RIVER COMMISSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1849, 6 July 1918, Page 3

RIVER COMMISSION.

A sitting of the Commission set up under the .“Commission of Enquiry Act, 1008,” to enquire asrio the best methods of providing tor the control of the Manawatn river and ils banks, the desirability nt appointing one competent authority to control the whole of the river, and the area which should V included in such district if constituted. The Commission is also authorised, to enquire whether, in addition to the powers Contained m the River Boards Act, the powers contained in the Land Drainage Act should also be conferred on the Board of the proposed district, am whether any additional powers to those in the Act should be conferred on the Board. The Commission j- also to enquire regarding an> other matter in connection with t ie protection of land from damage by the Manawatn river, was held a the Courthouse, Koxt on, ycslcvda>. The Commissioners are Messts W. G. K. Konriek, S.M. (chairman), E. W. Burkett, and •). D. Tbomp-

Mr Jiekell represented the Palmerston North Borough Council, and Mr H. Akers the Palmerston North -Kairanga River Board. The first witness called was Join Knowles Hornhlow, editor ofc He “Manawatn Herald,” who stated that the Manawatn River was subject to floods, and that it was quite a usual thing at certain periods ot the year for portions of the Loan, Shannon and Palmerston roads o be covered with Hood waters, the land on the banks of the river b - tween Fox ton and Shannon was some of the richest land m Zealand, but was subject to flooding In that area the quantity o pastoral land was greater than the flax land In 1916 n petition va. presented to the Government signet, by about 600 residents of the district, urging that lands in this locality should be acquired lor elosei settlement purposes. The objection by the Government to the acquiring of the hind was on account of it being subject to Hoods. At u 3 same time it was admitted Unit otherwise the land was eminently suited for intense cultivation. It the flooding [rouble were eliminated the value of the land would he greatly enhanced. Philip Joseph Hennessy, chairman of the Foxton Harbour Board, said he had lived for 40 years in the district,, and was acquainted with Die whole area a fleeted by the river. If the filer was properly controlled as suggested in Mr Hayes’ scheme in 1908 il would, in his opinion, he a great assistance to the district, bur if the velocity of the water was increased! at the top end without also doing something at this end. it would result in much damage to the biddings al the lower end. It would he a benefit to the district if the river could he confined within its hanks, as al present it was a very common thing for the road traffic to he interfered with on account of the floods. It would also benefit the •jinx lands if the flooding of this land could Inc controlled. He understood Hie Commission had been set up (.wing to the friction between the Palmerston Borough Council and the River Board. Personally he would he very sorry indeed to place Hie control of 1 ho river in the bauds of a body as had been suggested, and he was against the powers and area of the River Board being extended. as his experience of local bodies, covering a period of twenty years, was that two or three strong .members usually lake control and run the whole show. At present the 1 rouble in the upper portion of the river was erosion, and in the lover portion flooding. If anything were to he done, in his opinion, it would tie better to set up two hoards, one to deal with the question of erosion, and the other with that of flooding, the rales collected from the portion where erosion was talcing place to he expended in dealing with same, and the rales collected from the lower end to tie used for controlling Hie flooding. Il would undoubtedly lie a benefit if some of the bonds in Ihe river were straightened. To Mr Thumps,m; There was no crying desire in the district for the setting up of a big river hoard. To Mr Harken : The owners of t he Jlax land said it didn’t do any harm to have their land flooded at times. The majority of the land alfecled by flooding at the lower end was flax land. He had worked as a drainer in portions of the Moutoa Estate, and in some parts prior to the drains being put in there was praelically no flax, *hut as soon as the surface water was carried off the flax eahie aiVay rapidly. In his opinion (Training assisted flax production.

To Mr Akers; Years ago the Moutoa flax area was much larger than at present, a lot having been since burned and grubbed out. He would be very sorry to see flax land converted into dairying lan,l, as flax land provided more employment psr acre than dairying It nd. Nothing should be done to hamper the flax industry.

William Ross, Poplar Flaxmillitig t'o., Ltd,, Moutoa, said the flax area owned by his company comprised 530 acres. About 15 years ago a cutting over the whole property only xcaEsed 2,000 tons of green flax, the reason for the small quantity being want of drainage. Prior to his company purchasing it, there were one or two drains in, but upon talcing possession they drained it thoroughly, and cleaned it up, with the result that it was now cutting 40 tons to the acre, and this quantity could bn cut about every three and n-balf years. The draining policy he adopted was to allow the water jo get away freelv jjj Hie winter, aii|

to close up the drains in the-, summer, and thus keep the moisture in the swamp at that time of the year. There was no appearance of grub or disease in his swamp, which lie attributed to his system of draining. He hod spent about £7 per acre (including. £2 per acre in banking) on draining and cleaning up the swamp, and the result of this was that the flax production had been increased tenfold. The 500 acres of flax land gave employment to about -JO men for nine months in each year, and about a dozen to fifteen during the remaining three months. The quantity of (lax cut from the property each year was between 4,000 and 5,000 tons, and their cutting over the whole 530 acres realised 20,000 tons.

