OPENING OF THE WANGANUI BRIDGE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 45, 2 December 1871, Page 2

OPENING OF THE WANGANUI BRIDGE.

[lndependent.]

\ Wednesday, the 29th of the present month, will form an era in the history of the province of Wellington. The Wanganui Bridge was then formally opened, and direct communication between the fertile plains of the Patea and the capital an accomplished fact. # It may be thought that we are making " mountains out of molehills " in thus specifically calling attention to the mere opening of a bridge. It might be so in countries of ancient civilisation, where unbridged rivers are the exception, not the rule ; but in New Zealand the construction of every such work, even upon the most humble scale, means progress, settlement, and wealth. We have in the Northern Island alone millions of acres gaping for the plough, capable of maintaining a population of millions under extraordinarily favorable conditions of climate, with ready access to our seaports, so far as distance and geographical circumstances are concerned. The only bar to the realisation of these is the want of means of intercommunication. Dangerous rivers and impassable tracks render the pursuit of agriculture, except for local purposes, out of the question, and the establishment of manufactures impossible. The Wanganui Bridge is thus a great thing indeed for our province and for the colony, and his Excellency the Governor has done well to' recognise, by his presence, the consummation of , the work. On behalf and in the name of the Queen he does a gracious act in | giving official cognisance to any mat- . ter affecting the welfare of her subjects, i and in being the first to cross the ! Bridge he leads the van of a peaceful triumph over what has been, in one way, difficulties of no slight consequence. The questions of convenience to present settlers and inducements to future occupations, which we have referred to, are not' slight in the eyes of colonists. But in New Zealand there is a still larger question behind; one we have had frequently to allude to in discussing the Public Works policy of the Colonial Government, i.e., that the construction of railways and bridges is the veritable building up of a perpetual peace between the European and the Maori. The ceremony of to-morrow thus assumes political importance, and is quite worthy, in every regard, of the eminent sanction made with which it is to be inaugurated. Let us carry our memory back a few years, and trace briefly the history of the work so long problematical, now happily a fait accompli. In 1855 the subject of a bridge over the Wanganui forced itself upon public attention, and action having been taken in the Provincial Council, tenders were called for, and we believe a contract entered into, which was allowed, after the commencement of the work, to fall through for want of funds or other reasons. The matter lapsed practically until some five years ago when the Council again took it up, and under an act passed in that behoof, the Government employed the eminent engineer in England, Mr Stephenson, to furnish designs for the bridge. This having been effected, arrangements were made with Messrs Kinnaird and (Jo., to supply the materials which were chiefly ironwork, the castings being of special solidity. These, duly landed at Wanganui at a cost to the province of over £15,000, i were allowed by the necessities of finance to remain lying idle for some three years, until the Colonial Government came to the rescue and advanced the sum of £15,000 to complete the work. This has been, as we all know, duly expended, and the result is that we not only have a bridge, but the most magnificent bridge in the colony.

No'doubt the interest upon the total amount of £30,000 has heavily taxed our resources. It is, therefore, a matter of congratulation when we have good reason to feel assured that the mere tolls will more than suffice to pay the interest, and the province be thus immediately relieved of an annual charge of £3OOO. We may, indeed, consider ourselves a fortunate community when we contrast our present position—with our debts satisfied, a small annual charge substituted for ruinous interest, the main northern railway upon the eve of commencement, and the Wanganui Bridge no longer a burthen and a scoff, but a paying fact—with our miserable condition, but a few months ago, when Wellington finance was a by-word throughout the colony, and the wiping out of our existence, as a province, considered a matter of months. Let it not be forgotten that we owe our present position to the policy of the Colonial Government and to the ability and energy of our present Provincial Executive.