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Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1803, 16 May 1874, Page 2

After the summary we gave yesterday of the speech of the Superintendent at the opening of the Westland Provincial Council, we do not intend to publish it in ; full. But- there are a few additional points of interest which we have not yet touched upon, but which we had better quote' at length and reserve our comments until a future issue. With regard to the raising of the loan, the Superintendent said : — ■ The money authorised to be raised under the Westland Loan Act has now been raised by the Colonial Treasurer, after consultation with myself, under such conditions as will enable the full amount to be available for the purposes of the Act, particulars of which are as follows :— £40.000 at £101 10s, realising £40,600; £10,000 at £102, realising £10,200 ; making a total of £50,800. The expenses in connection. with raising the loafl only consist. of the cost of advertising. Out of this the sum of £31,464 2s 7d being the amount, as far as settled by Mr PitzUerald,' has been paid over to the Provincial account, and the advance of £31;067 12s 6d, made, in anticipation of the loan, by the Bank of New Zealand, paid off. : This, with the sum of £11,878 12s 2d due to the General Government will leave a balance of £7458, which I am row endeavoring to settle with the General 'Government. ' The other works undertaken by the General Government are being pustied on as quickly as circumstances will permit, and it must be a source of great satisfaction to you to see that the pipes, for the completion of the Waimea Water-Race, are now arriving daily, and that there is a prospect of this great undertaking soon being completed. ■ Tenders have also been called for the. further extension of the . Greymouth Protective Works, and. the severe test to which they were put during the recent heavy freshes shows how urgeutly such works were required,. as well, as thVexeellence of their com traction. / ; The serious alteration in the Hokitika river also points to the necessity for something being done, to confine the river to its proper channel, and I have to acknowledge ; the ready acquiescence of the : General Go. vernment to ay request' that ttiey would sen^ an engineer to inquire into tne matter, b

the- promise that the TCngineer-iu-Chief wil be down in a few days.

Tho correspondence relative to the construction of the line of railway between Hokitika and ' Greymouth will also be laid before you, and by it you will perceive that the Government are now in possession of sufficient information to enable them to submit the line for the consideration of the General Assembly. 5 " Tnisliue ViTTnoFonTy connect two large and important towns, but also open up the large coal deposits in the one district,, and give aa impetus to the timber trade, in the other., I, thinly you will agrne with me that this line ttiust be con- . structed : before any system of ' communication either witn Nelson on the one hand, •; or Christchurch on the other,, can be complete, and I hope to see it authorised by the Assembly; . , : ■ After mentioning the loan and the works upon which the Recess -Committee proposed to expend it, the Superintendent made the following remarks on several of the items : — "1. Mikonui Water Race.— l think that even the few who may doubt the payable nature of this work as a commercial speculation, from which large profit would aeorue, will not question that a revenue of at least LBOOO per annum will be derived from it, and this ought to remove any fear of liability on the outlay of 1-35,000. 2. Hokitika River Protection. — To provide for this amount T would propose that the wharfage : ratios shpuld r be , security,, and as they amount at the present time to the annual value of L2OOO, there would be no difficulty in providing for the sum set down to be expended in this way, viz, LlO,OOO. "3. The outlay _. on ( the Hospital , and Lunatic Asylum would be at once met by the very JaVge saving in the management of these establishments, especially the Hospital, when removed to this, side of the riwr. I feel quite satisfied that the expenses might be reduced by at least L5OO per annum, and this would cover a further sum of L 4500. " In this wav 'we have ample security provided for L 49,500, leaving only a balance of L 24 ,000 which would not .< be a large additional burden on the 250,000 acres of land already mortgaged to the i General Government, and which is supposed to cover only L 100.000."