THE Wellington Independent. "nothing extenuate; OR set down aught im malicb." SATURDAY MORNING, 28th NOVEMBER. THE PROPOSED COOK'S STRAIT TELEGRAPH.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1989, 28 November 1863, Page 2

THE Wellington Independent. "nothing extenuate; OR set down aught im malicb." SATURDAY MORNING, 28th NOVEMBER. THE PROPOSED COOK'S STRAIT TELEGRAPH.

The fact that Mr Wood has been Treasurer to three successire Ministries would seeuito imply • one of two things — either that he is a trimmer shifting his sails to every breeze, or that his knowledge of and qualifications for . the duties , of that particular office are such as to make him, for the time being, a political necessity. Judged of by his speeches his political views are moderate, and though never shy of express* ing his opinions when occasion requires, he app arently likes business very much better than debate. That he is a man of business the rer suits of the visitation tours, which Mr Wood < has several times made through the provinces, - have clearly proved ; and we believe the testir mony is universal, that he is as conciliatory and agreeable in manuer as he is desirous to fulfil impartially the duties of his position. With us Mr Wood has always been a favorite, and his conduct in the trying crisis of last session (when he resolutely refused Mr Domett's tempting 1 offers to leave Mr Fox in the lurch, and only consented to accept office when that gentleman 9 pronounced him at liberty to do so) has impressed us with a conviction that so far from 3 owing his successive continuances in office to j political trimming, he has entirely owed them to the straightforward character of his business L habits — to the confidence which is generally ' felt that he endeavors to hold the scales evenly, I as regards the rights of individual provinces, 5 irrespective of the party to which the rep res eu- • 'atives of those provinces belong. 1 When any of us are suspicious of a man we ] very naturally put an unfavorable cun- » stiuction on what he says or does, but when tbe ■ words or actions of those in whom we have con- ' fidence are doubtful, we as naturally put the \ best possible face on them, In Mr Wood's 1 speech on the Budget,he tn^desome observations ; on the necessity there was for the Government at once connecting the South Island provinces with the Northern shore of Cook's Strait, and tbe Spectator, being very suspicious of the Ministry, puts thereon the most unfavorable, and, as it happens, a wholly false construction. It is therefore worth while to understand what the inteutions of the Government are, and, as a reference to the Parliamentary Papers supply the information, we shall proceed to show how honest and L satisfactory Mr Wood's telegraphic proposals, as regards this Province, really were. Mr Wood saysin his speech on the Budget : — "We likewise think it advisable that a sum of money should be set apart for the purpose of constructing an electric telegraph, where it is > possible that an electric telegraph can be constructed in this country. It cau be constructed throughout the whole of the Middle Island, and carried by submarine cables across Cook's [ Strait. We propose that measures should be ' taken almost immediately to commence a work | of that kind in conjunction with the Provinciel -, Governments of the Middle Islaud, who have already taken steps in the matter. And. though ' I myself have indicated a plan to continue that

