The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1871.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 794, 28 March 1871, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. In the cause of Truth and Justice we strive. TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1871.

It requires no elaborate argument to prove that the working of the Mount Eoehfort coal-mines is one of the most important questions that can engage the attention of the Nelson Provincial Council; and now that the ISelson and Cobden Railway scheme is abandoned, one of the chief obstacles to the establishment of this valuable industry has been removed. The efforts being made to foster local industries, and the large scale on which it is proposed to introduce immigrants render the present moment peculiarly suitable, to the opening of the coalfield. It is very certain that for the purposes of steam communication, for the i7itroduction of a'ud for tho prosperity of any

industry iu which operations are facilitated by stoam power, cheap coal is the first necessity. Wo need hardly point to tho commercial greatness of the mother country, and to the chief causes which have led to tho extraordinary development of her manufactures, in order to demonstrate that tho working of the coalfields is very intimately associated with the progress of the Province and of the Colony. There is scarcely any article of general consumption, now imported, the manufacture of which is not facilitated by steam power, and if these are to be advantageously replaced by colonial products and manufactures, we must avail ourselves very largely of this means of lessening the cost of product ion. The chief obstacle to the working of the mine has been the anxiety of the Nelson people and the inhabitants of the north-east portion of tho Province to secure a main line of railway from Nelson to the West Coast districts, and as the Puller coalfield was held to form one of the chief considerations offered to a company to construct a lino of railway, it will readily be understood that no separate scheme for working the mine was entertained so long as there appeared the smallest chance of the railway negotiations proving successful. It is not of material importance whether the apparent inclination to abandon any further prosecution of the railway scheme is clue to a consciousness of the futility of persistence, or to the fact of the General Government having provided for a line of railway between Nelson and Poxhili. During the ensuing session, the Council may decide to separate the coalfield from the railway scheme, and thus open the way to the adoption of the measures necessary to the working of Mount Eochfort. We trust that definite proposals will be made to the Council. We believe that the Province would bo fully justified in asking the Colonial Government to authorize a small loan for the purpose of working the mine, or to guarantee interest for a limited number of years to a company with the necessary capital. There appears to have been a good deal of misconception in respect to the probable cost of the works necessary to connect the coal field with the port. Several proposals for working the coalfield have been unfavourably received ; and since estimates have been formed of the cost of a railway between the mine and Westport, which fixed the capital at £70,000, while the Superintendent expressed a belief that a larger sum would be required. In fact, any difficulties that might exist were made tho most of, while, at the same moment, the accredited agent of the Province in London was depicting tho vast advantages any railway company must receive from the possession of coalmines of surpassing quality and extent, presenting extraordinary facility in working, while there existed a large and daily increasing consumption for the fuel. Jt will eventually be found that the matter has not been minutely investigated, at least we can place no confidence in any estimates that have beeu hitherto formed, as the persistent advocates of the Provincial railway scheme would be apt to exaggerate the difficulties of any proposal with counter interests. It must also be remembered that very great improvements havffbeen made recently in the matter of railways, wire tramways, &c, resulting in an extraordinary reduction in the cost of construction and a corresponding economy in the working expenses. We are not prepared with figures to show what would be the cost of a railway or wire tramway capable of delivering a sufficient quantity of coal, nor yet can we hazard a conjecture as to the probable consumption, but we believe it would be practically unlimited as the coal possesses all the properties of a first-class steam fuel. We are given to understand that proposals will be made to the Provincial Council by several influential firms in Victoria to undertake the working of tho Mount Eochfort Coalfield, and estimates have been submitted to us from which we can confidently say that a moderate guarantee and a grant of the coalfield will be sufficient inducement to ensure immediate operations. It is not easy to find grounds upon which tho Provincial Government could refuse the guarantee, as, apart from the direct advantage resulting from the development of so important a resource, tho increase to tho Provincial revenue, arising from the increased population

and the expenditure of largo sums necessary in constructing tho preliminary works, would yield an immediate and permanent return, more than equivalent to tho guarantee.