THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1882.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6564, 30 November 1882, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY , NOVEMBER 30, 1882.

I Tut: question or opening water convnunicatiou between the Waitemafa and Mainikau harbours will have to be settled sooner or later. Even apart from the opening of the Pana.ua <Janal, water cominunicatioa bef.veen the two harbours will soon bo a necessity for ordinary traffic. Were such a deep water canal made, the long beating round the Ea3t Cape by vcsslU from the South, now necessary, would be avoided, aud vessels could reach Auckland in les3 time than by the present route. There are two lines available — one by the Whan, and the oth>.-r by the Tamaki river. The Tamaki river has a dnep water channel lor the greater part of its course. At the mouth there is a narrow btr, with from one to one and a-halt fathoms at low water. This j <:uuld easily be deepened. At the narrow uoint, «here tuts cutting would have to Of made, scoria rock ivouiit h >ve to be on-ui>iiii:l-iv<J, and probably the uV-'.'punini,' of the channel to and past Ui;.;h Wuuld be through the same inaU-nai. Tnere are others who say that only a very small pirliuii of scoria rock would have to be encountered, about the line of the Southroad, that even there the thickness of the scoria is only quiet: a skin, and that a iuw feet beneath the present surface the uatural formation of clay, resting upon soft sandstone, is to be met with. It is said that the lr.te Jlr. Fairburn dedicated a strip of land between the Ta:;i ilu ami iVtanukau waters, two chains in width, for the purpose of making such a e;*uai. But of this dedication we have been unable to find any record, even af'.er a good deal of searching for the purpose of verifying thu rumour. It is shown upon n< > public map we have had access to, aud we believe there is no knowledge of such a dedication in the Survey Office. Connect: n.; the harbours by the >vay o! the Tamaki would have certain advantages winch a canal by way of the Whiiu would not possess. if the canal were :n:i:L- by the way of the Tamr.ki. :i large area of land could easily be reclainieu, which, in course oi time, would become very valuable indeed, and would bring in a considerable revenue iu the shape of rents. \W-re the canal made at the Wliau, no such opportunity for reclaiming would be presented. At the south side of that portage, just at the southern end of the r.-serve which has been made for the eonsiriietioii of a canal or tramway, there is deep wa'.T within a very few feet of the shore. A small wharf run out there w.uid enable ateniiicrs or other vessels to lie iu a snug sheltered harbour, from which slcamers could sail several hours before they could leave the wharr a' -Even without a canal at rhe Whan, there are many reas-iii.s why additional facilities should be given to the despatch of the English .and American mails to the South. Were tile Government to construct a sm:dl but suitable wharf at the point we have indicated, and to connect the Auckland and Kaipara railway with it, the Southern towns would receive their mails many hours sooner than they now do. This is a niustimi in winch we may fairly look for support from Southern districts. A fast train could taku the mails from Auckland to a steamer lying thure easily iu a quarter of a;i hour, and mail steamers would thus be in a position to leave at almost any state of the tide. This would be as gre.it an advuntage to the South as it would be to Auckland. At Onehunga a considerable ! delay always takes place while waiting j for the rise if the tide, while with ;•. whart" | at South Whan this delay would bu I avoided. j It might fairly be asked would U.e building of the wharf there, and the extension of the railway thereto, be a ju.-;-tilkil.'le undertaking ! We unhesitatingly answer in the affirmative. Apart from the duty devolving upon the Government of supplying all possible facilities to the extensiou of the trade of the colony, triers is no doubt that, in a tiuaucial point of view, it would be a profitable undertaking even tor the Government. The large township at South Whan, which was surveyed years before the Taranaki war began, is practically unsold. At the time of the allotments in this township were offered for sale, there were only some live or six which found purchasers, and up to the present time both the Murth and South Whan townships practically remain unsold. Were a wharf constructed, as we suggest, and connected with a railway to Auckland, the prices which would be obtained for this township would be enormously enhanced as compared with what would be obtained without such facilities to trade. We have no doubt that the prices obtained for the allotments would more than recoup the outlay. Lees than eighteen months ago the Government sold some land in the Whau district on the lino of the future canal between the Waitemata and the Manakan harbours. The price obtained was not largo, some JL'5 an acre, aud the same laud is now readily fetching from £10 to £15 an acre. Had tin! Government acted as a private person would have done, put their estate in good order prtiviuua to offering ic for sale, much more money would have been obtained than that which found its way into the Treasury. The old townships at the Whau are about to be resurveyed previous to being put up for sale, and wo trust the Government, will act wisely on this occasion, and have a wharf and railway connection established before the sale takes place. If so, it will then be found that the outlay required to give gi eater postal facilities to the South and to Auckland, will give a return such as the uinsr. economical Government New Zealand has had most sincerely desire — a return which will nmiv than recoup the outlay. It is strange, that thu member for W.iitemata—within whose district the proposed works w.'iuM 'be—had not tried to get sonic iJK'uey voted for this useful national purpose wlu-n the distribution of the proposed loan was under discussion.