WAITOHI V. WELLINGTON

Colonist, Issue 55, 30 April 1858, Page 2

WAITOHI V. WELLINGTON

Few will be prepared to maintain that a town, of any importance can permanently prosper or progress in political status, unless supported by manufactures, or the trade and contributions of a large extent of pastoral or agricultual country. Or, on the other hand, that a pastoral or agricultural district can thoroughly prosper, wanting an easy and inexpensive mode of transit to the sea-coast, and a commodious harbor for shipping to export the same, and render the district self-supporting. The Nelson Province has a good site for a town, with a harbor; it has also an extent of pastoral and agricultural country, if not very extensive, yet sufficient to support a thriving'community, and a capital of no mean importance. But unfortunately, the major part of it is for ever shut out from easy access to the present shipping port .by almost impassible mountain ranges, to cross which by a practicable road for wheel vehicles has long been proved impossible., What, then, i&.the consequence? Why, that the Wairau, and the extensive country connected with it, hopelessly shut. out.from the Nelson shipping port, sends "much of its produce to, and derives most of its supplies from,: Wellington, the capital of another, province, because it is a .more convenient port; the settlers even then incurring the additional expense of transhipment. .Is .there then no remedy for this? Must the" 'set'tleta* be /content to see its sources of wealth setting in a current away from Nelson, enriching another settlement, while the nominal capital of the province lives a vegetable existence on the little eddies "of trade that are. occasionally diverted into that corner? The answer is unquestionably in the affirmative, and the remedy is in our own hands.1 When the original founders of the Nelson settlement made the unfortunate selection of the flat at the head of Blind Bay as the site for the town, they little imagined how admirably nature, had provided a locality combining all the advantages they sought, and failed to discover Queen Charlotte' Sound, so often visited and made memorable by Captain Cook. We mean the harbor and district of the Waitohi. There they would have found an admirable harbor, easy of access in all weathers, deep water almost to the veryshores,acompact level as the site for a town, sufficiently elevated to admit of good drainage (a thing impracticable in the present site of Nelson), with a large stream of water running through it sufficient for the wants of a large population. Communicating with this flat they would have found a valley nearly level, extending to the Wairaii Plains, abounding in the finest timber, many hundred acres of fertile land, and unusual facilities for making a good road. A town founded at the Waitohi would have possessed the following advantages, which the present site of Nelson does not: —A harbor admitting the largest vessels close to the town. A site not surrounded by mud flats, and consequently thoroughly healthy, which the present site can never be. Unlimited supply of timber and fuel close at hand, and easy of access. A considerable extent of good land, bordering the trunk road: to the interior, suitable for cultivation to supply the immediate wants of the settlement. And lastly, at the short distance of eleven miles from the port, connected by a level valley; the Wairau Plains, with its extensive agricultural and pastoral resources. It is not intended, in again calling attention to the Waitohi as the proper site for the capital of the Nelson province, to assume that what is now stated in its favor was not generally known before ;- for, on the contrary, the committee appointed by the settlers to explore the locality ten years ago, drew attention to the subject, more ably than - the present notice can pretend to do, in the report which they afterwards issued. But it is, because ten years have elapsed since, then,..during which time the connexion oetween the Wairau and.'Wei-. ;ilington has been getting more decided,* that the Nelsoriians have made but one or two spasmodic efforts to prevent it in that long interval, and .therefore the subject requires to be referred to again and again to rouse the settlers to action. Many of the residents in the town and district of Blind Bay, may be anxious that things should remain as they are, fearing that with a town at the Waitohi, the present trade will be diverted from Nelson. This is probably a mistake, for little of the Wairau trade comes by way of Nelson now, aad certainly will not increase as time advances. On the other hand, there will be no reason to sup-, pose that the trade of the town would become less by the new arrangement, as it mainly depends on the country immediately surrounding it. Should this become eventually the case, it would be so gradual as to permit those settlers who possess town property at the Waitohi, to establish themselves there by degrees, without loss, thus withdrawing competition from those who remain. The'object then of this notice is to again draw attention to this important subject—to urge upon the settlers, if they have the future welfare and prosperity of their adopted country at heart, to press forward, without any more delay, the formation of a good road in all seasons between the plains and intended port; the erection of sheds and other facilities for the shipment of wool direct; and for the merchants to establish stores at the Waitohi to supply the Wairau settlers at prices to compete with Wellington. • When this is done, the trade of the district would flow through that channel, and thus the interests.of the settlement would be consolidated, and a future of increasing prosperity ensured. In addition to the foregoing remarks, it might be as well to observe, that in the event of the removal of the seat of General Government from Auckland, the Waitohi must obtain considerable attention, not to say preference. It may fairly contest the palni of superiority with Wellington, ;both on the ground of its situation and the character of its port. If reports be correct, its winds are less violent, and they allow of more facilities for shipping than Port Nicholson experiences. After Port Hardy, commend us to the Waitohi, as a residence for effective focal authority, i Once let a good road be opened between Nelson and this more favored" locality, and then this province" |wili; be vastly improved; and. we are pretty.hcertain; such a communication is not unlikely, at no | distant period. ;Ai . ;,;.' ~".