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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4118, 1 June 1874, Page 2

The speech delivered by the Superintendent at the opening of the Provincial Council of Canterbury may bo a matter for congratulation, but cannot ba considered one for surprise. Every Province in the Colony is known to be in a prosperous condition, and it was not to be supposed that Canterbury, with its great natural advantages, was any exception to the rule. The Superintendent is, from the force of circumstances, to a very considerable extent in the same position as the commander of a noble ship under a fair wind. His sails arc bent to the breeze that carries him along merrily. The land estate of the Province is to the Superintendent and his Executive the source of a magnificent revenue. Of course, as the population of the Colony is increased by the many thousands of additional population brought by the General Government, that of each Province, and Canterbury amongst the number, will increase. The capital of the Colony has been largely added to by the loans that have been effected, the sums that have been received from these have been expended locally to a very large extent, and one result has been a largo demand for land, some of which has been brought under cultivation. As the land revenue of the Provinces is after all but of a fleeting and temporary nature, the manner in which it is expended becomes of more interest than its mere acquisition. It belongs really as much to posterity as it does to the people of this generation, and posterity ought therefore to be remembered in its expenditure. Public works of a reproductive nature are as legacies that one generation may leave to another, and, as such, may bo fairly constructed out of tlio - land revenue. This fact the Superintendent of Canterbury would seem to recognise, and he proposes to distribute his laud fund as if it wore one that he merely held on trust. Should the Council follow out his advice and endow schools, hospitals, libraries, and other public institutions, the men and women of the next age will admire the wisdom and forethought of the people of this, whilst they derive benefit therefrom. The Council will, there can he no question, favorably regard the appeal for liberal appropriations to the Road Boards. Means of communication are amongst the essential adjuncts of civilisation. Land that without these is valueless, becomes of utility with them. And, as the Superintendent is discovering, railways may bo a source of revenue when capital and population are increasing. The balance-sheet of the Canterbury railways shows a considerable balance to the good, and the intention is to reduce the freights and fares. This step, not improbably, will still further swell the revenue, for traffic is bounded very much by its cost. And the new lines to be opened north, south, and west of the older one, will surely act as feeders to it. In all human probability, from these alone, without reckoning on an increased population and a larger area of land brought under cultivation, tho traffic on the lines from both Rakaia and Rangiora to Christchurch will be trebled. The wisdom of tho policy of the Superintendent and his Executive in sending to England for a competent engineer to report on tho construction of the Timaru harbor works is beyond question. To have dono so involves no disparagement to local talent, nor will it be felt as such. When an eminent metropolitan physician is sent for to consult with a provincial surgeon, tho latter is but too glad to moot bis more distinguished brother professor. And experience has taught that tho sums of money which have been wasted because competent civil engineers ■were not consulted, are almost apfialliiig in their magnitude. Tho Victorian Government wasted an enormous amount of .money on the construction of their reservoirs, and then sent to the Indian Government to ask for the services of one of tho eminent Civil Engineers employed in that country, when Colonel Sankoy was at once dispatched. Mr Rolleston, it is not improbable, might do wisely in copying the Victorian example before ho calls for tenders for tho irrigation works proposed in tho Rakaia, Ashburton, and Malvern districts. Ho will ask for a vote to defray tho expense of a competent man to report on tho method to bo adopted for draining Lake Ellesmere, and should tho vote bo taken, tho engineer who reports upon tho one might well do so on the other. Irrigation and drainage arc twin subjects. For tho former, it is obvious, there is required the provision of large volumes of water, advantageous sites for reservoirs, ready delivery, and easy country. Again, in Illinois, water is obtained by farmers for irrigating thoir crops, orchards, and meadow lands, by boring with a two-inch augur about 100 feet through blue clay. The Indian Government lias expended over £3,000,000 of money in canals, &c., for irrigation purposes, and from this, in some instances, an annual revenue of 300 per cent, upon

the original cost is obtained. Over one million acres are irrigated, and the annual crop is valued at eight millions sterling. The value of the crop saved in the Delhi territory alone during one year of famine, from failure of rain, was estimated to be £1,500,000. The Great Ganges Canal when completed will, with its branches, bo 900 miles in length. The drainage of Lake Ellesmere, the Superintendent will find, need not be a very expensive affair if set about properly, even if it should have to be pumped. The Haarlem Lake, containing an area of seventy square miles, was drained by a Cornish engine that with all machinery and buildings cost £30,000 ; and it was capable of discharging 210,000,000 gallons in a day of twenty-four hours. The London water engine has a 100-inch cylinder, and is capable of raising nine millions of gallons per diem, 100 feet high, at a cost of 12s Gd per million gallons. The Wiokshead engine of East Loudon raises 80,000 gallons 100 feet high at a cost of one shilling. The Superintendent and his Council will, wo are quite convinced, find that when works of this description are contemplated, to procure the services of a competent Civil Engineer ivili bo the cheapest course.