THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 21, 1878.

Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3099, 22 July 1878, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 21, 1878.

On Saturday we had the satisfaction of j publishing in the form of an extra the following telegram received by the Town Clerk from his Worship the Mayor, and countersigned by the County Chairman j and Messrs Kennedy and Woolcock :— ' " The deputation interviewed Ministers this morning. Mr Macandrew promised that the harbor works would be proceeded with immediately without waiting for the vote of i Parliament. He also promised that tenders should be called for the erection of coal ataiths at once. The question of providing the port with a steam tug in j connection with the Brunner Railway was favorably entertained, and will be dealt | with by the Ministers in Cabinet. Ministers promised that the harbor works would be proceeded with more vigorously als Sir John Coode's interim report favors the ultimate success of the design." ! This information may be considered satisfactory, and it proves that when the rjublic have right on their side there is nothing like persistency. Only a short time ago the Government asserted that it was impossible to proceed with the Harbor Works without the consent of Parliament. We pointed out that there was really no necessity to wait for Parliamentary authority, for. the reason that if the works were admittedly of a Colonial character, the Government had sufficient authority to proceed with them, if e^ven they had afterwards to get a Parliamentary indemnity. We know that ' many persons held the opiniou that it

was unwise to pester the Government, and who predicted that the deputation would be of no use, but we thought differently and were satisfied that a close personal conference with Ministers would effect more than volumes of resolutions, although these are of course valuable as a support of public delegates. It is a matter of congratulation that all that could reasonably have been expected has been conceded, and it is not too much to say that the telegram published by us on Saturday had the effect of reviving confidence in the future of the district, and of really enhancing the value of property. Many persons who felt dispirited, and wonld have sacrificed their property here for what it would fetch, have now taken heart of grace, and are encouraged to remain. It is to be hoped that the prosecution of the works will be resumed at once ; and there is the greater reason to expect that this will be the case, when we learn that Sir John Coode, in his interim report, favors the general principle of the present design. On the whole, the public have a right to be satisfied, not alone with the action of the Government, but with their own efforts to bring legitimate pressure on the Ministry. The happy results just brought about exemplify in the most positive manner the value of public agitation when a righteous cause is in question, and the lesson should not be lost sight of in the future.