To Mr Thompson: The royalty had been about £2 per ton. II took eight tons of green leaf to a ton of fibre. •

To Mr Fnrkott; He didn’t think the flax industry was likely to go out. He had been connected with the industry for nearly 40 years. They could still afford to let prices come down and lie able to carry on. He considered the industry wa.s firmly established, the hemp being used in all parts of the world for many other purposes in addition to making rope and twine.

To Mr Thompson: His mill and plant would he worth about £7,660.

To Mr Akers; Since the Government graders had been appointed there had not been a serious slump in the market. The last slump occurred seventeen years ago. There appeared to he a better chance of getting the hemp away nt present, as he understood ships were in sight to remove the present aeenmnlatians.

To Air Jiekell; The Poplar property had lost, about 18 acres through erosion between the last two surveys, a period of about 20 years. The value of the land was about £4O per acre in its natural state. He had protected about two miles of hank. He expended £366 on banking, etc., last year. Tie didn’t think it was possible to keep the river confined within its hanks, as the hanks were of a silty nature and easily washed away.

John Chrystall, Alayor of Foxton, and member of the Moutoa Drainage Board, said that there wore 4,073 acres of (lax land out of: the Moutoa block of 9,660 acres. Tail fescue had taken possession of >ome of the land where the llax was .scattered. Tie considered there were two acres of pastoral land to every one acre of llax land in the Afonina Drainage District. At present the river was under control by a system of hanking from Elkins' corner to the Long Reach. The whole river could not he controlled by hanking, and he considered there would he no real solution until an overflow channel were cut.

To Afr Akers; He was opposed to a big hoard being formed. Several small hoards might work well. The solution of the problem was by decreasing Hie distance of the river.

Bernard dapper Gower, chairman of the Moutoa Drainage Board, said he knew Hie whole district -into 1880. The Moutoa Drainage Board had been in existence tor alinnt seven years. The area of the drainage district was 11,500 acres, and the valuation £137,992. He was firmly of l]ie opinion that a large scheme in connection with the river was quite unnecessary, more particularly at the present time. If anything were done to increase the velocity of the river al the top end it would result in increased flooding of the lower reaches. No hanking would ever deal with a large Hood.

Alexander Saunders, Parmer and (laxmiller, said he would never suggest grubbing (lax to make farm land. Flax required draining’, lint the land must not be overdrained. He had drained hi* (lax area gradually, and there was no disease in it. In (he Makerua swamp the land had boon drained quickly,’ and that he believed was (he eanse of the trouble. As (he land had subsided, and the (lax roots now did not get enough. moisture. He understood that artesian bores were now being sunk in the Wbitaunui swamp on account of the (lax dying for want of moisture. His (lax area was between 80 and 100 aeres, and over one part of 40 aeres it had cut 44 tons to (ho a ere. The ruling royalty of late had been between 25s and 40s per ton, aeeording to whore the (lax was situated. He hud between 100 and 120 aeres of dairying bind, and covering a period of 15 years he considered he had done better per acre off the (lax land than the dairying land. More employment was also provided by the (lax land. He was opposed to a large river board, as he considered it would he too clumsy. Personally he did not want his flax area flooded at all. Flood water had not been over it during the past 15 years. Frederick Spencer Easton, said that the Moutoa Estate was purchased 14 years ago. At present the area of pastoral and flax land was about -equal. Occasional flooding helped the flax. They would not destroy any flax, but took every precaution to preserve it. The flax area was all fenced off, and no stock was allowed in it. There was no appearance whatever of disease in their flax. They did not do much draining, as the drainage works carried out by the Moutoa Drainage Board sufficiently drained the flax land. He was opposed to an extended river board, and would prefer to leave matters as they are at present. He did not consider a big scheme was at all necessary.

Waller Edward Barber, farmer, stated that he had beep 33 years in the district. There was originally a large quantity of llax uu their property, but a good deal had been

destroyed by the cattle and burnt but. Where the swamps were partly drained the. flax was good. He was strongly opposed to the area of the river board being extended.

As there was no further evidence, the Commission adjourned until today, at Palmerston North.