King Country Chronicle Saturday, May 24th, 1913. MAIN ROAD MAINTENANCE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 570, 24 May 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, May 24th, 1913. MAIN ROAD MAINTENANCE.

In consequence of the conditions under which settlement in New Zealand, is conducted, the efforts of the settler afte" - he has become established on the land are chiefly devoted to the task of seeking emancipation from mud. The working of the farm of necessity becomes merely a secondary consideration, for without a proper outlet, or means of transit between farm and market, there is little use in producing anything except what is marketable during the summer months. Years ago the roading difficulty was not bo acute, but with the advancement of close settlement, and the adoption of the policy of assisted settlement, the reading question has become the most impor tant factor in connection with the progress of the country. In the King Country where all roading must be carried out in systems or blocks, having the oulte.t at given points on the railway, it was foreordained that cer tain main thoroughfares should become subject to inordinately heavy traffi - . This position has been further accentuated by the fact that the main throuhgfares in practically every instance had to bfe taken through native land in order to give access t<> settlement on Crown blocks several miles from the railway. The roading policy adopted by the Government made no provision for the special circumstances obtaining in the district, with the result that the main road question is of much greater importance in the King Country than is r,ho case in other newly settled districts. When settlement was first, commenced in Te Kuiti district the Crown lands to the west of the railway, situated some miles distant from the line were first thrown open for the pakeha j with the result that the Te KuitiI Taranaki road became known as the i main road of the district. In recognition of this the Government undertook the metalling of the road, and has now completed a distance of about fifteen miles. In consequence of the methods adopted the amount expended the road during the past twelve years will reach the formidable total of about £40,000, for which there id no to show in the shape of permanent work only the fifteen miles of metal referred to. When it is remembered that the road is only metalled to a width of about nine feet, and that practically no maintenance work has been done by the Government it will be realised that Uie road in question cannot take high rank among the main roads of the country. It is not to be wondered at that the outback settler is clamouring for a railway, and protesting that the road is not fit to carry the traffic of the district. Nor is it surprising that the people are uniting in an agitation for the purpose of inducing the Government to undertake the responsibility of the maintenance of the main roads. In respect to the Te Kuiti-Mokau

road the queßtion of maintenance of the portion of the road handed over to the local authority is already a serious consideration, inasmuch as it means the re-metalling of the road. It is also obvious that in near future, in order to make the road capable of serving the district both the formation and the metalling will re quire to be widened considerably. Whether the expense is borne by the settlers or by the Government is a question which may well be anxiously considered by the settlers, and the effort to have the principle affirmed that the Government should undertake the responsibility of the main roads is worthy of the support of all local bodies.