ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 268, 29 October 1862, Page 5

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

STREET PEE ACHING. (To the Editor of the Daily Times.) Sib, —I have read the correspondence between the Rev. Isaac Harding and the Provincial Secretary in to-day's issue of your paper j and although I am inclined to favour the opinion which the Government has arrived at, that "the congregating of people in such places as the street near the post office is objectionable for any purpose," I think it due to the Hey. Isaac Harding that he should be accorded the same privileges as " Red Coat," who was permitted a fewweeks since to harangue the mob on nearly the same spot several times during one forenoon. I am, Sir, Yours truly, Dunedin, 28th October. SPECTATOR.

(To :kc Editor of the Daily Times.) m Sir, - The paramount importance of developing the internal and external communi^'ions of t.h« country is so well established, that any proposal which may teisd to further, tins most necessary public work deserves tlie most cartful consideration, Mr Moss, in the Chamber of Commerce, proposed that a loan should be raised-by the Government to be expended on roads, but his motion was withdrawn in deference to some of the more cautious, not to say enterprising members of the Chamber, who would almost appear to imagine it feasible to settle a country and carry on a large internal trade without roads. But, though the Chamber of Commerce, interested as are its members in the prosperity of the country, may not feel called upon or at liberty to initiate a pressure on the Government to procure a loan even for so desirable, so necessary an object, there is no reason why public opinion should not be expressed upon so important a matter, especially now, when the Provincial Council is about to meet.

There is no need to argue that roads are required. We are absolutely without them. To bring goods from London some 15,000 miles costs, by measurement, about a halfpenny per lb ! Hence to the DunjJtnn, 120 miles, 2s a lb, or 4,80,0 timesthe rate per mile from London ! The diggings that can stand carriage at such a rate must be something extraordinary ; for, remember, it is not only the successful digger, but the unsuccessful one who has to be catered for; and the storekeeper and other necessary attendants on the diggers must also be fed, and for the cost of the whole you must ultimately look to the gold du^, or you cannot fairly describe.the field as " payable." Despite the slowcoaches, roa'is must be made if Otago is to flourish, and if it be considered unadvisable to borrow money for the purpose, and tlie s*ate of the exchequer, as well as public policy, forbid their being made out of the Provincial revenue, why should not a company b° formed for the purpose, with limited liability, ami a Government guarantee for interest 'i English capitalists would surely consider Uie Otago Provincial guarantee equal to that of the Principalities of Moldavia and Waiiachia, who are raisins three millions sterling for railway purposes in L-mdoii at,6 per c--nt; or the Cape Town Hail way Company, whose stock is at 8 per cent, premium ; and a host of other foreign schemes from the Sou.li Americm ltepuf.lics inclusive. The fact is, Mr Editor, we ai-i just letting the time of cheap money slip by instead of seizing it, as we ought to raise funds in ono way or other for that most proper and remunerative object - the_ development of the Province. Gentlemen must lay aside their old ideas. Sections in Dunedin are not still to be bought for £l 2 10s. One would almost imagine to hear some men talk, that they wen.-, unless indeed you ask them to sell you theirs at the price, and then it is quite another thing. It would be well to consider, too, whether even tramways could not be made partly on the American principle, guaranteeing interest for those parts of the country where the land is sold; and where it is still unsold, giving so much latid on either side to the company m lieu of all other claims. One thing we must have, a proper home agency at the commercial centre of the world, London. Any reasonable ainouut of pay to a icalbj able man would be money v/ell sjjent. I am, &c, _ , VIDETXE. October 2a.