THE NELSON AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1463, 12 April 1873, Page 4

THE NELSON AND WEST COAST RAILWAY.

■ [colonist. J It is satisfactory to find that, though no eagerness to promote our rail way scheme is aa yet manifested in the mining districts, there is an entire absence of that bitter opposition that "the weaker spirits' among us feared would Be displayed. The Grey River Argus, the most able and important organ of public opinion Jn the district through which a line woulcUrun, has shown a commendable desire to fully investigate the reports issued ; and if not entirely tendering its adhesion to the cause, yet gives credit to the Inland Comimunication Committee for their, ability and industry, for their success in gather- , ing a. large amount of valuable information. It'would certainly appear that when the case for the railway is fully placed before the energetic population cf the. Grey Valley, and its direct advantages to them ; are fully/ shown, there is reason to hope for assistance precisely in that' quarter j from which it was feared the strongest objections would emanate. • The general report of the Committee, if fairly considered, ought to satisfy the people of Grey^nouth, that is the expression of no mere narrow local feeling, but that Nelson has prepared the : way for a scheme that will, benefit the : whole ' Prpvince, and will in the end prove to be a work of Colonial importance. The question of sending a deputation of the Committee to the West Coast has already been considered, and if the choice is good, it cannot be doubted but the full statement of the case will satisfy 1 the inhabitants of that district, that their interests lie in rendering a hearty support to a proposition even though it is made by Nelson. One thing ought to be absolutely clear before the deputation begins i ha labors, and that is, that from whatever capital is raised, an equal ex ; penditure should be made at each end, and that it is not interred to begin the construction here and ' carry it on to Brunnerton, but that a commencement , should be made simultaneously at Fox Hill and Brunnerton, and be continued in like manner till there is a junction formed in the : heart ; of the country.: Nelson would have . .its full share of prosperity: by the works at this end, ' opening * the magnificent valley" of the Bnller,iand apposition oh ! the West Coast would be disarmed^by ab equal nuoiber of miles of the line being; -yearly formed to open the Grey, and give ready and cheap access from the port to its treasures and those of the. Inangahua.. When the deputation to the Geqeral Government, now in Wellington, returns, the question can be dealt with in a bolder spirit than is at present possible, for it can hardly be doubted that Ministers will readily lend all the assistance in their power to clearing away all legal difficulty, and in promoting^ the line, short of actually finding -the money for its construction which, if even_ agreed to by thetrij would have little 'chance' of being sanctioned by the House of Representa" 'tives. That any valid objections could be , urged against the line, such as that it would not be a profitable undertaking, or that it would not open land capable of absorbing many thousands of persons both ,'' i< in /agriculture ; and mining, no one acquainted with the country believer, but the Provincial Government has shown such a total want of faith in our resources, by their dread of incurring any consider-' able liability for the formation of roads, ' ' that the opinion has ; riaturalry ' been, .to.rmed throughout the Colony that there ia nothing to develop. If 'would" Be idle 1 to expect that the labor of the'ttiodt ener- • getlc advocates of the project coiild in one or two sessions dispel these errors and .so-, as another penalty for its Government ;• palicy : of drifting, the whole capital required for this important work will,' in all !. probability,- require to be raised in shares, whereaß, if more spirit and reliance on the natural wealth of the Province' had been displayed by those in power, the work might have been undertaken as part of the Colonial scheme. However we may •" 'Ve^M'iheid difficulties, springing from

our owii *f bonier negldct iiHhe election of Superintendent to ..secure an able and enterprising chief, the shareholder* vill have cause to rejoice in the possession of a noble estate that will repay, the whole of their capital from land sales, and lvave them in possession of a railway second in value to none in the Colony. v ' l ' [WESTPORT TITHES.] ' >; . . Much has been said of late against West ; ■Coast misconception, and incipient efforts made to. induce West Coast residents to place more trustful reliance in Nelson tactics, and it would augur well indeed .'for the immediate prosperity of the Province if present divided interests could be : indiss6lubly united. But the Utopian scheme of railway connection bears but the faintest promise of success in this direction. From a West. Coast point of view the idea seems visionary and impracticable, except at an outlay of hard cash, and an alienation of valuable public estate far in excess of any limit that Nelson men have yet ventured to define. The strongest argument, from a Nelson point of view, ever adduced in favor of the Foxhill Railway was his Honor's reply on the question of introducing Chinese labor thereon. The Mongolians, he said, were not needed, for ample labor was already available. The .local settlers, suffering xinder long continuing financial depression, were anxiously locking forward to employment as laborers on the railway ! It must strike any careful reader of the speeches made at the meeting under notice that both speakers and listeners were influenced by similar opinion ; that they were anxious, less for the welfare of the Province than the particular and immediate welfare of the Nelson city. It 'is a "thankless duty to decry efforts ostensibly made for the public good ; but the Press, if true to its responsibilities, reflects but public opinion,, and that opinion on the Nelson gold fields is decidedly adverse to the scheme now dazzling Nelson citizens.