The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, MAR,26,1906

Gisborne Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1708, 26 March 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, MAR,26,1906

MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS The visit of the Hon, Hall-. Jones to our near neighbors, in the North is of considerable importance in view, of the attention given to the subject of railway communication -and the opening up of native landsp-Thursday morning was spent by the Minister and party in the pretty <town of Tauranga, visits beipg paid to 'he Monmouth I Redoubt, the Gate Pa military cemei tery, a,pd other pjiaces. of interest. In 1 the afternoon .(reports the special : correspondent oftho N;Z. Herald) the! drive to T,e Puke, 19 miles from : Tauranga, was .commenced. (Che; Minister specially desired to see this country, : in. view of the proposal to connect To Puke with Mamaku by railway, and - after higi-statement in reply to the Tauranga deputation it. would appear that the Public Works i 'Department is inclined- to favor a vail 1 connection between Mamaku and. Tau- ! ranga, via To Puke. r^Tho ; Public Works engineers. "Ijfllieve.that this route would not offer .any- very heavy construction, and jt -would open country that would begin’ po pay at once. His journey from Tauranga t.Q Te Puke must have been a' revelation to the Minister, for oft' the way he saw some of the rich lands of, the East;- ■ Coast. While the road follows the - old military track amongst :the hill's ; for about half way;'to Te Puko, the railway would follow tbp level waterfront, where, of course,' it would require to cross eonje small arms of the harbour.- After referring To; %e vast areas pf fertile native!and, locked up the correspondent gives the following indication on proposed railwaysA railway line between Taifranga and; Te Puke and Mamaku will bo practG i cally level construe ion. The idea in the minds of those who believe in this route is to take the line almost duo south from Te Puke to Mamaku, thus avoiding the Rotorua grade, then ■branching off at pajieke above Rotoiti, Rotoehu, and Rotorua Lakes. I A railway - could run to Te Tekb, and so on below Whakatane along by Opotiki and down to the Motu river, and thus to Ormond and Gisborne, the only great difficulty being some very rough country between the Motu and Opotiki. Then at adine future time there might be a railway between Napier and Taupo and Rotorua,:thus tapping the whqle of the province of. Auckland south of Auckland City,

; In the ovoning a banquot was hold at To Puko, and tlie Ministor, in reply to tlio toast of his health delivered a spooch, in tlio course of which ho mado some remarks having an important boaring on the futuro Public Works policy with reference to the East Coast districts of Auckland. In view of the meeting of the local branch of the Kailway League, the roport telegraphed by the N.Z. Herald’s spocial correspondent is quoted fully. ~ . Tlio Minister, who was received with great applause, said he had roceivod so many surprises on this torir that he confessed to a hankering after Mr Hornes’ district. (Laughter.) He (the speaker) was pleased with all he had seen since he arrived at Tauranga, and with the beautiful country round about it and its beautiful i harbour; but if ho had been pleased | with what he had seen there he had beon more than pleased with what ho had seen about To Puke. (Applause.) He thought they had one of the most likely districts in New Zealand. He said likely, becauso there was no doubt thoy were not so forward as other parts of New Zealand, because they had not railways or good metalled roads. If they had been prosperous during past years, and he knew they had been, how much greater must their prosperity bo when those com venionces were provided. (Applause.) The work of oponing up the country was goiDg to continue the progress and welfare of the colony that he believed to bo the best little country in the British Empire. (Applause.) He was pleased to. hear the chairman spoak of the possibility of the development of gold mining in the district. Bo referred to the value and importance of the gold mining industry, and to the groat increase in the output of recent years. He realised the vast extent of the; country* through which lie had come, and knew that what was wanted was. more labour to develop the- Couhtry, and bringit to full pro-; duction. That must come about, for every year rnany more settlers were taking -up land. (Applause.). He was pleased to hoar the chairman speak of native lands, for he (the speaker) felt as keenly in that matter as any man in New Zealand, because in tlio course of his travels he came across vast areas of good land unoccupied, because the natives did not appear to have ■'■ either the means or ability to profitably use it. He was pleased to see some natives using the land, and cultivating it at one or two places along Te Puke road The Government wanted to see those millions of acres utilised instead of lying idle as they wore'’now. The recent legislation had removed, some of the restrictions on the Maori Councils, and some large blocks were being opened up. The titles wanted to be individualised, and the Maoris would have to work their portions. Ho had seen roads running through vast areas which did not contribute a penny towards local taxation. That was Wrongs and ; their native brothers would have., to take their share of that taxation. (Applause.,) No matter how much this colony produced, there ■> would be markpfs for-it in the Mother. Country. They were taking the right - course in developing the dairy industry in that part of the province, and he predicted that the prosperity there and throughout the colony would continue; The colony could take seven times' its present population easily. In : Tiinaru the people had .expended £300,000 in making a harbor, but in Tauranga they had a great harbor ready to hand. That was an "opportunity in which the Te Puke district must share, for there was nothing that could equal putting produce into ocean steamers, and there must be railways to carry goods to and from the ports. - They would be pleased to hear the ; finances were in an excellent condition and there was going to be another large surplus. He hoped the time was " not far distant when he would be able to come by rail from Wellington to Te Puke. In less than three years they., would be able to get oii a train at Wellington and land.at Rbtorua, and the next step would be to come within a few miles at the least of To Puke. He was impressed by the scarcity of population from Waihi to Ifatikati and Tauranga, and he was also impressed with the rather severe nature of tbo work that would have to be undertaken to place a railway there. He was pleased to find the country between Tauranga and Te Puke was more level, though there were hills on the road. Ho could see a ready way for a railway on the flats, and he wanted to see what the country was like between here and Maketu. They could rest assured ho was going to have a trial survey, so as to arrive at an idea of the route and estimate of the cost and the guiding principle would be by which route the settlers and producers would be most benefited and which r route would bo the least costly in construction. He hoped to see railway communication started in that district, and although it might be five or 10 or 20 miles, each step would be so much nearer to Te Puke and Tauranga.