The New-Zealander.
To icvciL to the subject of Si cam Communication, aflci so iccent anil so uiifouaul an explosioii, appeals to I'" a. nui Hoi of no mconsideiable difficulty , —but consuous of tin* single mimk'ilnoss ol 0111 piupoM', ami animated by the nnpotUiiHT of the topic, we feel Ijound Lo offer a fnv stiaightloiwaid obsei\alion.s. In tlu v opinion of oui contempoiaiy, the Cross, and, «r> he a\eis, in that of " piaclical business people, tin: movement is altogether prcmatuie." Olheis, on the coutiary, aumeh ;i diametrically opposite opinion , and, unless ■we have been grossly misinfoimed, hau 1 e\pievscd a desiie to luck that opinion by suljscubing (01 sh.ues in a \% oil consideicd and judiciously oiganizid Coniputn. Theie can be no question that the intiodue■fion of an agenl so expensive as Steam miisl naUu.illy be \ iew.ed with doubl and huspicwn in so siinll a cominn.'jily, niieie ihe tuillic, as ycl. is confined and the pioduce limited-, but liowe\cr pmdentiaJ such objections, \ic do nol, ncmlhcless, esteem them to be fatal ones, because A\ith a rapidly increasing population, and uith an available means, oi inleicommunicatiou, the growth of settlements, and the mc tease of produce must needs be commeiisiimte, It strikes us a-, a peculiaily peitincnt question to inquire — from whom the supplies oi Auckland aic piincipally diawn 1 * In icplying <o oui own iutciwoatoiy, we believe we may wifely affiim that the Maoiies aie our laigest puAoyors — so large, indeed, and so uuUiing as iic.nly to monopolise the lruuket, and to exclude ihe Kiuopean settler fiom that field of compel it ion. And wheiefoie ? Piincipally, we picsume.j became of the almost insuperable difficulties attendant upon the tiansit of farm produce — the loads, or lallvr the boggy tracks, 7>ein^ all but impassable; whilst -water carriage, is a feat 100 peiilous to be undertaken by fanneis 01 theii seivants unskilled in the management of boats and small craft, and ignoiant alike of wind and weolhei, These obstacles, so prejudicial to fiuiopean industiy, aic of no account ivilh the Maon who can trim his canoe or bend his back and walk away with the load adapted to cither. Would such an exclusive monopoly continue J to exist weie theic a Stuun bout of powei and capatily adefpiate to constitute her earner geneial of the pioduce of the uuoiy little settlements established and spunging up in our immediate \icinity 1 Would not an impetus — a mighty impetus be instantaneously impailed to ail those settlements 1 Would nuL villages arise — would no! agiiculture and dany fanning inciease, and would not the town and inhabitants of Auckland derive an immense advantage from the impioved quality and the enhanced quantity of supplies that must of necessity be poured into the market? In this we sketch no nnaginaiy picture — we ! indulge no pieposterous hallucination. A tolerably lengthened colonial expeuence enables ] us confidently to surmise that the results which we have seen crowned with complete success elsewhere are by no means to be despdiicd of J in a Colony Avhose natural capabilities aie great, and whose piogrcss and prosperity occupy so large a measiue of Impenal consideiation. I With a passing adveitence to the thriving towns called into existence by railway ente'iptisc — withameie allusion lo the notonous tiuism that to create a facility of communication has pioml, again and again, the piimaiy s>tep to the tiealiou ot tiallic — \\<i turn to a neighbouring paiallel, and practical illustration, especially applicable to the question, under eonsidciation. Some ten or twelve years since the traffic on the liver Denvenl, betwixt llobait Town and New Norfolk, was earned on cntiiely by five or six row boats, varying from thice to six tons buithen. The trade was a limited and a lazy one, generally three, but frequently live and six, days being wasted in the conveyance of goods which steam would ha\e caused to leach their destination in thice hours. The banks of the Dei went, (like our ciicuinjaccnt settlements) weie then thinly dotted with faims, and the up country settlers gievv little more corn than their own immediate establishments conMimed, in cons qneuce of the cost of cai'iying, the we;u and Uvr of carts and cattle, and tiie evils arising lo the larm because of the lengthened ab.ence, in a dissipated town, of the teams and theit dmcis. Disgusted with the vexatious delays, the pickings and \U aim"' and sometimes total loss of goous, sustained in then Uansil to and fiom .New Nf, i >lk and Jlobart Town, oneoi two indhiduals,moi*e adventitious than their fellows, projected a steam boat. Like every suggestion in aduince of hackmed custom, the idea was scouted, and the piojectois stigmatised as \i-
