,' and fritfcH that object in view, I have much pleasure, in putting the following resolution r-^'.'Thkt regarding the rich 1 reefs alreatty.'pjtoyed, * and the undoubted permanence of this district, the amount; of capital invested, and the large revenue collected, this meeting, whilst acknowledging the consideration shown" b ; y"tKe^General Government towards the Gold 'Fields^ is 1? <|f opinion that sufficient 'dray accommodl* tion between Reeftorj^ aiul Greymouth, by the Ahaura, and Reef toil and ' Westport by thelnangahuaiValley, should be /pro^O vided before the setting in, of the winter months." : ■ ■ ; . : .'-' Mr W. Fox seconded the motion. : Mr E. A. Drujry said : Before putting! the resolution I 1 wish to observations respecting it, and, with your permission, to propose an amendment. 1 cordially accept its spirit and intention. bat think it is calculated to defeat thd purpose for which it was framed, as I cannot see the force of embracing in the same resolution the -construction of two roads until the first one is finished. ; -If a* good dray road be inade.fronv Greytnouthf it would answer all purposes, and the one to Long's Landing woulii, as'the vast resources ; of,, the district become' ; deW " loped, follow as. a .natural consequence j but if you agitate loir the two at, once,', you may possibly thwart the' General Government, and do more harm tha^ good. lam informed supplies .can at all times be purchased as cheaply, if not cheaper, at Greymouth than at Westport. The County Government of Westland

have very liberally undertaken to construct a road to the Arnold, and lenders have been called for and accepted. This when finished will almost connect the - Sew Ahaura with the Grey, and from thence to the Ahaura you have a very fair road— so fair, indeed, that goods are at present conveyed by drays. Can this be said of the Inangahua ? 1 think not ; it is too well known that all merchandua has and would have to be transported by boats to the Landing, and this alone is, to my mind, an insurmountable ground of objection, as the fivers are not always navigable, floods may contiuue for a week or so, the goods get damaged by being so frequently shifted, whereas all could be obviated by adopting the Greymouth route. There your loading would be placed on a dray, and from the storekeeper's door delivered untouched and in good condition at Reefton, vithout incurring the risk and dangers I have mentioned. Experience has taught us tlv i the best of boatmen not only lose their horses, but sometimes their cargoes. Surely, then, it cannot be urged that water traffic in these parts is equal to land, and why it should be sought to confer the priority upon the Inangahua, lamat a loss to conceive. The Boiler bar, although good, is not always open, and were it closed for a week I should like to know where the supplies would come from ; whereas, if the Greymouth bar should happen, which I don't think likely, to be closed, communication could be immediately established ; with Hokitika. By the construction of the Grey Valley road, yon would have one unbroken line from Hokitika to Reefton, and thereby cement still more strongly those interests which are identical and should be made common property. Ido not wish to be understood as being antagonistic to Westport, nor as speaking in any spirit of rivalry, but nature herself has favored the Grey Valley. Let that road be made, and immediately then you can start the Inangahua one, but by embarking in too many things at once we are apt to come to grief. It must be borne . in mind that this L 2 4,000 voted by the m General Government is to be expended not only an the Grey, but also in the Buller Valley, and other places, though perhaps not so flourishing, will assuredly • and very quickly look for their proportionate share, and when L2OOO or L3OOO goes to this place, and L2OOO or L3OOO to another, and so on, we will suddenly realise. |he, unpleasant fact that we have overdrawn. The Lyell will be wanting a road. Bed Jack's and Nelson Creek will require another, and therefore I again ask you not to support the resolution as submitted, and by so doing stultify youvselves. Vain regrets are idle, and therefore do not be led away by the seductive attractions so invitingly exposed by those who deem Westport, and Westport alone, their haven. of rest. I shall now read the amendment— " That, seeing the urgent necessity of connecting this district with the seaboard, this meeting is of opinion that the construction of a road direct to Grey mouth is most desirable, and pledges itself to support a petition for same to the General Government," Mr E. Donovan, in seconding the amendment, said, he had muoh pleasure \n supporting the views taken by his friend Mr Druiy, and fully endorsed them, It was a well-known faot that Westport at any time was not to be compared with Greymouth as a depot from which to obtain supplies, and, in fact, they had done but little to merit the support of the inhabitants of this place ; but entirely apart from that consideration, the question resolved itself into a simple question of means to construct both roads. It would be simply ridiculous to waste money on cutting the usual bush tracks. What was wanted was a good main trunk road, always passable, an( * capable of carrying neavily laden waggons, such as would be required for the conveyance of machinery and " tucker" in quantities. Mr W. Fox was strongly opposed to the divided movement. A good road could be made both ways through fertile valleys '{fiat woujd. y#t teeni with produce to be consumed on these fields, besides opening up an unlimited area of alluvial diggings, which, of his knowledge, existed, that would employ thousands off poor men, contented with a return of L2or L 3 per week for their labor ; he spoke advisedly, and urged the meeting to encourage a spirit of competition among the traders by voting for a road both ways. The Chairman then put the amendment, anddeclared it lost, {he resolution being received with enthusiasm, Mt^qms said he had much pleasure in moving the second resolution. .Considering the able manner in which the Chairman had placed the matter before the meeting, any remarks that he might make would oe simply superfluous. He moved — " That the want of a Resident Magistrate's Conrt at Reefton necessitates eitiier the abandonment of just claims, or involves the enormous expense of a journey for partieh and witnesses to Westport (a distance of over 60 milea). This meeting therefore resolves to urge upon the General Government to adopt steps to provide for the administration of justice in theii midst by the immediate holding a Resident Magistrate's Court at Reefton, and the appointment of a clerk and bailiff tc carry out its judgments." Mr J. Derbyshire seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr P. BiuaofAiT said— Gentlemen, ] have been asked to propose the reßolutioi that comes third in- order, and as i touches more immediately upon th< mining' interest it would perhaps havj ti6en"p,etter that' 'some bf the residen Mining' notabilities, say Mr & Byrne, o Anderson, had dealt with it. However as there is nothing in it but what every ma: can truthfully endorse, 1 submit it wit! pleasure to your earnest consideration fo adoption. In consequence of the floodei state of the rivers frequently preventing the Warden, from reaching here , at the appointed time, it is absolutely necessary tnas we have such an officer on the ground ; on this very occasion we have an illustration — four journeys backwards and forwards, from claim to court and court to claim, involving a loss of both lime and money. We nave suffered the incpnyenjence lon,g enough, 2 and the sootier our interests are considered, the better. Gentlemen, J have much pleaante reading the, .resolution :-r-" That, haying regard to the great and increasing number of applications for leases, claims, water rights,, machine sites, 1 and other mining privileges, the holding of a War-dflirffOoTtrtriffl»7rfli6li«K"ls-wh6lly" inadefluate.! even /if: the weather, and the s^e pi Kte river* admitted, of a certainty Bfi'to snob holding that the delay thus c<JWyriono4 Involves a serious loss of time

to the working miner, and a loss of interest to the capitalists who are daily availing themselves of the safe and profitable investment here offering : this meeting is of opinion that the appointment of a Resident Warden is imperatively neces sary. And for the purpose of carrying out this and the former resolutions, a Memorial to the Governor in Council be prepared and forwarded, praying that legitimate pressure may be put upon the Provincial Government to supply these patent wants of this rich and important district." Seconded by Mr M Byrne, and carried unanimously. It was moved by MtThoms and seconded by Mr M. Byrnb, "That the foregoing resolutions be forwarded by the Chairman to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary." Carried unanimously. The meeting then dispersed.

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