CORRESPONDENCE. Our Roads.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 129, 8 February 1909, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

Our Roads.

I ro rHE F.nrroß. % Sir,- ! have r*-a<i your leader in • Thursday's iwoe oc the "Chronicle" , on the above subject, with somewhat - mixed feelings, for although I quite - agree with you that anything like 1 personal complaints against Gofrerf*- • , ment officers to to be comtwnqed, I am t not so sure that tlW 4 vaVteds esoms ( which you enumerate are sufficient to , account for the widespread dissatis- ■ faction that at present prevails in regard to the way certain road works I are being conducted, nor do 1 argec S with you when jcu rccoirnwnd that instead of complaints, foe adoption of ■ a general agitation for a sound ani I comprehensive scheme of roading in i general, fn my opinion we want to > leave the general aspect of the question alone for the present, and deal with the particular grievances from • which we are suffering for want of roads, and mere particularly the main Te Kuiti-Awakino Road. When the j ■ circumstance? connected wMi this road I are considered, tt wilt be found that ' there are sufficient grounds ttpon which I to base a very string agitation in sttpport of sorrc radical change in the BiPtlr of pr*>««'dore. anct t urn much mistaken tn tE.e prryent temper of the ~settlers if rctEksn is rot immediately organised and pushed with | the utmost vigour, until some more j satisfactory progress is secured. Let me briefly enumerate some of the prttr- j cipai causes for the widespread dissut- j isf action that is well known to exist. , I will not go into the psst history of

this read, but in August, 1907, the Government issued posters in connection with the sate of lands in the Trooper's Block, in which the distance of the various sections was given, and in each case it was stated that five miles of the rood was metalled. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the summer of l!H>s was one of the best on record for road works, and that a considerable sum appeared on the Estimates for this work, th* road is not yet metalled continuously to the five mile peg. After the visit of Sir Joseph Ward to the district last winter. and the subsequent placing on the Estimates of the sum of £3OOO for expenditure on this road, it was hoped by the long-suffering settlers that at last some substantial progress would be made. With a view to this, and to strengthen the hand* of the local officers, strong representations were made for the purchase of a stonecrushing plant. This was granted; but alas, when tried, was found to be absolutely inadequate for the purpose, and again strong representations were made for another crusher. This also was granted, showing clearly that the Government recognised the need for greater progress. Yet what do we find with all this money and all this plant: that our crusher has been got into position for work, with two solitary teams to attend to it. and two chains of metal on the road, with twothirds of the summer gone, and probably not more than six to eight weeks before work will require to be suspended. So that even supposing a sufficient number of teams may be got to cope with the output of the one crusher, it is vety doobt/ul If one mil; of metalling can now be done before winter puts a stop to the work for another year. Another cause of great disappointment is the fact that; although in the early part of the season, a contract was let for the metalling of a mile of road, independent of the work carried on by the Department, yet a start had scarcely been made by the contractor, when he was suddenly and unaccountably stopped, and the contract cancelled. Is it any wonder therefore, that the settlers want to know who is to blame for all this delay and apparent blundering, and whether a paltry one mile of metaling is to cost the country £3000? There are other matters such as the ; much-talkcd-of deviation; the apparent neglect of the ro*ds in genera), and the urgent nece*«ity for some prepartion for the coming winter, but these I ; must leave for another occasion. In [ conclusion I desire to say that in writing this t cast no reflections on any of the local officers, and know nothing of the causes that have lead to the present unsatisfactory state of things. I know, however, that I am voicing the feelings of a large number of unfortunate settlers, who with their wives ; and families, are doomed to another winter's imprisonment, and another year's excessive taxation in the shape of exorbitant freights on all their goods, anil this is my only excuse. I am, etc., JAMES BOD DIE. Te Kuiti. Februry. Sth, 1909.