King Country Chronicle Saturday, March 9th, 1912. ROADS AND SETTLEMENT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 446, 9 March 1912, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, March 9th, 1912. ROADS AND SETTLEMENT.

The fact that land settlement is inseparably associated with the roading of tho district is a circumstance which should not he lost sight of by our public bodies, cither in town or country. The further fact that the roallilljr of native lands is quite jußt as import;tni to tho district as the j roading of Crown lands sh"buld also j !>o emphasised. Access to Crown land b; always provided he fore the land is opined for settlement, and provision is made, by loading the land, for the format ion o( roads. When settlement has p;>s' : ■;! tho initial stages, and metal is loquireil the responsibility of metalling is thrown upon the settler. In recent times this responsibility has been greatly lessened by the granting of Government subsidies for metalling purposes, and the district has benefitted accordingly. Even in places where settlement iB sparse the assistance of a subisdy **" makes it a good and attractive proposition for these settlers to raise a special loan and metal their road. In tho case of settlers on Native land the position is very different. The only provision made for roading these lands is that; power is vested in the County Council to take five per cent of the lands for roading purposes without j compensation. Even then the taking j of the five per cent haß to be accomI plinhrd within a certain period or comI pensalion is payable. Settlers on j Native lands therefore, in order to get roading facilities, are forced to pay (or the road, including the surveying, and tho cost in many instances is bound to bo a serious addition to the , price, of the land. Throughout the * district, moreover, are instances in which the settlement of both Crown and Native land is held u£ for lack of reading facilities. A case in point is the land lying between Oparure and W a Homo. A road has actually been

surveyed between these two points, the distance of which cannot be more than four or five miles. Both Crown and Native lands would be opened by the road, but still it has remained untouched for years. Presumably the existence of the Native land, which would be greatly enhanced in value, and would contribute nothing towards - the cost of the road, is the bar to the \ opening up of this district. The inequity of the position is plain, but that such consideration should be allowed to block the settlement o: a highly progressive district must be considered ridiculous by all thinking people. The settlement of the land is of paramount importance, and wherever minor considerations tend to impede settlement reasonable provision should be immediately made to overcome them. Much can be accomplished by local agitation, and it is to be hoped the movement set on foot by the Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce will attract widespread support. The roading of the district is but commenced, and in the interests of settlement no effort should be spared which will tend to the opening up of the district. Obviously, the longer action is deferred the more difficult will ba the accomplishment of the work, and the greater will be the j cost to the country. Besides, a charge of impetuosity would scarcely be made concerning the case under revipw, the surveyed road having already been in existence fcr some years.