THE ADVANTAGE OF HORSEFLESH FOR OPENING UP THE COUNTRY.

West Coast Times, Issue 912, 25 August 1868, Page 3

THE ADVANTAGE OF HORSEFLESH FOR OPENING UP THE COUNTRY.

THE BDITOB OF TffE WEST COAST TliTErf. Deah Sik — To-day, in the Bcsidcnt Magistrate'-* Court, we were the defendant's in 'i case, charging us with wantonly abusing a horse and working him with sor«'-i. Mow we are bound to submit to tho decision of our worthy resident magistrate, but what we would like to know— is (ho, country to bo opened Without the use t«f horses f. About the middle of February, 1867, we first storekeepers in this distiiß to pack goods into the diggings of the Upper Tolara. and not only was it necessary to pack and employ men to cut tracks fit for the purpose of packing, we had to purchase good serviceable packhorses. From the commencement of our packing up tin* Tolara until now, webave knocked up live horses and got a man drowned, nnd this horse in question, for wiii eh «■« had lo pay into the treasuiy of rhe County to-day the .sum of Xl (5s 6ct, as a reward for our anxious desire lo give the miners uf the. Upper Tot am the privilege of having their stores delivered to them one. penny per 1b over Boss prices, was purchased by us only two months ago, and now we must cease to work him or pay another line. If we nre^ lo be banded up to Court every day because our horses have got a little skin and hair oil', it will necessitate us to stop so very an unprofitable trade, and the diggers will have to swag their own tucker over those high terraces and winding gullies. We would have to purchase a horse every week ; as we have just got a mare up from the Wanganui, and she has made three trips up the river, and she i.s showing signs of sundry scratches from coming in too close contact with the roots and stumps. It is impossible to get a horse from either the livery stables to make a trip up, as previous experience has shown thc.ni that saddle horses arc uot fit for standing the work of packing up there. When is the back country going to be thoroughly prospected ? How soon will good passable tracks be cut so that the diggings may be allowed to have their provisions at the lowest possible rates ? These are questions that occur to every thinking mind that wishes well for the County of Westland. At the present ! rate it Mill be a long time before the - Totara is properly opened or prospected. It is the oldest diggings on the coast with the exception of the Greenstone, and nothing has been done for it by either the late Provincial )or the present local {governments. The Boad Board have expressed their willingness to do something for the isolated miners of the Upper Tolara. Unfortunately they are unable to do anything good in that direction, having scarcely got sufficient funds to meet demands of keeping the roads and streets in the vicinity of Boss in repairs, and subsidizing the different ferries in the boundary of tho district. We believe that unless something is done to encourage the miner in opening out the country by means of passable pack tracks, that. Westland will become, before two years have elapsed, a half deserted wilderness. Would the General Government, if proper representations were made, guarantee a loan of, say £20,000, for distribution among the Boad Boards, with whom it could be advantageously spent at the present time; and £1000 would be of more service now than a year hence, when we shall have lost four or five thousand of the population, and it will require something really glowing to bring them back to us. Sloping that we will soon have good pack ♦r'aeks. and when it Mill be the exception - to hear of 3lartin's Act being put in force. — We remain. Yours. &c.. Cuming and M'Key. Ixoss, Aug. 20, 18G8.