The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 195, 14 August 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1873.

It must have been highly gratifying to those who have labored so zealously and so long to secure railway communication between v tho town of Nelson and ihe western districts to find how earnestly and heartily they were Bupporled by ihe pf.-iplrf nt the meeting on Tuseday niyht P-iiienily an.l unweariedly the great crowd ihnt had assembled in the Hill listened to the account given by Mei-sr& Sc laud era and Pitt of the interviews heiweeii ». 1 1 h nn mhers of lh« Cabinet and i|ih deputation, and having heard it, they unanimously nn<i enthusiastically av-rred that unless the Government acted up to i hat. which was scarcely less than a piomise to ihe Nelson representatives i ht-y would be undeserving of the support or coi fi lenco of the Nelson constituencies. There waa no vacillation,

no uncertain sound about the verdict; they pronounced. They listened attentively to those who had conducted our rase so well in Wellington, and on tbe o'her hand t v iey beard all that had to be Biiid by Mr Luckie in excuse for Mr Vogel, aud then with one voice they endorsed the action of the Inland Communication Committee, approved of what had been done by tho deputation, and expressed thoir dissatisfaction with the Government for the apparent desire now displayed to bark outof their promise, by adopt iutr the resolution proposed for their acceptance. To be strong we must be unanimous, and if we may accept the converse of the proposition, nnd believe that to be unanimous is to be stroncr, then we may feel assured we shall succeed in obtaining the object we have in view, for if ever unanimity waa displayed on any subject, it was so on Tuesday night, wheu the loud and prolonged cheering that greeted the adoption of the resolution plainly showed that it was no apathetic, indifT-reut assent that was accorded to it, but that tho hands that were held up were honest indications that the hearts ot those who owned them were in the matter. Mr Luckie said that he believed Mt Yo(.»el wfiß perfectly sincere in his desire to see this line constructed. Mr Pitt's reply was pithy and lo the point. I- he realiy is sincere, as I too am bound to thii k he ie after the. promises he gave aud the encouragement he held out. to the deputa'ion, let him show it. by proposing 10 the House to place this railway on the schedule. We are not quite c-ure whether it was at the public meeting or nt that of ihe Committee that Mr Luckie made use of tho argument that in the face of Mr Calcutt's report it mi»ht endanger tbe success of the scheme to propose it to the House. Mr Calcutt's report appears to us to be something like one of those turnip lanterns which mischievously-disposed schoolboys delight in placing io some conspicuous position with tl e view of frightening timorous school piris. At a distnnce it is an Ujjjy looking object, calculatei to produce hysteria in any nervously constituted individual who is predisposed to be alarmed at any unaccustomed sight, but whea examined it iB louud to contain nothiug that should occasion fright. We wish it to be distinctly understood that, we havo no desire to impugn either Mr Calcutt's honesty or his ability. On the contrary we look upon his report as a thoroughly aide ! one, and bearing internal evid-nee of beiutr the production of a fair and impartial ju'lge, who has placed upon paper his ideas of what, he saw iu a hurried ride through the country. But, we have a right to ask, what, is his opinion worth wh^n it is framed upon to slii-ht n basis ? Was Mr Luckie chaffing* his hearers when he told them that Mr Voiie! was shaken in hia opinion as io the importance of the Foxhill and Brunnerlon line by a perusal of this document ? Ate we seriously aeked to believe that the construction or rejection of what is admitted to be a portion of the main trunk line of the Middle Island is to be dependent upon the impressions left upon the mind of a traveller nftcr a wet, dismal, uncomfortable ride through a country travetsed at present only by roads or tracks of the roughest description ? Ift the result of Mr Wrigj-'s experience, after five months spent in surveying and exploring tho country to be counterbalanced by a report framed after an ordinary journey along the track from Nelson lo Greymouth ? Mr Calcutt was certaiuly employed as the GoverDm-* , nfc assessor, but we are scarcely disposed to allow that such an appointment invested him with any peculiar powers of perception, or that it raised him above the level of any other ordinarily observant man, and we should very much like to know whether any individual is to be found in our midst, who would undertake, with the limited knowledge to be obtained by a fourteen days' ride through rain, swollen rivers and mud tracks, to report upon the capabilities of the country ho had traversed. Had Mr Calcutt climbed such of the hills as commanded a full view of the country, he might even then have spoken with some slight degree of authority upon its general features — but he did not. Had he ascended all the various valleys, and carefully examined the soil and timber, he might have pronounced upon their probable value — hut he did not. Hud he, like Mr | Wrige, spent some months in the district, made himself acquainted wiih its resources, and been able from personal inspection to give an opinion upon its wortb, we should have read his report with much interest and attached considerable importance to it- — but. he d'd uot. And yet we are told, with that show of gravity that Mr Luckie kuows so well how to assume when occasion requires it, that Mr Vogel was greatly influenced by thia report. Bah ! Mr Vogel would never have risen to the position of Premier of New Zealand had he been half as verdant »3 Mr Luckie would have us believe.