The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, 14th AUGUST, 1879.

Southland Times, Issue 3478, 14 August 1879, Page 2

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED D AI LY. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, 14th AUGUST, 1879.

We published the other day a few of the leading points of the repdrt upon certain of the proposed Middle Island railways ? by Mr Blair, Engineer-in-Cbief. It will be remembered that Mr Blair was deputed by the Gover'nnierit to, visit the West Coast, arid amongst .oilier 'things give an opinion, upon what he. considered the best route- to ; be taken* by the railway proposed to be made 'across' ; ''the Island to connect tlm East,, and West Coast, and terminating at Lyttelton, and / Greymouth. The -accounts- that came to i band from time to -time relative 'to v Mr ■Blair's progress' whilst he was engaged • in the mission entrusted to him, led us to infer that he was, at some personal risk, arid a great' deal of personal' incon- \ venience, faithfully discharging the duty. •He plunged in medias res, was beard of in a variety. .bf'uncorilfortableTsitriatipnsj anc. "filially -returnih^to' civiliz^trori %hd %_ tha East, prepared, and -presented to- the Government an elaborate report of bis 'observations. Having examined the and carefully considered the iqueetion, Mr Blair has seen fit to iemphatically pronounce against the con-. '*• 'struction at present of the great central ,_ine. We must admit that to us this : Iwas somewhat unexpected ; fbr with j others we bad regarded the project as [feasible, at the least, and one, if carried lout,I out, JJtbat would - xlo mucbin;; aid of - \ develbpirig the great mineral feasoujees i t o„ :.tfee;^^tf jGpast, jbesi^es- promoting i'the settlement of a great deal of pastoral land agricultural ' country ; on ytHe line of railway. The :; 'railway .. project was favored especially because of the known inaccessibility of all the West, Coast harbors. Jlad those harbors been more blessed by nature, *so as to render the i entrance, and of vessels comparatively certain at all times, the construction of a railway would riot .haye j appeared so imperative, for of aIL modes, of conveyance that by water is the cheapest. Of bar- ' bors, however, there is but I ' one, Westport, "that can be' regarded as of j- tenth -rate standing Jeyen,, { and the uncertainty and r danger of working it have bifen sufficiently deihdnstrated to induce very grave doubts, of its capability to sustain a regular trade. -. As .for the i Grey, it is simply a small b rp akiof the, , coast line caused' by -the outflow of a rivei. It' is a poor place at lthe best bf \ times, and is frequently no place at all f when .closed -.by , the ever-shifting sand driven up by heavy seas. Mr Blair, however, lays particular stress "upon the i ' _sch-_ie that "is in 'hand to improve'the! port of Grey, and^Lich, he. says, is el:-! , to/- render ,. the -place , .superior, ,to Westpoi _„~ '_> "60 . ,0,00 is, to be^expende'd' „upon;it. J , r , This, although a.very-- heavy -outlay^,} would befell bestowed',, provid-ingMt'-tfere possibleto. make, the Grey, a reasonably fajr port... Very grave doubts of the possibility of .his may, however, ibe. entertained, • ,and ■ until jrtj , is proved sound, the^scheme^is^ only to^be regarded as a costly experiment.' Mr Blair bases his objections to' t_e~ railyay,,^ firstly, 1 upon the slight . prospect of direct fe- ' t'uirhs 'for^a'-'-railway, and that the col-lateral-advantages are not commensurate >vith theJeiioTmo^s expenditure required,

■yjfep**'-. 1 '"' n.iw-WMH__i ww ■— m —a— lle^ondiy:, ttrtii. the^land ; though t^ich; ith^liiie wp^d pass; is rioi iri.tlie liands jofltl^^Orpwrii be |ut||i^]d fbr^jthe purposes F:ofj :_e.tiement, janl|as a n|§ap.s c^j^coupiiag': ihe fcbEds; of -thj|!_iiiie. J .^ ; aT&pi&tr r ; Wixnlf ioMfiie priV Vb^ld- b i y quite' : possible £0 pay too"--' dear' for a railway, even to connect the SBast^inid^e^t^oastg ;*bnt3:lo^all-^h^ we must confess to a feeling of regret at the .^ndonineri€ $Zso f great and^^o^ liberal'an , : ; '.i_^^^n|^\-'^Hf.;Blait e ;^«r : •■;-Eom||.si^^h|^:.'tjie 4 ;^ compete with.water carriage in ime tnatter iha^.the freight fr^ tettpii 'sirid^Pbft^Ohilmers, is v 'Mly 4.|s| per ton at present, and that when the channel leading into the river is/ made perm&iepi^W^ 'be'; reduced : < to 12s J o. '' T-s'; ■ , He^ isv'.rilso vAfal to i explain that coal would' be the princi- . pal article to supply traffic for the railway, and thafefthe jprje sept; .amount of i produce of the Grey mines— ._o,o6p:tons, f. would not be likely to be increasedforsbriie years; to. come, eyeii if , the railway. t weje ; in ppemtibri^"-^^^^^^ cidedly weak". ' 'According to his own showing over 50,000 tons of Newcastle coal aia';i^p.o^dat'L^teJt^ri ajic) every year ,' ■ and ' 'rioth'riig' is ' moVe certain ; than tliat the Grey..coal would push the greater part, of this out of the local : inarket-X Morebver , .the 1 -' quality of the ijrrey product is so superior as to be iuiT failing in recommending it as fuel for ; general;fas well as s'peciallpurpases. ;-. For . I gas producing the Grey coal is unrivalled. Still we are inclined to "extend much deference to Mr Blair's opinion. He may be a little at : fault in "details 1 , 1 but, so far . as the main object is concerned, his conelusionsrire entitled to great consideiiation^. Although the 'result of his . expedition across tbeisland'is not what was ! expect,e,d, and hoped' foi*, yet it will'' 'pro v4*' 'of the utmost importance ;if ; i.fc f : saves, the colony from being saddled with an undertaking that might , be. as ! costly.jas..useless> ;T T