MINISTERIAL VISIT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5086, 9 February 1927, Page 3

MINISTERIAL VISIT.

HON. 0. J. HAWKEN ON PLAINS. FESCUE, FLAX, AND PEAT. A tour of the Hauraki Plains was made on Monday by the. Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. O. J. Hawken. No official intimation of the visit was received, and advice was only received through the columns tff the Press, but several deputations were waiting tc» interview the Minister. The Minister ifvas accompanied by his son and his private secretary, Mr L. E. Johnson. At the Orongo ferry the party was met and welcomed to the county by the chairman of the County Council, Mr E. L. Walton, who said that he could not allow the Minister to arrive on the Hauraki Plains for the first time without a welcome by some members of the County Council. No official advice of the visit had been received, and the private advice received had been short, otherwise preparations would have been made to welcome and entertain the Minister, as had been done for other members of Cabinet in the pas-. Though the Thames district was devoted .to mining, the Minister would find that Hauraki Plains was agricultural, and that its problems were o'f the land and its settlement. THE PROBLEM OF ORONGO. Proceeding to .the corner of *he Orongo Settlement road, the Minister was met by a deputation comprising most of '-he soldier settlers headed by Mr A. P. Dryden, who spoke of the overwhelming! • gr°wth of tall ’fescue. ~ He pointed out that it would only be a matter of time before, ail the soldier settlers would have to “throw up the sponge.” As there were already a number of settlers who desired to vacate their sections in the near future a recent meeting ha'd decided to make, representations to the end that these men be given every opportunity of acquiring other sections on which a living could be made, and that the remainder of the. land in the settlement be placed under the provisions of the Deteriorated Lands Act. The position, explained the. speaker, was very acute, and immediate relief was necessary. The Minister replied that the object of the Deteriorated Lands Act was to decrease the valuation of certain lands, and such soldier settlements as Orongo were already included. He could quite see that soil which baked hard and cracked in the summer, and which became waterlogged in the Winter, made the problem of dealing with the fescue a very difficult one. Interjecting, a settler pointed out that drainage was an obstacle. The Government had. made the outlets, and then delayed for a couple of years before making the flqod-gates, with the result that by the time they were in operation the drains had silted up and become practically useless. He had been flooded nine times in one winter. There were only three outlets for 2000 acres. Asked for a suggestion as to a solution, there was a chorus from the IS. settlers to the effect that the settlement should be abandoned. The Minister said that the position of the settlers really concerned the Minister of Lands. The working of the land was the only part under the control of his department, but he would convey the representations of the settlers to his colleague. He could see tha' 1 - the solution would be a very ' difficult one. Flat, low-lying land always presented difficulties, and the fescue was an added problem which would prove very difficult indeed. He fully appreciated the settlers’ point of view, and could see that, they were not the sort of men who would abandon such good land unless there were . overwhelming difficulties in. its working. The settlers had undoubtedly made a vjery big struggle, and he would explain their position to the ? Minister of Lands to the best of his ability. A soldier pointed out that his highest cheque for the past season had been £l5, and out of this and every cheque from the factory the department, took 25 per- cent. It could be “easily understood that a difficulty was experienced in paying rates and accounts out of the balance. The Minister : “Do you think you could make a do of it if we gave you the land for nothing?” A chorus: “No !” One. settler said that if he were given the land and £5OO he would hot stay. He pointed out that had it not been for the goodness of Messrs. Bagnall Bros., Ltd., none of the settlers of Orongo would have, been on the settlement to-day. Perhaps it ss would have been better had the tradesman pushed the settlers for payment of their accounts as then the settlement would have been deserted long ago. Mr Rhodes, M.P., mentioned the investigation by the committee appointed by the. Minister of Landa but the settlers pointed out that they did not agree with the report of that committee, as tfie methods advocated by it had been tried by the settlers, and by the Lands Drainage Department, and had proved worthless. .Concluding the conference the Minister said that he could see that the position was hopeless. He thanked the settlers for their views and promised to discuss the, matter fully with the Minister of Lands. KAIHERE SETTLERS’ PLIGHT. On the Kaihere road a deputation of nine, settlers was introduced by Mr Walton. Mr T. Lynch was the spokesman, and he explained that for some time efforts had been made to get the Minister of Lands to realise fr the difficulties of the nine soldier set- ' tiers of Block 9. They had been there for seven years, and in spite of what they had done and the money tjiey had expended, they were not making a success- of their holdings. The land was undrainable, as the clay-level was below that of the sea and the peat varied in depth from 16 to 26 -feet. It took all the drainage from (the hills and the settlers had found ><hat after working the land well and top-dressing it heavily, progress was not being made, but the county was going back, and the. growth of grass

was becoming less and less every year. Though there were in many places drains every two and a. hair chains, the country was now wetter than it was many years ago. It was impossible to, save hay as the grass would not grow long enough to cut in twelve, months, and if the paddocks were shut up the grass disappeared and weeds took its place. Under the circumstances the nine settlers desired to be removed to other secticms, and the place they would suggest was the. Kerepeehi block. This suggestion had been made to the Minister of Lands, who had replied th a 1 the land was not yet ready, otherwise he would gladly transfer them. A pumping plant had to be installed on- the block to ensure safety from flooding in the winter time.

