Out Back.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 78, 17 April 1908, Page 3

Out Back.

TO THE EDITOR. g IR Your leading article in last issue'was opportune, and ya any settler or traveller having occasion to use tlie roads, your comment as to {he state of the highway 3 leading to

our back blocks is not too vividly painted, and your term " clay tracks " could well have " and bog holes " added to it. While the settlers are i agitating (and*watching suspiciously their neighbours' movements) in connection with the proposed railway route, and the likelihood of the agitation in favour of the deviation being successful or otherwise, they are surel.v losing sight of the fact that if their undivided and unanimous attention was devoted to systematic and continued effort to force the Government to place the main roads in complete order, hundreds of pounds would be saved in the cost of haulage, which the present state of the roads compel them to pay. The saving thus effected would be of greater advantage to themselves personally, and of value to the country. As soon as the question of placing the roads in perfect order takes precedence to the railway agitation existing at present, and the whole district being unanimons, then the Government will feel compelled to lend a reluctant ear and meet the requirements of a just demand. The matter of the railway, which I would be (the last to lose sight of, is, as yet, only in the dim future, and, while waiting and agitating for the railway, the settlers are paying dearly for the necessities of life and crippling their developing work on their selections. Put the roads in good order at all cost, and having good roads, which cannot be taken from us, devote all attention to the railway, always remembering that the success of railways depends entirely on it having good feeders — roads. I cannot pass without expressing my surprise at the " Rip Van Winkle " bridge (" sie ") crossing the Mangapapa river on the AriaMatiere road, and, as a suggestion, would advise the Government to take the " bridg6 " en block and place it in the Auckland Museum as a monument of what is considered good enough for the back blocks. The money for the erection of a new bridge has been nominally granted for some time, but evidently the necessary authority to expend the grant has been withheld. The delay in carting the material to the site with the early break of this winter, and bad roads, will surely retard any advancement with its construction at present. Such treatment as this the settlers are not entitled to, and they are surely justified in complaining bitterly of such wilful neglect. The State school in Mangapapa should .have enlarged premises and proper shelter sheds for the protection of children attending, particularly as, from information gathered, the school is already considerably overcrowded. I must not encroach too much on your space, but in conclusion the great advantages offering in your '• great unknown " appealed strongly to me, and with proper roads, as a first and chief consideration, with the railway a good second, the advancement of the King Country in the future would completely overshadow the marvellous progress it has already made, and the returns so gained would assist materially the prosperity of the Dominion. There are many other urgent requirements, but the outstanding feature is the necessity for decent roads. In a future letter I may touch on some of the other needs of a great and growing district. Thanking you in anticipation.—I am, etc., J.H.T.