The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 172, 3 August 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1874.

The news received from Wellington of the intentions of the General Government with regard to what we have hitherto, erroneously as it now appears, called the Nelson and West Coast railway is such as to give rise to grave alarm in the breasts of all who are in any way interested in tbe welfare of the Nelson province. We have for some time been led to believe that the Government intended to proceed with this line, and we are informed that at the recent interview between a deputation of the Nelson members and the Premier, the latter informed tbem that the Government considered themselves pledged to its construction. So far so good, but tbe question now arises— and a very important question it is — what line is it that the Government propose to carry out ? And the reply to it will show that up to ihe present time we have been miserably befooled. The people of Nelson have naturally been desirous of availing themselves of the pnblie works scheme with a view to opening np the province, and to establishing communication by railroad between the interior and the principal port, namely, that in Blind Bay, and Mr Yogel has led them to suppose that he was quite of their opinion. But now a little additional light has been thrown upon the subject, the scales have fallen from our eyes, aud we begin to see how we have been played witb, and what false pretences have been made use of to procure our support to the existing Government. What we wanted, as everybody knows was the extension of the Foxhill line through the Motueka, Buller and Grey Valleys to that point where it should connect with the Greymouth and Brnnnerton railway. Now let ns see what it is proposed to give us. It is actually intended, as it appears, to extend the Foxhill line to tbe Top House, thence through the Wairau Gorge into the Waiau, where it will tap tbo railroad that ia to be constructed between Christchurch and the West Coast, and by this route to establish communication between Nelson and Greymqptb. Another line is to be run

from the Top House down the Wairau Valley to Blenheim. The result will be tbat Lyttelton will b.come the emporium of the West Coa.t trade, and Picton tbe northern terrainu3 of the Middle Island railwny. There will certainly be a branch line connecting with Nelson, but the Buller Valley and the rich auriferous districts of the Inangahua and Lyell will be left out in the cold. Does Mr Vojjel suppose for one moment that what Nelson has for ihe last two years been agitating for is a line of railway sweeping round its outskirts and leaving the interior of the province in the came deplorable state of isolation in which it now is ? Does he believe tbat, with the knowledge we now possess of the w.altb that lies hidden in the valleys and hills of the Buller and its tributaries, we are going to be satisfied with being connected with Blenheim and Christchurch, and by a roundabout way with our western districts, while the resources of our own territory are permitted to remain undeveloped ? His proposition virtually amounta to this— lhat Nelson ehall contribute to the aggrandisement of Canterbury, while her present state of impecuniosity is to be carefully preserved by the refusal of tbe Colonial Government to render the assistance she requires to enable her to turn to account the resources of wbich she is undoubtedly possessed. What is proposed is that she shall smilingly accept as her share of the public works of the colony, a line that is to carefuily avoid conferring upon her any benefit whatever. We have not the slightest objection to Picton being connected witb the main trunk line through the island, for, although that port ia nearer than our own to Wellington, ours occupies the more favorable position as regards Auckland, Taranaki, nnd the Australian Colonies; we do not mind in the least Canterbury being connected with Greymouth and Hokitika, so loDg as the junction of the Canterbury and West Coast, and Nelson and West Coast lines shall be in some spot equally favorable to both, such as the Ahaura, but to be asked to be content witb a Hue running up tbe barren Wairau Gorge, and through the one or two cheep runs io the Tr.rodale , and Waiau districts, while our own / country is utterly neglected, is rather moro tban we can be expected to submit to patiently. Scarcely six months have elapsed 1 since the people of Nelson feasted and flattered Mr Yogel in the Provincial Hali. They listened to him with delight as he reviled the pioneers of the settlement, tbey applauded him to the echo as he broadly insinuated tbat tbey themselves were but a pack of fools. Their excuse probably was tbat tbey tamely submitted to his taunts from motives of self-interest — they thought they were going to get something out of him. And so they are. But, now that tbey know what that something is, will they still bow the knee before him? If the men of Nelson have one spark of spirit left in them they will, to-morrow night, crowd that same Hall which witnessed their adulation of tbe Premier on the night of the 10th of February last, and they will there express an honest straightforward opinion of the manner in which he proposes to treat them. They will pour in from the town, they will attend in large numbers from the country, and even though it should be of no avail, they will place on record their earnest protest against the intolerable injustice proposed to be perpetrated upon the town and province of Nelsoa.