BACKBLOCK NEEDS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1758, 24 May 1913, Page 5

BACKBLOCK NEEDS.

« ACCESS TO THE BACK COUNTRY. ; ROADS AND RAILWAYS. PUBLIC WORKS MINISTER ON TOUli'. (By Telegraph.—Special Reporter.) Masterton, May 23. Splendid woather favoured the, Hon. Xfi ' Fraser and the party which set out ivilli him to-day from Pongaroa to Eketahuna. Starting: at 8.15 a.m., the party travelled by coach and buggy as far as Tiraumea station, 18 miles distant, and thenco by motor to Eketahuua, Tho route to Tiraumea passed over Waterfall Summit, whore a splendid view was obtained for forty; miles north iin I an equal distance south. In each direction tho country recedes in. undulating; hills with easy slopes, carrying any amount of grass. Tho view from the summit is bounded by tho snow-clad 'i'araruas, At Tiraumea a halt was called, and the travellers were hospitably entertained by Mr. C. C. Holmes, owner o£ Tiraumea Station.

Advantage was taken of th© lialt to deputationiso tho Minister on tho subject of a grant to cover tho cost of metalling five and a. half miles of the AlfredtonWober l{flad, f north of Tiraumea. Tho request was advanced by Messrs. Holmes, Paget, and Herbert, on behalf of tho settlers interested. Tho Minister declined to consider an application for a straightout grant to cover tho wliolo cost of the work, and in tho cad consideration of tho matter was deferred. It was agreed that Mr. G. R. Sykes, M.P., who had introduced the deputation, should mako arrangements for another deputation to wait) upon tho Minister at Wellington, and lay before him definite proposals lor tho imlirorement of tho road.

Six motors were provided to carry tho party over tho twonty-fiv© miles from Tiraumea to Eketahuna. Four of tho cars covered the distanco -without a break, but tho other two cars were held up for an hour about ten miles beyond Tiraumea, whilo the chauffeurs wrestled with

a burst tyro. A milo out of Eketahuna another tyro blpw out, and tho passengers of tho'two rearmost oars walked the remaining distance. A littlo band of seven, which included Mr. J. 11. Escott, M.l\, and Mr. Jas. Mackintosh, entered Eketar huna on foot at 3.30 p.m. The first four cars, including that carrying tho Minister, had arrived an hour and a half earlier. Concerning the Freehold. At Eketahuna tho Minister was tainod at luncheon by tho local Chamber of Commerce, and received several deputations. Speaking at the lunclioon, in reply to tho toast of "Tho Ministry," which was proposed by Mr. A. 11. Herbert, tho Minister said that it was unreasonable to blame this Government for not) doing in ten months what its predecoS': sors had failed to do in ten years. Mr. Herbert had asked what reforms had been carried, Was it nothing that tho right to acquiro tho freehold had been given? Pull effect would bo given to this reform in tho Land Bill of next session. Ho had been forming his opinion by travelling about and ascertaining where tho faults of the late Administration were, and ho had not travelled in vain. Thero had been very great- waste—no ono could , deny it—and prior to becoming a Minister lie had over and over itgain denounced the way in which public monoy had been spent. To miako a change suddenly was impossible, and a reform, to bo of any sorvice at all, must be a well-thought-out) ono. What was needed abovo cvorythine else so long as tho Crown continued to spend largo sums on roads and bridges was more supervision. At present things wero done of ivhich tho Minister could know nothing. The Government recognised thoroughly that many things bad to 1» done, but thoy must bo givon tima to show whether they could do thorn or not.

Access to the Back Country. As to the question of giving access to tho back country, ho had been exceedingly interested in his journeys from Pahiatua right away back to Pongaroa, and from that placo to Eketahuna, every step of tiio journey had been interesting. Ho had teen surprised at seeing ft nnicli greater area of first-class pastoral land than ho had any idea previously that tho district contained. A settler: "After your own district." Mr. Eraser said that ho was not talk* ing about his own district, nor as tho member for Walcatipu. but as a nwmbor of. the Ministfy, and .his clcctorato was tho whole of .New Zealand. Tho Minister went on to expatiate upon tho necessity in the interest of both country and town of giving settlers access to markets. In tho matter of roads and bridges, ho would endeavour to give a Squaro deal to every district. Ho had been told than ho wont about and rnado no promises. What right had ho to make plomises? "Would it bo a square deal if ho pi'oinised in somo districts what ho could nob promiso in others? Thctime for a Minister to coino to a decision was when ha was making.up his estimates, and not piecemeal, hero and there, in order to gain a little applause. Ho was not looking for applause, 1 but desired to bo judged by what ho did when ho framed tho estimates with tho assistance of his export) officers. Last year ho had necessarily relied almost entirely upon hisi olliccrs, and w'hilo he accepted responsibility for tho Estimates then framed, ho had to admit that there were many of tlx* details about which he knew nothing. Ho hoped that when, tho Estimates were next framed ho would know more abomt thorn, and that the result would bo eatisfactory to tho community as a wliolb and to settlers.

