THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1172, 1 May 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1872.

Oswald Cuetts, Esq., Superintendent of -Tyeison,-«aa previously earnea ior -niwself an unenviable distinction as being the greatest bete ndir that the South-west Gold Fields bad ever been afflicted with, but recent action on his part has deepened the feeling previously existing, and has shown more clearly than ever the abso- ; lute necessity for the Grey Valley district to be as quickly as possible emancipated from present outrageous misrule. Whilst spending money without stint in tbe Wangapeka and other districts, in the ' ( shape of roads, &c, the Superintendent is, by all means in his power, retarding the prospects of the Grey Valley. As a mere blind, last year certain sums for < opening up communication in this portion of the Nelson South- west Gold Fields were placed oh the Provincial Estimates, and wbat is more, were passed. Amongst them was a road" from the Twelve-Mile to the i Ahaura.. A- survey of the line was subsequently made, and " as" far as the Nelson. Government go, this was all that was done. Though the Provincial Legislature bad acknowledged the necessity for the work in the report of their own engineers, it was coolly 'allowed to stand over, whilst money raised in the Grey •Valley district went to finish other works in the district of Nelson proper. ■ It must ■be borne in mind that any works undertaken or completed were agreed to at the same time that the road-in question was, and therefore the absolute unfairness and positive maladministration of the available funds must be patent &t once. Fortunately,, in one sense, the General Government seems to have a better knowledge of the requirements of the ( locality than Mr Curtis, and the late visit of the Premier has already been productive of good. In reply to requests both from the people of Reef ton and of Greymouth he promised that the f telegraph should be extended to the former place, and already tenders have been called and, what is more, accepted for clearing the track along which the line will pass. Not only has this been done, but tho General Government have lately, actually taken the trouble to put themselves into communication with Mr Curtis, and asked his co-operation in converting the track into a dray road, »nd thereby Connecting Beef ton with the seaboard 'tijMbninterrupted means of communication. Mr Cartis, as we stafed yesterday, was cha-t rncteristic in his reply to this overture, and though he could not deny last year's ■i rote, said " that it had lapsed, and that he did not see his way to join in carrying out the work, although, one of the most necessary in the Grey District." Can the force of o'^s r id ion any further go, or can the Valley folks bear much more of the sa'iu 1 Hnd from the same quarter. In the first place, it must be remembered that the Provincial Council voted money to complete- tho whole road, and thaj; Mr Curtis Jin* most deliberately either retained it for 'other purposes, or at least not devoted it as was intended. How the Council will put up with such contemptuous Uisiv!.ard v>f their wishes remainijto Ye ecoh, but as tht-y have no authority over l!;o Superintendent, we presume that they will lmvo to grin and bear it. But, ns it turns out, instead of being called on to make the whole road, the Geueral Government lias ftctually commenced on a very heavy poniuti of tho work, and, impressed with th« uhßoluto necessity for the comple-

tionof the missing link m the chain of communication offer to co-operate 'with Vthis Provincial Mephistophileß and Marall in its formation. He gives the paltry excuso referred to>; :he does not; say- that the Council is^itting, andlbha£ he will refer the subject for their consideration ; ho merely closes the question, and de facto. to uso a Colonial phrase, "shuts, up" the 'Gen'eral^overnmerit,' and deprives Reefton and Greymouth of a road. We cannot tell what other people think of his conduct in the matter, but it is with a great deal of difficulty that we can write calmly in reference to it. The want of a continuous road from the sea-boavd to the newly-dis-covered mines of Inangahua has been so long felt, and so generally acknowledged, that we need not dwell upon it, and that, owing to the perversity of Mr Curtis, it should be delayed, is disgraceful. The money spent hitherto, if nothing is done, will be money wasted— two ends of a road leading to nowhere. For all practical purposes till thß balance is made the other portions will be valueless. It is somewhpt dangerous at times to imputo motivr but the conduct of Mr Curtis certain;, favors the supposition that it is dictated by a desire to confine the Reefton trade to Westport, without in the least degree taking into consideration the convenience of lleefton people, the cost such a course would entail on them, and the consequent delay in the development of their resources. If 'a ' road were constructed throughout from Greymouth to Reefton, there is no doubt that for some -time to come gooe s could be forwarded at less cost than 'by way of Westport, and what is more, in all weathers. Mr Curtis, in order to secure trade to. Westport, apparently, is determined that no such road shall be. But, the next question that arises is, will the Valley people or those interested permit Mr Curtis to have all his( own way 1 To be forewarned is to ba forearmed, and the public have power in their hands if they choose to exercise it in actual self-defence. The ' authority on which we make these statements is unquestionable, and we have proof positive of all that we have alleged in reference to his conduct in the matter. By communicating, through a properly organised committee, with both the General Government and the members of the Provincial Council, Mr Curtis*s Machiavellian policy may yet be defeated, and his present triumph end in complete discomfiture.. The pressing need for the completion of the road, the facilities offered for effecting it, and ? the vast benefits that the work will confer, can be clearly pointed . out, that none but wilfully blind or interested persons can deny them. ; We have fairly warned the public now, and there is ample time 'for successful exertion. Let us hope that some public spirit still lingers amongst tis, and that Greymouth, the Grey "Valley, and Reefton will not allow their best interests to be sacrificed by the miserable selfishness of such a man as Oswald'Curtis, Superintendent of the Nelson Province.