The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 96, 2 October 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1863.

It may be safely said that the ensuing summer must decide whether Otago or Southland is to appropriate the lion's share of the trade with the Lake District, The subject is one of peculiar interest to both Provinces. Tbe game is getting exciting, for the stakes played for are of vast magnitude ; but it is easy to see who ought to be the winner. "We say who ought, because it is just possible that catelessiless or mistaken prudence may overthrow the soundest calculations, and turn the tide of fortune into channels apparently the least likely. Otago people, and more especially those of them who hail from Dunedin, are accustomed to " pooh, pooh " the idea of such an insignificant village as Invercargill entering into competition with the metropolis of the Middle Island. But we, who have watched carefully the events of the last six months, are inclined to think that the presumption is not so great after all ; and that, if our legislators and rulers will only do their duty, it is on the cards that the big city will ere long have to yield precedence to her younger but more advantageously situated rival. Our old friend the Otago Daily Times is getting very fidgety, or, | more properly speaking, nervous on tbe subject, and devotes two whole columns of *• leader type to an essay, which is partly intended to \ rouse the men of Dunedin to a sense of their danger, and partly to give to the world some little account of how Mes9rs. Henry Hoyte and Company, the Coaching Firm, made a terribly bad bargain with the Otago Government, as shown "per ledger account.'' Doubtless, "Cobband Co." are grateful to the Editor for so warmly espousing their cause, and insisting that the subsidy which they have been receiving for the mail and escort * services betweeu Dunedin and Wakatipu should be continued for some time longer. It would, as the Times very justly insinuates, be a ler-

filile blow to tiie prosperity of Otago, ifypeople were compelled .to walk, the whole of **- tihe weary distance which 'separates the 'Metropolis from the Lake^ they might, under such-circum-stances, be induced to turn tjfaeir" alt'ten^ ■tion to the shorter 'and more level route which would take them in half the tim-e to Invercargill, where there are facilities for laying in stock, arid i transacting -general business, equal toi those to be found in Dunedin, Our ' contemporary states the -case very fairly, and we cannot do better than , ; quote his words : — " "When trade is once alienated itis difficult Core-secure it, and it is not too much to say that \ whatever footing Southland manages to j make, it is safe to retain. The control of the passeager traffic is «f all others the most powerful agency in the way of securing trade. Th*3 storekeepers who find an easy ride to Dunedin debarred to them, will make their purchases in Invercargill. The miners who seek the shores of the Lake, will think it better to pursue their way by Invercargill. And those who, having been fortunate on the goldfields, desire a " spree " in town, or to make a trip home or to another colony, will look upon Invercargill as the more desirable line of route. They will have to choose between a ride to the latter or a walk to Dunedin — their choice it is not difficult to guess." All that the above sentences contain is very true. The North Road is rapiily getting into first class condition, and the coaches will, we are told on good authoritj', be started iv the course of a few days. It is absolutely necessary that this line of road should be kept in thoroughly good repair; there must be no niggardly e-xpenditure, the thing must be done and done well, and then it will matter very little whether there is a line of coaches" from the Lake to Dunedin or not. Nor should the firm who have j undertaken to give us daily coraraunij cation with the diggings be treated shabbily. They will, of course, take the mails, and should be handsomely subsidized, in order tliat they may be able to carry out their contract in a manner at once satisfactory to themselves and the public. A daily line of coaches will more' than place Invercargill on a lerei with Dunedin in respect to the Lake trade. We have hitherto spoken of the Main North Road, but we must say a word or two about the projected Northern Railway, which has been laid off by Mr Heale, as far as Winton Bush. The line is now cut the greater part of the wa}', and, as the eye looks along its course, it seems as if Nature had planned it for tbe very purpose of opening up her treasures in the snowclad mountains to which it leads. Gradients, there are scarcely any, engineering difficulties, none ; unless we except tlie crossing of the river Makarewa. This, however, at the point chosen by the Chief Survej'or, will be a comparatively simple matter, and carries with it the additional advantage, that a branch line can be made to Wallacetown whenever required, at a merely nominal expense, by keeping the north bank ofthe Makarewa. This, it is to be hoped, will obviate the necessit}' for any self-interested displays of party spirit or factious opposition with a view to diverting 1 the main line, which has been laid off with admirable skill. It will be the duty of the Provincial Council, in the session which is about to commence, to give a very large share of attention to the means of transit through the Province. Money laid out on roads in a new country must, to a certain extent, be well invested, if only the commonest rules of economy be observed in its e-xpenditure. But, in the two cases we have been speaking of, a double advantage is to be derived, for not only will the North Ro&d and the railway place us in closer connection with goldfields which have done and will do so much for the Province, but it must be borne in mind that every up country colonist, whether agticulturist or squatter, will derive a direct benefit in his business from any work which will tend to bring a market for his goods nearer to bis door ; and it is to Southland settlers, as well as to Otago diggers, that this Province mu&t owe its permanent prosperity.