The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1869. "Measures not Men."

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 93, 20 November 1869, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1869. " Measures not Men."

The fate of the much-talked-of Island Block is decided. To-day, at Roxburgh, it will be offered for sale, and, in all probability, will pas& intp the hands o,f one man: This week, a deputation, consisting of Mr. Mervyn and Mr.. Ireland, waited upon the Superintendent, at the request of some 170 of the residents of the Benger district, to,' if possible, prevail upon the Government to withdraw the block from sale, but with what success will be

found fully detailed in another column. It would require more prescience than we can boast of possessing to guess upon what principle the Executive came to their decision. They certainly favoured the deputation with a reply in writing, but the reasons they have for putting the land in the market are so sacred, that it would be sacrilege to make them known to the deluded memorialists. The deputation laid the matter before the Executive in the clearest possible light, showing how the inhabitants of the district had repeatedly been encouraged by the Government, both collectively and individually, to hope that the block would be thrown open under the Leasing Regulations, &qd if thrown open, the vast benefits which would accrue to the district by the settling of a much larger population on it. All this, and' more, was shown in the most forcible language, — not by placing class against class, but by a fair consideration of all interests. We suppose, liowever, the Executive felt in the position of Macbeth — they had got Into such a mess that it would be easy, and perhaps more courageous on their part, to carry their bad policy right through, as it would be to withdraw, and thus exhibit a\ little more of that imbecility for which they ai*e becoming daily npre noted. When the voice of a lkrge district like the Teviot, united to a man, as in the present case, is utterly disregarded, we say it is high time a change of some kind took place, as a change for the worse .would be impossible.

At last, after an unnecessarily protracted delay, (the Government, we are reliably informed, are about to call for tenders for the completion of the road between Tuapeka and Tokomaiviro. i This luckily happens when several of the business men of Tuapeka were about to call a public meeting, to enquire whether the Government had any intentions of expending the sum voted for the road in question. Let the inhabitants of the district be thankful that for once they have been saved the unpleasant task of reminding a vacillating and neglectful Government of its duty. Without arrogating any undue preeminence to Tuapeka, we assert, without fear of contradiction, that it has been one of the most profitable up-country districts to the. Government, and has contributed more than any of them to the general revenue. And while it has done all this, we might ask, what has it received in return ? Let those who, travelled over the Round Hill during the last winter answer the question. We hear tho sum of £5000 is about to be expended on the formation of the road from within three miles of ihe Manuka Greek to .Havelock township. Why that work has not been started long ago it would be difficult to say. Our readers will remember that £10,000 was placed on the Estimates, at the beginning of the year, for the completion of this road ; but, generally speaking, it is an easy matter to get any amount placed on the Estimates for any purpose— the great difficulty always has been to get the ' Government to expend the sum voted by the Council In four cases out of five, the amounts placed od the Estimates, with the exception of those allocated to salaries, are erased by the effluxion of time, or> in other words, allowed to lapse, Those cases in which external pressure is brought to bear upon the Government are, as a rule, the only ones that receive the attention of our model rulers, But \et us rejoice and be glad that, whether through any outside pressure or not, there is now some hope of getting one of the most important roads in the province completed. The Kound Hill, which is the terror of coach passengers, and the great drawback to waggon traffic, is about to be laid low, and a road opened direct from Tuapeka to Dunedin, which will Le a credit to any country.