Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1879. THE ROAD TO THE BEACH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 8, 19 September 1879, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1879. THE ROAD TO THE BEACH.

4 The case of Tatana v. Hariata, ■ which was. tried at the R.M. Court on > Wednesday last, abundantly proves the necessity for the inland road to Qfraki being pushed on as rapidly as possible. The facts of the case are. as follow: — On the Oth of Augusts couple of the. natives belonging to Ihakara's tribe were sued hy Mi- Davies, of the Wirokino estate, for haying released a mob of horses which he had driven into one of his paddocks from outlying parts of the run, where they had been straying. Judgment was given for plaintiff for £5 and costs, Bs. *Tlie natives at once determined on revenge, and Hariata, wife of one of . the defendants, seeing five horses tied up to the ferjry post on the western tank of the river, immediately drove them off to the Pound. A charge was therefore brought against her of illegally impounding from off a public road. The defence set . up was of a two-fold character : First, thatiSbe load in queston is not, de \ facto, a public road. Second, that the post to" which the horses were tied would not be on the road if one., were made. To the residents of 'Foxton, and in ,fact. to the whole "travelling public 4 along the coast, the first question is a most "important ! one. Hiakara, the Chief *of the tribe, declared that the roadway in f question had never been handed over to the Government as a public road by the owners^fthat the land had not been passed through the Court, and that lie had repeatedly complained to the Government about about the%oad going through their . land, whilst Hariata, the defendant, , boldly claimed the righff to do as she \ pleased with animals found upon her land.. *In giving judgment for de-

, fendaßi, the Beucli declared its 3 opihioja that no public roftd at pre- ■ scut exists to the Beach. We netjd ;. hardly point out that this is a sferious , matter, as the decision of the CourC - declares that the natives have pq^er I to shut up tlie only road leading j[ southwards from Foxton. ■■•Acting on' .5 their presumed but now provou; 0.11---3 thority the natives impoumlJ. i!;^ horses *found tied up close <■> ; ne 5 ferry. This is a cominoii prii.eu.oe, as persons coming to Foxton irequently leave* then* horses on theiy.est l bank of the river, and save the ferry charge. After "Wednesday's decision -we may expect -further trouble, for there is nothing to prevent a vexatious toll being^ levied by the natives upon every person who passes along 1 the road. The mail coach may at any time be stopped, or a a fence be erected across the road, thus stopping - traffic altogether. In fact, a month or two ago, the natives warned the > County Council that they intended to erect a gate across the road to keep in their stock. A perpetual right-of-way could probably be purchased from them by the Council or the Government. Such a course, however, we do not think at all necessary. A temporary right to use the roadway might be obtained for a , small sum. The real solution of the difficulty, however, would be to push on as rapidly as possible with the in- . land road. The moral is, that very great care should be exercised in dealing with native lands for road pur--1 poses. The County Council would do well, in arranging for the inland road, to carefully guard against a possible repetition of the present unfortunate state of affairs.