ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENT.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 7, 2 December 1862, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENT.

.ITS. DO .NOT BOU> OURSKLVES .MUPOaXt* tor the opiNtdNa EKimKIsKD srKfd COBEESPONDtiNTr. .-^ "- V V. -/11S& To the Editor of the Invercargitt TVnuKL ■ Sir,— l have just read the able and tXfcfc rate report of the Chief Surveyor^*)!* tl2xp< rious roads of the < prpvince, projected MBnte course of construction. FromMrHeale'awLf ti ability and integrity , no one will doubt tUKiid work has been done welV : a^ that his jSlifft is thoroughly honest.- But it may be»e«fl mitted, even to an unprofessional man, &v t accepting all Mr. Heule'aprinciple3, to gfiuo! at some of his conclusions. lam ref errSiut the : proposal embodied' in the reportj§|»lr. changing altogether the nature, and ca^bost objects of the" proposed railway froi^tbe Bluff to Inveicargill, and making, out clinofi project of the Superintedent, (inte^ttai doubtless, to benefit all SoutMandJiuci give impetus to. our foreign and intercbSfe t trade.) a new means for carry ingrgoo^Tl InvercargUl or from InvercargUl to theflrifl komoko. Ido not gather from Mr. HjjHwe report, that he considers his. plan .shourablai perscede the Superintendent's for all fl&>m times, but yet, 'lor a long time to c J&reJ Yet even this sine die, postponed, appaj^tfr me so grave a blunder, that, if acted caEeri shall never cease to bewaU our pedlarism — and I can only account fotfSy,' \ Heale's entertaining the idea for a ?moiMi I on the supposition, which may probablj* the true one, that he has been blinded mt~many, objections, and even to the absurdMpj the scheme, by the consideration, offs posed financial difficulties, which his osS approval of his Honor's project might i«^ to make him responsible for. If that x&Po* I doubt not, the first breath of the FrofCai cial Council will dispel such fears, iSJEihs while, the general appreciation. offELj Heale's talents and character is " such,K7very great Weight will of necessity, attain -^ his opiniorf. 'On that account. an>l to j ill jr my owa strdng;isinguar|,; IwiU ask yol!?!? reprint two froilin t] -report, bearxo^o^tbji^ points i: . a:i ■'* 6peaking o/t&e.siew iine*- jfe, Heale Jp>ar " Bringing the roadthis way, involved ■fel&ou crossing the Mokomoko j range, or '^P° lc deviation to pass througti between' it ari^] 1 * dividing range betweeh ;^heNew 'Riy^wp' the Bluff; but asthtf^atfgteis neither iff*? 1 high nor very steep, ancl Will furnish eli 0 lent materials for metalling, I hardly regl|E°? this as a disadvantage. I therefore ha^f 61 hesitation in at once abandoning the o^^r line, and in adopting, this, which is, in effititc respect superior, even with a view solJlbf '. the terminal points at the Bluff and luiife' cargill." Mr. Heale then goes on to && that the circumstance that the new f£3f would run within a short distance of ion* " lower part of Invercargill," i. c., the W W? r< moko, led hitn to the consideration — led W£*° in short, to the conclusion — that it woul|ir° l better to change the whole character oll^,, scheme, and simply make a railroad "flaes Invercargill to the Mokomoko, with a 'mpen at the later place to reach deep water, ips i thousand feet longi" The report continfelei "The conclusion produced on my miaflthe that the mouth of the New River doeß®k?< present any greater difficulties to the ent||*^ and egress of large vessels, than thS"p*||H nc Newcastle, N.S.W., and a number of (IfS™ ports possessing a most important and^kjt tended commerce. That the facilities nf^ £ the positiou I have named, (the M^fs moko) possessesfor the dischargeot cargol^fchif shipping, and for speeay and easy " con^ne* mention with town, are so great, that T^Vic they are made accessible by a railway attest ship wharf, no difficulty will be found, a||p rl magnitude of the commerce increases, iipS* 3 : ducing ships drawing 10 or even 18 fel|S?i water, to come to the port, and thereforej|£J ' interests of the province demand (I nl^g can't see the sequitur), rather that facil&j,^ should be afforded for the developmenl|opi commerce in this port, so immediately §?do closely connected with the capital. tlvaMki its division, (Mr. Heale's plan, hot tljie | :^ad| perintendent's, is the division) to th# n|j°l>f distant harbor of the Bluff. The makingf^ei railway from Invercargill to the Mokon||*p would not involve more than a third oj^^ c the cost of constructing the whole WES Campbelltown. It would be absolutely n - v * oat any rise, &c. The total height of I j ni natural summit (between the Mokomoko «. O i Bluff,) is 40.73 feet above highwater ttMcot My strong conviction is, that a railway tt sat Horse-shoe Channell, with a ship-whatiter its termination, would supply every wal is j Invercargill, (observe Mr. Heale does notfp™ of the province) in the way of pott aegff J modation in the most unobjectionable maffi V.J that by introducing a larger and better m£J of vessels it would revolutionize tke'Jlg^ merce and give to Southland, for