scaicely hau* eucounteicd moie galling 01 mute unmeitted ndiciile. The povcily of tin rountiy, 1 Jit* p.HH-ity and \hr> seatleied chai.tcter of the population, and (lie limited amount of land iimln tilth A\eie stienuously insisted on — ideal difficulties to (lie navigation of the river weie c«>i)}iiied up, and nothing but disaster to the hodi and hum to her .sii uoiioMei.s were piedu'ted. A company, neveilheless, was Conned \ a I»>:i1 of about .seventy lons A\as I)inl(, : ami so eminently successful did she piovc, that m Unee or four yeai.s lie! o« neis iccehed a second, non vessel, ouleiod fium a fust Kile engineer of Deplfoid. Meanwhile, the fanners in immediate contiguity to the Deiwent. cleared and nutated acie aftei acie, and added field to iiekl ; whilst the ]M.s(oial sellieis in moie 1 emote, bul probably fully moie feitile localities, biolce up their lands and augmented their agiicultiu.il establishments, the steam boat having opened up a Mail, for farm piodute, and having created a 1 ace of caniers to convey that pioduce to it.-> Stoic-house and Wharf — thus inueasmg and multiplying the pioducts and application of mdusliy, and earn ing for its propueLuy a ln"idsome lennineiation. Tlic nuinbetless acies brought under tillage by the jiitioduction of this single boat, is, ue a[)[)rehend, prool conclusive that fluil which steam has accomplished on the banks of the Dei went, is fully as phiclicablc on those of the Thames and theTamakt. Man is an imitative animal, l'oint out to I]., the piospeious adoption by A. of any ghen measure, and upon any tangible giound.i, and be sine on't, you will find C. and D. and hundreds of other anxious and eager copyists. Open up a field of successful industry at our .settlements, by finding a means wheieby the products of thai imlustiy can. be hi ought to niaiket, and nuik how ntpidly they will progress when is known that we aic a pioducing as well as a consuming people. If we make no dibits, ay and stienuous efforts, to advance our own inteiests, can we hope to compete with othei colonies, or even to keep pace with a sialei cttlement no older than we '? We leiterateour confident belief that a wellregulated steam-boat would not only pay her own way, but piove heiself to be one of Auckland's, and -its neighbouring settlers, lines! fi tends, inasmuch as it would impait an immediate value to etcry available acie within Us circuit, and be the means of com citing the wilderness into healthy and happy farms and cheeiful farm steadings. And, thus 1 , by diiecting industry into all its true and legitimate channels we might aspire to uiise an ample produce for home consumption, as well as a ane ami an advantageous expoit. We know not why we should be saxislied to become the vent for the siuplus produce of Nelson or New Plymouth, unless it can be shewn that the capabilities of the metropolitan aic hopelessly inferior to those of these active and enteipming distiicts. Let us evince a generous rivalry in the race of industry, and, as far as we can, aflbtd eveiy encouragement and assistance to the Nelhonmns in theii piaisewoithy attempt to establish steam communication. The profit of the undertaking cannot be wholly thens — we must undoubtedly participate in the gam •, and even, if through supenor industry ot enteipiise, 01 other fortuitous cause, they should be able to undersell us in our own port, they are surely better entitled to look to us foi custom than the alien competitors of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. In conclusion, we may be permitted to remark that through the introduction of steam the resources of the Hunter have been developed in a degree they could not otherwise have achieved. By means of .steam, the Clarence and Moreton Bay have risen to outports of immediate and no inconsideiable consequence. To steam Wollongong is indebted for an extensive and inueasing traffic; and, by steam, Australia, No ith and South, in a course of 1500 miles, has become most beneficially connected. We are quite awaie that local position excludes us from participation in such peculiar advantages — but infantine and insignificant as this settlement in the estimation even of its friends may be, we feel satisfied that it could successfully establish a steam conveyance, like the one aimed at, and that the impulse such an engine would give to our onwaid progress, would astound the sceptic quite as much as it would delight the most sanguine. That the movement has been erroneously and impropeily commenced, we always affiimcd. Should it, however, for that reason, be absolutely despised ? We hope not, but trust, ere long, to witness the measure fully and dispassionately discussed.
We tiust our Contemporary the Warder has not, in the plenitude of his merriment, been studying the best way of helping a lame dog ovei a style. lie tells us, par parenthese, that the Southerns are taking the start of us, because of their having loaded and despatched to England the Woodstock, barque, of 300 tons. We rejoice to pciceivc that we are about to follow in the emulative race j the Indian) ot 590 tons, being charted by one of our leading houses to rtturn from our poit to England with the produce of this district; in August next,
Joskimi Burns. — Tins unhappy convict will, ■v\c understand, expiate his sad catalogue of ciDio on iS;itii)(l,iy nexl. The No)Ih SJjoic is I lie ])lacc ;t])))oinied foi Ins execution, ami the I nne of its infliction, the lioui of noon.
He )Ust and foar not: * Let all (Ik* ends thon aims't at, be thy Country's, Thy (Jons, and Tiuth's.
WEDNESDAY, JUNK \-\, I8 4 S.
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New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 213, 14 June 1848, Page 2
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1,719The New-Zealander. New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 213, 14 June 1848, Page 2
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