THE ROADLESS NORTH

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2390, 20 February 1915, Page 9

THE ROADLESS NORTH

BISHOP CLEARY'S TOUR

HARDSHIPS OF SETTLERS A mfitofing fcoilr of his diocese in tho large: area from Whangarei to the extreme North of Neiy. Zealand has iiifet been completed by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Dr. Cleary. Th& Bishop Stated to a '"Herald" representative on-his return, that he had visited many settlements, "Those districts," he cdfitintied, ''leave varied"impresSibns, but the ofte'that'is rilOfet constant is the generally atrocious Character of the tracks and alleged 'roads' of that alirtost roadless region, many of which, although paßsable ui dry summer weather, are quagmires. when winter comes;. Even how, with war prices prevailing, there is a-very -considerable population of Europeans and natives upbh'ths gttmfieldSjv while there_ is a steady increase of sturdy,- intelligent, and highly desirable settlers in' the mountainous districts td. the" west and north-west of the Hokianga River. One. can only say of' a great number ot such a splendid typ© of settlers that, in the matter of communication, they the 'enduring' Conditions of utter barbarism. • Their only Way to Mid' from the outer world is by wild, narrow bridle traoks. Even in hot summer, after a, draught of sWeral months' duration, these tracks are extremely rough, ahdste&p, sometimes blocked by fallen trees, while in the winter they are in places girth-deep, and as in the case of th© Herekino-Whancfape tfack, here and there quite impassable. This year the Hcrekino butter factory is awaiting an economical way out for its produftts. : This .will .come, after some tilne, with th 6 completion of the clay foadjrom Herekina; by Broadwood, to tho Hokianga. '

'By all means let us settle the land and settle it fast and settle it;-well" continued Dr, Cleary.. "But laid settlement is <mly a means to an end. That end is the economical production and distribution of wealth. But this cannot, be achieved . Without reasonably Rood roads, itoading should preccdo feettleinent, hot follow it, ail'd it should Eo hand-in-hand with the extension of settlement as a great national concern." I'. M Whangapo, said the Bishop, there iv a sawiuill, now temporarily - closed. There are several hundred Natives and many white Bottlers round about. The ways in or oilt of Whanga)» are over, a bad bar, with a tricky and dangerous river channel, and a few tracks that are extremely rough, and in the case of one of them impassable in winter. When the Bishop was there there was a shortage'of flour,:soap,' matches, and tobacco, and settlors and Others were packing these and other supplies over the wild mountain tracks from the townships oh the Hokianga Rivor... The Cumflelds. "Oha may say, with a serious ineaSUro of truth, that there is no road between jWaipapakauri and Cape Maria vau iDiemen," said Dr. Cleary. "At Waipapakauri tho sandy befiins, The alleged "roads', there .are m ere tracks;. peppered with stumps, .winding up and down in all directions, through the Waiharahara, : • Houhora, and other gumfields, covered with it Band; or pitted , with or patches of_ burned peat. Near Waiharara township we came across a' survey barty engaged in surveying a road through to Houhora. At present tho.. only. Wj»y there is by 'EaihiaUmanj'"'bvor boggy beach, swamps, soft -sand-banks,. and a 16-mile, film shore, and then soft sand, river, and tea-troe,' and narrow s'andy tracks... ..-We-saw evidence that these EUmfields can, at- least in places, produce Splendid grapes: and peaches, and other fruit. A. like'; remark applies to the large area of useful hill country and fertile flats that lie around Te Paki and north of Parenga. I: "Much .of that immensis region, now sparsely peopled ; by gumdiggers, will probably yet form part of the greatest Orchard of Australasia! ' Bht that Far - North is utterly roadless- After all those years, of settlement it has only horse-tracks and a few dray-tracks, ana we were , informed that the only publio moneys jet expended there on ccmmuniOaticns was. a grant of sonie £15 towards the construction of a bridge. The local County Council is not, to be held responsible for the roading oonditione within its vast area."

Women and siok people. A happy and promising feature o! the trip was the large families of Austrian, native, and other children in the northern homes. Over considerable areas attendance by;the few and widely-scatr tered medical men ! was slow and difficult, even in 6Ufnmsr: in winter it was too often an impossibility. In such circumstances, the position of the siok, of aOcidetft cafios and of expectant mothers was at times one .of-great hardship. The' need 'for prolonged visits to private or other hospitals m Auckland or elsewhere was, in oases that came under the bishop's notice, a great drain upon the resources of families in the remote and roadless regions of the North, "in the interests Of humanity, as. well as of national wealth, a bold, vigorous and progressive national reading policy," ho saidin conclusion, "is called for,"