SWITZERS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 180, 20 July 1871, Page 7

SWITZERS.

(From our own Correspondent. )

A railway, forsooth ! a main trunk line to our immediate neighbourhood ! What a bright idea. This is the latest idea batched by our local savants. Water was the one thing needful a short time ago ; then, an electric telegraph ; but now, a railway is the panacea for all our ills. It is evidently regarded by a few as being an important question, as action has already been taken in the matter. Spending other people's money is likely to be the order of the day for some time to come ; and Lave not our citizens taken their cue from the " Provincial school of politics," and those wonderful orations on schedules first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth — vide "Hansard," cap. 95, p. 599 ; at all events a public me?ting was got up very quietly, and held on -the 16th of last month, to advise the Government that steps be taken immediately to have a line of railway suryeyed from the Long Ford across the Waimea Plains, and to a point within twelve miles of Switzers, passing the north side of the Hokanuis io/Winton, thence to Lake Wakatip, before anything is done with the Invercargill and Mataura line of railway. t"lie Warden occupied the, chair, and £aye an elaborate and luminous address ©n| the many advantages . that ' would icerue, not merely to tins and the, adJoining, districts, but to the province, 'as la question of 'economy and utility, because it would open' tip a fine agricultural country, and pass near large : qei itres of population ;. also, a great pjo ti.on' of the country through which : it vould have to pass is . entirely y^oul •of any engineering difficulties.,, .Pror-. bal)ly there is no gentleman in the province better able to give un opinion onjthe relative merits of the two lines, onjaccount of his personal acquaintance with almost every part of this very extensive district, and those adjoining. A resolution was passed affirming the necessity of taking steps immediately in the matter. An influential committee was appointed to do what may may seem advisable to accomplish the object. Oh, dear! what forecast we manifest. Our grandchildren may probably see it necessary to perform what we are forecasting. If many of the works that are being sketched out are performed before that time, the population will have to pay dearly for its whistle. Sixty thouaand people — the population of a small town in England — and to be in such a rage for railways, to say the least of it does say much for our suavity as a people. The railway question occupied the time of our provincial legislators very nraelr; but what has become of the goldfields I water scheme? The quiet canny man- 1

ncr in which the Superintendent induced the Mining Conference to treat the matter, shows pretty clearly what may be expected from that quarter; and the Provincial Council, although it had Mr. Hau^h ton's elaborate report before it, made no sign. There are only two parties at Switzers who have a permanent water supply in their races, and one of these are using it at their own claim at the Scrubby terraces; the other is partly used by themselves, and a part of it is sold to the public at 1 2s. per day of eight hours ; and if the water from both these races were sold to the public at a reasonable rate, a great deal more would be used. At the Muddy Creek terraces there have been parties doing fairly for the past two years ; but there is only a small race bringing water to it, and a portion of the summer season it is dry. At the Welshmans Gully (the richest gully that has been opened at Switzers, and I believe the first place where payable gold was obtained) there are still a good many miners living, who obtain a livelihood by working a.t the many spurs and terraces around the head of it , but they entirely depend on the rain falls throughout the year to carry on their sluicing operations, and while the water continues to run, some of these parties do very well. ]f a permanent supply of water was brought to these terraces, there is gold obtained to show that a large number of miners would be remunerated for some years to come. The thousand ounces taken down by the last escort is but an earnest of what would be with a permanent supply of water to the many hills and spurs that are known to be auriferous I may safely say that with the above element copiously supplied where it is needed, would cause Switzers to be one of the best goldfields in the province for the working miner, and a knowledge of this causes many of our miners to continue here amid the present "linger and die" state of things. If our leading citizens would turn their attention earnestly to the useful rather than the chimerical, there can be no doubt that a great amount could be done towards restoi ing a healthy commercial tone to our district, and would be the means of preventing many from finding their way to Tuapeka to pass through the mill. But if we sire to have a. railway, let us nave it as» soon, as possible, to assist the unfortunates speedily to their destin.-i-tion, and the Government by that means would obtain a revenue for a short time.