The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 701, 21 May 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1879.

Very little, if indeed, anything, is being done towards carrying the tramway between Gisborne and Ormond. The rails have been given, but they lie rusting on the spot where they were first landed. A loan from the banks, or from any of our large monetary institutions, appears out of the question. But we do not see why a pressure should not be brought to bear on the Government to do for us m a small way, what they have done m other parts of the North Island on a large and costly scale. Surely we are entitled to some consideration m this matter. Twenty thousand pounds or less would be sufficient for ' the construction of some twelve miles of "railway, running over a perfectly level piece of ground, which offer no engineering difficulties. With so large a revenue' drawn from the sales of our land, and through our Custom House, we have not only a right to expect, but we have a right to demand, that some small portion of the many gigantic loans raised for railways and public works should be allotted to so important and valuable a disti'ict as Poverty Bay. We believe that if the subject were now agitated, before Parliament meets, that our request would be granted. The fact that we have no representative m the Assembly, and the very knowledge of our helplessness, should act as an incentive. Could not a public meeting be convened by our Mayor and the Chairman of the County Council, m order that a monster petition — that is a petition signed by every elector m Poverty Bay, be drawn up, and forwarded to some member friendly to the district, and of some influence m the House, asking him to support the prayer of it 1 Mr. W. Swanson and Mr. J. S. Macfarlane are both pecuniarily interested m the progress of Poverty Bay. Both are men whose voices carry weight m Parliament, and to one or other of these representatives might such a petition be well entrusted. Mr. W. L. Kees is another member. However, we may object to his repudiation principles, and the mischief he has done to the district, m disturbing the native mind, .he has still much of good meaning and generous instincts remaining. It is not more than six or eight weeks at the outside when the Assembly goes' into session ; so that there is very little time to lose, if any action is to be taken with regard to the muchwanted railway. It must be plain to' all of us that we have not the means within ourselves to accomplish the work, and unless we can obtain outside aid, the town and the districts of Poverty Bay must continue to languish. We do believe that, setting aside the justice of our claims, the Government will find it good policy to lend us the aid which will establish them favorably 'm the opinion of the electors. The sum we require is one that could not possibly be felt as a draw upon the Treasury. There are yet many hundreds of thousands of unalienated lands within the four corners of Poverty Bay m the hands of the Government ; and anything done to enhance their value would be so much gain, as, they come to be disposed of. The waste lands of the Crown m Wellington, Otago, and Canterbury, have trebled and quadrupled themselves by the net work of railways running over the country. What has happened m J other parts of the Colony will assuredly be found to be the case here. Therefore, we hope to see the subject brought under the notice of the Government, and that no effort will be left untried to urge upon Parliato give us that meed of justice we are entitled to receive. We have waited long enough. The fact that Ministers have given us rails is an acknowledgement that we required assistance, and if we show that something more is needed, we are strongly inclined to think the powers that be would make fui'ther concessions.