WELLINGTON AND ITS BACK COUNTRY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 17, 18 December 1883, Page 2

WELLINGTON AND ITS BACK COUNTRY.

' (Wellington Paper.) „' The time qlraws near for opening the first; finished'' section of the new railway coramuniciation to Manawatu and the West Coast, The progress made in survey and construction since the Wellington and; Manawatu Railway. Compauy commenced active operations, after getting the necessary powers froni Parliament, is now visible at many points along two-thirds of tlie whole length. Only a short gap in the middle remains to bs let for construc'lion ; so that the: rate of progress made in railway construction by a local company^ operating with private capital, will compare favorably with railway progress under Government inanagement in districts which have, to depend entirely on what is called Government energy. The colonial railway scheme had been so managed in this district, before this private company was formed, that the central harbor of the colony remained isolated from two rich and extensive areas of land which will be a surprise to most people wheu better known, these areas being the natural feeding ground for a commercial harbor. ; Most visitors to Wellington, and many residents in it, form their impressions of the back countiy from what they can see of the hilly region adjacent to the ; harbor, or from a short run up the Wairarapa Yalley. Nothing could be = more deceptive than casual outer glimpses of this . : extensive province, whose good lanl lies away behind the rugged coast, in vast stretches of lime- - stono country inland" of Poxton, Pal—' merston, and Marton, with another enormous area of splendid bush-country sloping eastward from the Tararua Range. Since the railway company laid out their line to thte Mania watu, they have purchased from native owners numerous blocks of land, which; can hardly be equalled in its suitability for settlement. The natives air along the coast have been remarkably ready to co-operate with the company in opening the district to settlement ; and as this private railway is; i being constructed on the. land-grant system lately approved by 'Parliament, there is every indication that a long-neglected though naturally rich district will become populated, by means of this railway project, at a much earlier date than could be expected from the usual Government process of putting in the market one block at a time, with a long interval between the sales. A government which ha.s to open up a great country at many points, -by means of a limited yearly vote, cannot concentrate ics energy and expenditure on one district alone. All the provinces must have a share of the year'a expenditure ; so that the work of settlement goes on simultaneously at many points^ and nbt-ia great deal can be done at once in any *' neglected " district. It happens somehow that every district upbraids-tho Government for not spending money fast enough, while- there- are croaking ecohomislß who deplore the frightful rate at which our national debt increases. [To be continued.^: -