SLOUGHS OF DESPOND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 646, 25 October 1909, Page 8

SLOUGHS OF DESPOND.

NORTHERN KING COUNTRY. ' . A NEW GOVERNMENT POLICY. The hardships, of .backblocks settlerp whos roads are like the Slough of Despond were de ' 'scribed-'to -the' Eon. E. M'Kenrie, Minister'foi ■ Public' Works, on Saturday,, by ; a'doputatioi from the Northern King Country, iiitroduca | by Mr. Jennings, iI.T: ■~ ' ■■ - - i Major Lusk (Te Kuiti) said that the roadi (in this district ,were in such a'terrible condi i tion that it was : impossible to'.makeiuse of the ■ railway. .The country was new.country, but il was being very, rapidly filled-, up, and the in ■ creasing' traffic'was being destructive to th< . roads, which were absolutely impassable for sii months of the year, and even dangerous to life i Thero had. been au • immense waste of publi( 1 money and labour in the past owing to the lat< season at, which attentiqn was given- to roac , works. If the Minister could guarantee monej . for .certain Works at . an,iearly period of th< year a' scheme of expenditure would be pre i pared and contracts could be! let very soon . They could go on then till May.* and get reallj • good work dono. He-was an engineer himself : and had had experience of-■ pioneer road-raakinf 1 in New Zealand for sixty years.. This was ( . very burning question in the district.. Thrc< roads particularly required -attention, and twe of those .wore ,main arterial roads. ' Horses'"Dug Out", of ; Roads. • Horses had: been .'literally dug out ( of on< load, and settlers could not-.tiSke their stocl to bo sold' on account of the bad roads. •Il 1 was no uso having railways if they could nol get access, to; them. There would undoubtedlj be a ■ largo' butter 1 and ■ cheeso industry estab lished around. Te Kuiti if there were reasonable conditions of transit. ~ 1 Mr. Elliott (Piopio) spoke of .the main arteria: road - from ■Te Kuiti'-to New ' Plymouth. II ' was-fairly good in summer and very'bad.ir 1 winter.' All the members of; the deputatior lived'from twenty to fifty miles-'from' the ra':V way, and this 1 road was-their only means oi access. They..had been fairly treated by tht .Government in the past,' but. if the monej which was spent, on road works, was placeo earlier in the. hands of public bodies, the.wori could be dono - morer cheaply "and effectively, The road was r.ow v virtually dangerous 'foi traffic. The Government had'opened up lands recently for settlers, 'one 'of |r whbm had ;faller off his'horse: while .it was' floundering in tlu mud, and.stated that if - he had not;kept Hie legs wide apart ho would have sank over hi: head.' The settler's .- were so'"anxious. to help themselves that many of them had proposed tc raise a head'for' the purpose of getting-.a subsidy -from the Government; : The' freight ' over twenty miles of road, apart-from .railwaj freights,- had cost the settlers -J!4800 in ; one year. If four or five miles of, road were metalled this year it -would "afford means- of transit, in connection .with .a ■ dairy factory- to ' be established next, season. ; ' Settlers Heart-Weary. \ • /.' , .'.Mr. ' King,. Eatanui,. said- '.'that; .a , cer tain block had been settled ' for , four years, but only one settler'had access-by road to his section. It was impossible to bring dairj operations into' existence without roads'. Thej had*from one to two miles-of'btash to contend against before 'they': .struclC.-a: 7 . six-foot track, and after .that tliey came, upon the road which Major Lusk had' eloquently described.- The settlers the 'disadvantages against which' they haa had: to struggle.' It • was simply, impossible - for seven, eight, and sometimes, nine months of the year to get cattle into, the'block, .and if. they got, them there, .they could pnlv get 'them to the. saleyards in,such a : wretched .condition as' seriously to depreciate, their, value.. .'■■■ .. Mr. .Percy..Hose,.said that'; Mb. district, .to further south than that "of. the last speaker, ,Settlers - wore' still iusing '-' an -old . Maor track-. along'-.: the,. llarakopa .Elver,.' in ' thai • district, because ,the: road-. Was-, -irnpass r able. Another road to the railway at To Kuiti was 47 miles long; and riding light it had taken him two 'days to cover,, the .distance. There was magnificent limestone for. roading right alongside , ofi the road. The Awakiiio County to which he belonged,: was inoperative. ■ '.