Local Bodies' High Demands. There was one way in which local bod< ies made things very difficult for tho Miw ister. Many of them asked for four, five, or six times as much as they exacted to ■ get. That was a positive fact. Last year tho total amount available for roads and bridges was .EoSfI.OOO, but tlic applications from local bodies totalled nearly .£2,000,1 000. Ho expected to have tho same thinj again. Tho tiling had arisen beoauso som< years ago certain members had started K apply for more than they wanted, in th« liopo that they would get all that they wanted. Then those who had asked for a little found that their applications wore cuit down as much as tlioso of tho peoplo who asldcd for too much, and so they wcro constrained to adopt the sanui policy as their rivals. Cutting down tho 4:2,000,000 was not a light task, and a Minister wa» bound to make some mistakes, 110 did not profess to say. that tho Estimates when tliey camo down would be .such as any Minister could defend in every instance, but he hoped tliat thoro would not bo many mistakes, 110 hoped that tho timo was coming when, instead of these larca sums of money boing put upon tliip Estimates by Parliament, the amounts _ re. quired l>v local lwdies would be given them ill lump sums, so that they could draw their own Estimates and work out (heir own salvation, though the Govern, ment necessarily would have a voico in the matter. If tho local bodies did not make tho allocation properly tho fault would be with themselves. Ho hoped that something on these lines would appear in (lie Local Government Bill which th# Government must bring down either this session or nlrat. Probably it would tw brought down this year, but possibly not passed until next year. A Great Cause of Wasto. Ono of tho great causes of, waste, tho Minister went on to remark, had boon tho co-oporativo system, but ho could not abolish that system right oft. Ono of tho lcgucics left to him had been an army of tlioso co-opnrative workers. Ho had'tried to institute a system of small contracts under which plans and specifications were drawn for work which could bo done by half-a-do7XMi men. If they needed horses or plant ho was willing (o provide them, and charge tho contractors, so that tho want of capital would not debar these men if they were willing to tako up tho contracts. All that he wanted was to soo that tlioy got a pound's worth of work for every pound that was spent. These things wcro in his mind, anil ho hoped to givo practical effect to them before long, but ho would repeat that it was impossible to do their, all at once. He was not going to forget what needed to bo don© in that district and others. As to their districts, ho recognised that much could bo done, and ought to bo done, but In what particular

direction it would be improper for him ti say, at present. . A Representative Banquet. At night tho Minister was entertained it a banquet in the Club Hotel by the Masterton Borough and County Councils, the A. and P. Association, and tho Chamber of Commerce. Air. J. .M. Coradine (Mayor of Masterton) presided over a lathering of about sixty persons. _ Proposing* tho health of the Minister, Mr. Coradino said that Mr. Eraser had •i long and honourablo public career, and that alono was sufficient to onsuro his receiving n hearty welcomo in a district like tho Wairarapa. ' The Minister, after returning thanks, said that ho agreed that much of tho land that was thought to bo cultivated was not half cultivated. Much of the cost? of - back-block development might be raved by developing the assets at our doors. To send men of small capital into tho back-blocks was an experiment and sometimes the settlers succeeded and sometimes they failed. Settlement near at hand for men of small capital was Jnuch moro likely to be successful. His viewwas that roads should bo built first and Taihvays afterwards. Tho railways might benefit few, but. roads would benefit many. The use of motor wagons was a Eystem that might reduce the cost of the road maintenance and that of tho carriage of goods by half. Much of the road ho had .travelled over that day was as good as any in New_ Zealand. Other places needed improving and should bo improved. (Hear, hear.) Eo did not mean that ho was going to meet the whole cost of tho work, but ho would help tlio.se who helped themselves. As Minister for Public Works he would give ' this district and others a square deal, 'and in turn ho asked that his colleagues | and himself should bo given a squaro | deal. If they were, the people would not • be disappointed. I

The Rimutaka Blunder. The viow that Masterton people tako in the current controversy about the routo that the railway opening up-the East Coast district should follow was expressed to the Minister to-night by ft deputation representing all the Masterton •borough and county local bodies, and the Masterton branch of the MastertonW'aipukurau Railway League, which was Introduced by Mr. J. M. Coradine,Mayor >f Masterton. .

