Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1872. " MEASURES NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 248, 31 October 1872, Page 7

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1872. " MEASURES NOT MEN."

Before we read the report of Ihe meeting held at Clyde to discuss* tlie relative merits and demerits' cif the main interior lines of railway, via Waipahi. and via Tuapeka, We cduki act imagine what had induced the goo& folks of that place to take such a, violent and sudden interest in the matter. # A perusal of the report, however, clearly explains the matter. The promoters of the Waipahi line, or it might more appropriately be called Millar's. Imaginary Line, having lamentably failed in their endeavor to prevent' the construction of the Tuapeka line being undertaken, are now tiying another dodge to delay the com- j mencement of tba.t work. They ! are attempting the agitation game; and have put forward William Fraser, Esq., of Earnscleugh Station, to lead off. That gentleman h&H commenced well — too well in fact. He has come out as the friend of the agriculturist, and the advocate of settlement. . We wonder, if when William Fraser, Esq., of Earnsrieugh Station, was talking so glibly of " large tracts of country, where now but a fesv cattle or sheep were browsing, that would be thrown open forsettleraent," his audience remembered his action relative to producing that desirable consummation when he was a member of the Provincial Council. Can the residents of the Dunstan district have so soon forgot why they rejected Mr. Fraser at the last general election, that they «in swallow his platitudes about settling people on the soil. The Greeks are coming with presents: let the Dunstan people be on their guard. If Iflr. Fraser is really so anxious to see settlement "progress, as he professes to be, he need not wait for the .construction- of the Waipahi line. There is a block of agricultural land on Messrs. M'Laren, Greig, & Co.'s . station, close to the town of Clyde, which he knows well, and which the Government have been repeatedly requested to cancel the lease over. Mr. Fraser would give a guarantee of his earnestness if he united with the people, and used his influence to get that block thrown open for settlement. The remarks made by this runholders' champion, regarding the j Tuapeka line, are simply untrue, i Mr. Hazlett's statements are inaccurate ; and the . observations j made by^ Mr.- James Patterson showed • he N was unacquainted with the.mattier. We. direct the atten- J tion of the last mentioned gentle--] man, to the 'fact that nearly all the residents ftf the Teviot, Bfenger Burn, and also of the road, signed ' the .petition recently circulated in faarar. of commencing the- construe--tioa^of the "main trunk line via Tuap&ka^ at once. The whole of meeting seemed to -have been led by the nose b}* the gentleman^ho caused it to be cpnVened, and-ibhe " Dunstan Times " serins . also to have failefr under his inijuencse ; for we find an article in thaf; journal echoing bis sentiments.' This article was evidently not, written by any member of the " Dunstan Times " staff, because the sentences are grammatically constructed .and \jomtj decent English is used iir its composition. It . Ww&vev, a. tisane of luisrepr^^j^afioh and falsehood from "beginning to end ; and in itojs r-espectj bears the stamp of-iifre newspaper in .seindi it was published. . the of ihe Dunstan people, we state that agricultural settlement is not carried beyond its utmost limits '$& the T« apeka district/ and -that

when the railway is constructed, we expect to see ten times the land under crop that. there is at present;' that the Tuapeka line is not. merely a branch of the Southern ,Trunk Railway, but is, and has alvvfays been intended to form portion of the great interior trunk line, which is to traverse the valley of- the Molyneux. The statement that the extension of the railway into the interior will ruin the business people of Lawrence, is too ridiculous to require- contradiction. The cost of constructing a line from - Tuapeka up-country would not be greater than that of constructing one from. Waipahi, and and with all due respect to that imaginative gentleman, we venture to assert that Mr. Millar, F.S.A., is not the highest engineering authority in the colony. We will riot comment on the numerous other mendacious statements made by the writer of the article, as they carry their falsity impressed upon them. One advantage 'which should be looked to in the construction of interior railways, is the connection of all the various goldfields, as it is not improbable that should the provincial fsim of government not be '^abolished speedily, that the goldfields will -endeavor to. obtain local self-government. - Should they make the attempt and succeed, i£ will be highly,.- important to have •easy-- mean's* > q|', communication be"tiveen "'the various important centres ,of population. In conclusion, we would counsel the people of the Dunstan,' not to allow themselves to be led away by wolves in sheepsclothing. ■ The people of Tuapeka are 'willing to aid them in being pkced in- railway communication with the seaboard, but they are adopting a course which will make the Tuapeka people chary of doing so. Let them also l-emember that in this seeming friendship for them, the runholders may have ulterior objects. The motto of the squatting party has been, and still is, " divide arid conquer," and this setting' one district against another, and the warm interest displayed for the settlement of "the country, foreshadow' that some fresh attack is about- to be made upon the rights of the people. •