OHINEMURI NEEDS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4995, 2 July 1926, Page 2

OHINEMURI NEEDS.

RIVER DRAINAGE PROBLEM.

ENCOURAGEMENT OF MINING. Matters of special interest to this electorate, land drainage and mining, were dealt with by the new member for Ohinemuri, Mr A. M. Samuel, in his maiden speech in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Speaking of the Waihou and Ohinemuri Improvement Scheme Mi Samuel entered an objection .to the Government’s more recent policy in dealing with it. The original intention, he stated, was to spend £150,000 in clearing and removing silt from the two rivets, which had. been affected by goldmining operations. The cost was apportioned between the people of the district, the goldmining companies, and the Consolidated Fund, the last-named contributing one-sixth. By 1919 a 'further £150,000 had been spent. The total coSt to date was nearly £750,000, and the end was not yet in sight.

The intention was to take over the whole of the la.nds in the basin of the rivers. This had not been done, and the prices of the lands affected soared to great heights. The parties concerned had not been consulted about the later expenditure. The scheme had developed into a huge land drainage project which concerned the whole country; and in his opinion the cost of it should be borne henceforth by the Consolidated Fund. The erection of stop-banks, as the Government well knew, had ca',used a number of properties to be flooded, and the settlers’ houses had been invaded by water. These landholders were in a state of continual anxiety, and they should be compensated for the harm done.

Regarding .the Hauraki Plains land drainage scheme, and the complaint of the, Patetohga, settlers that their land had been used as a ponding area, Mr Samuel said the Minister of Lands had stated publicly in his own electorate that an independent commission ought to be set up to consider the matter. He had qsked the Minister to confirm this statement. Mr McLeod had done so, and had stated that he intended to keep his promise. Mr Samuel described the mining industry as the sick child of the Dominion, and therefore deserving Of special care and nourishment. Beyond doubt there were large bodies of untouched ore in the Ohinemuri district, and especially near Karangahqke. Numbers of miners wished to prospect and work these deposits, and it would be of the greatest possible help to them if the Government would take over one of the batteries now disused and work it as a public battery. if the miners were aided in this way it was possible that valuable finds would be made.

Declaring that he was strongly in favour of the establishment of agricultural banks, Mr Samuel sa,id that in the past the banking institutions and big commercial houses had been very good to farmers in boom times, often to the extent of encouraging them to extravagance. What was required, however, was an institution to which the 'fqrmer could go in times of depression; an institution which would give him temporary accommodation, providing he had reasonable security to offer. There y/eie occasions when temporary accommodation was a pressing need. Farmers often required financial assistance, to enable them to improve the standard of their herds, a, thing that was essential if New Zealand to maintain her position in the markets, of the world. He was peased to see that the Bank of New Zealand had suggested a scheme that would give relief, as it had been truthfully said that shortterm loans were a, bug-bear, so far as the fa,rmer was concerned. While he did not know what had prompted the Bank of New Zealand to take this step, he could Say that if the imminent return of the Commission of Inquiry from abroad had anything to do with it, then the Government had been fully justified in sending that Commission away. Mr Samuel felt sure that if that Commission recommended the establishment of afl Agricultural Bank the Prime Minister would honour his promise, regardless 0® what other banking institutions said concerning the matter.