Railways.

Sir,—In my former communication I said nothing of the great probable consumption for the Drury Coal by the opening up of the Panama route; nor have I calculated upon its consumption in the manufacture not only of gas, bricks, and salt for home consumption and export, but of articles too numerous to detail in a mere glance at the subject, the beautiful freestone quarries of Mr. Ligar and the limestone quarries of Messrs. Smith and Cooper, would also give their quota of traffic to a railway; and Auckland would then have its freestone footpaths, and reap the benefit of cheaper and more substantial buildings. A Railway from Auckland to the Waikato, would open up a short and speedy route to Ahuriri on the one side, and New Plymouth on the other, by means of flat-bottomed steamers on the Waikato, which is navigable for such class of boats for about eighty miles. Those two Provinces could be reached in little more than a day by making a road from each to the head of the navigation of the Waikato; this would tend to develope the coal of that district, and thus check monopoly. But if a Railway could only be laid down from Auckland to Drury, it would be the commencement of the opening of a channel through which the present dormant wealth of the country would flow, and unlike a comet, would leave a good substantial trail behind, to enrich the producer, the share-page 98holder, and the country at large. A Railway from Auckland to Drury would only give one mile to 2000 of the present population, whilst go-ahead America has one for every 1000 and upwards of 3000 miles of canals—her commerce exceeding that of every other nation except that of Great Britain. But supposing such a line of Railway to be commenced at once, it would take at least two years to complete and get it into working order; and in that time the increase of population—if it continues at the present ratio—would very much alter the foregoing figures, and the calculation would be nearer one mile of railway for every 3500 of inhabitants. The figures, in accordance with my previous communication, would stand nearly as follows:—

Capital.
Cost of forming and laying down single line, with proper sideways and stations	£150,000
Cost of rolling stock and 4 Engines	50,000
Contingencies	30,000
Interest for half time of construction	20,000
		£253,000
Income.
From Passenger traffic	£30,000
From Coal at 7s. 6d. per ton	15,000
From Wheat, Potatoes, Flax, and Wool	3,000
From one-fifth of the imports of £120,000 worth of merchandize	4,000
From Miscellaneous	1,500
		46,500
Deduct for working expenses 50 per cent.		23,250
		£23,250

Thus, leaving a balance sufficient to declare a dividend of 8 per cent, on capital, and a small amount for reserve for laying down another line, and that in the face of sure and certain increase of traffic as the country becomes settled and cultivated. But even supposing the worst—supposing that only half the amount of income is realised as above, at first, although in every instance railways have made their own traffic (just as the four-horse mail-vans between Auckland and Drury are now doing), and the receipts have invariably far exceeded the calculations of the projectors of such undertakings; is there not a sufficient inducement for a beginning to be made? For such a work is not to be done in a day. We have no Ord. nance Maps of the country, as they have in England. (It is a pity that this country was not mapped by the Sappers and page 99Miners years ago; this would have much facilitated its settlement, and lessened the labours of obtaining the best and most practical line for a trunk line of railway.) Still, something should be done in the matter at once, before the land through which a line may run, becomes fenced and cultivated or greatly enhanced in value; and it would much facilitate the projection of a railway if the owners of land meet the promoters in a liberal spirit—in a spirit becoming the age of great undertakings, and fractional profits, in which tens of thousands are invested, and tens of thousands are set afloat with the prospect of being recovered in farthings and fractions of farthings. Never was there a greater faith existing in the force of numbers and the accumulative results of "small profits and quick returns," a faith everywhere discernible in all those departments of commerce which have to do with the hidden resources of a country, and the necessaries and requisites of every-day life; but in none is it more patent than in that of girdling the world with the means of flashing thoughts to thousands of miles with lightning velocity, or piercing tunnels through the hearts of the most obdurate mountains, and spanning the vast prairies of the world with iron roads on which speed along the leviathan engines of commerce and civilization.

It is time, too—high time—that our clay should be made into brown ware, our fine clay into fire-bricks, our coal into gas, tar, or camphine, our iron ore smelted, our dye-woods exported. (Tanaka bark was highly extolled in the Great Exhibition as a valuable dye),—our ochreous earths made into paint, old rags collected, bones ground for manure, and manure made for agriculturists; and what would more facilitate this than a cheap and expeditious mode of transmit? It is time, too, that Auckland capitalists should look for other investments, which would be found quite as profitable and certain, than that of land speculating; for what avails it that we have fertile soil, an equable climate, a genial atmosphere, minerals beneath our feet, vast forests of valuable timber, rivers-and harbours not to be excelled, abounding in fish only waiting to be tickled, and labourers flocking to our shores; what avail all these things unless we use the means winch science and mechanical art have discovered, to bring them to the world's great mart. Seeing there will be no sacrifice, I call upon the capitalists of Auckland to come forward and fulfil their high mission, and keep Auckland up to the level of her high position, remembering that no man or nation can become or continue great without acting greatly.