The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1902. OPENING UP THE WHANGAMOMONA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 55, 20 February 1902, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1902. OPENING UP THE WHANGAMOMONA.

TmaußCftn be no doubt but that the people of New Plymouth should do all in their power to assist every effort that is made to open up the Whangamomona by way of the Okoki, Junction, and Stratford-roads. The roads, besides giving an ontlet to the Whangamomona, serve an enormous area of country settled or capable of carrying a very large population, Opening up the country from Stratford and north of Stratford, means a vtry large increase to the trade of the port at the breakwater, as the imports and exports must find their way through New Plymouth. Wanganui is quite alive to the value of the trade inland of Taranaki, and for years past has been making a very bold effort to secure it for the port of Wanganui. Notwithstanding the fact that two members (Mr Bassett and another) of the River Trust Board have recently reported unfavourably on the Tangarakau river, Mr Willis, M.H.R., and others are continuing their efforts to secure the trade of the Whangamomona district. Mr, C. M. Grant, a settler in that district, has recently written to the Egmont Seltkr on the subject, and his letter throws a good deal of light on the position. After referring to a statement by Mr Willis, re the value of the Tangarakau river route as being of special banefit to the Whangamomona settlers for getting in their winter supplies, he says:— I, in common with most of the settlers here, quite recognise the folly of spending sums of money in opening up the river route for goods traffic. We had experience of it last winter when one of our local storekeepers drew the bulk of his supplies from Wanganui via the river, and I got his opinion oa the subject. The freight from Wanganui to the Tangarakau landibg is £2 10s per ton, and on aeveral occasions it cost him a great deal more owing to the steamer not being able to get right up. Whenever this happened he bad to pay the Maoris Is per hour to unload and canoe the goods to the landing. He then had to pack the goods some 10 miles over one of the worst pack tracks in the colony, each horse only being able to carry lewt. one trip a day, consequently to shift one ton of goods from Tangarakau landing to the Kohuratahi junction takes 20 paek horns and twe men one day, Allow the bare feed of horses and you add to the cost of goods via river route £3 per ton; add £1 per ton for depreciation of goods in the way of horses falling over cliffs and goods getting buriid in mud, and figures show the freight at .£6 19s per ton from Wanganui to Kohuratabi. Anyone conversant with the subject will tell you, Mr Editor, I am underestimating the actual cost. When Mr Willis undertook to champion the river route, he ought, in fairness to the community whose money is being spent, to have compared the two routes, viz, Wanganui versus Stratford. We out here know the true position. In conversation with Mr J. McCluggage on the subject, he informed me what his stores cost him for cartage per ton from Stratford; he could not give me the figures for one part of the year as against the other, because he gets the bulk of his goods through in tha good weather; but taking the average it costs him about £3 10.<, a saving in favour of Stratford route of .£3 per ton. Mr Willis tells us it is not want?d for a summer route. Well, for years to come it is absolutely useless as a winter route owing to the state of the bye roads leading to the river ; still the most important point has been omitted by Mr Willis. The time is now coming when our settlers, instead of being wholly an importing community, will become an exporting people. Land is getting felled, grassed, and stocked. The peeple want the best facilities for the export of products raised in here. No sane nan will go so far as to adro-

cate the Tangar.tkan River a* tbe best iway of sending out our butler, beef, I mutton, and wool. Had Mr Willis taken the time to go into the subject and study it fioui a local point of view, I feel sure,as a fair-minded man he would never advocate the river as a means of help to our comfort and self-support. Any money spent by the Government on any scheme which political interest may compel a member to push od, will be so much less on the road or railway, whLh aie the only two practical measures to give this settlement What it is justly entitled to, to wit, a fair chance in op an competition, and this can only be done by our getting the railway through as soon as possible. In the meantime the papa metalling ought to be proceeding throughput the settlement so as to give access to creameries I and the dairy factory. The settlers to a man are self-supporting immediately j the Government fulfils the part which has repeatedly been promised and which belongs to us as a right—decent I roads, Last winter I; at considerable expense to myself) experimented with the papa under a different system of burning than what has been used in the past> I received an iuvitation to meet Mr Murray at New Plymouth and give him details of the proposed system. This was done; also samples of papa exhibited. A deputation Bent from hero to Wellington re roads a'sj took samples of my burning, which where pronounced by Mr Hursthouse to be a fhst-class road metal. A subsequent deputation of Fohokura settlers got a promise that my system was to receive a trial, and I was told by one of the delegates to keep myself open for the work. Well, after keeping my plans and estimates for six months they worn returned. To sum up : Mr Willis stVes that' road metal is tot procurable at a reasonable figure out here, he; ce 'he > iver route. If such is the rase liow does he propose to get over tbe 12 miles of slush dividing the settlemont from the Tangarakau ? With the i xception of one or two laudowners :-djacent to the river is will never give a«'y piaecioilsoluvoa to our present difficulty of getting our products to markei. Should a vote be taken on the two routes by the people in here, Stratferd route would receive practically a block vote. Any influence New Plymouth has should certainly be used to urge tbe Government to push on with the railway and the metalling of the roads to give access to this important district.