the first t||tr« the full advantage of its prominent possible with regard to Australia. The .contiuu||Br of the railway line into the stony range al tuv higher part, where a quarry face full 30ijbr< high might be had, would, I think, make^kin work complete, and would admirably su||p»i the want now greatly felt at InYercargiliF^ building material and suitable metal foi|p v roads." ffcl In the above extracts I think I have frjf|j € stated all the advantages Mr. Heale propi^Q. to himself from the amended plan. Lif|teu see. now, what they amount to, wh|pji his conclusion is borne out by his princij|j|>js and what are the disadvantages whic^iu proposal involves. Its advantages are, t0& the connection of Invercargill with — noi£§V best available port — but only with the l?i&Ws "lower harbor"; and thisisto be accqmpli^^^ not merely by incurring the expense oij|jg£ third the cost of a railway to the Bluff^fgb at the additional cost of a jetty 1,000-^fa" long, and of a branchline to the quarry; X"Pi Mr. Heale does not. pretend that, when <bi this is accomplished, we shall have so (to an available; port as the Bluff. Thej might indeed " revolutionise the commet >% of Southland, but could hardly be said, t -^ executed, to have;." given to' the province. ■.' S* the first time; the full advantage of its ,p ( minent position with regard to Austra ;^ ( The second advantage is "the supplyiDf "a|h, building stone and metal, for Invercai||z< This latter is certainly an. advantage ;Ql by no means peculiar to Mr. Heale's p||Ci since the stone and metal would be as eif | ' attainable, on his own showing, if the rai^ was made to the Bluff. It is a striking feaf| of Mr. Heale's report that. lnvercargill s|l|iM to be the only point to which any impoimca interest attaches. Ido not wish to dwellf g< much upon this fact, though I think it a sH B] grievous mistake; but let us suppose If* Invercargill were in reality the only pbiiM the province worth considering ; then|| j )< settlers at other points might reasbnablj^^ what is the use of incurring any expeh^Jt^! at all for a railway to the Mokomoko, #( C the settlers at Invercargill have alres^~y very much cheaper mode of transit forgfTA from the Mokomoko by water, and for m n passenger traffic, the present, all but comps.b macadamised road is surely likeiy to beS 1 ficient for years to come? So that in facts"" " advantage " of Mr. neale'B plan amog^j simply and solely to* this: that th£-L_^ljtife of Invercargill will be able to ta^^-^ or M» by rail as far as the Mokomoko, a"'?/*]^their goods up a little dearer. ' " 31© You will observe, sir, that the Superiii a dant projected — with the approval, as IS T suppose of his executive council — the M P railway, or the old and, as Mr. Heale ca|| c "practically impossible line." They | *> have thought it, as I confess I think i such manifest importance as to warrsi very heavy expenditure. MfrHeale has j discovered an infinitely cheaper line, w o "highest natural summit is 40 feet," * wluch involves a deepest cutting of ls;| i> latter partly through rock, certainly, but i 3 as Mr. Heale himself says, this will be r« « an advantage, as Invercargill can be sup} ■*' with building stone and metal from it, ; * will further observe that the differenc v " cost between a railway which,' if complt :^ will have accomplished no other fact . giving the people ofi lnvercargill; an airio 't a railway carriage instead of a buggy- 4 another which >yUI make the best harboi y tween Bank's. Peninsula and the west . < available for the whole, Province, -and, t<^ a

of the' whole province -jter the &eirceof tfie world, is just .the difference the cost of the first (very small ac T aiding to Mr.'Heaie)>?«M Ae;coßt of a deep raier jetty 1-000 feet long (not by any means o cheap) pita the cost of a branch line to the uarry, and the cost of the whole line frotn he 'Bluff to" lnvercargill, which, frbmTHr. leaje's own showing, will be one of the least expensive in the whole world. It would be nteiesting to see an arithmetical statement of. the difference in the cost of the two plans, and !to set 1 in the opposite scale to the difference in^their advantages. As an unprofessional manj unacquainted moreover with Blithe details, it.would ; of; course be presumptuous to express any very decided opinion ; mttt I have, not altogether misunderstood Hr. Here's statements, .it appeals very nossible that the Mokomoko plan (not,of course he Mokomoko line merely) may after all cost most money ; and I hope I have made it clear hat it would be a work of supererogation, ,uch as no government, however rich, would >c warranted in spending money on. Tl wili not occupy more of your space, nor trifle with your readers understanding by dwelling on the comparative value of the two plans irrespective of their cost ; and it only emains for me to apologise for the already meat length of this very hastily written etter and to Mr. Heale for any hasty ersonal expression I may have used in ■riticising, not his sentiments but, his logic. J. P • T. Punedin, 23rd November, 1862.