The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1861. THE GREAT NORTH ROAD.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1567, 24 April 1861, Page 3

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1861. THE GREAT NORTH ROAD.

Be jute and fear not; l i'i all the ends thou aim’st at, be thy Country’*, Thy Cod’s, and Truth’s.

are glad to observe that, after a long Mil enforced delay, the work of opening up the trunk road Northwards is about to be resumed. This is one of the works inaugurated by the existing Provincial Government, the prosecution of which was necessarily impended during the period of that financial difficulty into which the Province was plunged Wd which was needlessly prolonged by the factiousness of a section of the Provincial Council.

The progressive and successful settlement ™ the line of country between Auckland and Wangarei has rendered the opening of this roa d a matter of urgent necessity in order, fMngst other things, to afford moans of briug’?S easily and safely to market at Auckland j herds of cattle which in the course of the few years have been growing up around he settlement of Mahurangi, Matakana, hngawai, Waipu, Mangakaramea, ami WanS ar ei; the difficulties and expense attendant a P°'i transport in small coasting vessels, , ave hitherto compelled the stock owners to <B€ P their cattle uselessly to a certain extent u P°n the runs. Some four years ago, as many of our |j ers will remember, it was satisfactorily Mionstrated, amidst a storm of ridicule and withstanding some very bold denials of n ’ *hat it was possible to find a road r °ugh the interior from Auckland to the $ °t Islands. The lino of the Great °rth Road has since that time been sura/l t am * cut as iU as the Wangarei district, j a .e road way itself opened half a chain WnnT < |th, through a broken and densely nee Coimtl T il3 thr as Mahurangi. The B ®? sar y bridges, neither small nor few in a er > were erected upon this portion of Qow r ° u * :e U3 tar north as the Puhoi. It is v erf t )IO P O3C, t> as will ho seen by an adiu our other columns, to erect fjqui and culverts which may be Mahurangi, and, if possible, to render the c ! Ua ' v haro block as well as the Arai and immediately northwards, ac>y lx>a “ T'Tortli Road from Ottbct this object in the best farmer, wo observe that a new *hi c u . coa tracts is about to bo tried, by Qtiu,] 1 .°ped that persons located upon fadmwj 0 UOl Shbourhood of the line may be fcin A Undemkc > 01-10 iuterest them- '" ’ 10 exe CUtiop, of tlio Yfpyks required.

The road has been recently traversed, plans and specifications of the several works, — bridges, culverts, cuttings, &c., —are being prepared, and persons disposed to contract for one or more of them are invited to meet the Engineer, Mr. Sanderson, at Mr. Ryan’s clearing on the 16th of thenextmonth. The locality of each work will then be pointed out and examined, the plan and specification will bo exhibited and explained, and tenders will bo received upon the spot. The settlers themselves will thus have an opportunity of aiding in the execution of works so necessary to their advantage, and they will have at the same time an opportunity of profiting by the Government expenditure in their district, a double benefit of which they will no doubt gladly avail themselves. It has been found by experience that the system of letting to an individual, extensive works of the nature required to be performed on a new road, has opened the door to a system of “chiseling” at once injurious to the Government and detrimental to the interests of the settlers of tho district in which the operation is performed, and, it is hoped, that under the plan now proposed, the greatest possible amount of work will be accomplished with the means which are available.

It is iii contemplation, we learn, to establish a cattle market at Stoke’s Point, or in the neighbourhood, and to this a slaughterhouse will he a necessary adjunct. The grass seed which wassownupou tho clearings on the lino is thriving, and will afford pasture eu route. With the North Road open, and with such amarket for stock as the large military establishment in Auckland promises to afford during the coming winter, wo trust that our friends northward will put their shoulder to the wheel, and heartily aid the Government in the accomplishment of a work from which the advantages to the settlers themselves will he direct and immediate.