OUR COAL RESOURCES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1400, 25 January 1873, Page 2

OUR COAL RESOURCES.

[to the editor.] Sib, — In your leading aiticle of yesterday you remarked that the "opening up of the Brunner nrne will, probably before long become a colonial question." With all due deference I beg to differ, and say that it has becorre so already, and more than that — it has become a rational question, and your issue of today bearß out what I assert; therefore is it fair, is it just to the Southern Hemisphere that it should be in-the -power of one man, who, because he does comprehend the value of the Brunner coal-mine (for 1 do not suppose for one moment that Mr Curtis does not) in order to administer to his own vanity, to increase this selfimportance, is permitted to throw every obstacle in the way of the almost boundless resources of the Grey coal field be ; ng developed and made useful for the progress of the Southern Hemisphere. The necessity for this coal field being made available is urgent, and is shewn by the telegrams in to-day's Arous, wherein it is stated that it is impossible for vessels at Newcastle, New South Wales, to obtain freight in the shape of coal, and are leaving that port in ballast, and I also learn that coal has risen in - consequence to the enormous price of L 3 10s per ton in Melbourne, and, as a matter of course, stagnating manufacturing industry, and yet with these facts -staring us in the faie, and the knowledge that the only other place within a reasonable distance where a plentiful supply of coal can be obtained, and tlr's state of things pre-? vented, is allowed to be locked up through the obstinacy of of one man — Oswald Curtis, Esq., Superintendent of Nelson. Surely the Hon. Julius Yogel would be justified, and would receive the thanks of the whole community, not only of New Zealand, but also of Australia, if he put an end to this state of things by a coup fa main. If anything ever showed the fallacy of a portion of a government being under the control and administration of a petty satrap, it is this fact of a Nelson commission agent, who thinks that it is to his interest (politically, of course,) not only to retard the progress of a district with which he is not intimately connected, but to impede a national industry, and thereby inflict an injury not only on New Zealand but also on the whole southern world. That this policy is only dictated by motives of the most petty description, and wj.th a desire to burke the progress of the Grey district, is shown by the recent proclamation in the Nelson Provincial .Gfaze^e, offering a reward for the discovery of a coal field within f 0 miles of Nelsqn city. And for what % and for why ] Surely not to develop the resources of the Province, when they can be developed without the cost of making a railway 70 miles in length when one of the lea3t payable and easily wrought coal fields is within seven miles of a port easily accessible by sea ; but then that port is not Nelson. The real cause is jealousy — narrow, petty, shortsighted jealousy — a desire to destroy the goose that can lay golden eggs, because those eggs cannot be produced in Nelson city. JBii't there may be something more than this : Mr t: Curtis sees well enough that should the Qrey* coal field be ! fully developed, Nelson proper will sirikiiitb that 'plough of despond,.'.' 1 that insignificant httle village, which it woi^ld ever nave been had it not been for the discovery of the mineral resources of the West Coast. He sees as plainly as the handwriting on the wall, that the days of Nelson city would be numbered, and therefore he is fain to oppose progression and cry out, Oh give us back our rushlights, Our good old farthing rushlights ; Qh. pray put out the gaslight, £t gives us too much light. And so it does, and tfyis'is the majn cause of Mr Curtis's polipy, and his. eijdeijvors to sacrifice everything to preserve the supremacy of <v Nelson Proper," I alluded to the coal trade of New* I castle, and I will now quote figures as to the progress of that trade ; and let us suppose for one moment what should have been the action of the New South Wales, or say Sydney, Government, looking at it from a Nelson point of view. In 1829 the' quantity of coal rjs.isgd at Newcastle was less than I'OOO tons,. Valued at LiOO. In 3873 nearly 800, 0Q0 tons were raised, valued at L3oo, ooo.' 'During that year 1040 vessels, representing a carrying capacity of 376,378 tons, cleared o^t' for foreign ana! '' intercolonial ports, against 2123 vessels of 794,460 tons'fdr the whole i polony, There is no contradicting these figures, and yet if the action of the Sydney Government had been dictated by the same policy as the Nelson Government, every impediment would have been thrown in the way of the progress of Newcastle ; aud instead of exporting hundreds of thousands! of tons, of the invaluable mineral, it would have simply exported its 1000 tons annually, and the progress of Australia would have been impeded in consequence. But why should not the General Government open up the coal measures on the Westland side of the river, for it has been asserted over and over again that the carboniferous deposits on the southern bank of the Grey spreading out behind the Linestone Range are far richer and purer than those on the northern bank, and if such is the case would it not be better to leave the Superintendent with his "good old farthing rushlight," and let him construct a tramway to Cobden and run out a jetty on the shingle bank, where waterniens' wherries may be able to take in a hundredweight or so of coal, as i£ would be simply an absurdity to any person knowing aught about the Grey river to suppose ttiat anything wbujd ever make a coal port of Cobden, This obstructive policy has continued long enough, and the interests, not only of New Zealand, but also of the southern hemishere, demand that it should be ended. Not only in regard to its coal workings, but also the other mineral resources of the Grey district, has the policy of Mr Curtis been the same. " Ever the same" he might adopt as his motto, and the sooner a new order of things is initiated the better. I am, &c, pQSMOIf. Greyraouth, January 24.