The Daily Telegraph MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3101, 6 June 1881, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1881.

At the last meeting of the Waipawa County Council a motion was carried which rescinded a former resolution that made the maintenance of the main road through the Seventy-mile Bush a first charge on the County. The maintenance of the road is a heavy burden on the county funds, and it is not surprising that the Council has declined to bear it any longer. For the greater part of its length the road passes through Crown and native lands, and being a main arterial highway it should certainly be kept in repair at the direct cost of the Government, or a substantial subsidy should be granted to the Council for that purpose. Local Government institutions are unequal to the demands made upon them, and the whole scheme provided in the place of provincial machinery has proved a wretched failure. We are feeling this more and more to be the case every day. For instance, the inability of the Waipawa Council to keep the Bush road open will drive the township of Woodville, and the many rising small farm settlements in it* neighborhood, to seek a more conveniently situated centre than Napier. If Woodville were to study its own interests it would take steps to cut itself off altogether from Waipawa County and attach itself to Manawatu. The County of Manawatu is bidding high for the Woodville trade, as may be seen from the following article which we have clipped from the Manawatu Standard:—Our correspondent in Woodville in his communication of Saturday last, thus writes : —" It is stated here semi-officially that a new line through the Gorge from Palmerston to Woodville has been found, and that it can be constructed for one hundred thousand pounds, or less thai half the original estimate. People here are exceedingly anxious for the success of the West Coast railway scheme. They feel confident that a branch line to Woodville will undoubtedly follow, especially since tbe discovery of a new and economical route." He further stated :—There is considerable agitation for the erection of a bridge at the Lower Ferry. The timber could be bad on the ground at 6s 6d per hundred ; tbe work is urgently wanted, as traffic is expensive and now very heavy." If there is a place in the North Island which direct railway communication would benefit, it is Woodville. The country adjacent to the present township, though for the most part is still of the most fertile description. Where could a better block of country be found for instance, than the property of Mr Ormond on the banks of the Manawatu river; and there are thousands of acres of equally good soil around Woodville, and in its immediate vicinity ? Railway communication with an existing line woull do the district incalculable benefit. The distance from Napier is too great, and were facilities offered, the trade to Woodville could be easily diverted hitherward. As matters are at present, Woodville is almost isolated. A railway through the Gorge would benefit both Palmerston and Woodville immensely. Of course we are assuming that the West Coast railway is even now as good as constructed. Settlement does not advance with any great rapidity in and around Woodville, chiefly for the reason that it is so difficult of access. The cost of conveyance of goods, too, is necessarily high, because of the difficulties of tbe route, and tbe tolls that have to be paid. The railway would remove these hindrances to progress, and Woodville would forge ahead rapidly, and Palmerston would share in the prosperity attending its advancement. Under these circumstances the Palmerston-Woodville railway should rank as a most important colonial undertaking. The engineering difficulties are not insurmountable, and the cost is by no means extravagant, at least in proportion to the advantages secured.