CARTERTON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4982, 12 March 1877, Page 3

CARTERTON.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) We are hoping that now the Government promise is fulfilled by the recent visit of Messrs. Carruthers and Blackett to the Warfarapa, the route of the railway is finally settled. The litre understood to be decided upon is, I belieVe, perfectly satisfactory to the great bulk of the people in the Valley, and it is to be hoped no time will now be lost in complete ing the permanent way to Featherston, and in pushing forward the continuation to Masterton.; It is much to be regretted that Grey town is left at so great a distance from the proposed route, but I do not see that the Government is warranted in delaying the line or incurring a great additional expense to get near a, .small township like Greytown. The case of Masterton is wholly different. That township is likely to be the terminus for some time to come, and will become the depot for all the extensive country that lies beyond. A large part of the trade of Greytown came from the Lower Valley, and Mr. Bunny has committed the unpardonable sin by diverting that;and turning it aside to Featherston over the second bridge now being built across the Tauherenikau. Then again, for many years, Greytown has had a large timber trade, but Mr. Kovans’ mill has been stopped for some time, and there is good ground for believing that all the three mills lately or now at work there will be cut out by the end of the present year. . The absence of the railway may,’ help; the decline »f Greytown; but its presence at their doors would not make a trade when there Is no trade to make. On the upper or west Aide of the township the river occupies at various times most of the land, and on the lower or east side the river again wanders about through the bush, and there are extensive white pine and flax swamps, in addition, to contend with. I see the Standard has at last got a grip of the Hon. Mr. Waterhouse, who, notwithstanding the melancholy forebodings as to the future of this borrowing country_in which he indulges

along with Ilia ancient friend of the Standard aIK j gj r Q-gortre Grey, is yet willing to go to Wellington and ask for what most people here believe to be a waste of public money. The case 0 f (Jreytown would be stronger than it is t)j e Waiohine would promise obedience to its channel has already silted up about two feet within the last few weeks above the new ] jr ; f ]g e j a course of construction, and before it is half finished the river is leaning towards the platform, and the contractor has received instructions to add two more spans to the struc,~~~l , . ■, ture. Where are all the thousands of pounds to come from that must be spent to keep the Main-road open until the railway is completed if completion is to be indefinitely delayed because a small section of people continue to obstruct the Government on a question the engineers alone are competent to deal with. . The Counties Act is almost a dead letter in both divisions of the Valley because the funos available are not adequate to the work there is to do; but with the railway hastened up the country, the great cost of the mam roads would be lessened aud the rateable value of Jf>P«*y be so largely increased that the full advantages of the local government of the Counties Act would be both possible and in a high degree desirable. If Greytown cau be accommodated we shall be glad, but iu any case we earnestly hope no further delay will be permitted in the construction of the line. A large number of one aud two horse teams have been passing up country during the last few days to the metalling works iu the Forty Mile Bush. Mr. Oakes is evidently determined to lose nothing of the dry season that remains to him before the winter. Some passengers have already gone from this side to Wellington through the llimutaka tunnel.