NEW SOUTH WALES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 655, 16 February 1859, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

The ' Sydney Morning Herald' of the 17th ult. has the following observations, which will not be without: their interest in this colony. ENGLISH CONTRACTORS ?OH COLONIAL WORKB. The announcement that Sir Morton Peto lias agreed to undertake the construction of the thrfee linos of railway already laid out in this colony, will be received with gratification by all those whose interests lead them to wish for a speedy completion of these tHree trunk Unes of transit. ; There is a sufficient supply of labour in the colony to enable the works to be prosecuted with the requi'r site vigor, while the appliances and experience the i gft'at: contractor can bring to bear upon the urider-

taking will furnish every facility for opening the line within a comparatively short period. It is quite refreshing t«> eon template th« prospect of being able to get as far as Picton. Penrith, and Singleton, without being half jolted to death, and to all settlers present or prospective, on or near the. line of route, tho chance of soon being able to send produce to town at all seasons of the year, must bo very encouraging. .

The introduction of a large English contractor to construct our railways is of course somewhat of arc experiment, but an experiment which there was good reason for making. We shall be able to contrast the effects of this policy with that adopted in the neighbouring colony. and draw some definite deductions as. to. the wisest course of procedure for the future. The contracts in Victoria are getting on more prosperously than at first starting seemed probable. Labour Ims been cheaper and more abundant than was calculated on. and the accruing profits have, therefore, partly remedied the want of initial capital, and the prospect of the job turning out after all a good speculation, softens the hearts of bank managers and capitalists, and secures a gracious consideration for any application that may be made for pecuniary assistance. Twenty-two miles of the northern railway to Mount Alexander and the Murray have been completed, it is said satisfactorily, and the contractors, who must have had considerable difficulties to contend with in organising their establishment, and who have had to contend with a good deal of odium from various quarters, are entitled to credit for having suceeded so far. They have fairly fulfilled the terms, of .their contract as yet, and done nothing to justify the Government in censuring or interfering. The line, to Sunbury, however, has not fairly tested their mettle, having been laid out over, the level Keilor Plains. It was fortunate for them that the first section of the line was all simple straightforward business, and comprised no difficult works. But to continue the line for a further distance of twenty miles will try the resources of the contractors and the patience of the public. And it is in dealing with heavy engineering difficulties that the experience of a European contractor, who has triumphed over similar obstacles already, would prove most conspicuously valuable. However, the present contractors may be able to purchase assistance which will carry them through their difficulties. Complaints are made against them by the working classes that they do not employ half the men that are ready to offer their labour, and that the works therefore, progress much more slightly than they might do if the contractors were willing or able to take on the whole surplus labour of the colony. But the works have been carried on as fast as the Government requires, and the limitation of the hands employed may be the result more of the inability to establish a rate of wages satisfactory to all parties, than of any want of resources to push the undertaking forward at a greater speed.

The coming of Sir Morton Peto to the colony will something more than complete with expedition, and in first-rate style- the lines already surveyed and sanctioned. It would not have been worth his while to go all the'way to the antipodes merely for so small a speculation as foity miles of railway. It is with an . eye to evident future railway extension that he sends his staff and plant out so great a distance. While engaged in carrying out the specific works for which alone lie has at present contracted, his agents will have ample time to examine into the character of the proposed extensions of the great great trunk lines to the northward, the westward, and the southward. And if on the basis of their representations, he should be disposed to think favourably of such projects, and of the capacity of the colony, to undertake them, it is exceedingly probable that offers may be made to go to work on a very extensive scale. And there may be additional inducement to comply with such proposals by corresponding facilities ofiered by financiers. -For while the money market remains in its present condition, there,can be no doubt about the readiness ;of capitalists to-take up any loan of reasonable amount secured pn the revenues of the whole colony. It may be that temptations will be offered to embark in undertakings beyorid the'immediate requirements and capabilities of the colony. So far f.-om being unabfe to attract attention and obtain assistance, it is just possible that the opposite difficulty may arise, and that those who are m6st sincerely desirous of forwarding railway enterprise may be found advocating caution at a time when everything seems singularly propitous for a career of'rapid advancement. It is quite practicable to go on too fast as well as to go on too slow; We have the example of Canada before tis to show what embarrassments may follow the reaction after a great public expenditure, when that expenditure is not intrinsically reproductive, though the works executed may have been well designed, well executed, and of the greatest importance to the settlement, of the country Every fresh million sterling added to the debt of this colony at the customary rate of five per cent, involves an annual expenditure of fifty thousand pounds a year to pay the interest—to say nothiug of laying by a sinking fund to extinguish the principal. Should the railway itself yield an income capable of meeting this charge, its.construction will be an unmixed benefit. But should this not be the case, then there must be a drain on the general revenue ; and as there is no surplus at present, the demand can only be met by increased taxation, or by reducing expenditure in miscellaneous useful public works. Co-ordinately with the construction of railways, it is reasonable to look for an increase of population—for an increased occupation of the soil by practical agriculturists, and for a brisker development of our mineral resources. And such additional prosperity will necessarily exhibit itself in the shape of an improved revenue. If the two things proved pari passu—'if the increase of annual revenue equals the charge on the money sunk in public improvements, there will be no burden felt; but if thelatter outruns the former, then the pressure on industry, which fresh taxation involves, will be a counterbalance to the benefits conferred by the railways.

Murder at tiie Indigo.—About nine o'clock on Saturday evening, a most cold-blooded murder was committted on the mainroad from Beechworth to Indigo, and only a few yards from the diggings. The deceased—a German, named Josepli Hartwig— was in the employ of Dr. Gemmell. oi Woorajay.and was going homewards with his bullock dray, after disposing of a load of vegetables. J The amount he had realised was supposed to be about ±"16, and the obtaining of this sum is supposed to have been the only incentive to the murder. At the inquest, Hugh Watt and John Roberts deposed that about, a hundred yards from their tent they heard a man cry out " Don't ! Don't !. Don't !" On looking towards the quarter from whence the sound proceeded they saw the flash of a gun or pistol, and heard a noise like that of a man falling, accompanied by moans. Several parties proceeded to the spot, and found deceased lying on his back upon a bullock dray, with a gunshot wound in his throat. The man was then dead. : The pockets had been cut out and the waistband torn open. On Monday morning two men, named James Markly and Eobert Porter were arrested near Albury on suspicion of the murder, by the Wodonga constables. Their appearance answers the description of two men who were known to have left Indigo on Saturday night.— Border Past.