Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1872. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 234, 25 July 1872, Page 4

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1872. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

It has been pretty generally known for a considerable time past that several squatters in the Tapanui and Mount Benger districts had conceived -the idea that it was desirable that a railway, branching from the main trunk line at the Waipahee, and proceeding by way of the Pomahaka Valley to Moa Flat, and from thence extended to the interior goldfields, should be constructed ; and also that the aforesaid squatters had got up a petition in favour of their scheme, and were making strenuous efforts to secure their object. They have a right to do this, and while they employ only fair means in furthering their cause, no one can complain, or has a right to interfere. But when, in their advocacy of their project, the promoters garble facts ; when, regardless of trutla and lionor, they make false assertions ; when they secretly intrigue to sacrifice the interests of thousands of the people for |their own selfish ends, it is time for those whose interests are attacked to give battle. That this feeling is general in the Tuapeka district, is evident by the large and influential attendance at the public meeting on Tuesday night, and by the earnestness which characterised the proceedings. Long speeches were eschewed by general consent. -Action was what was looked for, and action prompt and vigorous was taken. To compare the merits of the line from Tokomairiro via Tuapeka, up the Galley of the Molyneux, to thatstarting from the Waipahee by way of Tapanui to Roxburgh, is absurd. It is needless to recapitulate the arguments which have been adduced in favor of the former line, which proved to the satisfaction of members opposed to its construction, •that it would be one of the best paying lines in the colony, and secured it a place on the h'rst schedule. We may, however; state that from Tokomairiro .to Lawrence, the line will' traverse' a thickly settled aud prosperous agricultural and mining district. Since this line was first mooted , quartz mining has assumed an importance i± had not then given promise of, and this greatly strengthens its claims. From Lawrence up the valley of the Molyneux, along the course where the line when extended will traverse, there is also a large amount of agricultural settlement, and a considerable number of gold miners employed. Indeed, .from Lawrence to Roxburgh, with the exception of the Island and 50,000 acre blocks, there is a' continuous line of settlement The railway from the Waipahee to Moa Flat, would literally commence nowhere and end nowhere. There are not five hundred people in the whole district to be benefited -by it, and not twenty farms. We may mention that in, the petition there are a large number of localities dragged in for the sake of effect, which will be no more benefited by the construction of this line than the Chatham Islands will. It is advocated only by half a dozen extensive landholders who, having purchased land at a low rate, wish the Government to construct a railway to make that land valuable. Mr. Adams, the survej^or, showed that the difference in distance between Dunedin and Moa Flat, in favour of the Tuapeka line, to be 37 miles. This, when the railway is extended to Clyde and Alexandra as it will have to be, will be a consideration to the residents of those districts. So far as the nature of the country to be traversed is concerned, there is not much difference in the practicability of the two lines;. We would draw the attention of people up-countiy, who have signed the petition, that a false issue has been raised by the promoters of the Waipahee line. They have stated that by branching off at the creek named, only 40 miles of railway would have to be constructed to Moa Flat. This is true, but as will be seen by what we have stated above, that the difference in distance is thirty-seven miles. It is not necessary to allude to the line below Tokomairiro or above Moa Flat, as it is not affected. Mr. Miller, i F.S.A., a£the instance of the General

Government, has inspected this line, and will no doubt furnish, in his usual style, a glowing report. But we think tint gentleman is sufficiently kiiown in the colony to make any thing he may say harmless. All the powerful influence of the dominant class will be brought. to bear to secure the construction of t&-«^ Waipahee line in preference to the Tuapeka line. No stone will be left , unturned by the promoters of the former. As was stated at the meeting, they are playing for heavy stakes, and will spend freely in order to win. They have shown their intentions by sending delegates to Wellington to " engineer " the line through the house. The Committee appointed by the residents of Tuapekaare endeavouring to check-mate them ; and if truth and justice are respected by our legislators, they are bound to succeed. If the General Assembly consents to allow the Tuapeka line to be shelved for the Waipahee-Tapanui line, it will have sanctioned the most glaring job ever perpetrated in any country under the sun.