ADVANCE OHURA!

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 359, 13 May 1911, Page 5

ADVANCE OHURA!

VISIT OK MIMSTER PUBLIC WORKS.

! STRATFORD-OXGA RUE RAILW A V

TO HE STAKTKD OXGAJIUE END WITHIN A YEAH

! The Han. R. McKenzie, Minister of ! Public Works, accompanied by Messrs I W. T. Jennings, M.P., J. B. Hine, j M.P., McNamara (Private Secretary), ; McKenzie and Murray (Engineers, i left Stafford at midday on Tuesday, on a visit of inspection of the Stratj ford-Ongarue line. The party arrived at Whangamomona that night, and the following morning paid a visit of inspection to the head of the works, afterwards j proceeding through the Tangarakau j gorge to Mangaroa. Just before reaching the gorge rain set in, and i the scenic beauties of the gorge, \ oiwng to mist and rain, could not be ■ appreciated as they might be. With the exception of a nine miles ride ; through the gorge, the party drove all the way to Mangaroa, where they : arrived at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday, j thoroughly drenched. On arrival, j they were received by Mr G. C. j Stevenson, Chairman of the Ohura i County Council, and Councillors. I Owing to the shortness of time, the Minister received a deputation before dinner. About 7.30 p.m., the Ministerial party were entertained at a banquet, presided over by Mr G. C. ! Stevenson. The toast of "The ! King," having been duly honoured, ' Mr Stevenson proposed the health of "The Ministry," coupled with the name of the Hon. R. McKenzie, and in extending a welcome to the Minister said that they had a man in the Hon. R. McKenzie who would tell them what he thought. The large gathering of settlers present would be pleased to hear from the Minister on the roading question, the progress of the district, and the future of the railway. He recognised that in mentioning the matter of railways he was treading on delicate grounds, but nevertheless, settlers would like to hear from the Minister on the subject. The Hon. R. McKenzie in reply thanked those present for the very cordial manner in which they had drunk his health. He was a man who believed in brevity, and therefore what he had to say would be to the point, as he was aware settlers had a considerable number of representations to make to him after the banquet, and time wa3 short. "The most important matter, 1 consider," continued the Minister, "in a new district like this, is the question of roads, especially when settlement is scattered over such a large area of country, each having with the other, in many cases, little community of interest." However, he continued, while recognising these necessities, there were limitations to all things, and the question of finance was one of them. The Liberal Party had for years been endeavouring to establish good roads throughout New Zealand. In a district like the Ohura, the matter of roads was a very hard and difficult question to deal with. There had been more provision made for the Taumarunui electorate than any other in New Zealand. The question of roads was a very vital one in that electorate, and he fully recognised the position. The coming of the Main Trunk line affected the position to a great extent, with the result that traffic had been deviated to other channels. He thought that every holding should have a means of access, and continued: "I believe that every settler should have a means of ingress and egress to his land." At the present time the Government were expending something between £400,000 and £500,000 a year on roads in New Zealand,and he was thoroughly satisfied that that electorate was getting a big comparative share of the expenditure. There would be nothing that would give him greater pleasure than to be able, or be in the position to say, that every settler should have a dray road to his door in twelve months time. He and his party had that day travelled through the Tangarakau gorge. The scenery was very pood, but was somewhat spoiled by , the rain. There were many persons who thought it was a pleasure trip. That was not the case. Ic was on the , business of the country. Rushing through the country was not the way to enjoy a holiday.

