ACCESS TO TIMBER LANDS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 24, 23 October 1920, Page 5

ACCESS TO TIMBER LANDS

VALUE OF PRIVATE RAILROAD

INQUIRY BY ROYAL COMMISSION

Molfal, and relative to a l™^"?/* 0 ? $ the lino to Taiioo. should bcncnuirja nj ' the Crown was commenced on Weanesu iy or n. Royal Commission, comoof d of Uosirs. :H.J. H. Blow (chairman!if, J. FurKert. : H. Buiton and G. B. , „ • Qivlne evidence as to the i,mter wms of the companv, Captain •'■ \„J"'! Diiector of the State Forestry Depart--1 n,ent.said tie company possessed over »OK acre, of freehold and leaseholdl land. In the Hotorua, district there was rouenly an area, of about 25.000 acros of *•**»«• forest which wou d be increiißPj »n°" l » o about JMCO acres. The mm» of fores lav outside the land* within the scope o the commission, the maiwnadc• fgreit iormencinir iust outside he J™ a f* Te £ Hotorua. Timber from the f™*** "."K would be available in 1930. and would yieia somewhere about 50 to 1» ™ Wo „%!£ aore per year. The cutting on State forests wa» either ,«old or ou. urfor »w tion, there beine a 1 minimumi rovnlti fixed, but no maximum. He considered tner° was a need for the State to realise on its forests. No more ulantine of tres wouio. bo- done until there was a definite basis of transportation assured. ■. Questioned by Mr. .Vurkert. Cantata Elllfc said that the Forestry Department had, enough land to last- for two «n«atlon«j but The Department had all It _conia handle at present. Practically none of till? land would be served by.tho inupnTotasa line. ... A railway, he admitted, mirtit be at first wholly »'« timber truffle and after fettloment haa taken place mieht be sunnorted by tho tho shores of Lake Taupo. Be favoured a Bcheme which would co-ordinate all the timber lands within the Tauoo dlalrlct. The chairman of directors of the company. Mr. F. 6. Dalziell. solicitor, said the company wa 3 formed In 1902 to work an area of bush at Mokai. about 50 mllei ton, I'utaruru. At that time It was thousht that there were 500.000.CX30 feet of timber in the aroa. but there turned out to bo 250 million feet, and there were at present about 100 million feet left. .... ..„. To Mr. Jl'Clnre: More land had since been boueht. At the present time, the companv wis not so keen as beforo to extend the railway to Tauno. but wa* willlnK to do thin if Government holn were eiven. There was sufficient timber to finance tu» Mr. E. W. Holmes, formerly Chief Engineer. Publio Works Department, said that in 19:2 it had been estimated that the mm of £41.400 would be needed to have tho line brought up to Government standard. At present, tho cost would probably bo double that estimate. To continue the nronent traffic it would not be necessary to brine tho line un to Government standard. A railway from Taupo to Rotorua, would in part serve the country the company's railway would servo, the part beine betweon Hotorua and walrakei. and portions of tho land on tho Atorimuri Road. The present timber lands must be served sooner or later, lie had seen aood farm land in the Waikaio Valley. near the company's line, but had seen no evidence of results. At present passeneera were not allowed on the lino. To obtain the Public Works Departments consent for nassenirtfr traffic the clearanco would have to be over 8 feet, ub no inspector would pass a line in which a paslentrer "oould have hi» head knocked off owine to lack of clearance." Personally he would decline to certify unless the banks were 10ft. wide, and the cuttings 2ft. 6in. wider than the carriaira used. Bo did not think the Government csuld work Ihe line on the present scale on account of the eradw. It wpuld bo impossible to vary tho oliitnment much. Aj tor aB the travelling public were concerned Hotorua was the.district objective. n"d that was why the formation of a line from Rotorua to Tauno would bo popular awl ; revenuenroducinr concern. • • • Tauranea would eventually become the seaport to serve the district, it beine quite easy to contlnuo tho line thrriuah to that port. He believed that there would not be much chance of havine a lino from Rotorua- Waiotapu to Taupo completed for some years, and estimated the cost at..about £600.000. The lino from Mokau to Tauno could'be madV safe for nasienccr traffic at •;■ cost of about £15$ a, mile. At the nresent day. ho considered, a line from Rotorua to Tauranea woujd cost £1.500.000. The commission adjourned after further evidence bv Mr. Dalziell until October 26. The commission will be unrated on the inauirv until November 23. .

■St. John's Young; Women's Bible Class, under Miss B. Jvicholls, provided the concert at the Sailors' Friond Society on Tuesday evening. Music, story, and ncmg filled a happy ovening. The performers were Misses Josephs, Irwin, and Messrs. Harris, Chadwick, Churched-, Cornell, M'Keußiin. Miss Hoskinff was nt the piano. "Two Mighty Forces" was Mr. Moore's temperanoo subject, and pledges followed. The competitions e<l much fun. The prizes came from members of the class and Miss E-ninsey, and went to. the Kent. Nearly half the Presidents of the United Stales have been of Scottish or Scottish-Irish descent