THE NELSON EXAMINER. Wednesday, April 9, 1862.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 30, 9 April 1862, Page 2

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Wednesday, April 9, 1862.

Journals become more necestury at men become more equal »nd individualiim more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to tuppoie tbat they lerve only to tecure liberty: tney maintain civilization. Db TocauitviLLß. Of Democracy in America, rol. r., 230. No person residing for a few months in the town of Nelson, gifted with ordinary powers of observation, hut must he struck with the vast improvability of its condition, both as regards the health and comfort of its inhabitants, and its economical and commercial advantages. One-half of the wells of water in the town are polluted and unwholesome, yet there are two streams flowing through it, from either of which a direct service of pure water could be .obtained. "We are living, most of us, in houses built of wood, and the open spaces in the town are rapidly becoming covered with buildings, greatly increasing thereby the risk of a serious calamity from fire ; and yet we are content to go on without providing ourselves with the means of extinguishing a fire should one take place, and are content to pay, in extra insurance, a sum equal to the interest of the amount it would cost to give a supply of water which, without the aid of fire-engines, would rapidly quench any fire that could occur. The two small rivers which run through the town every year destroy both public and private property to an enormous amount, and threaten still greater and more widely spread mischief ; yet, at a cost which would bear no comparison with the loss suffered and that which is immediately threatened, the banks of these rivers might be made secure, and the floods, which at seasons sweep down them and now cause so much mischief, be made to do good service to our harbour. Within the harbour there is a large extent of mud-flat, covered by every tide, which at low water is not only an unsightly object, but is likewise most unwholesome ; and now that we have begun a system of sewerage, and the discharge from the sewers is spread by the tide over these flats, the foul exhalations from which are daily blown full in our faces by the sea breeze, their poisonous effects will be too soon experienced amongst us ; yet much of this mud-flat could be reclaimed for a sum below the price at which even the land so reclaimed would sell, to say nothing of the gain in health and comfort to the inhabitants. And, lastly, we have a harbour which is in itself a dock, and where, from the great rise and fall of tide, a slip on which to haul up vessels to repair could be erected for a very small sum of money, which, when done, would have the effect of making Nelson the naval workshop of the colony ; yet month after month and year after year are suffered to pass away without an effort made to turn this great natural advantage to any profitable account. But whose business is it to furnish the town with water, so as to maintain its intmbrbaTvfcs in. liealtli, and save tliei. property from destruction ? to protect the banks of rivers ? to reclaim land in the harbour ? and | to construct works that will add to the trade of the port, and enrich the whole community ? 'These questions will be answered differently by different persons. Some will tell us that they are chiefly works which should be left to private enterprise, and that it is not the province of the Government to undertake works which private individuals can in every way get executed better ; while, on the contrary, there are those who are not disposed to question the principle of leaving public works to private enterprise, when by so doing there is a chance of seeing the construction of such works as are necessary ; but ! failing this, are of opinion that works ot the character above enumerated, if not directly undertaken by the Government, should be aided by it in such a manner as to ensure their execution. Had our local Government been more of a municipal and less of a provincial character, its duty in regard to the matters we have specified might have been more clear ; but, being the sole local Government we possess, we consider that it is bound to exercise the municipal as well as

general functions of Government. If this is not the case, it is difficult to say for what purpose we have so costly a piece of machinery at all. To reconcile us to the heavy cost of the article, it is necessary that it should do all the work of which it is capable ; and were it to do this, the money spent upon it would not be grudged. But there is one preliminary step which we hope at all events to see the Government undertake immediately. It should lose no time in getting a report on the works named from the highest engineering authority available in the colony. This, at all events, would be no very costly business, and would be of great importance in determining not alone the cost of the works we mentioned, and perhaps some others scarcely less necessary, but might be the means of inducing English capitalists to furnish the necessary money for the outlay, when they have, as a guarantee for the cost, the statements of men of standing and known character in their I profession. "We believe that Mr. Doyne is expected daily in Nelson, and the highly successful manner m which that gentleman, in conjunction with Mr. Fitzgibbon, laid off the Dun Mountain Eailway, a work which has no equal of its kind in the world, should inspire confidence in any report which these gentlemen might make on the works we have spoken of, and we therefore trust that means will be taken to get such a report furnished.