The Westport Times. AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1870.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 746, 6 December 1870, Page 2

The Westport Times. AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1870.

Ik our last issue we published a letter from Mr E. C. Chambers, of Melbourne holding out some hope that a company may be organised for the purpose of working the Mount Rochfort coalfield. It would be impossible to reply to the queries contained in the letter, either in respect to' whether the Government would consent to lease the ground to a com-. pany, or that any assistance would be offered in developing the mine, until the Council meet and decide what is to be done with the Nelson and Cobden railway scheme. Some time back, on the General Government coming down with a proposition to construct, among other lines, a railway from Nelson to Fox Hill, there appeared a probability of the present scheme being abandoned in favor of the project proposed by the Ministry ; and, of course, if the negotiations are brought to a close (which shall include the Buller coalfield in the grant) for the construction of a railway to the West Coast, any difficulty in the way oi leasing the area to a company will be at once removed. With respect to the assistance likely to be given to a company, either by way of guarantee or a bonus in the shape of land, a large measure of support can scarcely be looked for under the existing condition of things. The Superintendent of the Province, on the occasion of his recent visit, did not appear to think that these coalfields were likely to be turned to any profitable account, owing to the large sum of money which, in his opinion, would be required in order to connect the mines with the port. It, by no means, follows that because Mr Curtis has given expression to such an opinion that, therefore, his judgment must be correct. No doubt if we were in possession of all the correspondence thai Has paseed between the Nelson Provincial Government and Mr Morrison, the London agent, to whom was confided the task of arranging the preliminaries for a line of railway from Nelson to the West Coast, we should find very different views expressed with respect to the capital necessary for the effective working of the mine. What is now represented as too costly an undertaking may then have been put forward as a very feasible and profitable undertaking. Indeed it is well known that much stress has been laid by Mr Curtis and his government upon the immense value attached to a grant of the Mount Eochfort coalfield. If it has always been in view only to surrender it in consideration of a line of railway being constructed through the Province, and if it was once deemed of such value as to be inseparably bound up with a scheme that Mr Curtis had greatly at heart, we fail to comprehend how it should thus suddenly have become of but comparatively insignificant value. If it were held to be of great commercial importance when it formed a portion of the bait by which English capitalists were to be induced to build us a line of railway, it should still possess the necessary quallifications to recommend it as an undertaking in which capital may be very profitably invested. The subject of utilising the coalfields of New Zealand is one of such importance that we fully anticipate it will form the subject of enquiry during the ensuing session of the General Assembly, and there is a great probability that some very determined effort will be made to secure to New Zealand, if not a portion of the Pacific and China trade, at least the home trade in this mineral. With the certainty of a large steam service between California and New Zealand, a daily increasing demand for coal for our interprovincial services and for domestic and manufacturing purposes, it would be strange indeed if coal seams of the fiuest quality, of almost unlimited area and presenting great facility for working were permitted to continue long idle, while every port in the Colony is being supplied from New South Wales. It is estimated that £150,000 annually is disbursed by the Colony in payment for Newcastle coal. In a few years this Bum will probably be doubled, and in view of the possibility of so large an amount being profifcablyexpended within the Colony, it is almost a matter of certainty that the development of the coalfields will engage the attention of Parliament. In the event of this forming the subject of enquiry it is* not likely that our claims will be overlooked. The coal baa already been so favorably Reported upon, its qualities, as a steaming fuel, have' been pronounced by the highest and most competent authority to be scarcely surpassed, by any coal in the world, while its exceptional toughness would greatly facilitate its tranship, ment either beyond the seas or to the

various porta of the Colony. With so many advantages it is, indeed, matter for surprise that this coalfield has not long since engaged the attention of outside capitalists. It only remains for us, when the time arrives, through our representative iu the Assembly to direct the attention of Parliament to the vast mine of wealth, which only requires development in order to form one of the chief articles of export from the Colony.