PUBLIC WORKS PROPOSALS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 191, 11 September 1878, Page 4

PUBLIC WORKS PROPOSALS.

[Tfae following letter has been addressed to Sir George Grey by Bishop Suter:—] To the Hon. the Premier op New Zealand, Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Deau Sis Geokge — I trust to tbe importance of tbe interests involved to justify me iu resorting to tbe rather unueual course of addressing you publicly with regard to a measure proposed by ibo Government of which you are the bead. I do not take part ia politics, nor do I wish to do to. It dofs not affect tbe discharge ot my duties, so loug aa tbo Government of the country id honestly conducted, wbo is iu V o Ministry or wbo is in Opposition, but when any great wrong is being done, aud wben tbe temporal interests of tboee whose welfare I try to seek are imperilled by ection that cau bo prevented, I conti er that I should be unworthy of my post if I did not take every means at all events, of exposing the wroug ond endeavoring to got it redressed. Such a wrong is, I conceive, on the eve of being done in' tbe departure, with regard to the Northern portion of tbii island, from tbe general scheme of railways which was promulgated aud accepted by the Legislature as a scheme to lie curried out iu its entirety befora eny further proposals wore entertaine I. I canuot believe, sir tbat you can be aw&re cf the distinctness of the undertakings and promises made to this ppit of t ! >e Pouth Island, and especiully as regards Nelaon, prior to tbe Public "Works policy of 1870-73 being adopted; made at a time when as yet you had uot roturaed to political life. Io tho first place nothiag can ba more certain than that the lino fiom Nelson via Foxhill to tho West Coast was on the eve of being constructed, but was withheld from being floated on the Bbare maiket on' the understanding tbat tbe wants it met would be provided for by thegeneral tchemp. It waa not na unreasonable request that the private line should be withdrawn, but it was a thoroughly understood oadhiou of withdrawal that it BhouU ba replaced by au equivalent. But eveu bed tbere been nothing of the kiu'J, the schemes of 1870-73 certainly contemplated the creation of great truuk lines; opposition to olher measures was silenced, and this was accepted as it was, because it formed an equitable and statesmanlike proposal to mako a line from one end to the other in both cases. The particular route was not fixed, nor do we complain now of iis being fixed in one place rather tban another, but the various routes were plotted ou tba maps published by authority, so that by one way or another, by east, or by central liner, it was unmiatakeably stated tbat tbe policy of trunk lines was proposed, and it was accepted by the country on the understanding that until tbis scheme wns carried our, it would be au infringement of a public national compact to propose any fresh disposition of new lines of railway. 1 thiok, Sir, I am justified in saying that every £l spent in land and improvement of property iu the provinces of Nelson and Marlborough since that time has been spent with a knowledge of that intention existing, and this io no speculating spirit, but by way of fair expectation and investment. Men thought they eould trust Governments, and successors to Governments, for the maintenance of leading schemes, that they would not repudiate engagements, ypon the integrity and stability of which tho very life of commerce and trade depends. The working man, tbe artizan who is able to enioy the privilege of his much coveted own house and land, however small, 'made bis purchase, quite as much as the man of ample means, ou the faith of the policy laid down and agreed to, beiog carried out, and there are not a fow of this class iu and about Nelsou and Blenheim, "who will be seriously affected by the Government proposals. If the scheme be carried out, what must ensue ? The speedy departure and extinction of tbe West Coast trade, auch as il is, from Neleon, and tbat implies a great deal of suffering and privation, wbich it is the business, I ahould bave thought, of a Government not to inflict, bnt to avert. Thero is no necessity to draw pathetic pictures of what will certainly be the case, as to the upsetting and destruction of the homes of, I may fairly say, some hundreds, if not far more, of working people, who I think deservod better consideration at tbe bands of the Government; I cannot, however, forbear calling to mind the touching picture you yourself drew of tbe poor man's family whom you represented so graphically to us at Nelson as suffering at the hands of the squatter. At whose bands is|he now suffering? Nelson and Marlborough as a rule are not tbe emporiums of capital or capitalists; tbey are colonised by working people for whom we were told so much was to be done, but, instead thereof, what do you present na witb but the enforced destruction of trade, and the arbitrary uncalled for departure from recognised engagements, aud weli attested promises ? I fear tbe promises made to otber localities are so unexpectedly great and beyond their largest hopes that they have no care to consider such distant placeß as Nelson aad Marlborough, and it is therefore only in appealing to your sense of honor that we have any hope.

