Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 20, 4 September 1946, Page 4

Dear Sir,

Letters to the Editor must be clearly written on one side of the paper only and where a nom-de-plume is used the name of the writer must be included for reference purposes. The Editor reserves the right to abridge, amend or withhold any letter or letters.

THE TUARARANGAIA BLOCK

Sir, In your issue of the Beacon dated 23rd August a letter appears signed by Mr E. Bullot requesting certain information in connection with the above-named block of land. Your correspondent seeks certain information from me as President of the Whakatane Chamber of Commerce.

I wish to inform Mr Bullot that the usual channel for correspendence is through the Secretary . of the Chamber. However, I welcome the opportunity to give this subject the' fullest publicity. A clear description of part of this 7000 acre block of land appeared in the Beacon dated August 14; Your correspondent asks me how much of this land would run one good cow and what would be the cost per acre to break in this workful block. My reply is that I do not know and that these are matters for prospective purchasers and the Crown representatives to work out. What does concern me, however, is the possibility of land “which might be suitable for settlement” becoming locked up for afforestation purposes. This large block, also another huge Native block closer in to Te Teko are worth exploring. There are still New Zealanders physically fit enough and not afraid of hard work who would perhaps welcome the opportunity of obtaining a block of this land.

Modern machinery makes the task of breaking in easier and as the Crown sold one block a few years ago for £1 per acre that should be a fair indication of the present worth. Your correspondent asks me of I would like to see the Returned Soldiers of this war walk off the land losing all. That is a very foolish question. No one wishes to see such a spectacle but all men are not capable farmers and there naturally follows that under the best system obtaining there will be some failures.

I think that this is a reasonable reply to Mr Bullot’s letter. I did not write the article and would refer him to Mr A. L. Luke who has farmed a portion of the said block successfully, and can supply him with all details. Finally, other people, well qualified are of the opinion that the land should be opened up for settlement. Yours etc., H. G. WARREN.

R.P.D. MECHANIC’S SHOP Sir, —The war is over and shareholders of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company are able to emerge and proclaim to the world per medium of their annual meeting and the press that they were quite unable to obtain any service from the Company’s Mechanic’s Shop during the war period. Such a state of affairs merits the widest publicity, as at least three members of the workshop staff were not serving with the armed forces. Apparently all these men did was to keep the Company’s fleet of 19 or 20 pre-war trucks on the road, do certain necessary repairs to the factory plant, and quite a lot of repairs particularly welding to farm machinery for various suppliers. These latter of course could not have been shareholders, as no mention has been made of the matter.

So skilfully did these men conceal their activities that they remained quite unknown to the public (and shareholders) both dui’ing and after the war. In fact, this is the first mention of the matter, and really constitutes a scoop for your paper, which should be fully exploited, unless your modesty forbids.

In view of the fact that these pastimes became so absorbing that they were frequently pursued into the midnight, and sometimes even the early morning hours, it is little wonder that one shareholder, who is also a member of the Hospital Board, clamours loudly for a good shake up of the whole show.

Mr Caulfield is to be commended for his public spirited action, and we confidently look forward to his rendering a similar service in connection with the hospital affairs. Whilst it is doubtless unnecessary to mention the matter, we feel bound to ask however that he will

adopt a firm attitude, and keep the hospital in its rightful place as second on the list. Simultaneous action would be unthinkable, following immediately on the . heels of the atomic bomb tests, the reverberations of which we fortunately escaped. Yours etc., MISS GUIDED MECHANIC.