King Country Chronicle Saturday, July 19th, 1913 AN URGENT NECESSITY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 586, 19 July 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, July 19th, 1913 AN URGENT NECESSITY.

The conditions of settlement in any backblock district arc such as serve to excite the sympathy and claim the | assistance of those who have any i knowledge oi' pioneering life. The [ King Country is essentially a back- j block district, and pioneering eondi- j tions are universal. The most remote and isolated of all within what may be described as the hinterland of To Kuiti is the northern portion of the Awakino County, and the settlers of that locality are making strenuous efforts to overcome the disabilities against which they have been forced j to wage ceaseless and unremitting I warfare. The district has been under J settlement for about nine years, and j the loading facilities are little im- j proved as compared with their origi- | nal state. It is an amazing and de- j plorable fact that tracks which were in existence when the settlers began to work their holdings are not yet | sufficiently improved to allow of j vehicular traffic to the railway. For- ; tunately the means of access is not j altogether confined to the tracks in question. Communication of a sort is j obtainable by sea with Kawhia, but | the Marokopa estuary can hardly be j dignified by the name of harbour,- and I is only workable by small launches. Produce can be sent away, and stores brought in by * sea ; but the whole of the stock trade lies with the railway, and the settlers undoubtedly regard the Main Trunk line as their permanent means of communication with the outside world. Hence the persist, e.t efforts to obtain road access lu the railway. The fact that the mail service is carried by road and rail is also a significant indication that the dependable means of transit is landwards. Moreover.[as is pointed out by our correspondent in another column, the business interests of the settlers all lie at the railway centres. and in claiming the assistance of Te Kuiti residents in agitating for proper xoad comunication the settlers arc making merely a legitimate demand upon the townspeople. What is held by the settlers to be one cf the chief contributing causes to the lack of activity in providing the necessary communicatiocn with the railway is the fact that the district is under the jurisdiction otf the Taranaki branch of the Public Works Department instead of the branch which has its cent re at Te Kuiti. "Whether or not justifiable grounds exist, for such contention is immaterial, but considering the community of interest which undoubtedly exists betw-een Marokopa and Te Kuiti, and having in view the geographical position of the district under review it ca.nnot be doubted that the interests ©f tha district could be better server! from Te Kuiti than from any other centre. We trust due notice wills be taken of this contention both by the authorities and by the people of Te Kuiti. The townspeople are Vitally affected by the policy pursu-ed in respect to roading the hinterland, and by co-operating with the settlors to effect (he desired improvement they will be safeguarding their own interests in the best possible mannoi. No time ehould he lost in voicing the needs o f the backblockers, and making (hem identical with those of the towns. We trust action will be immediate and vigorous for only by such means can the desired end be obtained.