THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1941, 26 October 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1874.

Following the example of Greymoutb, the people of Westport have held a public meeting to consider the question of the [ expenditure of the .£50,000 granted by i the General Assembly lust session for road i works in the Province of Nelson. There was a similarity in one respect between the meetings at the two places — each expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the manner in which this money is proposed to be expended. But there were two points of dissimilarity— one being that the Westport people refuse to recognise the claim of tbe other part of the Nelson Gold-fields to any share v of the £50,000, and the other is the exhibition of a most childish and absurd jealousy between the two ports of Westporb and Greymouth, A report of the meeting is before ns, from which we learn that the Mayor said—what is news to us—that " the Nelson Government now proposed to expend a portion of that money (the J>50,000) in making the road from Nelson to 'Greymouth . "excluding Westport altogether." Mr Fisher, refer i ing to the recent meeting at Grivymnnth, betrayed considerable ignorance of facs, as he said that " the people "f Greymonth were moving Heaven and Earth to obtain what they cnll^d a 'coach ; road ' between Gfeymouth and Rerfcon, | thiniuh th« j y bad aWe >dy a rimy road which ou^ht to be avaiUM* a* a coaclt rortd, whereas VV^stport had n«» r<<ad at "11." W« filionld remind this stenJlemau thiit the road fr'»m Gr^ymonth to R^ef ton Iris 1 et?n nnd is used when possible as a couch road, but that latt-rlya portion of that road has been useless for either drays or coaches, and it was to secure the repair or reconstruction of this portion only that the Greymouth and Inangahiia residents took action. After a good deal of perhap.» not unjustifiable praise of the areneral superiority of the port of the Biiller, Mr Fisher moved the .following resolution: — "That Weafcpwfc being tba naturaVpnrh for receiving and delivering supplies to the Reef ton, Lyell, Larry's, and Boatman's quartz-mininn districts, the completion of the main road up the Ruller to those centres of population should be the immediate and first care of the Government." Which was, of course, carried unanimously.' He was followed by Mr Bailie, upon whose motion another resolution was carried to the following effect : : — "That a proportion of the sum voted by the General Assembly for public works in the Province of Nelson sufficient to complete the dray road from the end of the Nine Mile to Grange's Point (a distance of about 15 miles), should be expended in thab direction during this summer so that the means of communication between. Weatport and the mining centres of Nelson Province may be completed before next winter." Mr J. Munro stated that "the present meeting had ben forced upon the people of Westport becanso nf the action adopted at a public meq.ii.^ held at the Grey about the 16th inst: Mr Harrison and other persons who were present at that meeting proposed and carried resolutions to the effect that a large proportion of the Jk'6o,ooo granted by the General Government should be expended between Greymouth and Beefton. They were not content with this, but no doubt had brought influences to bear ' upon the Provincial Executive to divert expenditure from the Buller district, while the people here were in the dark as to their movements. While Greymouth and Reef ton were working together with a common object it was time, the people of Westport made their voices heard." To this we may be allowed to reply that no effort has been made here or at Reefton to secure " a large proportion of the ifiso,ooo" for expenditure on the road between Reefton and Greymonth. The completion of the road between Sqiißretown and Greymonth would not probably cost j more than .£12,000 to £14,000, and it is rather singular that if, as the people of Westport say, their port,, is tbe "natural port of. supply for Reefton, the (inhabitants of the latter nlnce are working with th»se of Greyinomh ".for a GO(Uinoh' object." Mr Mimro «'e«fr *<m to «sk "Why should the money be dm-rred from its legitimate objeits, anri expanded for the benefit if Greynionth, wliil« tbe whoje of. the inland districts . con'd nht-iirt their supi-lies fro'ni bete at a much cheaper. rate. The c< nvenience of rise (Ct.Tisniiier would be be.-t served by miking Wes-tDort. the central | ott, and n-tjthe Grey." - Ho then moved :— ♦'That this portion of the Province, form ing the most valuable part of ih- sreuritv ]iive'n"t'> the General G'lvernment for their advince fur road 'making ."on the Nelson South-west Gold-fields, is entitled to have a larye p*rt of th^s ad* anc« spent within it.•^nd thia inee .ing trusts that the hasty, and sblrish action lately taken by the Greymouth^. people wi.l not have the effect of diverting any ■ ywr<wn of tk<t faad ti> tb» jmrposfts pro« posed by them." ,-'■.. This was carried, and it was further decided that copies of the resolution should be forwarded to the Provincial Government and the Minister of Public Works. Other speeches of a Bimilar character were delivered, and the meeting terminated. "'"'' ■■■'■■ We have a few words to say to our Wektport neighbors. First of all, we entirely disclaim on the part of the people of thia place- any feeling of ungenerous rivalry, such as that ascribed.to us. We 'do j not grudge any fair expenditure of money in the Westport district, and are willing to admit that its inhabitants have good solid grounds for dissatisfaction at thoj want of communication with the inland. But we would point out that it is no use indulging in high-flown language about Westport being the "natural" depot of the Reefton district, whilst the fact remains that nearly, the whole, if not the whole of the Inangahua trade is done with Greymouth^ and that so long as 1 this is the case, it is essentially necessary that the road between the two places should be placed in an effective^ sjbate, and-that traffic should be maintained. The ■" natural " : channels of commerce are riot always regulated either ;by questions of distance, or of whether this .or. that port is the better of two. They iaro the result of ! business oohheotibns of com-.

mercial enterprise, and some very special advantages must be shown before trade can be diverted from the course it has adopted. We in Greymouth have an instance of this close to our own Idoors.i •There is a road from Greymouth to Greenstone, which place is perhaps nearer Greymouth than to Hokitika, yet the last town enjoys the whole of the Greenstone business, simply because Hokitika was the first to establish trade relations with that district. And so it will be with regard to Reefton. If Westport were connected by a dray road with that place to-morrow the bulk of the business would sfcitt be transacted -with <3rey mouth because it haa ( already got it, and is a larger and cheaper market. We would not desire, however, that Westport should be shut out from competing with us, for fair competition is good for everybody, traders and consumers alike. But as matters stand Reefton is dependant on : Greymouth for its supplies, and it should be one of the first duties of the Government to provide that there should' be permanent communication between the two places. . If the insane jealousy exhibited by the people and press of Weatport is put aside, the two districts have really a common ground of complaint. It was always 'tindefstijod by the General Government that the most important work in the " Nelson Province was to' "■connect Reeffon with; both Westport and Grey inou l-li, and that. pri.ijfrUihm'e' would have boe'ri completed Iliad the sum .available been sufficient. ! But it was not, and tho Provincial fso I vernnient hhould have given effect t-> ib-s arrangement, instead oi f »>iinij away Uie ,£50.000 in works which a'e. neithm urgently necessary nor likely to bd of much utility when completed. All we want, on this side the Wfitershfd is the completion of that portion 'of the main road between Sqnaretown and the Jiinc'Vitvn ; Wvwtpor* i-s wvl>i<«m« lo the Kt'-a»ce We conclude by protesting against. th« narrow-minded je;il<ni-'y which sfenis to have bi'en entertained, by « he- Weatport meeting; it is tin justifiable, and as childish as it is mischievous.