THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “Véritè sans peur.” Wanganui, January 17, 1861.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 218, 17 January 1861, Page 2

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. “ Véritè sans peur.” Wanganui, January 17, 1861.

Tjie Superintendent deserves the' vote of thauks given him at the meeting on the 10th inst. , He has shown himself very willing, to meet the wishes of the inhabitants as far as lay in his power. It is true that these are reasonable, that the objects to which they refer are necessary to the prosperity, and in one case, as Mr. Patterson .well -observed,.to the,existence of the town. But, nevertheless, a Superintendent less anxious to : do what was right and proper might, on various pretexts, have delayed giving decisive and immediate answers to the request's preferred p and a Superintendent less straightforward might have spoken fairly, and dn such a manner as to please for the moment,;without' Committing himself to any decided and immediate steps. But in Z)i v .- Featlierston every one knows that implicit confidence may be placed,that what he promises -will be faithfully and thoroughly performed, so that we may hope that those of us who live,near Nixon’s creek shall be enabled ere long, to go to bed without the fear of being cut off from the mainland, or floated down the river, before morning ; that those of us who \ live on the opposite side wil-l soon be relieved from the misery of anticipating a broken leg or a dislocated neck on any day of the week in getting, down to the ferry boat; and that, in general; we shall soon have a strong governing and directing Board, on which we may lay the.responsibility of everything, and on which we may lean in all our civic difficulties with becoming security. Bat the Superintendent, having done his part, expects us to.da ours. - The bridge is- avery, long lane without a turning,‘and: the necessity, of getting two thousand pounds more than is already on hand, in order to complete it, is too obvious from the one end of it, to permit the hope that something may turn up during its construction to render this, additional outlay unnecessary. The Superintendent has looked' along' the brjdge, and he intimated to a committee on the subject whom he met with before he. left, that he saw the greater part of the additional sum necessary lying at the farther end,, in the shape of forty acres of land, which, if-> the inhabitants give him l berty, he would turn into beams and planks and bolts for the construction of that end of the bridge.' This piece of land, has of' late given rise to a good deal of debate—a number of the inhabitants desiring that' it should be held by the town, ffir the behoof’of our posterity,- and a greater number : of the settlers expressing a desire that our posterity should be left to . their own shifts, and .an opinion that we should benefit ourselves, and probably them also, more, by using it just now in a way that would , give an immediate-im-. pulse to, the. prosperity of the district. If, indeed, this land is to be sold at all, no object can be imagined more deserving of the appropriation of,the money resulting from the sale than the Wanganui bridge; and, on the other hand, if the construction of the bridge depends on the inhabitants, raising the sum of £2000,. uo more legitimate source can be pointed; to from which the money can be so easily obtained. We think it would be well for the inhabitants to meet and come to some decision on the subject. If they give the Superintendent authority to sell the: reserve on the left bank, he will make up any deficiency in the proceeds, and the bridge will be built, I£ they, resolve to keep the reserve for the; town; thej r will require to clip their hands into their pockets, and raise a considerable sum to supplement the grant made for the bridge. In either case they should see to it, that the bridge will be a substantial, permanent structure, and that it will be thrown across.the river at the place best adapted for it.