• The Minister: Let me,advise you then tc elect a- council as-soon' as; possible. - You will never, do any, good until-you have a local .body-to.rcprcsentvyonr. needs.;.,... Mr. Eose: I-< am i.a'.strofigs supporter of that ■ It-was explained that, the other members oi the deputation- belpnged -to-ithe: Waitome county, which is,operative;>-'-i -•■ -' . The Minister'! .Reply,!". v-tri, The Minister 'Said he sympathised very much with the settlers'- position. The; Government, however, had: spent an enormous shm 1 —.£137,00 C ' —in Mr. Jennings's electorate last. year,' and they could'not eontinno at that rate'every year. The system he :wa;s "asked to adopt : regarding roads was one he intended to make general. He was 'satisfied ■that' the local:bodies .could got better results from the'roads,.than Government officers, and that was one reason why the Publio Works and ■ Eoads Departments :weri- anialgamated. ..Provision would be made so that local, bodies, under proper conditions, could havo money handed' over:; to them . for . road. works. There was, also the question of the-cost of: the Department. ' The'To-Kuiti road district cost more than all . the road districts in the South' Island for administration; , The Government' recognised that it'was muoh better to- give the money to the-settlers than to spend -it-on plerioal work- and engineers. . Major Lusk'-said; he would'give .all- the engineering ■ assistance 'he 'could-to the'settlers gratuitously. - I- : ■ ! ' "' - ■ Tho Minister said he recognised that it wa« d perfeot waste of money to try. to make roads in wet weather. He would hand over! whatever money-was .voted as soon- as it- was available, and he advised them to-get their plana and specifications ready at once.: He; could not, of-course,-say : what amount would-be voted, but he would endeavour to assist them aS far as possible.' The backblocks settlers'deserved special' encouragement oil account of tho disadvantages they.had to endure. ' 1 ••• ■ : ' COMING TOWNSHIPS. DEPUTATION TO PBIIiE MINISTER. • The same depntatiop, introduced by Mr. Jen- , waited on ,the, Prime Minister .with reEto the felling of'.bush,, and opening up of Mr. Percy Eos?.presented,two petitions asking tbat- a .large area . of, unoccupied lands should bo opened for settlement, and. for the resumption of tho Mardkopa Nativo lands, which ' wore leased to the llarakopa Milling Company. It was stated that the growth ol settlement'.required the' formation "of: a township'iii this-locality. It was hoped that when tho land was "acquired for settlement, the' 1 Government would open, the: township on the freehold tenure. ; The Primo Minister said he would look into both matters without delay; and, see what, could be done. ; . -' ' :. . ' - .. The neoeSsity-of bushfelling and surveying for the Eatanui; township' and placing-land on the market was, urged, oy Mr. • King. Tho settlement'was'fpur years,old, and it was time that the nuclei's of a township wae formed. If the bpsh was fellpd this year'-it-would'be two years before tho township - could be formed. A request for 24'. miles telephone extension -was also made by Mr. King. It was .pointed out that though there had been a very: large expenditure', on 'Mr.:. Jennings's electorate last year,,,the,'electorate was oneiof the-.largest in the Dominion, and a great deal of new .settlement was'going .on in it. ■ The Prime Minister said .'New. Zealand had done more than any other country in extending telephones to the backblocks The re- • quest would be considered when the Govern'.meat was preparing its public"expenditure., Mr. King-said there were three sections in the Eatanui' Block',which were forfeited, 'and ' he. asked that; they should be opened for selection as soon as possible. " • .Tho Prime Minister said.he would louk into the matter. •' .Major Lusk said they, would like, all available land thrown open as soon' as possiblo. j Sir Joseph said he was anxious as a general' policy that that'should be'done;