The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1363.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 3 February 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1363.

Contin t ually we hear the cry that something should be done to induce emigrants to make Southland their resting place, and yet a most extraordinary supineness appears to exist in. makiug use of means lying at our very door. As yet, every effort has begun with the cry and ended with the cry — it is heard, fades away, and nothing is done. One very obvious method of encouraging friendly immigration is to provide the il means" for men to land, and this has not been done. We ought to have a jetty at the Bluff, and if the " wherewith" cannot bo found for so nocessary a work, some arrangement might be made for boats to go off to meet vessels. Steam and sailing vessels .i;e in the habit of calling frequently, acid hundreds would land from curiosity if not from any other reason. This they cannot do. Mails are sent on shore, and other absolutely necessary business transacted, but passengers, like so many cattle, must, perforce, remain cooped up on deck ; in due titne trip gallant ship sails On her course, and the chances are, Southland never receives a second thought from those on board. This is not as it should be. Storekeepers are proverbially a shrewd class 'where their interests are concerned, and most of them learnt, long before they saw the i colonies, that a small thing will sometimes suffice to make a trade. They used to have door steps to tbe shops at home, if our memory serves us aright, and the same idea might be carried out with- advantage in thi3 pait of the world. The want of a facility to enter has sometimes ruined a busiuess vvLich would otherwise have flourished. So well is this understood that a store level with the pavement will often command double the rental of its neighbour, which may happen to have a single step that must be mounted before entrance is gained. If a solitary step, then, be sufficient to turn the tide of custom, he certainly would be considered mad who expected to prosper with a door bolted and barred, yet that is precisely the position this Province is in. In the present case the door id closed, or nearly so, and the storekeeper [a really good man, we believe] stands at ease, waiting for buyers who will never come until they can do so without any serious amount of trouble. The timo has come for this sort of work to be done away with, action is required — firm, steady, undeviatiug action, and he who will do most is the man for the Province. But we are told there is no money. To the man who was kind enough to supply us with that piece of information, we answer that, at the present moment we would far sooner see the Province in debt to a certain extent than without necessary improvements, and amongst them we reckon the one we have been talking about. So simple, so very simple is this matter, that we almost feel ashamed to mention it. In any part of the world's existence, in any age, in any climate, under any circumstances where you want population, give people the means of seeing the place; let " spies," at all events, be sent out, and in this case we are sure they will find it a land flowing with milk and honey. Here the door is effectually closed, or, what has the same effect, the man in charge refuses to provide means of access, as if everything were ready, but sits with folded arms, waiting on the buyer who never comes, simply because he has not the opportunity. As in commerce, the natural consequence of this is, that the wayfarer, looking for a home, dis- ,

couraged and chilled at theinhospitable reception met with on touching Southland territory, gladly turns elsewhere to our rivals in trade, who are ready tn receive him with open arms, though they cannot submit to his inspection a " stock" equal to what can be seen here. It is really shameful that at such a place as the Bluff there is not a single boat, stick, or spar, by which an entrance to the province can be gained. If we are not mistaken, a sum was voted for the purpose of erecting a jetty there, but nothing firrther has been heard of if. What has become of the money, and who has the charge of disbursing it ? The season for prosecuting work of this nature is rapidly advancing, and if not at once gone on with, our "goahead" Government will have the reflection that a golden opportunity for increasing the wealth and population of the Province has passed, and they are the culprits, if not the losers. The Bluff Harbor must be either properly buoyed, or boats provided for passengers to land from the vessels which are continually calling. Give passengers the opportunity to enter, and there is no fear of the result — deny them the chance, and we suffer the chagrin of seeing them go I elsewhere.