HOW ROAD VOTES HAVE BEEN WASTED IN THE PAST.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1804, 17 July 1913, Page 4

HOW ROAD VOTES HAVE BEEN WASTED IN THE PAST.

1BUDGET NO. X.

The questionsas originally published in the Country Life Issue of The Dominion oro as tollow 1 ™

'?• Are the Schools in your, neighbour hood training boys and girls satisfactorily for life on the farm ? 2. Do the farmers in your neighbourhood get the returns they reasonably should from the sale of their products? 3. Do the.farmers in your neighbourhood receive from the railways and roads tho service they reasonably should expect? i. Do tho farmers in your neighbourhood receive, from the postal service, rural telephones, etc., the service they reasonably should expect? 5. Ato the farmers in your neighbourhood obtaining direct benefit from the holding of Agricultural Shows? G. Has the work of the Department of Agriculture' been of direct benefit to the farmers in your neighbourhood? 7. Are the farmer? and their wives in your neighbourhood satisfactorily organised to protect their mutual buying and selling interests? 8. Are. the renters of farms in your neighbourhood making a satisfactory living? * 9. Is the supply of farm labour in your neighbourhood satisfactory? 10. Are the conditions surrounding wage labour on the farms in your neighbourhood satisfactory to the labourer? 11. WHAT IN YOUR JUDGMENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE THING TO BE DONE FOR THE GENERAL BETTERMENT OF' COUNTRY LIFE? ' ui

It was announced in The Dominion of Monday last, that with tho next instalment of replies the correspondence that has , been appearing under the heading "Farmers and Their -Needs" would brought to a close. 1 As letters are still continuing to reach this office every day ; from readers in far-back country districts it hag been decided to wait for a little while before ending .the correspondence, so that every, settler, even in the backest of tho backblocks, may have the opportunity of stating the needs of his. district. 'SQUANDERED.VOTES. \ SQME REMABKABLE INSTANCES. ; J OFFICIALS AND SPECULATIONS. ' Among the King,, Country, settlers who have replied to' The Dominion's inquiries .ls'-Mr. !J. H. Lyon,.of Matiere,, Mr. Lyon /s a member of the Ohura'County Council, ajid he describes how in* the past the back-blocks settler has not'only been, neglected, but 'has often -had to stand by and see what money was voted for his district squandered by. government officialdom. ,1. Regarding, schools,-, the. outstanding . features seem to be a dlesire to overload the syllabus and^to cram the children, regardless of physical limits or the powers or absorption and retentiveness. of thp brain, i'lio results ar» that the pupils ot . our schools possess a superficial knowledge of a great many subjects', with a .thorough grounding in none'. Few children, at tho present day, after the ordinary school course is finished can show a tair, handwriting, and the introduction of a large number of subjects likely to bo of little use to children in after life is not so much a scientific development of the growing brain as a system of rt cram" destructive in the extreme. Country teachers, and, as a natural corollary, the children' themselves suffer because the higher tuition or "coaching" readily available to the ;'own teacher ia; not obtainable by -reason of; distance .and poor means of access or travelling facilities. Outside tho consequently lower grade of teacher availablo is tho fact that townspeople, from their greater, numbers on a small, area, are more.easily organised as a voting power, with the result' that their demands for expensive or e.von ornate buildings, such as,secondary or high schools, technical '/jollies, an "> i n . l»*8e centres, universicannot lie • ignored, and are readily •cojieeded by the Government. When we contrast with these tlb tent or slab whare 'cfr.troiigh buildings in many cases erected 'by.rth© settlers themselves by their own labour, and from _ their already, slender : it certainly appears as if the •emicational system needs adjustment, par.ticuU'rly when wo remember that these :people;can never hope to benefit by the elaborate educational facilities provided fa?;.tho'more fortunate denizens of the. .towns. This differential treatment affords ,one treason why are reluctant, to leave;the overcrowded towns, where only a precarious livelihood is obtainable, to 'ob- - ,t.'