The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 18. THE OHURA ROAD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 18 April 1907, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 18. THE OHURA ROAD.

To j.ui it mildly, we do not think any(•n'e who follows Ihe trend of mailers political in Taranuki will coiitradiet our statement thai the Government, or, at anv rati>, the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. \V. Uah-.lonos, is in a fair wav lo yet ilsclf. or Himself, disliked. No' prm-in.e ill the colony during the past twelve years has stood so l„ : ,ally lo the Liberal Government, praclkaliy during the whole of thai term none tail

supporters of the (loveriiiiiein having been returned to represent the several constituencies. The present murmurs r.i discontent, therefore, that ha..' been steadily increasing in \oluiue since the | Him. Mr. liail-ioncs hurled his roadvesting bombshell at the Stratford County Council a few weeks ago, foretell, if talk goes for anything, a wave of opposition to the present Administration when next the opportunity is all'oided. To raise the electors in arms by such a method as the Acting-Premier has taken seems to us to be very foolish indeed. As all know, the honorable gentleman has, in contravention of all pa.st practice and policy, threatened to vest in the Stratford County Council nearly twenty miles of a main, arterial road, one of the most treacherous and worst to maintain in the col.mv in an unmelallcd state.

What object am i.e his? AI. the meeting of Tarau.tia local bodies held at Stratford ou Tuesday nighl, a warning was uttcrCut : . v ' several gentlemen who professed to kaow, thai :he case of the Ohura was but the forerunner of a new policy lo hand over like, roads lo counties throughout the North Island. We hesitate to believe that; to our mind no Government would lie so regardless of its security of olliae as to attempt to inflict such an injustice, such an olicetual bar lo development, and settlement. And on the other hand, no Government or Minister would dare to inliict the proportionately greater injustice of picking out one particular portion of the colon;, for such punishment, as would seem to he the position as the case stands at present, is it not just possible that the .Minister for i'uhlic Works, acting on an unfortunate impulse of piiplc at the, to him, seeming ingratitude of the people of the town of" Stratford, committed

himself further than he intended in his desire to administer a rebuke to one of the present Administration's creations, and in so doing overstepped the mark so far as to herald the perpetration of one of the grossest wrongs oyer proposed to be indicted on a district where alreadv the absolute needs of many hundreds of hardworking settlers arc not exceeded in anv portion of the colony? Wo are almost inclined to give credence to such a hypothesis, and would not be the least surprised were we to learn that a mistake had been made, and that only the metalled portions of the road were intended to lie handed over to the County to maintain.

The arguments with which -Mr. llall.lones lias sought to justify his proposal seem almost to prove that little or no prior or serious consideration had been devoted to the question, and that lib statement was Imrricdly compiled ill all unwise endeavor to make the best of an untenable case. This deduction is strengthened by (be fact that little more than a month ago the Department made ultogclh'T- ilill'erent proposals with regard lo (he road and iwo of the bridges, --■ liberal proposals that were in accordance with past practice, and which were accepted by the I'ounly. We merely mention this incidentally lo show that it is most unlikely thai the present proposals were part of a pre-couceived policy innovation by the Coveniuiont.

In bis at templed .justification of his altitude, the Acting-Premier cited a number of areuinents in reply to criticisms bv (he Wellington Post. To these iirgitniciils Mr. MeCiUciian devoted the major portion of his speech on Tuesday uight, reasonably contending that if the Ministers facts' could be shown to b, wholly, or in part, wrong, (hen it became'(lie Minister's duly (o treat the question ill an explicit, judicial spirit, To Mr. Hnll-loiies' question. "Why should the people of Wellington be called upon tojpay towards the cost of maintaining a 'road which had been formed and several miles metalled by the State?" he replied that the question was irrelevant. The road served 250.01111 acres, and he proceeded lo show that the (lovenunenl had not yet spent on the road mi amount nearlv approximate to (lie a mt they had derived from the settlers in prolit on the bind, on the loadiiiL' for rates, on the amount raised under'loans, and the district's contribution throiieh the Customs. In other words. Hi..' State, and, incideiitallv. the people of Wellington, were indebted to the Wliarigaiiiniuona settlement instead of the boot being on the other foot.

Mr. AleC'utchan also dealt trenchantly Willi oilier of I hi' .Minister's arguments, without ilillienltv exposing I heir fallaeies uml half-truths. TU<- most eflVelive of these was in reply to Air. Ilall-lones' statement Hint lie was nut going lo metal the ronil because it ran through frceliulil ]in>]ierl v. The reply was simple mid unanswerable. (If the whole length uf liftv miles of Ihe road, about twelve miles of the roail runs tliroiigll freehold property, and that portion is already niefalleil! Air. Ilall-lones' i«if>uiiiciit ill that couneetioii is belated and self-con-ilenuiiilorv. As administrator of Hie loading the lion. Air. Ilall-lones should have s"cii I lul those freelmlil lands were made li. e„,|i.ributc equally with tile Stale lands lietore he built the road, but having ,„;„!,. anrl metalled the. freeholdcrs' outlet, on his own showing'and because of Hie spiiiioiisness id' that argilment. he must do his duly by those State settlers who, without means, were induced by the Covernuieut to put themselves oil' from civilisation on the express' understanding that a metalled road would be provided for them.

We might go on indefinitely replying t» llic Acting-Premier's statements, but mi purpose would In- served, because it

gentleman himself 1,111 sincerely believe !lint they arc .sniricieiit io jiisiifv his threats. If he has not vet realised thfuel Unit no hody of electors, however loyal, will humbly submit to he ridden rough-shod over, assuredly lie soon will, iininedintely the rest of 'the tmcU-coiin-Iry districts of the colony realise (hat I heir turn is !o eome. We earnestly trust Unit Mr. Ilall-.lniics will (speedily innke u dignified withdrawal, or, in the alternative, make known what assist - auee he propose, the Stale shall givc io eounlies thai i-iuv ha.ve (his hurdell inllieleil on (hem. At present he has hire: merely ll.c lial thai (he Govern-mi-iil is not. jrniii.,r ,„ shoulder the responsibility.

The County simply eouM not earrv the load. As pointed out at the meeting, lie- (Ihura road at the presenl time eosls (he Government an average of C200I) a year to maintain. The whole of (lie icvenue from th- district is oulv a little over raid. Who is to |i,„l the -Cllillll re.piired to save (he road from absolutely disappearing Does lie expect lhai the Whanganiomoua district is rich enough (n tiiN iisfli" to that extent I'mordinary main road maintenance? And where is the niouov to conic from to enable the 'settlers to metal that portion which (ho Government wishes to get rid of? Is (he district I U lie at the mercy and caprice of I'arliamentary votes? The County's borrowing powers are 100 limited to permit of it being dune expeditiously Ivy means of a loan. The proposal is so unbusinesslike, to say nothing worse. , as to bo scarcely credible, did not the great majority of electors believe the Minister is serious. As we stated earlier, we are inclined to credit the belief that (here has somewhere hccti ' n misunderstanding, uud that only the metalled prliun of the road is. really meant to be handed over, a procedure to which no exception would lie taken. On this point it is to be hoped the Minister will take an early opportunity of setting himself right. ,