There must surely be some measures whicb descend from Government to Government whicb are outside the pale of ordinary politics, and if any are such, surely this was one ! We admit thoroughly that such an arrangement waa only coufined to the truuk liae, and that all future nnd larger developments were to be matters for discussiou, aud wero not, as in the point nt issue, matters of what wo may call national agreement. A stranger looking at the mip of New Zealand witb iis railways marked tbereon a3 your Government proposes to rauko tbem, would, wheu bo sees the harbours, rivers, end general contour of tiie country of the northern third part of the Southern Island, be surprised at the abrupt termination of tbe roil way system, and would say — This country must surely be destitute of timber, or water, or coal, or eopper, or elate, or marble, or gold, or soil, or inhabitants, otherwise what cau account for the profusion of railways elsewhere nnd tbeir sudden stoppage here, if these things were in existence? Thore would snrely be at least as much as one main line witb plain roads feediog it. It mußt consist, a slander would think to himself, of barren bills, of an incloirent climate, of worthless grouol thnt can grow no crops, no wool, no hope, no fruit. You, Sir George, know from your own knowledge how far this conception would be from the truth, and yet it would be no fair infereuca from nn inspection of a railway map of New Zealand delineated as Mr Macundtew proposes, with two liues southwards of New Zealsnd to the West Const, and cutting off an area of nearly 15 milliou acres from participation ia the privi'eges of the rest. So far from this being the ca3P, I submit tbat, considering the population of Dunedin and Christchurch, and we may add Melbourne, of which Graymouth is now called a suburb, it might, perhaps, l,e worthy of a Btateeman to provide, for such populations, access to and from a place like Nelsou, for evidence ia forthcoming tbat many desira to settle permanently in New Zealand, if euch a place as Nelson is moderately accessible to tho centres of business. Even if we were asking for a new line to a new country, auch as tbia is, which required opening up, we should be justified in doing so, for the climate of Nelsou, which is a permanent aud natural, not an artificial endowment, is more than a rr.ere pleasing accident, it is of marketable value. There are a score of places in England aud Wales — Scarborough, Rhyl, Bournemouth — whieh are nothing iu themselves, but the enjoyment of a few more elements of ozone or sunshine during the year bas made all the difference io tbem, and they have locoon, simp'y from climate, centres of population, and I hesitate not to claim tbe same for Nelson. I have lived here for the last len years, but you, Sir George, have known it longer, and it ia needless now to insist upon what is almost a world-wide proverb, the beauty, pleasautDess, and healthiness of the climate of Neleon. This is a commodity sought for; sought for by Victorians, Indians, and English, and it is a commodity which will bring, if fairly treated, a large capital iuto the country, not to Nelson and Murlboroogb, but to New Zealand. Indians will not settle in more southerly localities, but tbey come here with a certain capital, and they only need Jhe inducement of a regular communication between tbe place where they reside and the places in which they very naturally wish to iuvest their oapital. In common with many in Nelson, I cannot think thafc your Government wish unnecessarily to attach to their memory the record of what appears to the people of this part of the South Island in the light of a great political fraud. If you can show us that no promise or implied underatking, direct or indirect, was made as to a Trunk Line, I will gladly withdraw my application, and the imputation whicb, if true, it involves. But the more I look into the matter the more I feel confident ofthe justness of the cause I am thus advocating, and also the more persuaded I am of tbe duty of making every protest against such wrongful dealing with large portions of the community which do not deserve such treatment. If I interpret rightly the feeling of our people, I may say we do not exaggerate the probable result to ourselves of your colleagues' Bill. We know it may be too late to lament when the Bill is passed, but we hope there exist'in the Ministry, and in the House, enough men with a sense of honesty strong enough to prevent the passing of so unfair a distribution of taxation, and so unequal an expenditure of money, wbicb will have to be guaranteed, Jif not raised, by a common widespread taxation. We do not envy others, we are not envious because they bave a sop given them to bush their complaints ; we only complain of broken promises, violated compacts, and the disregarding of reasonable expectations. Surely, Sir George, it is worth wbile pausing before an Act is passed which will create a permanent feeling of wrong. It is my duty, as a Christian Minister, to urge men to Jcontentmenfc and to moderation, but it is no duty of mine to encourage tbem to allow themselves to be trodden on and despised. You may bave the power, the actual number of votes, to carryjthis or any otber measure sacrificing the interests of minor portions of tbe country, bnt neither you nor your colleagnes can expect tbafc we shall for five years sit

down in silence beneath a blow, whicb, taken in connection witb the previous circumstances and understandings, attains the proportion of a tyrannical action, and wbich must recoil ultimately on tbe beads of those who make it. We do not grudge others, we do not wisb to deprive them, we only ask for the carrying out of tbe original plan, wbicb was certainly not drawn up regardless of lho interests of tbo two (former) provincial districts, Christ church and Otago, wbicb now intend to absorb all tbat can be raised in the next five years. In a word it is so unjust tbat I cannot anticipate any other result than tbat, as our members have already demanded, an alteration must be made. Nevertheless, as through pressure of business or the loud plaudits of thoso who| are benefited by the scheme, you may not be aware bow deeply seated is the feeling, aod how permanent will be tbe sore if tbe blow falls, 1 bave had recourse to this unusual means of addressing you publicly as Premier. Ata recent visit to Nelson, after you had received several public deputations, and made promises to attend to their wants, you did me the honor to ask if tbere was anything you could do for me. I declined with thanks, but little did I think that I should be urged by my own sense and fear of impending wrong to address thia appeal to vou, which, with all respect, I trust will" not be made in vain. Tour obedient Servant, AND HEW BURN SUTEE, Bishop of Nelson. Nelson, Sept. sth, 1878.