Minister of Lands on the Plains.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4399, 5 April 1922, Page 1

Minister of Lands on the Plains.

Varied Needs of Residents Noted. Railway, Canals, Roads, and Bridges Access to Paeroa Junction Wanted Soldier Settlers and Land Valuations Future for the Flaxmilling Industry y (“Gazette” Staff Reporter.)

i A PERFECT DAY. Glorious weather favoured tfhe Act-ing-Minister of Railways and Minis,ter of Lands (Hon. D. H. Guthrie) and party on the occasion of the first day of the Hauraki Plains tour on Monday. The air was somewhat keen, in the early morning,, buf as the sun rose jn all" its splendour in a clear blue sky, save for some light fleecy clouds ’on the horizon, the conditions merited the description of a perfect day. Motor and launch trips in sucsi weather were exhilarating and delightful. No doubt the settlers on the Plains.would like the Hon. gentleman to ’ have seen the roads, at their worst, bu.t Mr Guthrie’s usual good fortune was proof against the power of any “wicked” wishes. When assembled at Morrjnsvilla the Minister’s party comprised the following : Messrs, Hugh Poland, M.P. (Ohinemuri), T> Vv. Rhodes, M.P. (Thames), T. N. Roderick, Under-Sec-retary for Lands, H. M. Skeet; Commissioner' of Crown Lands, J. B. Thompson, Chief Drainage Engineer, E. Taylor, Hauraki Plains Resident Engineer, and the Minister’s private secretary. MORRJNSVILLE WANTS TO KNOW. A deputation consisting of Mr F. Marshall (Mayor ofl Morrinsvihe), Mr Oates, secretary Chamber of Commerce, and. Mr W. Clement Cargill waited on the Minister, asking for definite information in respect to the proposed removal' of the railway sta-. tion, and also in regard to the water required from the Borough supply for railway purposes. Inordinate delay in giving these advices was holding up municipal works, the former affecting the roading scheme and the latter the laying of the reticulation' mains for the wafer supply. The Minister promised to have the information on both matters forwarded at ah early date.. Representations were also made-.in respect to the long since notorious inadequacy of the Morrinsville ‘Black Hole of Calcutta”--the small and dingy building, the one and only dignity of which is that it is designated as one of His Majesty’s courthouses in the Dominion of New-Zea-land—from the good Lord alone knows when, until 1922, at anyrate.

The Minister promised to bring this official, .ramshackle under toe notice of his colleague, the Hon, E. P. Lee, Minister of Justice —and Morrinsville people and all others who perforce /frequent this dismal den devoutly hope justice will be done, and that speedily.. TAHUNA SETTLERS’ TROUBLES. Having bid the progressive Borough of Morrinsville > good-bye, the party motored along the TahunaPat etonga road until bailed up by Or. E. R. Whitechurch (Ha'uraki Plains County Council), and Messrs Jj P. Jensen, F. H. Barnett, and Stalwarts, who protested against a proposal by .the Waitoa Drainage Board to. reopen certain drains, the effect of which Would be to bring ■‘.he eastern flood waters in a westerly direction across their properties. It. was understood that a conference between representatives of the Piako County Council, the Waitoa Drainage Board; and the engineers of the Lands Department was : tt» be held to consider the matter, .and the settlers particularly desired' that they should be represented . at this, conference, The Minister listened sympathetically, and on ' Mr J. B. Thompson statins; that the conference would be one of engineers only, Mr Guthrie assured the settlers that Mr Thompson would certainly represent their interests should they desire him to do so. ’fhe deputation replied that this Would be satisfactory. Mr Skeet promised that four miles of unformed road on the Patetonga route would be attended to. The Tirohia-Tahuna road was also refei’Ted to, and left to the Department to deal with. CEMETERY HILL VIEW. ADVANTAGE OF DRAINAGE. After winding around the sinuous, serpentine ways of Snake Hill; the party ascended Cemetery Hill, from which vantage ■ point a magnificent view of the whole of the Plains and the Thames Valley out to the junction with the Waikato is obtained. A remark about the water lying, on -the swamp adjacent to the Piako River brought from Mr Thompson the comment) that it was very much less in volume than he expected. Before the drainage works commenced there were some 12,000 acres inundated.. Mr Barnett: Yes, there was one broad sheet of water all the winter.

