THE Wairarapa Mercury. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1868.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume II, Issue 56, 25 January 1868, Page 2

THE Wairarapa Mercury. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1868.

It. is a tedious, disagreeable and disheartening task to be forced constantly to refer to to the same matter, to harp on the same gievance and to find redress as far from us as ever. Unpleasant as is the task we must do it, and the subject that we have again to revert to is the impassability of some of our rivers. Happily, on this occasion, we have not to chronicle any ghastly details of the horribly sudden death of some |of those forced by pressure of business to pass through our treacherous rivers whether they be high or low, fordable or dangerous, although for all the government do to prevent it, or to seek to save life, we should not be astonished to find that there have been such during the late flood though none have as yet come to our knowledge. We are now simply about to bring under their notice and under the notice of the Provincial powers, if those powers ever think it worth while to attend to any of the wants of the Wairarapa, the fact that a sum of £1,500 was placed on the supplementary estimates last year for the purpose of building a bridge over the Ruamahunga river. We need not say that this money has not been expended, and we should be very sorry to say that we consider for a moment that it would be sufficient; but to show that this bridge is absolutely necessary we will state statistical and incontrovertable facts. During the month of December last, the following have crossed the ferry of this river—2l3 hprses, eight drays,seven traps, and 15 foot passengers, while across the lower ford have passed 95 horses, 16 waggons, 16 carts or traps, and two foot passengers. Unfortunately we cannot furnish an exact return of the number who have been kept waiting on its banks wasting their time and money in the hopes of-its going down—how many valuable human lives have been lost in endeavoring to pass through its angry waters—-what property has been carried away in the attempt to pass over. If we could do so the return would be a

startling,one. .Ifwe could place those in poweivwho waste money on unnecessary worts in cur owfl position—if they could for a short time ' suffer from the anxieties that we have to go through knowing that those dear to us have often, perhaps daily, to cross these dangerous rivers, we might have the matter remedied. But living as they are, secure from these dangers, and worse then all, not taxing the trouble, as they pledged themselves to do, to find out the crying wants of each different district, we must only wait patiently for that remedy which time alone, and we may add, civilization can bring us. It was once said in England that railway accidents would not cease upon the different lines until a director oi each company got smashed on his own particular line of some happy collision. We do not wish any harm to our provincial executive but if three of them were to be respectively drowned in the Ruamahunga, Waingawa and Tauherenikau the question of bridging the river might be taken up by their successors. The plea of poverty we have no doubt will be set up next session as it was last and “ necessary works ” which require immediate attention will be pleaded. In our opinion the most necessary works are those which tend to the security of human lives. Perhaps some of our council members who are “ up” in sophistry will argue that so many cross over unscathed as compared with those that are drowned that if any average could be struck the damage done to each one venturing through the rivers would amount to no more than wet feet and a consequent cold in the head, arguing in the same manner as a clever Insurance Agent who showed that the danger from Railway Travelling only amounted to a black eye for each passenger. But, seriously speaking, have we not a right to demand that some expenditure should be made to protect life and property in this district ? May we not ask that the extravagant outlay of money in unnecessary improvements in and round Wellington be restrained to afford at least the minimum required to satisfy the crying wants of the Wairarapa? We do not ask it as a favor but demand it as right and we hope to see the justice of that right asserted by the people of the Wairarapa.