■ Mr. J. C. Cooper said that the railway route which had been surveyed was not proposed by the people of Masterton, but by the settlers of the district. Wherever the railway might eventually join tho •existing lino it would benefit Masterton. j'As a settler who had ridden over every 'road and almost over every track in the '■district to be opened up ho could speak rot' its capabilities. In this district they ; had a sufficient stock-raising area which :was capable of producing the best lambs 'in'New-Zealand, but at present, owing to the lack of communication, not a single lamb was produced from it. Tho whole of tho land cast of the proposed railway was in largo holdings. It could not be ■close settled until a railway had been provided. The Minister had spoken that (lay of the necessity ol just providing ' roads, but in the district he was speaking of, metal was scarco and dear, and tho '(inly way to provide it and make roads was to tako in a railway. This was unquestionably an area which should be opened up. Mr. C. E. Daniell said that his duty .was to call tho. Minister's attention to a serious bar to progress. Tho Rimutaka railway was laid some forty years ago, when conditions were very different from what they are to-day. An unfortunalo blunder was made in its location. _ In a distance of less than thirty miles it went more than seven miles out of its proper path, and in this circuitous route rose and fell 21S5ft. to reach an altitudo oE llifft., whilst grades as stoep as one in thirty-five were aggravated by several miles of five-chain curves. Mr. Daniell dealt at length with the drawbacks to tho Wairarapa district on account of tho Biniutaka Jine, quoting numerous instances to strengthen his argument. The carefully-prepared report of Mr. P. S. Hay, he said, showed that a Nally good line 7J miles shorter than the present one, and with only half tho climbing, could be made, tho actual saving estimated fourteen years sinco by tho Railway 'Department being. <£13,000 per year, which might now bo fairly assessed' at .£20,000.* A decision on tho route ques- ■ tion would havo an important bearing on ' tho probable extensions of the valley as well as on all railways now made, and to bo made, on the cast coast. For instance, Parliament recently authorised a survey of a line from Peatherston to Maryborough. Such a line, he submitted, would not be recommended by a responsible officer if the Ilimutaka blunder was once acknowledged, and an improvement determined on. They asked, though it might not bo jwssible to do the work in tho near future, ;that the improved route bo definitely determined, sb should a railway be mado to Martinborough it should bo" designed to work in with tho eventually improved conditions of the through service; say by an extension of tho .Greytown branch, whilst any Government lands that might/bo required should not in tho meantime be alienated. They wero ,aware that financial consideration somowhat dominated-the position, and they might bo agaiu told that having a railway such as it was they should bo satisfied, seeing that new country had to bo opened up. In reply to such, an argument, they urged that this proposal could well stand or fall on its merits as a business proposition.

The Minister's Reply. , 111' replying tho Minister, as he had done on previous occasions, said that before coming to a decision about tho East Coast railway he would view the whole of ,tho country concerned moro thoroughly than ho had yet done. It was u question for tho engineers to decide. When lie went round he would tako tho Engineer-in-Chief with, liitn. In regard to the R-imutaka, he had already said that he thought it a bar to progress in> this district. No sensible man could come to any other conclusion. There wore a number of rival route, and ono of them might havo something to commend it, but it had one feature ho did not like, a tunnel three and a half, miles long. If a route couid be found by which this underground work could bo avoided, it would ua preferable. Difficulties were made to ,be overcome, and no doubt eventually a good route would bo found over tho hill into the Wairarapa Valley. They must not be, in a hurry, because this thing could not be rushed. He would refer this matter to Cabinet, and endeavour eventually to detach a suitable man to mako tho necessary surveys, whose report would be of some Assistance to them. One thing that would delay matters for a time was that the Public Works Department was not overstaffed with engineers, so that it ■was difficult to detach one for work of this kind. Mr. W. Beetham described somo of his tarly exploration work in the Wairarapa. and tho manner in which lie discovered a route for a road over the Rimutakas by the Tauhcrinikau route. He stated that when tho Government selected the present routo for the railway over the hill he protested, and induced the Government to have the route which ho had discovered surveyed. Ho believed, however, that they sent an engineer with instructions to condemn it. It would lie a good thing for him if this route were selected after nil. Iu tho course of his statement Mr. Beetliam mentioned that he had assisted to make somo of the earlier roads on tho Rimutakas. After tho business of tho deputations had been dealt with Mr. G. I{. Sykes, M.P., thanked the Minister for the time ho had given to the affairs of tho district. He had been blamed for not securing an earlier visit from Mr. Fraser; but the fact was that ho had pestered the lifo out of tho Minister in regard to tne matter Ho Tioped that the Tesult ot tho vW't would be that tho Wairarapa would B et what it had not got in tho past-a fair share of the public expenditure. Ho thanked tho Minister for his visit, and for his promise to make a more extended visit during tho noxt Parliamentary reC< Cheers wero given for tho Minister, and for the chairman. . Mr. Fraser said that Messrs. Sykes and E*cott wero in no way to blamei for the delay in his arrival in tho district. He was inundated with invitations from d:tricts all over the country, which should bo visited, and New Zealand was not an e "rLmor n row will :bo motored over the district round Masterton, and shown-the country througli which the projected line would pass. Ho will return to Wellington to-morrow evening by tlio 7.22 Napier express.