THE WAIMAKARIRI.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18895, 10 January 1927, Page 11

THE WAIMAKARIRI.

TCI THB IDITO* OT TH« PK*3B. Sii", —Much capital is being made bv the Trust and their supporters out of the fact that Mr Furkert lius approved ol' the scheme as propped and tliat experienced engineers have designed tin: Scheme, but to this day none ot: these engineers lias produced evidence or facts which would bo accepted under the rules of evidence by a .Supieme Court Judge or a Magistrate. I for one hope that a Commission will be held when *all sides may have an opportunity of contributing data and proper evidence. In a Commission or in a Court neither engineers nor anyone else can take refuge as the Trust and their engineers do, when cross-examined in saying, "Well, the previous witness said so; think of his degrees and experience. J think the same as he does." It is no answer to criticism and throughout the .whole controversy the Trust defence simply consists in referring to' their engineers' wonderful experience to be accepted without question and saying that those who support tlio scheme are those "who have supported it." I suggest that on the eve cf the election all ratepayers who wish to think for themselves would like the Trust candidates to explain the following contradictions: 1. The 1921 Commission (both Messrs Hay and rurkert were members): "The possible introduction into ' the main river of detritus from the Eyre drainage should be avoided, as the main l iver is already fully loaded." Ts'.B. — This is now approved by Mr Furkert and Mr Hay.

'2. Tlic ■present Chairman-Engineer of the Trust, Mr Wood, Government nominee, in his report; in tho Press, Getober, 102.4: ''We are therefore faced ■with problems set by Nature, aud it would be unwise to attempt to coerce the Ttver to depart from its natural channels." N.B. —He now approves of the present deliberate coercion.

:j. The ID2I Commission: "The statement that a greater quantity of shingle is coming down than formerly may be a totally wrong interpretation of the facts. . . . Only a very small quan-

tity of fine gravel is coming down — of" this there is no direct evidence." X.B. —AVith others I have direct evidence that this statement is absolutely wrong and misleading. 4. Mr Hay, Trust Engineer, February, 192G: "Practically no shingle comes through the Gorge."" "It is no part of Iho scheme to carry shingle to the sea, as tho throttle deprives the river of its load so the river will be free of its shingle and maintain a stable channel to the "sea."

Mr Wood, March, 192G: "The Trust scheme is based on enormous quantities coming through the Gorge, but that it does not matter where it comes, from." "The channel will gradually deepen itself whilst doing the work of transporting shingle aud sand to the u.-ean--this e.-in In- arc" i

out the use of dredges uf any description." X.B. The throttle has since been completely abandoned and the Trust have recently just loaned a Grab Dredge from tho Lytlelton Harbour Board. 5. The Trust expensively protect land in tho vicinity of Eyroton, which is ' mactieally valueless and fail to protect iuud in the vicinity of Coutts Island, which is valuable, yet this day the river is getting in behind the whole of tho F.yreton protective works, undermining and demolishing them. 0. The Trust have spout thousands of pounds in forming and maintaining Kaing.'i Settlement, a holiday resort, all out of ratepayers' money supposed to be spent on river works. To-day few huts remain there owiug to erosion and ono small solitary croync in process of demolition. The above amazing inconsistencies lead uie to the conclusion that "the ijfjlit lines'' on which the present scheme is based are as Singled as a spider's, web with a lee in it.—Yours. It. M. CIIRYSTALL. January tith. io r iHt tDiroa oi lai raiss. Sir.—lt appears to me not sufficient criticism' has been levelled ;:t the financial s-ide of tii.i present Trust's scheme. Take the. Trust's own statements at .the time the £'200.000 loan iva- turned down:— •JCo men to !:c ..mploycd i'..-r 3 years approximately 1-U.CQO Bridge, estimated JL'2o,OCO. Material, say ... VJ.OOO Compensation .. 00,000 First year's •interest on ■half, loan .... ... O.COO' ■ Stabilisin's worhs' nit "mouth . 5,000 1^7.000 1 Would ask ratepayers to analvse some of the above items. The bridge

is ridiculously underestimated. The low-level Selwyn bridge, 200 yards long, now being erected, is a toy to the high-level bridge, <SOO yards long, required over the Waimakariri, and yet the former will cost at least £IB,OOO. Compensation is likely to cost at least -£IOO,OOO, and I can almost hear "old man AVaimak." chuckle when the Government "experts" (who really run the Trust) say they can stabilise the mouth of such a river for a paltry £SOOO. I wonder what those residents of Stewart's Gully and Kairaki, who saw the recent floods, think ol this estimate. Then there are in addition tens of thousands of pounds worth of plant and dredges (unless we are to have the homely wheelbarrow), throttles, groynes, stopbanks. concrete, workers' 1 camps, engineers' fees (for at least 3 years), and many other heavy items. No, sir, whatever the technical weakness of the scheme may be, _it is in my opinion, and in the opinion of many business men with whom I have discussed it, financially bad, and t if the supporters of the scheme are [ returned tlie misguided ratepayers ( who vote for them will only have themselves to blame when they see their error reflected in their rate-notices.— Yours., etc., !.KO.\ Aft D!■:. CI. AI! K. January Sth.