West Coast Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 337, 22 October 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1866.

We are sorry to -observe that a' work which would prove of incalculable benefit to the public, has received its fii*3t check at the hands of our new Municipal Council — a body of gentlemen, one would imagine, who would hail with pleasure any project likely to open up che country, increase the facilities of communication, and furnish the outlying districts with supplies, at a cost that would enable many a claim to be profitably worked, that now lies unproductive and despised. We are far from endorsing the opinions expressed by our correspondent " Observer," whose communication will be found in another column, iv imputing personal motives to the members of the Council, but we certainly think that the promoters of the Hokitika and Greymouth Tramway scheme should have received more encouragement than it appears they did, in their efforts to connect two such important centres of population, and to open up such a large extent of auriferous country. The ease with which tho proprietors of the Grey and Saltwater Creek Company have laid off their line and commenced operations, lead us, however unwillingly, to the belief that on some occasions a governing body may become as v great a nuisance as on others it may be an advantage. It, is almost impossible to over-estimate the advantages that would accrue from the carrying out of this and kindred schemes ; but who can wonder it" capitalists for the future hesitate to employ their spare means in works of local improvement when they see that at every step they are likely to encounter obstacles from the very men to whom they have a right to look for assistance and encouragement ?

It has become a chronic complaint for some time past, and not without some show of reason, to charge the Provincial Government of Canterbury with a systematic neglect of our interests, but at all events it cannot be laid to their charge that they ever opposed, if they did not encourage the efforts of capitalists to engage in works of a reproductive nature, • that would be likely to favorably influence the fortunes of the inhabitants of Westland,; and in the matter of tramways, especially, we have no reason to complain of the treatment we have' received from the Provincial Government. Mr Moorhouse could see, if our local magnates cannot, the advantages likely to accrue from a system, however crude and rough, of roads similar to those iron ways which have formed so vital an element in the prosperity of the home country, and not only promised to recommend a guarantee by the" Government of a certain rate of interest on the capital employed in their construction, but exerted himself in granting the land necessary for them, under certain fair and proper conditions. What would our eastern brethren, then, think .of our numerous complaints were it known that Hokitika containes within itself men even less favorably disposed towards our well-doing than those whom we have so long denounced r We can scarcely think that our representatives have properly considered the importance of the subject on which they pronounced so hasty a decision on Friday last.

However trifling the inclination to delay — which seems so fatally to infect every governing body — may seem to our Municipal Council, it may not be amiss to remark that it is of all' things the one most to be avoided where a work of great public utility is to be carried out, which will- involve a large outlay. There are too many ways and means of profitably employing capital, for men of enterprise to ".remain long dancing attendance on. those ,who foolishly constitute themselves, by virtue of a " little brief authority," stumbling blocks in the way ; and an opportunity once lost is seldom to be regained. Besides, time is an essential element in an affair such as that now under discussion ; and every day wasted represents so much money lost — as well to the speculator as to the district. We observe that' our " slow neighbors," as we scornfully call tnem, in Nelson, have obtaiued the passing of the necessary Act by the Assembly, and that the " Nelson, Westport, and Cobden Railway" will soon be taken in hand by men who have a greater opinion of the vjilue of time and money than are to be found among the municipal representatives of the progressive and go-ahead town of Hokitika. In fact, the only thing that is at present causing discussion in Nelson is — not whether a^ railway would be of advantage, for that' is apparent to the poorest capacity — "but whether a line capable of being wprked by locomotive or by horse-power should be constructed. On this point the ''Nelson jasmine?" of the 1 8th

inst. sayh :—": — " As the object we have iv view is to open the heart of our province by roads, v we are not so wedded to the idea of this being done by the aid of locomotives on a railway, as to refuse to consider any other course, supposing the one first named to be impractic ible. A horse-railway would be a very excellent substitute for a better class of railway, if that better class of rail way could not be obtained ; but -.before we give up the idea of seeing a railway- carried to the West Coast, capable of being worked by locomotives, we must be "convinced that the cost of such a work is beyond our means, and that the traffic on it would not adequately pay for its maintenance. It has been estimated that the cost -of constructing a railway from Nelson to the West Coast would be L6OOO amile, but against this opinion we will place that of our Provincial Engineer, who. certainly should be an authority on such a question, and whe moreover hns # had the advantage of seeing the whole of the proposed line ; and Mr Blackett's estimate, as given in evidence before a committee 01 the Provincial Council, was, that a railway, with a gauge of four feet,- capable of being worked by locomotives, might be constructed for L3OOO a mile, or from that to L 3500. This, we may say, was considered as a very, high estimate ; v and other gentlemen, competent to give an opinion on the question, were of opinion that a railway with, a gauge of three feet six inches, capable of being worked by locomotives, might be constructed for the whole distance at L 2500 a mile. If we turn to actual facts, dismissing mere conjecture, we know for certain that a portion of the Queensland line, with a gauge of three feet six inches, has cost LSOOO a mile, including rolling stock, stations, wire fencing, and everything but the land. From the scarcity of gravel on that line, the ballasting alone has cost LBOO a mile; this, on our proposed line, might be clone for at most L 250 a mile. Then the timber for sleepers and bridges in Queensland had to be carried a long distance, every sleeper cost three shillings ; while in our case, timber suitable for sleepers and bridges abound along the whole route. We have no wish to shut our eyes to the probablo real cost of the work, but on the other hand we wish to guard the public against any misconception arising from difficulties that are not real."

We should hope that, after reading the above evidences of energy and enterprise in the sister province, and observing the readiness with which such an effort at improvement is there appreciated, the gentlemen who fornr the "opposition" in our Council will, at their next meeting, act more in accordance with the spirit of the age in which we live, and no longer offer either factious opposition or lukewarm support to a work that must prove eventually of far more advantage to the district than' can at present be realised, and tend towards renclering the West Coast less a place of temporary exile than a desirable residence.