übmarine cable from D'Umlle's Island to the lanakau, yet, upon further consideration, we liink it better uot to undertake a scheme so xtensive as ibat at present; but rather to wait nother year to see if it may not perhaps be iossible to continue the telegraphic comrauniation from Cooks' Strait to other parts of this Northern Island. It would be impossible, of ourse, to do it at the present time ; but it is lot perhaps too wild a supposition to suppose bat it may be practicable to commence it in mother year. At any rate we propose a sum »f j£ 150.000 to be set apart for the purpose of jonstructing electric telegraphs." On the first blush, Mr Wood might be sup)osed to mean that the Electric Telegraph was o belaid down from Southland to Nelson, and rom theuce to Manakau, completely cutting off Wellington. Those who "believed in Mr food's honesty of purpose, would immediately iay that he could not intend to isolateand utterly lamage Wellington in that fashion ; while ;hose who are suspicious, — those who believe ;bat every Auckland Minister is perpetually, studying how best he can ruin us, think as the Spectator thinks in its Wednesday's article: " But perhaps the tendency of the proposed action of the ministry is shown in nothing so clearly as in that which relates to the Electric Telegraph. After answering the representations recently made by the Chamber of Commerce here on the subject of connecting the two islands by a telegraphic wire laid across Cook's Strait, "to the effect that the Government were about to propose a plan for this purpose, it is now proposed to teiminate the line at D Urvilie's island. Mr Wood gravely adding that it had been his plan to propose a continuation by a submarine cable from thence to Manakau, but it was thought better not to uttempt so much a present. That it should thus have been intended to pass by the whole coast of Wellington and Taranaki— adopting for this a costly submarine cable instead of the comparatively inexpensive mode of wires above or immediately beneath the surface of the earth —has something in it of so monstrous a character that we dare not trust ourselves to characterise it. It says but too plainly. 'The Middle Island is clamorous and strong — there* fore unite it to Auckland and thus preserve Northern Ascendancy, but Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, aud Wellington, are not worth so much as even a passing notice.' We cannot for a moment believe that our representatives will tamely consent to this." Turning to the " Postal Report " for 1862-3 f written by Mr Wood as Acting Postmaster* General in the absence of Mr Ward, we find the whole scheme fully detailed. The " monstrous character" of Mr Wood's plan turns out to be the very reverse, and if any province h&s occasion to endorse that description it is certainly not ours. That reports tell us that South" land, Otago, and Canterbury, have arranged for making a line from Invercargili to the Nelson boundary, that the materials are sent for, and that the work is to commence this summer. As no difficulty stands in the way of extending it to Marlborough and Nelson, telegraphic communication from Foveaux to the Southern shore of Cook's Strait is only a question of a few months more or less. "It will be impossible for some years (writes Mr Wood) safely to attempt the construction of an extensive inlaid line of telegraph in the Northern Island ; but there is no reason why arrangements should not be made during the ensuing session of the Assembly to connect the principal settlements of that Island with the Middle Island by meant of a submarine telegraphic cable. There is no practical difficulty in the way. It is now fully recognised by telegraphio engineers that cables laid in a depth which is under 100 fathoms are seldom broken and can be easily repaired, and are not liable to those accidents to which deep sea cables are constantly exposed. The shortest distance across Cook's Strait is from Welling* ton Head on the South shore to Cape Terawiti on the North, it does not exceed 12 nautical miles; the soundings however are too deep, vary* ing from 110 to 15(7 fathoms, to render it ad* risable to lay a cable between those points. From Run under point to Sinclair head is 21 nautical miles} and the deepest soundings are oaly 80 fathoms ; a cabie laid down there would be is shallow water, be out of the great tide rip so common in the narrowest part of the Straits, and would connect Wellington with the Middle Island. From Cape Stevens, the ex* treme Northern point of D'Urville's Island to the Manukau Harbour, is 210 nautical miles. The deepest soundings in crossing the Straits to Cape Egmont do not exceed 54 fatbomi. From Cape Egmont to Manukau the greatest dept does not exceed 46 fathoms, and off that Cape there is no greater depth of water. A cable along that line would connect Auckland with the Middle Island, and a short branch cable from tbe main line to Taranaki would include that settlement in the great line of telegraphic communication. Should engineer* ing difficulties, as is very possible, present themselves in connecting Cape Stevens .with Nelson by land, there is another line which is no longer, and with no deeper soundings from Cape Farewell to Manakau. In none of the proposed lines does the bottom present any difficlties, throughout the whole distance it is either gravel, sand, or mud." The co3t of the land telegraph is about £60 a mile, that by sea when laid in less than 100 fathoms deep is about £400 a mile. Thus the two lines above mentioned, would cost about £94,000 — Bay,l Bununder Point (near Cloudy Bay) to Wellington £9000, Nelson to Manakau £85,000. The Strait must be crossed some* where, and that it must be crossed close to Wellington is not disputed. Mr Wood's proposition for a sea line from Nelson to Manakau being only intended to prevent the isolation of Auckland, consequent on the native disturbances preventing the line from Wellington thence being 1 at present carried out. On account of the great expense Mr Wood has since withdrawn the Nelson and Manakau line, in the hope that another year may afford the prospect of uuiting Auckland with Wellington overland ; and looking to the immense saving which the overland route would occasion (not less than £65,000) besides embtacing the intermediate provinces, there can be little doubt that Mr Wood has acted wisely and well, A telgeraphio engineer has been, appointed (Mr Alfred Sheath) whose duty it is to advise with the Provincial Governments as to the direction of the line, undertake its general supervision, and see that the system is Wairanged, ift each of its Provincial portioai, as to form •

whole which the General Government can presently take into its own hands for the benefit o: the Colony generally. Under this arrangement the line can be simultaneously commenced am prosecuted in' all the Southern am what the Wellington Government has to do is t< arrange that the making of the submarine cabh should be put in hand without delay. Th< Strait being colonial and not provincial property the General Government will of course order, lay down, and pay for the line across it ; but even should we becalled upon to pay for it in the first instance, the cost (£9000) is such a mere bagatelle that it cannot present an hour's hinderance. Bu( from another Parliamentary Paper it appears that this estimate of £400 per mile is double what it ought to be. It is true that the Malta. and Alexandria cable, which is 1300 miles long, cost £500,000, and the Java and Australia cable, a length of 1830 miles, is offered to be laid for £725,000; but Messrs Sir Charles Bright and Clark, engineers of the Atlantic, Indian and other great telegraph undertakings, state themselves prepared to lay down a line between Australia and New Zealand at about £30 a mile, the cable costing in England £150 a mile — or when laid down say from £180 to £200. This price is borne out by Mr Walters, the agent general in London for South Australia, who explains to the Duke of Newcastle that £400 a mile is the price which a Company would charge if it had to lay the line on the " guarantee of interest" principle, but that if the colonial governments paid cash £150 a mile would certainly be saved. This by the way is a wrinkle worth noting, via, that when even respectable companies agree to take a guarantee of so much per cent on the cost, there is a'probability that they willcookthat cost into double its real amount, and so get twice as much interest as it was ever intended they should get. The whole cost of connecting Southland and Auckland, via Wellington, at the highest rates is £160,000, and this amount the Government propose to include in their intended loan. We bope the earliest moment will be taken to survey the b»d between this and Cloudy Bay, and that by the time the wires are ready on the other side the cable will be ready for submerging. Meanwhile we think we have done good service by removing the very unfavorable impression of the ministerial intentions which our contemporary has so hastily induced.