THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1168, 26 April 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1872.

The propositions made by the Agent of Mr Brogden to the Westland Government for the construction of a line of railway from the Brunner Coal Mine to Ross, which we recently published, have been freely discussed during the past few days, and is now a fair matter for comment. The more consideration given to a subjebt of this nature by tho residents in the district affected by it, the better will it befor them ultimately. . A healthy discussion on a public question is at all times commendable, especially when, in a limited community such as this, it is •seldom that a public question is freely ventilated. Of. course, in any place, large or small, there will be found those who are always ready to raise the cry of ■" monopoly," but it is satisfactory to find that throughout Westland the great bulk of public opinion is in favor of the propositibp as made by Mr Brogden's agent,- and, as we are positively informed, the Governor's Delegate has resolved favorably, to recommend jit 4o the-atten-of the Government. ' W6 look' upon the offer to construct the line as most liberal. AH that is asked |is 43.000 acres of the weste lands of the County along the line of ..railway, ,sp far as it has _ not, jet ..been dealt with by the Waste Lands Board. ' But existing rights will be respected, { and wherever the line passes through ' sold land, the contractors will have to select an ,- equal . quantity in some other portion of the- County. The line cannot be constructed and put in working order much under £200,000, anil, all that is asked for this large expenditure of capital here, and the enormous benefits which will be conferred upon the whole' of the West Coast by the increased facilities of traffic and the opening up and settlement of the lands, is 43,000 acres of land, which, as a rule, could not now ; be sold for 5s an acre, and, indeed, is at present lying utterly worthless. If, by his enterprise and expenditure of capital, Mr Brogden can increase the value of that land seven-fold, he is surely entitled to all contingent benefits, while the com- ) munity at large indirectly secures advantages it never could otherwise have obtained. The scheme upon which the' railway is proposed to be constructed is purely American, and wherever it has been Introduced has proved eminently successful, not only in opening up country, but also in permanently settling it. The only point upon which we differ with most of the promoters of this system is^that the belt of land to be granted should not be continuous along the line of railway, but should alternate with blocks reserved by. the Government. That is, that the contractors not possess the whole frontage to the line, but that they should double the depth they ask, and thereby enable the Government tc reap some advantage by possessing or selling the intermediate blocks. If this could be managed, the difference, in the selling/. price .of these blocks ' would recoup the Government for all the land it gives to the contractors, and they would thereby have a railway made from the'Brun'ner Coal Mine to Ross for almost nothing. • It is worthy of notice that at the present time a similar proposition, although upon a more gigantic scale) is being entertained in South Australia, and there is » every probability of its being carried oufc. According to trustworthy information, •" a very influential company has been privately formed in Adelaide to promote the construction of a grand trunk line of railway through : the heartof Australia, from Port Augusta to Porb Darwin." A managing director has been appointed, and a discussion is now in progress in the Assembly on a motion by Mr Arthur Blyth, ex-Premier, to the effect that such a railway would conduce to the interests of the Colony, and that a Bill should be introduced authorising the alienation of certain lands by way of a subsidy. It will be seen from this that the project has assumed a definite form, and that active steps are being .taken to carry out the intentions of the promoters. The scheme is one of great magnitude, and the encouragement sought for it is commensurate with the expense to be incurred and the risks to be run. The. exact distance to be traversed is not exactly known, but the extent of land asked, for is no less than 200,000,000 of acres in 35 alternate blocks. This, at a rough calculation, is about two and a half times the area of the United. Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. . The estimated cost is about £10,000,000, but fre ■may be sure that any estimate for such a work would be largely exceeded. And still there are people to. Tbe. found in> Westland who object to give 43,000 acres of land for an expenditure of L 200,000. On the American system, it is only the other- day that the Government of the' United States endowed the Northern Pacific Railway Company with a grant of: G0, 000, 000 acres. This lino will connect: Lake Superior with Puget Sound, and is' 2000 miles in length. Judging by sales' of liiiiiiar land this maybe expected toWiiHsK -x\ average of 363 per acve after the. "r.-rk-vi-y "is made, and 13 expected, with! other' extraneous assistance, to pay the, company well. In the face of the factswo have quoted as to what, is being done elsewhere, the proposition of Mr Brogden; may very fairly be looked upon as very liberal, if there are no other terms behind it which have not yet been made public.