A FIELD FOR CHRISTCHURCH ENTERPRISE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 62, 30 March 1880, Page 2

A FIELD FOR CHRISTCHURCH ENTERPRISE.

(By tho Travellins Correspondent of tlio Lyttelton Time-*.) Had tie commercial depression to which Canterbury has, in common with the other purrs of the Colony been nubject, shown nn signs of passing away, I question whether I should have ventured to lay boforc your leulcis (he following information relative to a highly progress've portion of tho North Island, with which I think your merchant* might open up an immediately lucrative trade. But with those signs of returning prosperity which those who peruse the commercial columns of the Lyttelton Times cannot fail to observe, it will certainly not be out of place to jot down a few da-fa relative to one of the mist thriving district 1 * in this inland, with which Christchnrch has already direct steam communication, thai might be readily extended to a very marked degree. Some • week* ago the chances of travel brought me to the pretty little townsship of Foxton, and good fortune threw me in the way of an ol I friend, now on* of Foxton's most enterprising citizens. Conversation drifted into the — to ray friend — all-absorbing question of tho resources and prospects of the district, and from that into the collateral one of its commercial relationship to colonial centres of trade. Greatly from' its peculiar geographical configuration, and doubtless, also, to a considerable degree from the results of Provincialism, there is perhaps no British colony in which one community know* so little of another, situated not so many hundreds of miles apart, as in New Zenland. To fully appreciate this, one must travel both coasts of both islands, from the Bluff to the Manukau. Take, for instance, Dunedin, .Nelson, and Auckland. — who that hss sojourned in these towns but must have been shuck with tlioir social, commercial, .md political dif ferenres ? While, whon we reach the third and fourth-dags townships, suoh, for instance, aa Invercargill, New Plymouth, Napier and Hokitika, the apparent absence of anything liko community of interest is marvellous, when one bears in mind that they are lf.it parts of a whole. These differences are, after all, however, more appiirent than real ; and it is in the hope that I mny be able to excite a feeling of mutual interest between the business men of Christchuroh and Foxton that I jot down these hastily compiled, but I urn assured, perfectly reliable memoranda. J?n passant I may say that I huvc purposely excepted Cliri.-tchnrch and Wellington from the preceding brief comparison, because the former as the centre «f legitimate commercial enterprise in ihe South Lslurd, and the latter as the Seat of Government occupy exceptional positions. That Christchurch should take advantage of that enviably excertional position to extend her borders is only to believe that ber merchants, her shipowners, and her traders, are as enterprising and away from homo as they are at their own immediate headquarters. And, I take it I would not be participating in that spirit of enterprise which induced her leading journal to send mo to this part of the island — albeit on a very different, mission— did I not avail myself of every opportunity to note down what it may possibly be of benefit that the people of Christchurch should know. Foxton is a senport, situated about five miles from the mouth of the Manawatu river. The bar carries from 10ft to 12ft of water at ebb tide, and there is already a fairly convenient wharf toward the extension of which, and the erection of sheds*, Parliament during the lute aession voted £1.3,000. Foxton is also tho terminus of the Wan gun vi line of railway — 95 miles in length — the Northern terminus being at Kai-Iwi, some ten miles or so north of 1 Wanganui. It may here be mentioned that the December receipts on this line amounted to the sum of £3034, of which nearly 23 per cent, was profit. The population of the County is 7000, and it is increasing in a greater ratio than in any other part of tha Colony. Its principal centres of population are — Feilding (Manchester Settlement Block), Paltnerston, Foxton and Halcombe, all of which are commercially sound and prosperous. A branch line of railway— l 2 miles in lengthis about to bo laid between Carnarvon Jnnc- \ tion and Sunson, which will connect the rich agricultural district of which Sanson is the centre with the port of Foxton. The timber resouroes of the district are very great, and there are already twenty mills at work. Amongst the principal kinds of timber sawn are totara, riniu, matai, white ' pine, Sea, As indicative of the rupidly in~ creasing traffic on this line it should be mentioned that the Government is ut piesent making lot) additional trucks for use, principally in the timber trade. Foxton is , the business centre and entrepot of this rich district ; besides which there is a largo tract of unopened country lying to the south of Foxton between it and Paikakariki, towards Wellington. Negotiations relative to 7-5,000 acres of this are completed, and it will be thrown open for settlement as soon as the surveys shall have been mudc. Government also holds liens upon 129,000 acres more. This tract of richly-timbered country will be opened up by the projected line to connect Foxton and Wellington, and by which vast quantities of valuable timber must be brought for shipment to Foxton. Perhaps one "of the safest indicatio a of tho rapid advancement i of Foxtoti and thesurrounding district 'sthat during 1879 the tonnage of vessels arriving increased by about 4000 tons over those of 1878 ; and that' between 1874 and 1878 the population doubled. The value of the land in the principal street of Foxton is from £S to £lo per foot, at which price numerous transactions have taken place. Socially, the township seems a very pleasant place. * The streets aro wide and clean* there are several largo and well-kept hotels, two Banks, and a more than ordinarily well-conducted newspaper, to wit, the Manawatc Herald. In a word, Foxton possesses in a marked degree all the elements of commercial and social progress. The population is somewhere between 800 and 1000. These details might be somewhat dry were there not a moral *o the talo. That moral, I take it, i« that the merchant* of Christchurch have a splendid opuortuu ity to i their hands to open up the trade of the ! country drained by the Manawntu. Owing I to circumstances the reason for the existence j of which it is foreign to the purpose of this j auticle to enquire into, there is not v singlo ' wholesale house in thedistrict, nor even a branoli of a metropolitan house.. The trade* are wholly dependent upon Wellington, with the obvious result that the market is illsupplied and prices rule unnecessarily high. Surely it wouid Pay some Christchurch importers to establish a branch house at Foxton. Canterbury wants timber, the Manawatu district wants general merchandise at fair and reasonable prioes. The steamer* Hui and June Douglas already make periodical trips between Lyttelton and Foxton via Wellington ; and if the resources aud requirements of the latter are as represented to me on the occasion of my recent visit. I feel confident that the acquisition of a rapid fortune awaits the enterprising merchant who will seize the golden opportunity.