SLEDGES IN WINTER.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 323, 26 July 1907, Page 3

SLEDGES IN WINTER.

(to the editor.) Sir, — A law has been passed pre • v mg sledges being used cn our Of course all using these so- . mads know that at present a r waggon even empty is a load ram, and the wheels find bottom, u be road much more than a '■ Ad unfortunate settler having i-lies home has to draw a •i- ...-r wheeled vehicle through the • ixi'.- deep in places, or else use p. ck i r-es, which cut the road up li>c more than a f-kdge. To call these 1 dg- channels roads is a mistake, • wing the uselessness of the av -.:ia ignorance of those who h-tv- made them. Now is the time

p< ciatis should come to these parts aoo see our roads. At Oparau the G ne-cm. nt nave started to put mud Bft. deep on what was formerly a hard bottom. Bottlers are not consulted as to the probable benefit of work d-ne at this season. 1 noticed one spot at Oparau where there is a rickety fencing wire suspension bridge. Not content with putting Bft. of liquid slusb on to the road, the overflow from the water table was turned over an unsuiteble part, a slip resulting which unless attended to at once will permanently damage the road. Outsiders say we are growlers. Let them drive a team over our roads, see the worst parts metalled with yellow slash, and if after putting in two winters they don’t growl at the attempts to make roads they are not like other people. The whole of the road work at Oparau is an example of either ignorance or in consideration. First the roads are ap patently laid off to cost the most, to have plenty of steep grades and to take the longest routes. The truth evidently is that those who surveyed this part of the country did not care where the roads went but took the easiest way to get the job done. Evidently surveyors are not able to mark out the best route for a road, which no doubt requires a practical wan used to the work. lam certain that any of our settlers could beat the average surveyor at picking the best roads. After the survey has been finished the surveyor has no more to do with the road, but the settler has to bear the hardships Caused by the surveyor’s inconsideration. We have a Government that costs the country a lot of money and the toilers who are out back opening up the wilds should be better treated If this Government is altogether a Labour Government lot the fact be ad minted. We must have a Government that will make roads out back, and as soon as our Union is political we will be in a position to return men who will help us.—Yours, etc , BACK-BLOCK SETTLER.