THE HOPE ROAD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 59, 10 March 1875, Page 2

THE HOPE ROAD.

To the Editoh of the ' Evening Mail.' Sin— As we, the inhabitants of the Upper Motueka and the surrounding districts, c-m---not possibly understand the manner in which the Government have so suddenly put a stop to all operations for the completion of the Hope road, we wish to make some inquiry. In the first place, there has been a great deal of money and valuable labor spent, we may say to little or no purpose if the road does not go on so as to enable ua in a short time to get direct communication with the Buller district, to which at present we look forward as th't part of the province which is eventually to be our best nnd perhaps our only market. Secondly, the wiiter of thi9 can honestly assert from his own observation that tie settlers of this laree di-trict have been making rapid strides in the way of improvements, in fact, more land has been taken up, new buildings s'arted, forest land cleared, new fencing put up, and quick hedges planted than in any other part of the province In short, (hey have gone to the full extent of their means, and all with the view of the road being carried through, when all of a sudden the news comes that the work has been stopped. In such a case, what can wo do wi'.h the limited means our Eoad B"ard have at their disp>?al, and when to c -licet them a great p rrtion is eaten up for their recovery in law expenses, leaving a balance which, when coupled with our Government g r ant, amount ng to the pitiful sum of something like £I'2o, 's little more than sufficient to piy the Secretary's ja'ary. All this, too, with a Board having about the largest area of any lload Board district in tho Province. ThirJl ,we hive now another prrject rn foot to open up a rew road throuih Thorpe and Stanley Brook to Dovedale and Lowt-r Motueka, Qlrs looks very ■well, but to what r fru ties'? purpoßO will that meney be spuU if wo have a barrier in the front through which drays cannot pass. At a late meeting of the Ne'<jon Reform League a gentleman broiipho forward some cf the most extravagant notions that can be inagined when Mating that it would take eo less than £10,(100 to corop'.ote the Hope Road, but eithir his informant could not have known what he wns talking about, or the Reform Leaguer's own figures were wrong in drawing up his estimate, because at a meeting of our Bo*rJ In- Id last week a member of cocsiderable experience aud a very (air amount of judgment, stated that fomethlnaj like £2000, if j. diciously expended, would make it a very pasFJib'e road. Again, Mr Beekmann's letter of the 13'h ultimo was a mobt feeble attempt to criticise the Hrps correspondent, a rr.an who I atn certain has a desire to see the country go ahead, and consequently las been steidfpstly in favor of the Hope route, simply becau e the distance i« leaa and the lnnd is better. The one has lard almg its route fit for the ssttlemen 1 of ft tidy prpulation, while the other con never be anything else than what it is, with two or three solitary individuals, and a few sheep rcamiDg over its waste. We are quiet psople, eat-ily governed, and prefcung waiving little difficulties to open rupture, therefore we invite our Government to give our claim a just censideration. By giving publication to this you will gteatly oblige the inhabitants of the district and Yours &c, J. Riley, A Member of the Upper Motueka Road Board.