TARANAKI TATTLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 58, 28 July 1906, Page 3

TARANAKI TATTLE.

THE NEW RAILWAY LINE.

Some Carious Valuations,

The Woes and Joys oi Property Holders.

Some time ago the Government sanctioned the diversion #of the New Plymouth railway line, in ox&ei to do away with the dangerous crossings in the main thoroughfares, notably Devon-street. It became necessary, of course, to take over land and buildings for the 'new route, and to ppoint a valuator to decide upon the amount of cbmper^ation. to be paid to owners. ' Just' how the valuator arrived at his decisions in regard to the amounts to be paid as compensation to the various parties affected isn't quite clear ; but the fact remains that at the p-resfent moment New Plymouth contains two- distinct sections of the compensated ones, viz.. those who think thevaluator a perfect gem of a man and those who are calling down curses on -his benign cranium for fixing; the amount due to them at what they consider a RIDICULOUSLY LOW FIGURE. The . business seems,, to have?, 'been carried through on the \gqpd old axiom of tYTQ hjm that hath , shallybe giyen.i.. and., hinir that hath not even that .which, he hath' shall be taken, away .from him." One of the parties that "hath',\ in this case 1 is the Sash, and Door Factory, which had the j good fortiine to possess a piece of land,, something under an acre, through the centre of which the new line is destined to run. Eighteen hundred of the veiy best is the amount of compensation fixed in tins case ; which is a tolerablv good sum when it . is taken into consideration that the timber-twisting concern retains the whole frontage to the road and onlv, loses the back of the land, facing the sea,, and comprising chieflv a number of sandhills of no use toanyone. Un to ,date the wood-work-ing companv hasn't growled at 'its; treatment :bv the official valuator ; nor is H expected so to do. But the parties that "hath not" are saying all sorts of'. . • > HARD^UNBROTHERLY .THINGS about i;he g6ht., and some of them have good rea'son for doinp- so, apparently!'' One case in point is that of a man named Knight. George had some "propity" which the new railroad swallows up and when he knew about it.he was delighted, imagining he had a soft snap on. However, this blissful condition of mind stopped with a jerk when* the assessment of his land and house was disclosed, and now Knight is calling Heaven and all Taranaki to witness that he has been robbed. The strangest part about the whole, business is the delight of some at the value their property has been .; assessed at and the woe of others. As before mentioned it is mostly the big bugs who are pleased, the smaller fry unhesitating]^ yelping that their assessment are nothing more nor less than daylight robbery. Things are shaping "for a hellova row over the new raJilway line into Taranaki's chief town, and it is quite possible before the last is heard of it that the man from Liverpool will be asked to define how he arrived at one or two of his curious assessment con-! elusions. ;/