!iiv;bettlCT wages, in the'country; as no .dou'bt.:a large consideration with those rwhojhavo a family to educato and endow .trade or profession'is the feady means-'of acquiring cither from the secondary; schools or technical institutes, joined to the. advantages of many fine free libraries,. :The sanitary condition of schools in ..tho: country is anything but perfect; in-deed,-at tho present time I can point to ■some, ivrhos* conveniences are simply pits, and,in omj case the latrines drained themselves into an open pit in the school grotftid, with no protection to prevent the children falling therein. ' .2.' : No. The absence of metal on tho ;miin'roads leading to the railway depreciates tho values of his products, particu- . .larly/his main one of fat stock, which cannot bo marketed successfully in early spring, when prices are highest. Corh.bined: with ths difficulty of. driving through many miles of mud, the wastage Consequent on a long train journey witliout.fodder, and the yarding, etc., land the farmer's' stock in such poor plight that they fetch only "store" prices. By-pro-ducts, such as pigs, poultry; honey, vegetables', or hay, etc., are not worth considering asdinal freight by road and rail, and their perishable nature nreclude profitable results. Wasted Road Votes. 3. To this question 1.. must return a most emphatic negative. It is easily the most important of your queries, and in my opinion is the crux of tho whole, as all, more or less, are centred on these two main factors in the settler's successful treatment of the land he has undertaken to bring into productiveness.'. Tho grievance of the settlers has not been so much that insufficient amounts have been granted by the Government, as that when the votes' have become availablo they have b?.9n wasted by so-called co-operative labour or the crass stupidity, or worse, of tho officials responsible for their'expenditure. The result of this'-may lie seen in the road from the railway to'Matiere, which has been formed for twelve to fourteen years, and is still what is termed a "clay road,"' nearly or wholly impassable in winter. J.'o my certain -knowledge, enough money has been granted over a period of years to havo metalled this road throughout, and to-day, with increased population, the road is devoid of metal and a curse and danger to tho i whole district, which possesses no other outlet by which to Teach the rail or pt-o-cu.ro tho necessaries of life. Before dismissing tho matter of cooperative labour in road-maldng, I may add that where moneys have been derivetl from tho "loading" of sections, sold or leased by tho Crown, the settlers have not obtained the amount of roading benefits to which they are entitled. The system of "loading" Crown land by "thirds" or "fourths," I may explain to the uninitiated, is this, that when any land is leased or sold by the Crown, a third, or in some cases a fourth, of the cajiital value is put asido for tho purpose of providing roading acces? for the' land so alienated. ■ Now, when,, through a bad system of co-operative labour, with its heavy clerical and supervision expenses, tho money so hypothecated, is ■ exhausted, the settler, through the rottenness of a system over which he lins neither control or the power of veto, is left with 'the alternative.? of either lack of access, the chance of a' Government grant, or the incubus of a-speci.il rate, in addition to his other disabilities; and this, bo it remembered. is not of his own Broking, but is an evil that has grown and been fostered bv former weak-kneed Administration's to deport, a class from towns where their clamour for work has been somewhat disconcerting to a party unable or unwilling fn offend anyone possessing that very potent fa'tor—a "ate, ■Th,9 p&Uoy of t.ho present Umistar (or

