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Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 416, 29 October 1856, Page 4

To the Editor of the " Lyttetiori Times."

Sir—The Government have introduced two bills for the.consideration cf the Council—one proposing a ban of £25,000 for the purposes of emigration,-and carrying on the public works necessary to the advancement of the settlement; the other to sell twenty-five thousand acres at £1 per acre^he proceeds to be applied exclusively to the making of a horse tramway between Lyttelton and Ghnstchurch. Both these propositions bein«put- forward at the same time an opinion is prevalent that the Government of this petty province have not yet thrown away their stilts We want roads, and they propose to saddle the colony with the expense of a tramway ; while to cany on the roads that are necessary,' ive are to incur the risk and bear the expense of a large loan And whom will the tramway benefit i» Is it not a scheme in anticipation both ot our resources and of-the wants of the district through which it is proposed to trade ? Calculate then the amount of goods to be conveyed, and it will be found to be infinitesimal m comparison with the means proposed to be pnmded. It will be a liberal calculation if the revenue from the transit of goods is estimated to cover the expenses of working the lines. Iheeharge for repairs, then, will bear heavily on the general income of the provinc , while 7™, district will, reap any advantage. The effect oi this will be twofold. Consuming the revenue which should keep in repair the link of road necessary to feed the tramway, it will prevent goods reaching this mode of conveyance The common sense of the Council has already rejected this scheme, and I hope those who previously condemned it will be firm in their opposition. If this proposition is rejected we may increase our means of communication without contracting a loan. Say that we could raise the £25,000 by the sale of twenty-five thousand acre^at £1 per acre, might not this sum be expended m carrying out the estimates recently laid the Council, while monies arising from the ordinary sale of land mi'At be employed m the further improvement oi^ese r?f ? \r metf IH?S as &•* « means would allow J Nor do I see any reason to limit the sale of land at this reduced price to twenty-five thousand acres. Certain portions of every dis? trict throughout the province might be advantageously laid out, say in block! of no t l ess than five hundred or a thousand acres, and sold readily at this reduced price. Money won d thus be raised which might be employed in completmganetworkofmetalledroad tl ro^hout the province to the advantage of every settlr, Wes opening out additional opportunities to the agriculturist. ,-Such a road to the coal fields would-be, of immense advantage to the HTI afc thls + ; noment- With metalled roads two or three small steam-boats running to the different depots for goods alon- the coast, and up the rivers Heuthcote and Wanna? ka^nn would do all our carrying trade for ye™. W«l i f? T l coinmu »^tion was fairly JhSL* • Vm?' a b«:i^'nclifrerentlycon- £ ct? I"**^ «P-at random. ATxmus iiom the government, say of £500 a year for nkc-JT' f WOUId T doUbt imluci) capital ts Jo place these vessels on our waters. If the necessary sums were raised for the pm-noscof protiic Joan, or with the loss of twenfv-five thousand acres of land to the proW No objection to the introduction of lam owing to

the loss of tho Alum would be entertained by any reasonable or disinterested settler; tbe faults in lier management were patent at the time, and could not be overlooked by a company. Steam communication, ordinarily worked, would benefit all the different industries of the provinces, wherever carried on. For the northern " district, (the " emigration route," as it is called) \ from Papanui to Harewood Forest, the natural I outlet is the Waimakariri, and this river is navi- \ gable for steam-boats beyond the town of i Kaiapoi; then, for the other portion of this | district you may have shipping places at the 1 Saltwater Creek, and at Motunau. Others ' besides Timaru will no doubt be discovered for the south as necessity demands. The interests of the capital and its neighbourhood, and of the port town, would be equally promoted; nor would Sumner, the land of ever blooming geraniums, be overlooked. The resources of Akaroa and the peninsula can best be developed by steam communication with other portions of -the province. It appears to me, sir, that by • some such plan as this, we may improve our !, means of communication without contracting i any additional debt, without further burdening '1 ourselves or our descendants, or without risking f the forcing of > the province into compulsory ,£ repudiation. ; Fearing that this lengthy letter may rather \ convict me of rashness than expose me to the -charge of being a" moral coward," '•, I remain, Sir, * Your's respectfully, A SUBSCEIBEK.