TO THE EDITOR.

Patea Mail, 31 December 1880, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR.

[Correspondents are invited to discuss mat* levs of put die interest- with fairness and brevity : this journal being' an impartial medium of discussion and advocacy for all affairs relating to the County of I’atea.] MOMAUAKI no AD. Sir, —A letter signed Ratepayer No. A Ward ” says :—•' What a parcel of idiots the Momahakis must be, in the opinion of Fisher and Co., if they imagine the Momahakis are going to march right past their own Momahaki station, a distance of nearly d miles, for the sake of going to Waverley : hut perhaps our friends in Waitotara arc nut aware of there being a Momahaki station placed as near the junction of the Momahaki and main roads as engineering difficulties would allow j also that the said junction is just about half way between Waverley and Waitotara : so that the Momahaki settler once on the main road could go just as quickly to Waitotara as to Waverley, and to the Momahaki station in one fourth of the lime he could goto either.” What does it mean? And above all what does the latter part of the sentence mean? I suppose the whole letter means that the Momahaki settlers ought to go down on their knees and offer up prayers for the man who would compel them to go to a railway flagstaff station when there is a main station nearly a mile nearer to them on the Waitotara. In the first case the Momahaki settlor would have to stand out in the scorching sun or the drifting rain till the train thought well to come to him, and in the latter ease ho woulclhavc all the accommodation afforded by a first-class railway station, including waiting rooms, goods sheds, sidings, extra trucks on demand, and a staff of officials to wait on him. What a blessing to be compelled to go to a flag-staff station when there is a first-class station much nearer to you ! and in the latter case you pass through a good market both in going to and returning from the railway', where you can buy and sell anything from a needle to an anchor. The railway is not all the road accommodation the Momahaki settlers require. They want to get to the nearest and best market by any means. Does a settler go to a railway station to sell, it may bo, three sheep skins, a bullock’s hide, a dozen eggs, and half-a-dozen pounds of butter, and return with what goods he requires and the balance in cash in his pocket ? Not even the flagstaff station, so lovingly called fi his own Momahaki station ” would afford this accommodation. It appears now, however, that the Momahaki station was coaxed on to its present position towards Waverley, not for the benefit of the Momahaki settlers but for the convenience of quite different people, and the Momahaki settlers arc secondary in the matter. There now is “ your own Momahaki railway,” and what more do you want ? That’s the question. Your correspondent, as champion of the Road Board, says the members of the

Board neither want to buy nor sell, and consequently it is presumed they are disinterested in their position. My own opinion is, that if the members of ibis or any other road board do not find something to sell occasional!} - , it is only a question of time till they find themselves in the position occupied by “Toss.” Sir, this question of distance is not likely to be settled in a satisfactory way unless you will kindly send one of your staff to the Survey Office at Patea and measure the distance by the Government road, from the bridge near to the mouth of the Momabaki creek to the township of Waitotara, and thence to the Waitotara Railway Station ; giving the distances separately. Then give the distance from the line laid off by the Highway Board to Waitotara, and also the distance to Waverley from the same place.—l remain, &c., Mom aha ki. Noth. —lt seems to us the question at issue can be best settled through the Road Board. There appear to be other considerations besides distance, and these arc best weighed by a deliberative body. Ratepayers outside can influence the Board by petitioning, and can appeal to the public through (ho press. The election of Mr Fisher should at least secure a re-opening of the road question before expenditure is incurred.' —Eu. WAVERLEY DOMAIN GROUNDSir, —Five mouths have elapsed since the Waverley Public Domain was put to auction for a term of years, yet I am told that nothing has been done by the Town or Domain Board in the way of preparing the leases, consequently the remaining 75 per cent, of the first, half-year’s rents cannot be sought, nor the following term immediately due. It is now being mooted that they possess no authority. I will again suggest that the Board never asked for ability to lease. If (rue, what must the townspeople think of such a mess? Can it bo attributed to contumacy of viceregal power, or wilful ignorance of initiatory duties, or have none of the members who plume themselves on legal ’enteness been capable of reading aright the Public Domains Act? To whichever cause wo may attribute (he present annoying slate of; matters, the result is alike unpardonable. It is now expected of them that they will fix (he affair right as soon as possible, and no more dalliance. If these gentlemen think that by Gotham prayers and feints Parliament will legislate for their behoof, to relievo so contumacious a body, they will find themselves disagreeably mistaken. Let them again examine the Act, and seek aid whence it can bo given. The month of January will shortly arrive, when they must, by clause 7 of the Domains Act, render an account of their stewardship. Shall wc find them pre-pared ? Dare they retain, on protest, the lessee’s payments? U is high time that the film obscuring each-vision was removed, that they should ponder and take the alarm at the unenviable position in which they stand. —I am, &c., Townsman. Waverlo}’, Dec. 27.