The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 289, 4 December 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1872.

To those whose interests lie in the province of Nelson the meeting of Monday night must have proved highly satisfactory. On that occasion every shade of political opinion was represented, and yet never was nieetiug more unanimous. It was fully acknowledged that unless some effort is made to save the province from ruin it must very soon fade away and be no more known, indeed, this is a fact that is only too patent to every one, and it was further decided without a dissentient voice that that "something," whatever it might be, should be undertaken, not languidly, not with the half-heartedness tbat is only the prelude to failure, but with that energy, earnestness, and determination which seldom fail to command success. We ask our readers to look over the names of the forty-four individuals who attended the meeting, and to ask themselves whether they are of that stamp of men who are likely to be thwarted by slight obstacles or temporary difficulties. Nearly every one of those who responded to the invitation has the interest of the province at heart, nearly every one sees — and that is a still more powerful incentive to action — that upon his individual exertions depend, to a certain extent, his future weal or woe. Under these circumstances we utterly refuse to admit the possibility of defeat. It may he eaid that no definite plan was decided upon, no precise course of action laid out, but it was never believed or intended that such should be the case. The object of the conveners of the meeting was to create discussion on. the existing state of affairs, and to obtain an expression of the variety of opinions, that must of necessity be entertained among such a number of persons, as to the best method of extricating ourselves from the difficulties by which we are surrounded. That object was fully attained. Numerous ideas were broached, some of them apparently practical, others slightly tinged with the theoretical, but all bearing on the face of them the evidence of having been carefully thought over and well digested by those who proposed them. The different schemes proposed practically resolved themselves into three, and these we will name in the order of preference accorded to them in our own minds. (1). That a private company should be formed for the purpose of extending the railway from Foxhill to Eeefton, or the West Coast, the nucleus of which should he established in Nelson. (2.) That Mr. Brogden be invited to accept the proposals originally made to him for constructing the line. (3.) That the General Assembly be asked to guarantee a Provincial loan for the purpose. Each one of these proposals deserves, and will no doubt receive the gravest consideration at the hands of the Committee, but at the present moment, and, we admit, without having fully gone into the pros and cons, we are disposed to favor the first mentioned, principally for the reason that, if it can be proved to be practicable, a great saving of time will be effected, and, in our condition, it will, we think, be universally allowed that time is not only money, but that it means life or death to our political existence as a province. Our space does not admit of our going into ihe matter in its fullest details, but we will as briefly as possible give our reasons for hoping that an endeavor to form a Company would be attended with success, and here we would again repeat that we are not absolutely wedded to the plan, but are quite open to conviction if our ideas can be shown to he fallacious. We not only allow that our remarks are open to the fullest criticism, but we earnestly invite it, and shall not feel at all disheartened if we are proved to be in the wrong, and if others will come forward in the same spirit and express their, views, we feel convinced that the discussion that will follow will be attended with satisfactory results. None of ub are infallible, but each one may famish some new idea, and if all these be welded together they may form a sword of good, true, irresistible steel that shall sever the Gordian knot of our difficulties. Our text then is— -a private Company — and we are supiposing that, to commence with, the litre is only ..to be carried to ,. vßeefton; , We in Nelson, those,: at- least, - ,\whb; -can afford to lay /but money, 'either din large or small sums, in such an iriyestVmeht/wouid; be^perfectly content to do so, ;; even'/iC-w^ • iho w me tbat lam to obtain the ordinary : v aiisWer bini^; lii the first place the ?-Pro-

vincial Government are empowered to make over to the company aa the work progresses, so much land per mile, a great deal of which will, no doubt, be valueless, but, on the other hand, a large portion of it is known to be rich in mineral wealth, and many thousands of acres available for agricultural purposes. In addition to this, there is the security on tlie works themselves, and the profit derivable from the traffic. With regard to "what the latter will produce let any one peruse the shipping columns in the newspapers, and consider how much of the goods thus transported find their way eventually to the districts of tbe Lyell and Inangahua, and let them further consider the traffic that would spring up in the intermediate districts,' nnd then decide whether or not the carriage of goods and passengers is likely to pay. If, upon due calculations being made, a verdict be entered against the formation of a private company, we would next be disposed to make overtures to Mr Brogden, and in the event of these failing, we should he driven as a last resource to appeal to the Assembly. As a last resource. We Bay it advisedly, for we have grave doubts as to the willingness of that body to make tbe slightest concession to Nelson. It was all very well for Mr Collins and Mr Luckie, influenced, perhaps, by the unanimity that prevailed on Monday night, and carried away by the ardour of those who argued, and, as we think, argued justly, tbat Netson, who is paying her share towards ensuring the prosperity of the other provinces, might fairly claim the sanction of Parliament to raising a Provincial loan, to say that Buch a privilege would be granted us, but to what extent are we justified in accepting their opinions as reliable ? Has the slightest — we will- not say favor — but justice ever beeu accorded to this poor, despised province. While immigrants have been poured into other parts of the colony and employment been provided for them on public works, has anything been done for Nelson since the great scheme emanated irom the Vogelian brain ? Not only echo, but stern, painful reality responds " Anything ? Anything ? " until as the query gathers sound in this unpeopled valley, that unworked hill abounding in auriferous reefs, the first two syllables of the word resolve themselves into one, and there floats back on our ears the disheartening, discouraging affirmative or negative — call it what you will — " Nothing ! Nothing!" For- this reason we are not disposed to trust much to the General Assembly or Government, still we and the people generally, will be perfectly satisfied to leave the whole matter to tbe Committee and to accept their decision as to the best way of setting to work.

Mr. Carrtjthees, the Engineer-in-Chief, was a passenger by the Taranaki, which arrived last night, and will remain in Nelson some little time for the purpose of examining the proposed route of the Nelson and. Foxhill line. Italian Opera. — Owing to the Welington being detained at Onehunga for the English mail, the Opera Company cannot possibly arrive in time to perform tomorrow evening. The advertisement has therefore been altered to Friday evening, when there is every probability of their being here. The tickets, we Understand, are being disposed of rapidly. A Nuisance. — That insufferable bore, Mr. James Grove, who is never happy unless he has a grievance, either fancied or real, has again thought fit to pester us with one of his acrid effusions. To the complaints contained in it we replied some time ago, and thought that we bad at the same time sufficiently plainly indicated our dislike to inflicting his letters upon the public. Wo publish his last to-day, and for the future, if Mr. J. Gr. wishes to appear in print he must induce one of the other newspapers to allow him to adorn itscolumns. Knowing, as we do, our correspondent's extreme sensitiveness on this point we have endeavored to avoid speaking too plainly, but trust that he will accept the gentle hint we now offer him, and £0 save us the pain of having to commit his communications to the waste-paper basket. «£*-The yield from the Little Wonder is still of extraordinary richness. The next crushing may very possibly yield nearer twenty ounces to the ton than nine, the last result. A lew nights since nearly five pounds weight of gold was sent up in one truck load of stone. The leader still keeps about eighteen -inches wide. The. next cake of amalgam will be sent down about Christina's time.— Westport Times, Nov; ' 26/ ;: -■',':" '■■\Zz.z Xy : '-'..' '. \'■