THE NELSON AND COBDEN RAILWAY.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 523, 29 June 1869, Page 2

THE NELSON AND COBDEN RAILWAY.

(From the Nelson Examiner?)

To those who have advocated the scheme of the Nelson and Cobdeu Railway, it. will be a matter of great congratulation to hear that persons of the highest respectability in England are giving it a favorable countenance, and that under their auspices a company is probably by this time formed, and the scheme fairly launched on the Stock Exchange by the highly respectable firm of Barnett and Ellis. The particulars, as forwarded to the Superintendent by Mr J. Morrison, by the last mail, are these. Immediately on the receipt of his powers from the Superintendent, and the necessary plans and documents, Mr Morrison put himself iuto commuuication with various gentlemen. Colouel Maude, of the Royal Engineers, by a letter to Mr Morrison written on the sth of April, appears to have taken a warm interest in the undertaking ; and having possessed himself of all the information obtainable relative to the proposed railway, submitted it to Colonel Clarke, R.E., Mr Jennctt Brown, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trade, Messrs Barnett and Ellis, stock brokers, Lord A. Churchill, Mr B. Lewis, C.E. of Victoria Railways, Mr Newry Barnett, M.P., Mr J. Briggs, and other gentlemen of discretion and experience ; and the result was that, on the 21st of April, lie wrote a second letter to Mr Morrison in which he discusses very fully the whole question, points out two or three discrepancies in the plans and statements sent home, and concludes by saying that, provided a few modifications are made, he and his friends will be prepared immediately with a prospectus of a company which shall embrace as directors, or as willing to give the scheme their hearty support, the following, among other gentlemen:—ll. Barnett, Esq., M.P. (of Hoare and Company), Robert Baxter, Esq., Sir C. Clifford,* the Duke of Manchester, Major 11. J. Sharp, Sir George Grey, K!C.B., Lord Bury, M.P., Lightly Simpson, Esq., Lord Colchester, Major-General Alexander, Sir Andrew Waugh, Sir W. Wiseman, Major-General Kavanagh, Hon. Reginald Capel, Edwin Clarke, Esq , C.E., and T. Briggs, Esq. - Colonel Maude proposes in his letter that the capital of the company should be £2,000,000; that 2,000 labourers and artizans, with their families, should be sent out from England, and that these men should be induced as far as possible to become share holders in the undertaking; that the company should despatch an agent at once to the colony to ratify

the agreement, together with surveyors to make a more complete survey of the proposed line ; and that a Board of Management shall be formed in Nelson to act in concert with the Board of Directors in London. Colonel Maude concludes by saying that, pending necessary precautions, he sees nothing to prevent the successful formation of the company, and believes that the requisite capital can be raised to enable the work to be commenced at an early date. We shall sing no peans over this most gratifying news until measures are further advanced. The matter at present wears a promising aspect, and we sincerely hope nothing will occur to prevent its being carried into effect.