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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4171, 3 August 1874, Page 2

A deputation of the Nelson members of the House of Representatives is said to have waited on the Minister for Public Works on Saturday, the object of their - interview being to make representations and receive information regarding the project of constructing a line of railway between Foxhill and the West Coast. No doubt the Minister for Public Works would give all the information it was possible to give, but, if rumor is correct, it could not be altogether satisfactory to the members of the deputation. Many reports, not of a very practical character, have been made upon this proposed line of railway, and estimates have been given showing that the cost of a light line would be comparatively small. But the survey which has been made, and the results of which are now in the hands of the Government, prove that the cost of the lino was very much under-estimated. It is said that it would not cost less, and might cost more, than £BOOO per mile. It is not only that the gradients are steep and the angles sharp j but a large outlay, it is understood, would be involved in the number of small bridges and culverts to be constructed. In view of the heavy cost of the line, through these circumstances, it may be that another scheme would be found ■ preferable, in the interests of Nelson, the West Coast, and the Colony as a whole, and that is to construct a line from Foxhill to the Tophouse, and thence, by way of Tarndale, into the Amuri and the Province of Canterbury. Such a line would form, at its southern extremity, a portion of any line which might be carried through the Amuri to the Wont Coast by way of the Ahaura, and that the latter is a desirable work, whatever may be the precise route taken, seems now to be generally admitted. In both instances a considerable elevation will have to be reached, and steep gradients are unavoidable, but it is probable that a greater area of country would be opened up than by a line between Nelson and the Grey Valley, and in the case of the latter the physical obstacles to its construction are really of serious moment. There is a further consideration in regard to it, namely, that one of the chief purposes of its construction would be the conveyance of minerals to Nelson as a port of shipment, but in that respect the line, it is feared, would prove valueless, the cost of carriage over the intervening gradients being too great to permit of successful competition between Nelson as a shipping port and the available and improvable harbors on the West Coast. A survey of the suggested line by way of Tarndale ■will probably be made, and, should it prove to be favorable, Nelson will have, as a set-off to the absence of a West Coast line, the double advantage of being one of the termini of the trunk line of the South Island, and , of being connected with its best belonging, tho Wairau Valley, it having transpired, as we were told by tho Minister for Public Works in his recent statement, that a line from the Foxhill extension to Blenheim can be easily constructed at a point of junction not more than fifty miles from Nelson City. Reminiscences of some of the few great crimes which have been committed in the Colony were revived by the pardon and release of Sullivan, and recollections of another are now brought up by a statement made in a recent number of a Dunedin contemporary. The convict Frataon, it is said, has petitioned the authorities for his release from custody. Fratson is the name of an inmate of the Dunedin gaol who is now well nigh forgotten, but at the time of his an - est and conviction, nearly twelve years ago, his case was a source of considerable public interest and excitement. In one of the winter months of 18G2, a man named Andrew Wilson mysteriously disappeared while on a journey in tho interior in supposed quest of land which he desired to purchase. The search made for him exercised the ingenuity of the police for some tune, but at length, and in consequence of the

extraordinarily low state of the river in that year, his body was found in the river Molyneux, along with the implements by which he had apparently been murdered.. Suspicion fell upon Fratson, whose house stood near - the spot where the body was found, and in which the deceased had slept on the night of his murder. The then head of the detective force in Otago, Tuokwell, arrested him at Port Chalmers as he was about to take his departure for Melbourne, and principally upon the evidence of Tuckwell as to statements made by Pratson before and after his arrest, the latter was found guilty and sentenced to death. Subsequently, and after consideration of a report by Judge Gresson, and not without exciting considerable public comment, the Gpvernor of the day commuted the sentence to that of imprisonment for life. What the convict now claims, it appears, is that he should he treated as if his original sentence had been one for life merely. To this course there is some local demur, which is originated or described thus by the Daily Times'. —“lf this contention holds good, it will we believe result in this extraordinary state of things; That having been originally Sentenced to death for the crime of wilful murder, Pratson will procure hia release at an earlier period of time than men who are undergoing cumulative sentences for very much less heinous offences. We hope it will be found that the regulations relating to a remission of a portion of a 'term of penal servitude as a reward for good conduct, only apply to cases where that punishment is awarded by the presiding Judge, and not to cases where, as a mere act of mercy and clemency, the extreme sentence of the law is not carried into execution. Pratson’s case deserves to be considered —to use a Gladstonian expression—once, twice, even thrice, before he is cast loose upon society again.” The Constitution Reform Act which the Government of Victoria has induced the Legislative Assembly to pass, is not unlikely to shipwreck the Ministry. Mi’. Francis was still unable to attend to business when the Albion left 'Melbourne, and Mr. Langton (the Treasurer) seemed to be unable to keep his forces in hand. The result was that the Government were only able to command a majority of two for the measure. The fact of the House being so equally divided seems to have been unexpected by the Government, and at the first sitting of the House after the division Mr. Langton said that as no Government could carry on business with credit to themselves and satisfaction to the country without a substantial working majority behind them, he asked for a few days that the Ministry might consider their position. It is understood that the difficulty has arisen over the money proviso of the Bill, and the supporters of the Government express a hope that it may be got over. A meeting of the Parliamentary friends of the Francis Cabinet was called for Tuesday last, to consider the subject. Thus matters stood when the Albion sailed. The Francis Ministry has only held office since June, 1872.