THE RAILWAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 92, 19 April 1886, Page 3

THE RAIL WAY.

(Lytteltoii Iwies, April 16.) That the East and- West Coast and Nelson Railway may be regarded now as an accomplished fact ib a fit ing and glorious ending to the long, straggle for its construction. Since the arrival of Mr Moorhouse in Lyttelton with Mr George Holmes as the accepted contractor for the tunnel, no item of news so magnificent has b< en chronicled in our columns. Those were the eariy days of railway enterprise which having just 'awakened, was threatened with a plunge back into the sleep of stagnation. A tunnel Was necessary, and an English firm of eminent engineers had declared a tunnel to be out of the question. Happily, there was in Canterbury a man and a party superior to eminent engineers, For them there * was no Buuh Word as ** impossible." Mr Moorhouse went to Australia, returned with a representative of a contracting firm, and the tunnel became a mere matter of so much blasting, delving, and removal of debris. Old settlers remember tbe cavalcade of horsemen who went to meet Mr Moorhouse on that occasion, as they remember the banners and the rejoicings. Then was begun in Canterfcury the construction of a scheme, of railway communication, starting inland boldly from the Eastern sea. To-day we welcome the news which assures us that this scheme after piercing the mountain chain of the Great Divide, will shortly touch the Western coast. As the Lyttelton tunnel was when Canterbury's Superintendent returned in triumph to begin the great work for which he had fought go long and so well, so is the West Coast Railway now. The tunnel was then a mere question of so much blasting, tracking, and navvy work generally. The railway is now a mere question of so much blasting, trucking, and navvy work generally. There is this advantage the work of to-day has over the work of that stirring time in the paßt. We have a railway system ; in our midst there are many of the best modern constructive appliances, and the supply of labour is ample In a word, the contractors have everything to their hand, where their predecessors had nothing. ■ • " * * • * This is the best solution of the railway problem. Substantial, valuable concessions have been made to tbe Syndicate, it is true. Bat they were concessions of land which? without the railway, would hare lain inert, perhaps for generations. Speed has been secured for the construction far beyond the rate at which the Colony could have found the means to complete it. The line would have had to carry for leaden years the dead weight oi the false economists who are bo numerous and powerful at the present juncture. Lastly, the resources of the western country will have a powerful Association of the leading capitalists and commercial men of tha British Empire, the first of their kind in the world, to foster their developement and to push' the sale of their splendid products in the markets of the world. The mere spending of the money on the line is something. But it is nothing in comparison with the magnificent permanent results we may fairly expect from the construction of the line. These form the public benefit which the promoters had in view when they took up the great work. The fact that they acted on public grounds alone has helped the chances of tbe railway immensely with the financial world, accustomed to another and a very differnt state of things. The Lyttelton Times of Friday last says :— Some of the more enthusiastic among the advocates of the railway celebrated the receipt of the news last night by serenading certain of the more prominent members of the League. For this purpose a four-iu-hand drag was procured, a band placed aboard, one enthusiast mounted the box to drive, while another prepared to scatter broadcast leaflets announcing the good news> A start was made from the Commercial Hotel, the flag on which was hoisted in honor of the occasion. The party visited Mr J. T. Matson's house first, and then proceeded to that of Mr W. Acton-Adams, the Chairman of the League. Returning to town, they played in front of Dr Frankish's residence, and wound up by serenading the office of this journal. It is probable that the jubilation of the West Coast Railway will not be confined to the impromptu demonstrations of yesterday, as it is stated that they intend to get up a monster public gathering early next week.