The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 205, 31 October 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1866.

We wish we were able to inform our readers that any satisfactory progress had been made in reference to the railway, and yet we think we are warranted iu stating that the question has advanced a stage. The majority of the Nelson public have so made up their miuds to have a railway, that like the child who cried for the moon, their anger knows no bounds at the least intimation that their wishes will not be realised. Yet it is well to face the question boldly, estimate the difficulties to be overcome, and whilst employing all available means to secure the desired end on the one hand, avoid the disappointment which is sure to follow the indulgence of impracticable schemes on the other. If either the General or Provincial Government were in a position to furnish a million of money for railway purposes it would be a different thing, but the impoverished state of the colonial exchequer shuts the province up to its own resources, which consist solely of laud of questionable value; and the success of the railway enterprise depends entirely on the estimate which speculators and contractors may form of this land, and the extent to which they may regard it as an equivalent for the costly works they are expected to produce in its stead. "' lf there were no doubt of the value of the land the difficulty would cease at ouce, but till all doubt of this kind is removed, it is idle to fret because superhuman difficulties cannot be overcome, or blame those who are supposed to be responsible for action in the matter because they do not extemporise a vast public work, without any means whatever at their disposal to enable them to meet the public wishes. Till the opinion of competent judges has been ascertained respecting the value of the land it is proposed to give for railway purposes, it would be iule to speculate on the doubtful subject. This is a question that can be settled only by actual survey and examination, and there are plenty of men in the province capable of forming a correct judgment, and puttiug an end to the painful uncertainty. During the last sitting of the Council one of the oldest settlers, a surveyor by profession, and an eminently practical man, expressed a strong opinion that the land iu question contained resources which if developed would go a long way' to furnish au equivalent for the outlay that a railway would require. We are aware that the Superintendent, who has been over the land, has come to an entirely different conclusion, and has expressed an opinion that no contractor would look at it as a valuable consideration for au expensive railway work, such as that we want to introduce. It must be borne in mind, however, that the land of a new country in an uncultivated state, is not to be compared with the same land when the labor and industry of man have been spent upon it, aud -that half the cultivated land of the colony presented quite as unpromising an aspect before abandoned by the noble savage who roamed over it to the enterprising settler, who has dotted it with flourishing farms aud smiling homesteads. The land, too, that is fit for pastoral purposes only, is susceptible of iudefinite improvement by the cultivation of English grasses and other matters well known to the skilful cultivator. We are informed that a deputation of townsmen interested in the progress of the railway, have recently waited on the Superintendent, to elicit an expresssion of opinion from him, as to the course he was likely to pursue. The Superintendent did not conceal his views in refereuce to the comparative valuelessness of the land in question, but threw out one or two valuable suggestions which may, if carried out, do much to obviate the difficulties which stand at the threshold of the undertaking. He suggested, we are informed, that he should be empowered to offer, in addition to the laud, the whole advantages of the line when constructedj for a period of years, by which arrangement, if

it were accepted, the public would get the liue and the contractors obtain an equivalent for their outlay. The Superintendent, also undertook to call together all the members of the Provincial Council, who might find it convenient to attend, for -the purpose of dis-; cussing the question, and finding a solution for its difficulties, if possible. The whole question turns, then, on the possibility of furnishing an equivalent for the line to be constructed. If the laud is not sufficiently valuable, what has the province to offer in addition ? There is no lack of capital and enterprising spirit in the Australian colonies, if the Provincial Government can succeed in showing that they have an article to dispose of worth the value they demand for it. We should imagine that the advantages to be derived from a lease of the liue, at a nominal charge, for a period of twenty years, would be sufficiently tempting to induce men of money and enterprise to look with favor on the offer. The matter will rest with the members of the Provincial Council, who are the representatives for the time being of the public interests in the matter. We have no anticipation that the individuals who carried the resolutions which led to the passing of the Railway Act, and who promised to indemnify the Superintendent for any putlay to which he might feel justified in going, will act otherwise than in the enlightened and patriotic mauner which distinguished their | former deliberations. When they have met and pronounced an opinion on the subject, it will be our duty to make such further comments as the case may seem to call for. Iu the meantime we think the position though surrounded with difficulties, is far from being ! a hopeless one, and if necessary the people must give their representatives that advice and support, which shall stimulate them to I persevere till the object be attained.