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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 39, 23 February 1878, Page 2

TO THE BDITOE. Sib,— As ifr is ,s»id' to.be an Englishman's, privilege tp^ grumble, wilLgyou allow,- me, through* tlie. n|edium»ofr-youp colpmns, ta. indulge m a:goOd : natured! growl on, behalfof thp Fit-2.her.bert settlors; Om'.gFievancoj. iß.thpvWan^ .of rpadf. W^ heary ih,these daysx.a.great deal about-, .railways, but to, Is, dwellers op, this side;, the river, it would; be at present much morey to.the point-were wp.to^heaf and see a ljltie. mpre,abput» roads.. i, I. am,iipt,.by.a,lp.pg^ wjiy, thp.qidj- landp<l| proprietor on the. Filaherbert Block, andt yet I am only gating thejimple truth whfn, Xsay.thpfc m. a. district frpn^, seven,to tea, milesVlpng^L ara t tile-only i^sid^nt Bpttlei% who can take. a t wheeled vebiple.wOij t tp, his, pjjace without fording AlthougbJ professi^to write ,or behalf of j the settlers, ifc is really" ajjnpsfc a mfstake.to, do so, since the Block, though, coupling. ita* ■ acres by thousand*,, and? thpugh, entirely,* or,, almost entirely purchased, from, tlie .Crown,, has scarceljrhalf a, dozeu, settlers . upon it j. ! and this> nbtwithstauding^thia'; a magnificent . bridge has been, erect"d, 'road} lines "cut m, every direction, and six; os. seven, pules^fc these lines cleared of thejiv.t*mb er " ~~^y The cauge.of t&is stagnation is simply the. Tjant of roads.: The lanct;in the JFitzherbert . Block, has. pajd. five . years'.* rates, apd yet,^ with,thp.exc"eption of a,few : miles ,of bridle-, ' track, now m course of formation, there has, ; not been one,, single inch of road; made on,, this. Bide of the riveiy By your own account, about fivethousancb acres have been,clearedin»tbpKiwitea Block, the nearest point of which is sevpn miles*, fromya railway station, whjle on this Block,. . a great part of which lies within sound of a-,. . railway whistle, £ dpn't believe .there haSs. been anything like five hundred. One of the reasons fortjiis state .of things., is that the Manawatu. Highways Board, though scry,ing admirably: the interests of = ' 'the district a* a whole, has scarcely done. due justice to ours, owing, to the fact that . vwe have been inadequacy represented at its deliberation, an& so. it has .: happened ■ that the rajas, raised m, Fijzherbprton havev been spent elsewhere. . , j' .!£he.prbper remedy fo^.'.this, it seems to,. me, is to^be foupd m a readjustment of the.. i divisions of the Highways District, by which . Eitzherbert would .beu formed into a wartL 1 by itself, and. hav,e(tsown>rates.spentwithii-»j. its own borders; and indeed it wouML bo^ npfchjpg more" than just w^re the districts.. v which have profited* by our-rates dpring the la3t five.years to.contribute a littles of tlieir^. • revenup-to^assist i*s m our present necessity. For another. cause of this stagnation, I; 3 must refer to, the oft denounced^ grievance. • of the land, being sold without roads having. ! been; previously formed. At the. time the.* 'Block was^spla, it was (and Vis bow) most . •difficult of access to bona. jSs?.settlers. The . Provincial Government did indeed clear^ some miles.of road line, but Provincial G-o- ----' vernments. passed aw vy, and thp .work ceased before it was sufficiently advanced to be ofmucht practical benefit. Then the land was., purchased chiefly by absentee, : speculators,^ and there it lies, waiting . to. hfi resold to how-fide settlers who never- pome, because . the land m, qiipstiop i§ .ipaccesrjible for want . of rpads. \ Another gripvapce^wp^httvpitOjeomplain of • is the conduct of thp Q-pvernmpnt. As you are aware, a, f est- mpaths ago, Mr McNeil, ithe Chairmaii,Qf the B"jgb ways Board, theu elicited, a promise fram the. ;j Minister of Public -Works. -that a thousand |pounds shpuld.be put op, the. estimates for. a roadj t^awiird th? old* Eitzherbert Block. Thfi,pledge,thu| giyea, h?s teen absolutely ..unredeemed, and, thp . estimAte* have been ; ; 'pissed and the House dissolved, withoutthis item. h*vin« besn pjacs.^ to.ojis. ty&dj'"**.

to that wo are now thrown entirely upon our own resources, This district heing- much cut up by deep ravines, will necessarily demand a large outlay m order to open it i\p, and as the yearly income available for that purpose will be comparatively small, I should recommend gome such mode of operation as this : I Vrould ifr'st form bridle-traoks along the Ifoad lines wherever the interests of the bona fide settlers demanded them- This •would; give these settlers acwss to their land •with, pack-horses. As funds became available, I would, supplement this by widening ihe cuttings, and; bridging tbe creeks. This vrould yonder- the roads stift further traversable by wheeled vehicles m summer weather. Then, of course; would follow 'by degrees the prqepfts. gf forming and metalhng the •^hole. As an h>atanoe of th? repelling front presented by- a blook of bush land without I may state that a few months ago a ppjsan. Jnsit QC»me np from Canterbury called fkfe imy- ionse to, make- enquiry regarding Ikamp ftdjftcenjf land ofitered h\m for sale, but PA a.§pprtai.ning thAt tbe loud m question -was. abaotntely inaccessible except by foi'ding A^lip Mftnav^atUn tb"& would;-be settler, went *h^3t way- v^thpnt so much as going- to, see it. I have now, sir, seated, a^ briefly as, posfibie the. d,iffi,culties. under, which, w.e labour, j ha.ye. mentioned them thu^ to ventilate p.u,r gnj^anpe ip, (jlie. pi^bl^c prints,, so that yp, qps. flfstipn, w,hiph wan^iy take m the lUtu^ejTK&may liave-the beupfi^ of w.hatesrer ftp>on^ge.mfty apcrue. from, tlip. t^piglijt of pujbliC: opinion.. Also, k-np-^ng >liat youj ha ye. Qon.sistpn.tly advocated, onf i^ei;psJjs i hjijhei;to,,and l hoping- that for- the . j^^gppd, ybjj, w.i)l, pppfinpp to dp so, forif. ip,p\^i^,.Birj,t"^. the. preser^ condi^ 9f thip. d^wt i?i cine, w.-hojif- unprofitable. f^om^VSrj;. ppipf of vs^,—sqbpro&t.Blole. to. %Hp sjjtij^ijitt^hQ.ca.upot get tjo, their lajifl; ;. \o, ljbgi apppnjntorsi w,hp, tuifortujiiajbeljy, are. %ss. psipfii^ lapp>o,w.npi^ bpi;p. j, to, th^ i(3jo■V^rnm^ 'a^ ppqdiUping. np, revenue. ; ; and i^iprofi|bab^e.to, thp. commercial interests of r^ulmpcstop, as a, back country peopled, npt >y a commpnijby of prosperous settlers, but p^yby the; wild pigs v^hich run, through its ■■'. Br.im.eyal, foresjis.-r=l am,, &?•» ■'''"'' 'G^o, J<. BapoE. February 19th, 1«78»