The settlers therefore now suggested that they be given a temporary lease of sections on the Kerepeehi block until such time as the area was ready for permanent disposal. Such a temporary lease, with the right to take over the land when the time was suitable, would give the settlers something to live tor. It was understood that it had cost, the Lands Department something like £2O an acre to bring in the Kerepeehi block. If the land was placed on t,he market at a price that would repay the department there would undoubtedly be many applicants, bu-’ it was very doubtful if the successful applicants could .make a success of their holdings if the price was much above the economical value of the. land.

In reply, the Minister s-ald he could see tha A the settlers were right up against it. The. Government believed, and the people believed, that the returned men should be given a fair chance to make good, but it looked as if the deputationists had not been given a fair chance. In the bringing in of swamps mistakes had been made and mistakes would be made, but itwas the duty' of the department to do 'the best ’for the soldiers, and the representations would be conveyed to the Minister of Lands and given very careful consideration. It looked as if the problem was insuperable., but the difficulty had been unexpected and could not have been foreseen. As regarded the Kerepeehi block, he could not make a statement, but he. would press the matter before the Hon. A. D. McLeod;

Th© lands drainage engineer, Mr Taylor, said that all peat land gave a big return <for the first year or two, but the consolidation was quicker than the decay, and there was then a period of years before an improvement was noticed.

Mr Lynch pointed out that the day level was below that of the sea, so the peat would never dry, and while it was wet it would not; rot, so there did not appear to be any bright future.

After receiving a vote of thanks the Minister and party proceeded to Kerepeehi for lunch, and then on to Netherton. AWAITI DRAINAGE. In the hall a deputation of Await! Crown land settlers was introduced; by Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P., who pointed ®ut that while the lands of the deputationists were equal to .any in New Zealand the settlers were suffering under various disabilities, particularly concerning drainage.

Dealing particularly with drainage disabilities, Mr Samuel explained the peculiar features of the district which caused the lands .to be flooded for long periods by local rainfall alciie. The. matter had been brought to a head at a meeting with the heads of the Public Works and Lands Drainage departments some three months ago, when the promise had been made that within three weeks an inquiry would be commenced by competent engineers. So far nothing had been done, and the danger to the lands o>f the district from flooding still existed as before. The settlers present desired to explain the matter to the Minister and enlist his sympathy.

Mr J. Wakeham, spokesman for the deputation, explained the position and work of the various drains and outlets, and pointed out. that the freehold settlers used the outlets and by the situation of 'their lands dominated the drainage position to the detriment of the Crown lands behind, and that' it was the Crown land alone that bore the cost of maintaining the drain; He also explained the position in regard to the blockage' O'f certain Awaiti cross-drains, and gave instances of the damage which resulted. Mr H. Hill pointed out that there was no serious problem involved, as ■there was a fall of 10ft. However, the five cross-drains were recently closed, with the result that the development of the district was pu'-i back ten years.

Mr T. Considine stressed the necessity of having the blocks removed from the drains. He contended that it was contrary to common law to block a waterway. His farm was made subject to flooding by the dams, and the whole of his farm was supposed to drain- through a yard drain. Near-by the. flaxmillers were given the whole ojf the Awaiti stream for their use, .and .the settlers were prohibited from using this stream. The other side of the case was presented by Mr P. Harold, who pointed out that if the dams were removed other farm lands would be flooded. Mr Wakeham explained that it was not desired that the bl°cks should be removed and cause flooding elsewhere. Adequate provision should be made. Summing up, Mr Samuel explained that the solution would be the widening and thorough maintenance of the cutlet alongside the Nethertop road. This wag; not a big undertaking, but it would prove sufficient for all parties, as those on the other side of the dams in the cross-drains would be protected and would have drainage to the Awaiti. Mr J. McKan-e contended that it would be preferable to provide outlets to the Awaiti stream, which was oply a few chains distant, than to the Waihou River, which was three miles away. The outlets could be made safe by providing stopbanks on each side.

Mr B. Halligan also spoke at length on the effect of the blockage of the outlets, ani sought to prove that

various contentions of the lands drainage engineer were contrary to fact.

Replying, the Minister said that he saw the country was undoubtedly very valuable. There appeared to be a distinct difference of opinion among the settlers- as to what should be done, but he hoped a satisfactory solution would be arrived at before, long. The matter would be discussed with the Minister of Lands, who, by the way, would probably be in the district before long. There was no doubt that unforeseen difficulties had arisen, and he was- sure the Minister of Lands would give the matter very careful consideration. He had been given practically a free hand to deal with the many problems that had arisen in the matters concerning his department, and the result had been quite satisfactory.

Concluding, the Minister- stated that the representaions would be carefully placed before his- coleague. A vote of thanks to the Minister and to Mr Samuel terminated the meeting.