The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1920. THE WAIKATO RIVER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 563, 3 September 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1920. THE WAIKATO RIVER.

We are glad to note a revival of interest in the question of making the best possible use of the Waikato River, as evidenced by the pro ceedings of the meeting of ratepayers in the river district last Saturday, reported at some length in oui issue of Tuesday last. Our readers Will not have failed to gather that we have always put the improvement of the Waikato, both for drainage and navigation, in the very forefront of all local enterprises, believing thoroughly in its enormous importance to a very large portion of the district through which the "Times" circulates, and for that iea" son. have always given prominence to all matters connected with it. It is therefore naturally gratifying to us to find that, after a prolonged period of quiescence, the interest of those most nearly concerned is once, more awakening, and we trust that* that interest will not be allowed to die away again till all possible steps have been taken to arouse the Gov ernment to a state of activity. We fear, however, that the set ting up of a special Royal Commis sion to look into the matter can hardly be expected. At an early stage of the present session, Sir Wil Ham Herries, the Minister for Marine, replying to Mr. Young, M.P. foi Waikato, stated that the Government intended to reinstate the In land Waterways' Commission. This commission, appointed before the war, had before it the task of looking into the engineering, commercial, industrial, and financial questions involved in the proposal to link up the Kaipara Harbour with the Waitemata, the Waitemata with the Manukau, the Manukau with the Wai kato, and the Waikato with the Firth of Thames; and, of course, including a thorough investigation of the Waikato River. This is a very large order, and the engineering data alone will take some years to collect if the commission is to report on the estimated cost of the various projects; and would only be undertaken at all by a Government to whom expense is of no consequence, for we do not think that even the most sanguine expect the report to be followed by the construction of canals, or even one of them. The unfortunate feature in it is that it appears very likely that it will mean indefinite delay in doing anything for the Waikato River, unless the Government can be induced to alter its programme to some extent.

We would suggest that instead *f adhering to the text of its resolution demanding the setting up of ;i special lioyal Commission for the river the representatives of the district should approach the Government with a request that the Waterways' Commission should be directed to make a thorough examination of the Waikato, and issue an interim report upon it before commencing the other portions of their work. A very strong case could be made out in favour of it, so strong indeed that if the request is not acceded to it will turn into a certainty the suspicion, already prettyprevalent, that the politicians who from time to time made promises to do something to improve the Waikato had no intention of ever carrying them out. The representative* would be able to point out that in the Waikato and its tributaries we had very fine waterways already in existence and only requiring a little assistance and a moderate expenditure to make them of very great value; whereas the canals were merely projects very much in the air, and long likely to remain so. It could add that if a moiety of the money that will be squandered enquiring into these schemes were expended in improving the river it is quite likely no other expenditure would be necessary.

We are glad to note that the ratepayers of the Waikato River district recognise that the improvement of the river is a matter that concerns I not them alone, but many other ' places outside their boundaries, and we hope that the various local J bodies concerned will avail them- | selves of the invitation to send representatives to the meeting to be j held at Mercer on the . 18th inst. { Once or twice before an attempt to j assemble those interested has failed ! owing to the supineness of the public : bodies, but we trust that this time j wiser counsels will prevail and that the result will be a gathering whose opinion will carry some weight. We cannot leave the subject without deprecating the wild exaggerations made by some of the speakers at Saturday's meeting. A good enough case can be made out without resorting to .statements which merely injure the cause by carrying their own contradictions on their faces. When we hear it claimed that there are 100,000 acres above Mercer ami 100,000 acres below waiting to be drained, and also have fabulous sums prophesied as the annual returns from these lands when reclaimed, and when we hear that the surface of the river can be lowered from 7ft to loft, we wonder whether the result is not simply to weaken the oirect of the meeting in the minds jif those who will have the final arbitrament in the vital question whether anything' is to be done for the river or not.