The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 254, 31 December 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1866.

We have seen a letter from 'Mr. Young, contractor of Melbourne, to Mr. Coo, Civil Engineer, of this town, in which be states that "the proposition for letting the line for a term of years, is rather laughable as a security, as no man or company would take the risk of running tliat line, population or no population, and especially where the latter is of so migratory a character." This plan was hit upon by the Superintendent nnd endorsed by the Council, as one likely to be atiracthe to contractors. If Mr. Young may be considered fairly to represent that body, the plan is a failure, and the sooner the Council nnd the public make up their minds to regard it so the better. The writer continues in the same letter, ** if the people really want the line they must survey it and publish lithographic plans and sections and full particulars of the country they intend to offer as payment, or they may a-jitate for a railway till dooms-day and will not get it." We are aware that the Provincial Government are uoav preparing plans in acccorehmce with the understanding i come to at' the late special meeting of the Council, but. Avhether these plans Avill be sufj hciently explicit to meet the views of contractors is quite another question. In all probability th«'y are merely an enlargement and amplification of already existing surveys, and will fall short in giving the iu forma tion which railway men require as data for their calculations. The real question at issue is one of expense. We have already seen that, tho present Superintendent has declined to he responsible for any considerable outlay for a Avork Avhich he regards as one of questionable value, nnd the Council have slioavu no disposition to incur expense, in that direction. According fo Mr. Young tlie nominal leasing scheme Avill fail to prove attractive, and Ave may rest, assured tbat the selling of a pig iu a poke, is a much more likely thing than the getting contractors to of Fer to construct a line without being put iu possession of all the detail which they regard as indispensable for tlie basis of their calculations. We have before stated that Ave do not blame the Supeiintendent for hesitating to incur a great expense in a preliminary survey of the i projected line before knowing that the Council nnd the public will endorse his acts, but we think the time lias come when the Council should take 'a step still further in advance. It does not folloAv that" because' money should hot be thrown, away haphazard no money should be spent at all. We are instructed lhat a survey of the line that would be ample for all practical purposes could be effected at a cost of a few hundred pounds. Where such great advantages are in prospect, it would be like spoiling a ship for want of a bucket of 'tar to refuse to sanction so inconsiderable an outlay. The railway to the Buller and Grey i.-t either a practicable thing or a gross delusion. If it is the latter let the sham be exposed afc once, and the public mind set afc rest by being convinced "that' they have clamored for an advantage that is not Avithin the range of human possibilities. If the former, and the expense "of a few hundred pounds Avill solve the mysterious problem, let all rational means be employecKio prosecute tlie enterprise with an energy' worthy of its assumed' iriiportaiice. -Not pretending "to a 'professional' knowledge* of this question, we rely for information on the statements of men who have made engineering the i study of their lives. Mr F. Wakefield, /who' had *»\ experience of "sixteen years .'of ?roa'd-makiug in Tasmania," lias pledged his reputation that the difficulties in the way of constructing- an 'ordinary' road to the Grey' aire 'such' as w,duld ■be! easily overcome' by t'omufoh skill' aud perseverance. We have the assurance of Mr

Coe to the same effect, and his experience has been of" no ''contemptible kind, having' 'been district engineer on the iVhi<lr;s raiUvay, for several years engaged under Sir John Maeneill on home lines, and for ten years employed o.i various etigineerintr works'tlnder the British Government. We have, the authority of practical men that the line is practicable, and that, a comparatively inexpensive survey might be effected, aud "we now Avant. the Council to sanction the expen r diture of the money. '•'••'. g It is stated on good authority that only tAvo cuttings of any importance would' be required : one through, the lange dividing the Waimea and Motueka valleys ; the other through the hills which separate the Motueka from the Motupipi. Both are low "saddles, which might be passed by adopting a grade of about 1 in 60, with' about 30 to 40 feet cutting for a length of a quarter of a mile. The material being gravel, would pay for itself as hiillast. Practically, the remainder of the line may be said to be level, as l in 300, witli very slight embankments, is almost everywhere attainable. No tunnels' will be required, as has lately been falsely stated, nor are there any other engineering diifichlties of nn insuperable kind. The only bridges of imji^france are those that would be'requireaover the Wairo'a and the Buller rivers, as fVdm'on'e to three 30-feet arches \vilrtake the line over the rest, which are few*. Tfmber for sleepers as wellas 1 ballast is everywHero .abundant. The land is at least as good as that about Nelson, and in some of the tributary valleys it is rich and open. Ofteriybn the hills very good table land, suitable for crops exists, while towards the Grey tho plains are extensive and valuable. Mr. Coe ' informs us that our Indian lii es 5 feet' 6 inches gauge, with expensive bridges built on wells suLk about 40 feet below the level of the river. Avith cuttings of 10 over '^O'Teet in rock, aud embankments 42 feet high,' cost £6,000 per mile. " Here a 3, feet G inches gauge would be sufficient, and contractors would be found to construct it at, £5,000' 'or less, per mile. We understand that Mr. Coe has offered to provide tbe Provincial Government Avith a correct lohgiitudinal section of the line, to accompany the phms, the' section to be completed within the next, three months. We repeat, the question to -which the Provincial Government, the Council and the public will have to address themselves, is that of the expense of a survey, without which no contractors will trouble their heads about the matter.