The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1186, 23 October 1882, Page 2

The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1882.

It is most satisfactory to find that the County Council are perfectly alive to the great importance of improved communication with Christchurch, and, as will he seen in another column, tho Chairman, in reply to a deputation, ! promised that the Council would ■ entertain a proposal to make a bridle i track through the Cannibal Gorge, so as to allow horsemen to ride through, or stock of any kind to be driven, i The expense of such a work, as estimated by Mr Gardner, whose opinion is to be accepted as correct, is only i £300, but, as a matter of course, that sum will only smooth over some of the '■ break-neck parts, and cannot be of i much permanent good in facilitating j communication. Still, even that is a I beginning, and in time tho bridle track j is sure to grow. But, as we have already urged repeatedly, 'why should not the Council go in for a road to the ' nearest railway station that connects i with Christchurch. It must be ap- \ parent to every one that the railway ! battle may be decided against us, j though it is to be hoped that such may not be the case. If it should be, the ' people of Reefton may put it down as ! a certainty, that they will have no line to connect them with the outer world under at least ten years. Were i a good road constructed between here ! and the Red Post, to which point the I railway wiJl in any case be carried, the ' distance to be traversed from Reefton J would not be much over 80 miles, and a day's coach and railway Avould bring passengers either from Reefton to Christchurch, or vice versa. Instead of produce from Canterbury having first to be sent by sea to either Wesfport or Greymouth, and then conveyed, say, 50 miles by waggon, it would be brought by rail a great deal of the way, and waggons would carry it the remainder, at very little more than the present charges, and saving a large sum altogether in transport. A bridle track is all very well in its way, but is not half sufficient for the needs ; 3f both Canterbury and Inangahua. [t is possible that some difficulty might ( xrisc with reference to the Amuri ! bounty, through which a portion of < :he road must pass, as it must not only < issent, but enter into an undertaking, : ointly with the Inangahua Council, ;o be responsible for a fourth part of i :he cost of the line within the Amuri bounty boundaries. It is hardly t ikely that there would bo any ob t-ction, but there might be a trouble, < >erhaps, in getting this somnolent _' iody together, for if we are rightly in- " ormed they only meet ;il>out once in ■very six months, and delegate to a {oad Boards in the district any ex- * >enditure on public works that may l ' >c norded. Still, perhaps in connec- I 1 ion with a work that would be of such c ■normous benefit to the district they c I'ould probably wake up and be equal a o the occasion, '1 he business people \

of Christchuroh, it may be cortainly presumed, will do sill in their power, and exert all the influence possible, to further the work, which cannot be ! other than most beneficial to them. Instead of a paltry bridle track, as at present suggested, a good coach road can be made, and the length of it need not exceed some 80 miles. The subject is one that is specially worthy of the attention of the County Council, and, should that body resolve on action it will be necessary for them to be prompt about it. As has previously been pointed out, the road can be made under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act of last session, but if it be, there is no time to lose. Under that measure all applications for assistance mv.st be sent in before the Ist of January, 1 883, together vith plans and specifications and estimates of cost. After 1883 applications are to be made before the 30th of June in each year, but whether in 1883 this will apply, as well as before the new year, we do not know. If it does not, it will l>e nearly two years before an application can be entertained, and that means a serious loss to this part of th.c colony. The matter is one on which fortunately' there cannot lie any difference of opinion, and we would suggest that, instead of expending a few hundred pounds in completing a bridle track, the Council will give grave deliberation to the advantage derivable from a road, which can be made almost without cost to the local body, and cannot fail to be a great blessing to the people of this district. We trust that at least the practicability of the work will be fully investigated, and that, it" found possible, no time will be lost in making the necessary application for aid provided for in the Act above referred to.