Mr Thompson went on to say that time was an important! factor in 'working with peat soils, as the sinkage had to be waited -for. If too deep a cut as made at one time the peat would fall in and fill it up again; therefore a shallow cut' had to be made, the sinkage waited for, and» then another cut could be made, which process took years to complete. In one place (Ngarua) thereat was 35 fee 1 , in depth, and the country during drainage had sunk 15 feet. Mr pointed out; that nothing, had been done to improve the river itself, to which Mr Thompson replied that there , were only a x cer< tain number of dredges available, and they were in keen demand. When the one working jn -the Waitoa area had been moved, out temporarily for repairs the\ Minister had received a great pile or telegrams in protest. It was intended fo deepen the Puhunga' canal and widen it to fifty fleet, which would increase. the r ( ate of current in the river and, help it to' scour out the From the mouth of the river to t|he junction was 28 miles, but when all the bends were taken out that it was intended to do the course would be reduced to 18 miles. Mr Barnett remarked that the understiucture and buttressing of the Ngatea bridge caught the flotsam and jetsam and' impeded the- flow of the water. The Minister: Yes, but my Department did not put the bridge there. (A- reference to will be found in the local and general columns..) s PATETONGA DEPUTATIONS. LAND VALUATIONS. The party was met at Patetpnga by Or. F. Mayn (Hauraki Plains County Council), who was elected chairman of. the meeting held in the hall. Mr Mayn said there were not now many complaints against the Lands Department.; the main /differences were of policy. He congratulated Mr Thompson on his promotion to the position of Under-Secretary for Lands, which appointment would bo fruitful of good for : the. Hauraki Plhins. . • The main difficulty at present was on account of the soldier settlers on the Tramline, who’ took up their sections at a boom time.! Even, at the high prices 'for produce,’ some of the land for which £lB per .acre was paid was worth only £lO., z A suspension had been granted, but. if they ultimately had to pay, it 1 would be a hardship. ‘

Mr W. Mclnnis, , spokesman for the returned. soldier settlers 1 , speaking in reference to the; revaluation asked for, said' he was ' glad the Minister would see the sections referred to. Mr Poland had \(according to the “Haul aki Plains Gazette'* report) expressed a similar, view,' The ex-sol-diers only wanted; a living, but if the taxation was not reduced many of them would go to the wall, and he was sure this' was not the Government’s policy. • IMPOSSIBLE!

Replying, the Minister said it had been his policy to make himself personally acquainted with/! the producers in the various parts' of New Zealand, so.that he .would' have firsthand knowledge of the various local problems... He was indeed glad to see the western portion of the and the soldier settlements, which Were in his charge. Taking such settlements as a whole, they were doing very well, even more than satisfactorily. There had been hard 1 times, but the clxjuds were lifting, owing to the brightened prospects of butter prices, up to 190 s for th® best QU& ~ ity. ( Applause.} . In respect to revaluations, the- law forbade ■ revaluations until the sections had been occupied for a period of three years, but the Government, had been able to help the settlers'toother. ways, such as extended, time for payment of rents. Superyisols were appointed to assist the inexperienced men r but Rome was no-. built in a day,'and a farmer could not be made in a day.. You ar® in a litifle Garden of Edem A Voice : Wa.it until you get on the tramline. (Laughter.) The Ministeir: If I Had a s'on I 'would not be sorry had he taken up land in Patcjtonga. The Department, the- Minister said, would be prepared to accent payment over a peri.od of three or Jour yeais. Throughout New Zealand Che returned soldier.had nothing to fear, as the Governmrjn’t was: behind jail those honestly endeavouring to Succeed. WfAITAKARURU CANAL. Mr I.lodge brought up the ri tatter of the Vfaitakaruru cariali; the’re was bn jpwge 2)’<