Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

New Zealander, Volume 11, Issue 964, 11 July 1855, Page 4 (Supplement)

boundaries, presenting impediments to transit in a greater or less degree, that the Waiaku block is evidently • the channel of all others, through which their import and export trade must be conducted; and the known fertility and extent of those districts are such, that taken in conjunction with the fact of their being on the eve of settlement by Europeans, there can be no doubt that the most eligible line through V\ aiuku, will at no distant period be the greatest inland tributary to the commerce of Auckland. It is equally clear that the trade through this channel will give rise to towns of no* s small importance, and that therefore appropriate sites for these in conjunction with the most practicable communication, should form a principal consideration in defining a locality lor the present work. As the traffic on each side will be conducted by steamers, it would he a matter ot pecuniary moment to owners, as well as to merchants, that those should be able to enter and leave the respective ports at any time, and that they should if possible lie in such a position as to receive or discharge cargo at the respective wharves. In our comparative statement it will be seen that I ine No. 1 possesses all these recommendations, whereas via the Awaroa, steamers would require to come up a canal through several locks on one side, and He I more than a mile from the wharf at Waiuku on the other. Cargo could only be shipped or discharged at the latter place by lighters, which besides delay, inconvenience, and probable damage to goods, would involve a considerable tax on the merchant. 2. For its fad lily of construction. It has already been said that the line No. 1 passes for the most part through forest, and that it could scarcely he be'ter locat d with regard to materials, whereas on the Awaroa hardly any suitable material'* can be found for a canal, and none within a distance of two miles for the short road required in continuation of it* 3. For the intrinsic value of its site. The line we recommend would, as we have shown, confer diiect benefit on 20000 acres ol the best Government land, and we think that too much weight cannot be attached to this circumstance. We ate of opinion that were the road complete at the present moment, and the portion of the Wainku block through which it passed, offered for sale; as much money would be realised in excess of the existing value, as would pay for the entire construction of the woik in tin manner proposed. In other words the Local Position of this thoroughfare is of sufficient value to pay lor its own construction, whereas the line by the Awaroa would cost over 1 OO.OOOJ. and the corresponding value of its Local position would not be worth a shilling of the money to the Province. 4. For the distance it would save. The line No. I would save 14 miles by water between Auckland and the Southern districts, or a little more than one hour’s steam ; and as a river boat averages only about 8 horns per diem under way, to lose one of these would he to lose a noticeable proportion of the earnings of the craft. 5. On account of the time. This also is a matter of consequence; the line No. 1 might be made in 12 months, and would therefore be in working order thiee years before a steamer could be placed on the Awaroa 6. On account of the cost. Line No. 1 would cost £16,400 versus £185,000 for a canal via ihe Awaroa. The contrast is great, but we do not deem it overstated ; there would he no object in making a road however cheaply it might be done from Wainku to any part of lhe Awaroa swamp where warehouses could not be built, or goods landed ; and as the banks on the whole length of ihe creek from Pura Pura to its mouth, have this defect, a canal to admit steamers is the only work we can propose, A canoe track Could be substituted for £ 1730 and might be completed in one year but, the detention, additional cost of carriage, incident damage to goods, and general objections to lightering cargo the long distance of 6 miles, are so obvious, we do not entertain this process as any part of a scheme for op-ning up the Southern districts, particularly as such a bar to traffic would cost the same time in completing as the most eligible line.

We would consider a tram road the most advisable kind of communication to adopt between Tehiki and Tektki, not only because the site abounds with suitable timber, but because it would be the cheapest and the most readily accomplished. An inferior quality of metal for a Macadamised road could be found at intervals along the line, but it would cost more in 15 years to make and main ain a serviceable stone road, than to make, repair, and periodicady replace a tramway for the same time ; and then a horse could draw four tons on the latter, versus 15 cwt. on the former. With regard to the utility of the work there can in our opinion be no question. Indeed we think the block itself of sufficient consequence to merit all the. attention that can be bestowed on it, for when settled upon by honafide farmers, it will be capable of producing grain enough to meet the wants of half the Province. It is moreover so located as to participate in all the traffic between Auckland and her principal inland dependencies ; —possessing in an eminent degree the material elements of ultimate wealth, it is in short, better calculated to remunerate the Province for an outlay tending to its improvement, than any other section of the country wt know. We may also state our belief, based on a careful investigation of the subject in all its bearings, that if the most efficient, most su tahle, and most expensive works which the united skill and present resourses of the colony could devise or undertake, were commenced in the Awaroa contemporaneously with the sale, to European settlers, of the Waiuku block, and the puichasers were ceded the single advantages of having the line No. 1 reserved and placed at their disposal; so suitable is its position, and so obvious are its advantages, that before the former works could be made available, colonial enterprise would without any other aid have completed the line we propose, to the great detriment and possibly to the ultimate supercession of the other. With reference to the works that might be undertaken in temporary aid of traffic on the Awaroa, we beg to slate that the means to be applied are very simple, and save consideration by admitting of no choice. The principal difficulty experienced in navigating the creek, consists of the large number of fallen trees lying athwart its channel, but at the same time, it should be remarked, that without these, or something to represent them, a great portion of the stream could not lie navigated at all ; acting as small locks, many of them elevate the water considerably above what its level would otherwise be, and if removed, would nave the immediate effect of leaving the bed almost dry.