, haul material on for the engineering | work in the gorge. Some long tunj nels would be necessary on that part of the line, besides which several viaducts would have to be constructed. He predicted that the line from Ongarue to Mangaroa would not take i more than two years to construct, as i there were few or no engineering | difficulties. "There 13 one matter, j however," continued the Minister, "there has been a good deal of opinion that the line would be deviated through the Waitewhena, Aria and Pio Pio. That is not so. I, personally, am in favour of that route, but I nevertheless recognise that the people of the Ohura must have facilities from the Ongarue end. At the same time. I consider that after the Ohura people are given communication, that a branch line through the Waitewhena, Aria and Pio Pio district joining the Main Trunk at Te Kumi near Te Kuiti, would be justified in the future. I further recognise that a line through those districts would serve more people and better country. It would be impossible, however, to expect that the Government would receive any great revenue from the Whangamomona end or the Ongarue end, until such times as the lines were connected. The line from the Ongarue end would be gone on with, and in the near future settlers would not be grumbling about roads. COUNTY ADMINISTRATION. The question of Government grants, continued the Minister, was referred to by Che County Chairman. The Ohura County Council was treated in the same way as any other Council in New Zealand. He was pleased, however, to say that the way of procuring progress payments was being made easier every day. As the Ohura Councillors became older in the matter of local government, they would undoubtedly see the benefit. Experience taught, and he had no doubt but that as the Council grew older they would understand better and have less grievances. The Ohura County was at one time a part of other counties, and he did not favour counties being too small. He thought the larger they were the better, and did not believe in chopping them up. The bigger the counties the more they could afford to pay highly competent officers and thereby lessen the cost of administration to a great extent. The question of administration was an important one, and as far as local bodies such as county councils were concerned, if they were going to be on the small side, it would be batter to have road boards.

Mr W. K Williams, in proposing the health of the member, Mr Jennings, related experiences of the past, so far as the history of Ohura was concerned. Ten years ago there were only two improved farm settlers in the Ohura, but now the population exceeded 2000. Mr Jennings had come amongst them in their early days, and as the result of his visit a block of land of 10,000 acres was thrown open, which was the beginning of the settlement of the Ohura, and that only eight and a half years ago. Mr Jennings had worked hard for them, with the result that telephone lines in the district had been pushed ahead, and a large number of post offices had been established in the various outlying districts, which were a great convenience to settlers. Another matter which had also received their member's attention was education in the back-blocks. Mr Jennings had been untiring in his efforts to get educational facilities for the back-block settler. Ohura settlers appreciated the determined manner in which Mr Jennings had brought before the Government the necessity for roads in their district.

Mr Jennings, M.P., in reply said he had only done his best, and could do no more. The Ohura district was advancing at a very great rate, and the developments that were taking place were simply marvellous. He had been in Mangaroa five weeks ago, and even since then he could notice the progress being made. Half a dozen new buildings were in the course of erection. A great difficulty that members representing country districts had to contend with was that town members were unaware of the requirements of the country. His electorate was a very large one, and there were many flourishing towns springing up in it. For instance, Te Kuiti considered itself a Chicago, Taumarunui a Melbourne, Ohakune a Wellington, but he did not know what the Ohura was, though it was as good as any. The difficulty was to hold the balance with each of these rising towns, and he was endeavouring to do his best. (Applause.) Some years ago he had been called to the Legislative Council, but after a short period of work there he felt that there was a sphere of usefulness for him, and therefore he decided to seek the suffrages of the people. When his announcement of contesting the seat was made a rumour was set going that he was only an old greybearded man from the Legislative Council (Laughter.), but when he made his appearance in the various districts that idea became dispelled. Ever since the beginning of his political life, he had endeavoured to do all that was possible for the backblocks settler. He liked the work, and was very much interested in the settler. The Hon. R. McKenize proposed the health of the Chairman, Mr G. C. Stevenson, to which that gentleman suitably replied.

STRATFORD-ONGARUE LINE,

Regarding railway matters, he had never favoured the working of the line from both ends, but his trip through the Tangirakau gorge that day had satisfied him that there was an enormous task before them yet. He had therefore decided that the railway should start from the Ongarue end in a little over a year. (Loud applause.) He recognised that work in tiie centre of the line—the Tangirakau gorgewould be very heavy. His idea in coming to the decision was that settlers in this end needed assistance owing to bad roads. It would take considerable time, and cost many thousands of pounds to bring the railway through the gorge. From the present point of construction to Mangaroa, many engineering difficulties were presented. He considered it would be possible to bring the line from Ongarue to Mangaroa at a cost of about £28,000. The trouble was, however, that work from both end necessitated two staffs and two plants. When the work was started it would be pushed along at a good rate, as it would be necessary to have the line to