57

D.—2

Amuri generally are rendered practically accessible by the lines already made or in construction. Much of the two million and a quarter acres of Crown land on the central line is doubtless for the present purpose valueless, but there remain large districts of first-class grass-country, including land fit for the plough, and for improved meadow and pasture. No general estimate has been made of the proportions of the several classes last-named. One district only has been spoken to by competent witnesses —Mr. Browning, Chief Surveyor, Nelson; Mr. Bochfort; Mr. Richmond, formerly Commissioner of Crown Lands, Nelson; and Mr. John Kerr, a resident for some years at Tarndale, and a sagacious and successful cattle-farmer. The district referred to lies between Tarndale and the Upper Wairau on the north, the valley of "Waiau-uwha on the west, the limits of the Clarence Valley on the south, and those of the Acheron and its feeders on the east. Its total area is between 400,000 and 500,000 acres. Of this, the greater part is good grassland ; some of it too rough to be capable of use as meadow-land, but from 250,000 to 300,000 acres are now first-class pasture, comprising in the valleys and easy slopes 40,000 to 50,000 acres fit for the plough, and the rest 200,000 to 250,000 good grassy downs, some parts capable of becoming converted into hay-paddocks. The witnesses last mentioned concur in the opinion that it may be successfully settled by laying out small grazing or dairy farms, each including a homestead allotment of arable land. The Committee have no authoritative estimate of the area fit for settlement in the Wairau Valley. It is eighty-five miles long from Tarndale to Blenheim, and from the Eainbow downwards is of considerable width. The length from the Eainbow to the Narrows, where compact settlement begins, is about sixty miles. It contains flats and terraces of large extent. The bounding ranges end frequently in easy slopes and smooth spurs, part of these well timbered. The soil in the flats is not generally equal to the Clarence District, but there are many spots fit for homesteads. As a safe conjectural estimate the Committee offer 75,000 acres as fit for similar colonization to that proposed for the Clarence. Between the Tophouse and the Eainbow there are many spots of rare landscape beauty, the valley and lower slopes having open glades studded with park-like timber, and overlooked by picturesque peaks. This part of the valley, if made accessible by a railway, would almost certainly attract settlers of the wealthier class as a place of residence. The climate of the uplands generally is good, though of course colder than on the plains. It is healthy, and it appears probable has advantages for some invalids. Garden and root crops as well as cereals flourish remarkably, and some fruits are produced better than in climates where frost is rarer. Supposing the total available area, as above estimated, to be divided into farms averaging 500 acres, there would be settlement for 750 families within easy reach of the central line, which, with the labourers, storekeepers, mechanics, and others, who would be attendant on such settlement, would imply an increased population of from 5,000 to 6,000 persons. No parallel addition to the population can be calculated on or expected from the construction of the coast line Either project would, however, bring with it an increase of population on the freehold lands at the extremities and around the roadside stations. The mineral wealth of the northern district is principally found, and likely to be found, on the western side of the central ranges, and belongs properly to the consideration of the Christchurch-Greymouth-Nelson line. The wooded ranges between the Sppncer Mountains and Eeefton, and elsewhere around the Grey basin, are for the time difficult of access. Diggers have, however, occasionally visited the Upper Waiau-uwha for provisions. The total value of gold raised in the Nelson Province, including Greymouth, up to the end of 1880, exceeded eleven millions sterling ; more than half of it being from the Nelson District. The obstacles on these parts of the New Zealand gold fields, arising from want of access and the great extent of forest land, would be materially diminished by the settlement of the Upper Clarence and Upper Waiau-uwha Valleys, and by the construction of the central line. The Committee call attention to the views of Mr. Travers on the importance of settling the Grey basin as a necessary means of developing the coal fields, and they believe that the Christchurch-Grey-mouth line would be instrumental in effecting such settlement. They do not consider, however, that a heavy mineral traffic of any kind would be economically practicable over any of the saddles existing between the Grey basin and the East. 2. The second condition, that of directness between Wellington and the South, is best attained by the coast line in its most perfect form, that is to say, by a line starting from the existing railway on the south of the Weka Pass, and crossing the Cheviot and Parnassus runs to the coast. The distance by this route between Christchurch and the Port of Picton is about 203 miles ; the distance by the central route is about 233 miles. If, however, the existing railway is followed to the Eed Post, and extended to join the coast route near the confluence of the Eden with the Waiau-uwha, the disparity will be reduced by one-half, the distances being about 220 miles against 233. As regards the distance from Christchurch to Nelson no comparison is possible, as the central line alone would serve that place. By the central line, however, Nelson is, so far as can be ascertained without accurate surveys, just the same distance from Christchurch as Picton by the coast line through Cheviot—namely, 203 miles. Having regard to the character of the country, the Cheviot lino is exceptionally direct, and the central line as concerns Christchurch to Nelson is nearly as much so. The greater circuit on the central main line to Picton is not, however, without notable precedents among English railways of importance. In an appendix -^Appendix B) on this subject it is shown that, for a considerable period after the first great English lines had been constructed, many important towns on the trunk lines from the metropolis were reached by serious detours, and this for the same reason that would prevail in the adoption of the central line—namely, for the purpose of at once including as many centres of population as possible in the system. Among the towns so situated may be named York, Newcastle, Exeter, Plymouth, Dover, Portsmouth. Short cuts were introduced by degrees as traffic developed, and showed the probability of profit in a large and perfected system, B—D. 2.