THE NELSON EXAMINER. Wednesday, April 23, 1862.

Journal! become more necessary as men become more equal »nd individuklUm more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to luppose that they serve only to secure liberty i tttey maintain cirilixation.

Da Tocqoevillk. Of Democracy in America, vol. v.,230.

Explorations made within the last week on the slopes of the Dun Mountain range which drain into the north branch of the Wairoa river, have disclosed vast accessions to our mineral treasures, both of chrome and copper ore. Blocks and reefs of rich chrome, of considerable magnitude and thickness, have been discovered, as well as several highly promising veins of copper ; going far to confirm the opinion which has long been entertained by men of geological experience, that the whole range of mountains on the east side of Blind Bay, and the Waimea and Wai-iti valleys, from D'TJrville's Island to the Eed Hill, near the Top House, is rich in mineral wealth and only awaits capital and labour to develop it. The question which naturally arises out of these discoveries, and others previously made in the same localities, is, how this great mineral wealth is to be turned to account ; how the chrome and copper ores now lying uselessly within thirty miles of a port, can be worked and conveyed to a spot where they will possess a high mercantile value, and thus be rendered profitable to individuals, and to Nelson as a community ? The one difficulty to be overcome is that of carriage, which, unless reduced to a minimum charge, eats so largely into profits as to render these ores comparatively valueless. Much of the country where our minerals are found is of a very inaccessible character, and cannot be reached by ordinary roads ; and, even were it otherwise, for carriage of so heavy a description it is more than questionable whether what are called ordinary roads, would not be more costly in construction, and be worked at a far greater expense, than iron roads, worked either by horse or steam power. Fortunately, the great problem of carriage has been solved for us by the Dun Mountain Company, whose railway, constructed at an expense of about £2,000 a mile, rises in fourteen miles to a height of 2,800 feet, coiling like a huge snake around the face of almost precipitous mountains, down the sides of which 100 tons of chrome are weekly conveyed, by the laws of gravitation, to the outskirts of, our town, and thence are drawn along the line by horses to the port for shipment, at an expense of about 10s. per ton for carriage, less the interest on the capital sunk in the plant. This supply is limited at present only by the horse-power employed in drawing up the empty trucks to the mine, and will doubtless be greatly extended, when more stabling is provided, and other necessary arrangements made. Before their railway was constructed, the Company paid £6 a ton for packing the chcome down from the mine, and found it impossible to get any quantity of ore delivered even at that price. Here then we have data to go upon. The Dun Mountain Company have shown us, 1. That no country, however rugged by nature, is unapproachable by railway. 2. That a railway or horse-tramway is more cheaply made than a common road, particularly where the ground is of a rugged character. 3. That the after charges on such a road

are less than on common roads, and that the carriage is cheaper. These important facts the Dun Mountain Kailway has already demonstrated, and there are other advantages which it will work out for us as well. It is dear then that a railway must be

constructed on the banks of the Wairoa, with branches to the various mines, which, sooner or later, will be worked on the hills drained by the tributaries of that river. We have it, on the best authority, that in Aniseed and the neighbouring valleys, chrome ore sufficient to pay the entire cost of such a railway lies upon the surface of the ground, ready for removal, without mining for it at all. Here ig a certain field of employment at once for several hundred men, more certain in character than digging for gold, without taking into consideration the working of copper mines, and the smelting of copper ore, for which our coal from the Buller will quickly furnish the fuel. If any considerable delay arises before active steps are taken to realise these advantages for us, it will reflect not only upon ourselves as a community, but show that our regulations for the leasing and disposal of mineral lands are defective, since we cannot believe that under proper management any such delay could arise. The whole matter is worthy the consideration of our local Government, and we hope that it will see to it.

The Postmaster- General, in his attempt to satisfy all the provinces of New Zealand by a new postal scheme, has earned for himself only an overwhelming amount of displeasure. We cannot say that this surprises us, seeing the way in which Mr. Crosbie Ward set about his task, ignoring altogether the opinions of the colonists on the subject, and arrogating to himself not only the ability to know, but the right to say, what was proper and fitting for our various interests. Mr. Ward's conduct throughout the whole transaction has. been characterized, we are sorry to say, by a want of candour and ingenuousness ; for while he has been " all things to all men " with whom he came in contact, it has unfortunately happened, in more cases than one, that, after leaving a province, the persons he had spoken to on the subject of postal changes found out that .they had quite misunderstood Mr, Ward, or that Mr. Ward had misunderstood them.

The article which will be found in another column, copied from the Lyttelton Times, may be regarded as an official statement of the Postmaster- General's new postal scheme, and the extracts which follow, from the Wellington and Otago papers, will show how it has been received in those provinces. What the positions of Nelson and Marlborough are to be, we cannot yet well make out, nor have we been told the additional cost to the colony which the change will involve.

The English February mail, which should have reached us yesterday, or on the day preceding had it arrived in due time in Sydney, has not yet come to hand, nor do we know when, or through what channel, we may expect to get it, now that the old postal arrangements have been changed without care previously taken to substitute others in their stead. Our mails, as we supposed, were to have come through Otago, but the Government has failed to make any contract to get the mail conveyed from Melbourne to Otago, and its transmission will be dependent upon the chance sailing of steamers. We have been led to expect that a steamer will continue to run from Sydney to Nelson and sne or more of the central ports of the colony, but we know nothing about her time of sailing, and then we are told she is not to be a mail steamer. Our hope, however, is soon to see the Lord Worsley arrive with the mails from Sydney notwithstanding.

The letters from our Paris correspondent, which appear in the Examiner to-day, should have been published nearly a month since, but they were missent to Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, and only reached us by the "Wonga "Wonga yesterday, via "Wellington and Sydney. The first letter, our fair readers will perceive, is devoted almost wholly to the fashions of Paris, and no doubt will be appreciated by them. The second letter treats of more general subjects.