The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1871.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 766, 21 January 1871, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1871.

A question which is daily becoming invested with increased importance, and which sooner or later must become one of paramount interest, is whether or not, and by what means, may the navigability of the Builer river be improved. During tho last session of the Provincial Council it was recommended that investigations should be made, and a report furnished upon the subject. This report has been long looked forward to with interest, and the time has now arrived that the matter, as one very materially affecting the interests of a large area of the Province, should not be delayed. In many respects, and notably in regard to affording facilities of communication to the more distant portions of the Province, Kelson offers at once a striking and unfavorable contrast to the sister provinces of Canterbury and Otago. "With them the introduction of the road steamer—which bids fair to absorb all other means of land carriage—has become an accomplished fact ; and even in the most distant and least accessible portion of these two provinces, we hear of these appliances being employed. The mere fact that our southern neighbors are in a position thus early to benefit by the invention, would, at least, argue the possession of a road system, between which and the means of communication in the Nelson Province it were altogether idle to institute a comparison.

And Otago's example may be cited with equal force when the relative merits of the inland water communication come to be considered. Without doubt, Otago possesses natural facili ties in a larger degree than this Province ; the physical configuration of the country admits of roads being more cheaply constructed, while her rivers, and notably the Clutha, possess advantages for traffic which no artificial aid could supply to the Buller river. But there is no insurmountable obstacle in the way of very greatly improving the means at our command. At present the navigation of the Buller river is greatly impeded, and, indeed, rendered highly dangerous by the numerous snags obstructing the channel, and it certainly would neither require any great amount of skill or labor to effect a very marked improvement in this direction. To such an extent does this evil prevail that none of the experienced boatmen care to hazard the journey from Inangahua to "Westport after nightfall, and even with daylight during freshets the navigation of the river is not unattended with considerable risk. In the possible application of steamers of light draught of water to conduct the up-river traffic, a reliable report would be especially valuable, and it would also embrace the question of the practicability of permanently improving the entrance to the harbor, so as to admit of vessels of much larger draught than at present frequent the port. The working of the more valuable seams of coal in the Colony is pretty certain to engage the consideration of the Assembly, and in deliberating upon the desirability of opening up the Mount Eochfort field, the advantages of the Buller as a port will form a very important feature for consideration.