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Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 704, 30 August 1870, Page 2

By the last San Francisco mail we looked forward anxiously for some intelligence with respect to the negotiations in London for the construction of tho Nelson and Cobden line of railway. Some communication relative to the matter has, doubtless, been received, and in the absence of any publicity as to its nature, it must be concluded that the news received is not of a character promising the speedy development of the scheme. The proposal of the Colonial Government to guarantee interest upon the capital expended in a line from Nelson to Fox Hill is calculated to diminish the interest felt by the people of the Province outside the goldftelds, in the Nelson and Cobden scheme, and it is more than likely that if the present negotiations fail, the project will, for the present at least, be abandoned. Public opinion upon the goldflelds has been always the same in respect to the impracticability of the scheme, and, therefore, its falling through will noL have any dispiriting influence upon the community, beyond a natural regret that much time" and money have been was-ted in opposition to the wishes of those most interested in the question, and who have consistently advocated the rpening up of our readily

available resources rather than a lavish expenditure in futile attempts to carry out an extravagant project, certainly not warranted by the circumstances of the Province, and which could have little to recommend it to the favorable consideration of English capitalists. There is, however, one matter in connection with the Nelson and Cobdeu Railway proposal which renders it of grave importance to the Colony generally, and West port in particular, that the project should be speedily determined one way or the other, namely, the Mount Koch ford Coalfield. The quality of the coal, and the facility with which the field may he worked, together with the increased demand for this fuel arising within the Colony for domestic and steam purposes, scarcely admit of a doubt that if the Government were in a position to lease the iield to some individual or Company, the mines would be very qiih-ldy turned to advantage. So long, however, ad the mineral deposits of Mouut Kochfort form a portion of the grant to the proposed Nelson and Cobden Railway Company, and negotiations for the execution of this scheme are permitted to extend over an indefinite period, there can be no opportunity of turning to advantage the vast coal deposits of the district. The members of the Provincial Council cannot but bo fully alive to the desirability of developing the Buller Coalfields, and to attain that object, the first step should be to withdraw them from the grant offered the Company for the construction of the proposed railway.