LYLEL AND UPPER BULLER.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1080, 13 June 1873, Page 2

LYLEL AND UPPER BULLER.

(from our. own correspondent.) It would he a God-send to th e inhabitants of this district if some on e of ourM.P.C.'s afflicted with a little more brains than the majority of his brother Councillors, would move that a sum of money be placed upon 1110 Estimates " and" expended " for the purpose of erecting a Lunatic Asylum for the accommodation of the members of tho Nelson Inland Communication Committee, and, if possible, appoint Messrs Curtis and Sheppard joint Superintendents thereof. After a personal examination of a large portion of the country through which it is intended to construct the proposed railway, I can come to no other conclusion than, that none but a lunatic would ever dream of carrying out such a proposition j in fact-I have no hesitation in asserting in plain English that if a body of men, knowing tho actual condition of the country through

which the railway would run, and acting on behalf of a community, did seriously ! propose to carry out such * Work-, they would be guilty of a most dishonorable action, for by doing so they would bring the whole community into discredit,,debt-, and ruin, as it is, it is plainly to be seen that there is nothing in the district to warrant tho construction of a railway, and moreover the railway agitation is doing a power of harms delaying the construction of necessary works, such as roads and bridges; Works Which, if performed at once, would stimulate the inhabitants to increased exertions in the way of clearing land and improving their homes, and would lead to the permanent increase of a settled population in the district. . Starting from the Lyell and following the Buller river up to its junction with the Maruia—some fifteen miles —on either side of the river small patches of ground are occasionally to be met with .varying in extent from ten to fifty acres, half of which, in many instances-, is only fit for agricultural purposes* but all more or lees auriferous. Here I may state that half the agricultural leases applied for as such, are not intended to be devoted to such pursuits* but are taken up with the view at some future time of being Worked or Used for mining purposes; and the miners are not to be hlamed for this-, on the contrary they are pursuing a course that will eventually be found to be a Wise and far seeing one. They are trying to defend themselves from the consequences arising from the stupid acts of an idiotic Government. The country is essentially a mining country, and should be treated and fostered as such. Pursuing my subject* from the junction of the Maruia and Buller to the junction of the Matakitaki with the Buller, the valley is more open and the ground more suitable for agricultural and pastoral pursuits j but a dozen fair sized dairy farms would, swamp the lot, and the greater part of this land is already secured, so that you might just as well, and with as much \ sense* talk of locating the expected fl immigrants Ob the top of .Mount Cook"* as in the Valley of the Buller, so far as agricultural pursuits are concerned. I am well aware that my description of*, and reiharks Ob, the capabilities and resources of the Buller and Matakitaki Valley will be received by the Inland Communication Committee id anything hut a friendly spirit; but when a few men band themselves together for the purpose of destroying the vital interests of a community} either through ignorance* or to suit their Own se'fiish purposes* the must expect, and be prepared to find in that community some, at ill events; who have the courage and ability to stand up for what is right, and to condemn that which is wrong. A prisoner; after thirty years' solitary confinement On the Rock of Gibraltar, suddenly let loose in tho Valley of the Matakitaki might think he was in fairyland ; but to a man whom a kind Providence had endowed with a fair share of common sense, and more especially who had travelled the wide world o'er (include ing New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland), to talk to such a one of the advantageous settlement of an agricultural community in the Valleys of the Buller and Matakitaki is, I consider* to offer him a worse insult than a slap in the face, and a folly second only to proposing to run a railway down the banks ot the said rivers: What should be done by the Governs ment if they really want to make the community a selfsupporting one, and a large contributor to the state purse" is this,—strain eVery nerve in helping the miner to prospect the surrounding country, open it up by tutting tracks* and survey lines to all accessible points j make o dray road from the Lyell to the junction of the Buller and Matakitaki rivers. Do this and do it at once. Never mind immigrants* for unless this is done the iinrriigrar J* wont be able to make.a living* and, use a vulgar expression, they will " slide " to some other more favorable locality. Help on in every manner the great interests of the district* viz.* mining, both quartz and alluvial. We have quartz reefs Second to ndrie in the world, and aft area of payable alluvial ground almost beyond comprehension. Help the miners to extract the gold from mother earth* and rost assured the miners in their turn will support the spud producing portion of the population. By adopting this lino of policy and this only* will the Go; vernment ever succeed in permanently settling a population on the banks Of these rivers. By adoptiug tho course proposed by the Inland Communication Committee, they will ere long find themselves under the painful necessity of hiring the valuable services of the 1 Matakitaki dredging iriaehino for the purpose of searching after the remains of the last Matakitaki miner, who it is presumed will have committed suicide in disgust at the want of sense shown by a "paternal Government," acting on the advice of an idiotic Inland Communication Committee. i * e si 8. Severe storms have vistod this district, and it has rained incessantly for several days. There .is an immense body of water la the Buller and Matakitaki rivers,- also heavy snow on the mountains. All Communication is stopped, and no sign of the mail—now two days overdtie. In consequence of the flooded state of the rivers Warden Broad did not reach here till the 31st ult. instead of the 30th; Mr Broad opened Court oil on tho same morning, disposed of an unusually large number of cases'

and returned 'to Christy's the same evenirg. ... The stone in the Break o'Day is really something magnificent, and expected to go from 16 to 20oz to the ton.