The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 23, 1866

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 119, 23 July 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 23, 1866

j The public await with considerable anxiety the result of the negotiations now pending I between certain Australian contractors aud | the Nelson j. rov -in .iai Government, in refer- . ence to the construction of a railway from ! Nelson to Cobden. It is stated on authority that contractors are to be found who will construct the railway in question on the con- '■ ditions offered by tiie Provincial Government, viz.. tho alienation of a certain quantity of the waste hm ds of the province./ It is also affirmed the General Government wili sanction ' the resolutions passed in favor of the scheme at the l.'ist sitting of the Provincial Council, and introduce into the I-fouse of Assembly, a measure that shall authorise the alienation of the lauds of the province for railway purposes. All this is in the right direction, aud encourages the hope that the time will at length arrive when cheap, easy, and rapid in-ter-communicntion will be established between Ni/ison and the gold-fields of the West Coast. The advantages of open.ig up the ! gold-fields have been so fully appreciated iv ' all r.ho colonies where auriferous treasures ■ have shown themselves that the Governments I of those colonies have never hesitated to • carry out at their own expense, works known to be so highly remunerative and indispensable to the development of the resources of those countries. Here, however, tho Government have declined to incur the responsibility;* ami it is left to private enterprise to accomplish what was evidently the impera- > rive duty of the Government. *=»* The people of Nelson will' be so glad to learn that a plan is on foot for opening a communication with tho western gold-fields, that they will not regard with a critical eye, the kind of road that shall be constructed, or the parries who become responsible for the completion of the work. Whether we are to reach tho Grey by a macadamised road, a Lramrond or a railroad, is not of so much importance as the ability to reach a country at all from which we are practically cut off, except hy a tedious and hiiz_rdons voyage which requires the most powerful inducements to tempt men to encounter its difficulties nud expose- themselves to its Jaugers. Our renders are aware that all of these plans have found advocates and supporters, and that there are not wanted powerful arguments to justify the adoption of any 'of them. Mr. Wakefield's plan to construct a macadamised road, met with a cool reception from the Provincial Council, but it did not convince liim that, it was not the most practicable, the best adapted to the circumstances of the province, and that which would be most rapidly completed. The tram-road seems to find favor with the people of tha West Coast, on account of its cheapness, and adaptability to the difficult country through which roads have to bo carried. If the necessary moans are forthcoming, the railway is unquestionably the most approved style of road, as the first expense having been got over, it is kept in repair at so comparatively little cost, nud if well constructed, as many colonial railways are, distauces all competition hy its strong and lasting nature. Wo are not so well acquainted with the nature of the negotiations to "which we have referred, as to be certain that we are not indulging iv a fallacious hope whose flattering tale will never be realised. Tho question of a road to the West Coast gold-fields, has never been advocated with the warmth and energy which its importance demands. The difficulties have been, exaggerated by some, and the advantages undervalued by others. The old bugbear of debt has been raised to terrify the timid, as if there were any impropriety in incurring debt, when the work is eminently reproductive, and the object to fix the population in the country, and add incalculably to the amount of national wealth. By the same class it is objected that the considcratiou offered by ihe Government, the waste lands of the province, wiii never be a sufficient. inducement to capitalists to burden themselves, with a work of such costand magnitude. We sincerely trust that the croakers are

wrong in their vaticinations and that thefuture -will prove that the scheme is not only practicable but remunerative to those who adopt it. Of one thing we are certain, that if Nelson be cut off much longer from the wealthy and populous gold-fields, with which an energetic effort would bring it iuto close communication, it will share the fate- of the places too numerous to mention, which knew not the time of their visitation, and courted obscurity, when a proper use of the opportunities afforded them, would have led them on to fortuue.