THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 1909 OUR ROADS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 128, 4 February 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 1909 OUR ROADS.

' ■ Complaints in connection with our ] roads arc not rare, and the letter , f which appear.' in another column of - : this issu?, may he token a? a fair i sample of the i<j< as held by a large ' i number of settlors on the subject. ' | From the starting of the "Chronicle"' ' ; it has been our declared policy to avoir; » j the publication of complaints against ! \ any Government officer. In adopting : ' such a course, we- arc confident of the ' ! support of all fair-minded people, sc-e- ---, i ing that such officer is denied the priviF lege of public reply. Criticism of ■ Deparmental method, or policy, is always admirable, and in, the present „ instance the letter is published because j it covers the ground generally. It , j has to be borne in rnir.d, however, that : i where a complaint is made, or imnlied, concerning any official, an entirely ' different complexion would probably be placed on the subject \k< re the official concerned granted the privilege of reply. In considering the question broadly, it must be recognised by all thinking people that the root of the question is not touched by complaint? in general. The chief cause contributing to the present deplorable condition ■ of our district, in the matter of roads, ' undoubtedly iies in the fact that theGovernment, in the first instance, endeavoured to do too much in the way of i land settlement in the district, without devising, and adhering to a sufficiently comprehensive scheme of reading. Under the conditions prevailing at the time, land settlement was inextricably mixed with politics, and road making became incidentally a powerful dec-' tioneering agent. The inevitable consequence was a "patchwork policy," as one influence or a-.oth.fr was brought to bear. In addition, the ' financial aspect was <<: great and | abiding importance. Tb- affair? of the Dominion have to be administered generally, and the roads, important as they are, can ' nly get tkrir share. That thf full im: ortar.ee of reading. especially in Mir di-Urict. v.-a? not clearly realise d as a Tital factor in land settlement, we have ample ,_-,■;- ' dence. The land hunger ai-o. was sufficiently insistf nt to drive ?ett>-rs : into taking up section* in out of the •way localities, and the hope, which , eternally inspires the pioneer, assisted ; materially to the- same end. The inevi- ; table constfiU'nee was that, a? soon a? ; the settkrs became established In the I various looalbif ;, it became painfully evident that the reading facilities were several years behind \\:<- require- ' ments of thf s< ttlers. Clay tracks, 1 and formations C'f varying widths \ exist, for mi!" upon mile, throughout : the district. These are not roads. : Even our main arterial thoroughfares ' consist merely of formation work, and ; : the whole traffic of a district carrying • thousands of settlers, has to pass over ' thf m. Tin- lands opened for settlement ', were !nnd» d with a certain amount or ] reading, hut in a district such a? ours, ' : ; with large tracts of Native land ; through which roads have to he taken. • ; the loading is inconsiderable when ap- : l ' plied to the whole district. That Sir ' ! Joseph Ward rfcognisfd the- existence r ; of a roading problt m. was made appar- ' 1 - ent -when he devised his scheme for < expending an extra amount of a million ; ; pounds in four years on backbloek ; * roads. frifortunately the scheme was ; ■; initiatffl during a pr riod of money '< i had a fair trial. On the face of things I the problem still exists, and it will \ r certainly take y ars of work, a great , s amour't of money, ar.d th" most careful ' afiministration to bring the roading of c the district into line with the require- r merits o" setth-ment. In the circum- rstances, it is small wonder the settlers T complain, and if complaining assists ; *■ in hast<-ning the desired end, it is to be F hoped tne- agitation will not slacken. ; a The direction of the complaint?, how- ; ever, is important. The Roads Depart- , merit is a huge one, controlling the . ( expenditure of an enormous amount ; ii of money. The officers of the De-part- n ment are required to work within sharply defined limits, and conform 0 to very precise regulations. Governing i n all this is the ever important matter h of finance, and officials are directly E responsible to Ministerial authority. B( When complaints are made which in- s volve, to any extent, an officer of the , T

Department, there are certain phases of the case with which the public cannot be acquainted. It is therefore in I the best interests of all that we recom- ! more, instead of complaints of a r:^:e tatior, for better facilities, and for the adoption of a sound and comprehensive -cbeme of reading in general. The . officers of the Department are men of ■ experience, possessing a '.vide knowledge of the requirements of the district. Given the opportunity, there is little doubt they wi;i do ail ;n tne;r power to provide good roads for the settlers, and provide them in the shortest time consistent with the conditions under which, they have to wori-:.