Public Works to place small contractors on road work, and to metal, the arterial roads from the rail inland, is one of the soundest ever put forward, and commends itself to settlers as the practical and fearless solution of a grave difficulty by an able man. Another point worth mention is the greater care by the medium of "inspecting engineers" of the material and funds of the Public Works Department. That- sudh was sorely needed nas been ' abundantly evident to settlers in the past. I had the pleasure of showing a few specimens of incompetent and wasteful administration in_my own riding to Mr. Massey. during his .recent visit here, l'ancy, sir, heavy' fillings spanning a gully .with a lajge catchment area, with no provision, for drainage by culverts. In some. cases timbor left .to rot, and in one case about ,£l3O worth of timber supposed to bo at a certain spot had faded ovident,ly off the face of the planet! Divided Interests. Another matter which should bo checked is tho speculation. by officers of the Public Works and Land 3 Departments in aownship lands (in this I am not referring to those who buy building sites and reside oil the.same). When it is nointed out that where grants are applied"for it lies largely with the officer in. charge of a district to recommend or to veto a vote or grant of money from his Department,' and it is rarely that'the Minister of a Department will ignore the recommendation'-' of his responsible officer. It will be seen that the said officer may by his recommendation, procure a vote for expenditure which" will enhance the valuo of his own speculation, or he.may.on the. other hand wet-blanket a proposed" vote for a locality where his investments are not. As diowing tho situation that may arise, while imputing no evil to the officers concerned, I can-instance two, in one of which, a Lands'officer is actiiig as part of an Advisory Board' in the . selec-' tion of lands far workers'.homes, etc., and a Public Works engineer .lias an investment in his own district. I believe that, while a Government :semnt may hare .'the most honourable intentipns--in his .land speculations, he fin "charge: of large amounts for expenditure, abstain from dabbling in Crown lands, and keep the Service as nearly as possible "like Caesar's) wife, above suspicion," for one is apt, with "Sam Slick," to distrust '■human natur" when it comes to the '.'Almighty dollar." ' While afraid that I have unduly, in the eyes of some,, given greater prominence to this question of roads than tho subject warrants, I submit that,'as all your Questions are more, or less s interlocked with this, to'the settler at-least, a matter of first importance, the space taken is well applied. ' Without roads and a metalled thoroughfare to the rail, the questions of schools, markets, and all matters -touched on'in.your question list are secondary affairs, for .without' roads which will permit of winter/traffic and intercourse, the various, ... facilities can only benefit him in a''restricted degree, and. in numerous cases, scarcely at all. While unablo to moro than touch the fringe of the question, many of your correspondents have shown the various sides of the subject of road access with greater ability than I may llope to.command, and' with a breadth of comprehensive argument which I can only hope will win consideration in a practical manner, from tho . party in power. Back-Blocks Post Offices. ■ 4. —Th.i settlers as a whole are more or less well served, though the anomalies of tho Department in the matter of .the erection of post offices are somewhat difficult of explanation. In some cases very expensive . and ornate offices have * bsen erected, while others in charge of a Government servant are not fit to house a female operative, and afford no privacy in the matter of telephonic messages, which liin.j- be heard by anyone standing outside of the modest "ten by twelve" <V>i.niT duty as n. combined post -and telegraph office. Whoji. adjacent townships can boast of buildings which have be*"! erected at a cost of nearly two and a half times the original vofe. we are ant to asV what is the "power behind the Throne." The;e, however, must not, in justice, be fathered on the Administration. The majority of settlers ore willing to embrace the opportunity for telephonic connection with a bureau. i 5 and fl.—Formers as a -whole- obtain - . about as much 'benefit from agricultural shows and tlie-Department of Agriculture as a conservative class would accept. The experiments of the latter'end results as shown, in the former are certainly helpful, nil tl—if the farmer could get about over fair roads in his slack season, the winter— would undoubtedly ..be largely visited by settlers, and the ocular demonstration, of the jirincinles and. no.veltiVs of advanced farming, together with the imnrovod breeds of stock and later varieties of grain, grasses, fruit, and root crops, could not fail to be of interest, an;l their adontion would result in enhanced yields, and.consequently,, greater export values to tho Dominion. i The Long Credit System. 7. Farmers are largely suffering from a bogv of their own raising in the lonercredit system, and the seller of goods cannot bo blamed if he asks a large merein of profit to cover interest and risk. Tho result is particularly unfortunate, as so-called "cutting grocers" and retail merchants take cash orders, leaving tho tardy customer to the local storekeeper. Cooperation, either' in buying or selling, has very rarely been a success among farmers, owing to the fact that a proportion always lack the ordinary cohesive quality, and possess in a marked degree an overweonine desiro to take profit without risk. If this is doubted, ono can only refer you to those staunch men in different districts who tit one time or other had to interpose their personal guarantees with tho banks' to stave off the collapse of dairy or freezing companies, when those' who , ultimately benefited' stood aloof till tho ( concerns became profitable. 8. This district being of recent growth, , and still largely in a virgin state, I am not prepared to say whether renters of , farms are-doing satisfactorily. The recent ■values put upon Crown lands recently leased, do not appear from their doubtful quality and rental fixed to be a very lucrative proposition. , !). No. The supply of labour even at ten shillings per day is limited indeed, , the progress of .settlement is severely ham- | pored from this cause. There is no lack of | work, but no men are available, and work ] has to stand over indefinitely or be aban- . doned altogether. The same applies to | roads, etc. ; 10. Largely what the labourer makes ( them himself. Usually he is treated on i equal terms with the farmer's family, i and lives 111 tho Hino ho\]«s, ■ ■ I 11. The aiuslo thing mpjt imcortact to i

the farmer is better means of intercourse and communication. This embraces roads, railway, schools, and postal facilities, and all other less important matters, but, of course, the primary and fundamental necessity is a hard-aurfaced and wellg'radod road. While railways arc very desirable, tho heavy and expensive work entails a delay which would provo fatal to Hie success of sottlers. if, in the meanlime, they failed to obtain a metalled road to procuro necessary stores, material,, implements, manure—seed, as well as better stock. Given good roads, a great deal of comparison reflecting on tho cry of "town versus country," would lose point, and on the whole, by reason of more engaging conditions, tho country settler would be a better producing asset to the Dominion than before. I think that: few of your readers will gainsay me when I state that a contented settler, who strenuously responds to congenial conditions of life by applying his industry and mental ability to the production of national increase of export, is, after all, the best asset of this or any other British dependency.