TARANAKI TOURIST TRAFFIC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 105, 24 April 1908, Page 3

TARANAKI TOURIST TRAFFIC.

SUGGESTED CHANGE OF CONTROL. IHI EGMONT MOUNTAIN HOUSES. e ff erd ?y' s meeting of the EgPark the member* fumor that the Uoveni,h p„„ v t0 4ssun 'e control of the Egmont National Park and of tin.CTOmmodanon.l'ou,,, „ n th , mountain ' ,( ? d ' Str ' ltluril Iwroujfi J representative, whr> was UU able W be thTid gra l' llt '' J 111,1 1 he favored

It was stated that a gent lonian in a position to know .something „f th.WtanUOns „f the Tourist Departn.en: had recently been heard talking of thi-. ■natter, and had ventured die opinion that if the Government a»mnr<l eontr.d there would I* a large in<n-,ii n tii,•mount of Government money cNjiemled in improving the access and the atrumluodatfon, with a view to attracting the tourists to Taranaki and its chief xviiic Mature. There was very little lieing done here now in eompariri'ii with tho-; placets which were under the direct con •ol of the Department, who seemed to to "making a business ot' it.'' Mr. S. I'eiry smith suggested that the time was as yet hardly ripe for the change. But he felt sure that if the Department took over the Park there would be a large accommodation-house. J| e 'IM not know that much could be tone »t this meeting, hut it might .suit the purpose to impure from the Government whether and when, if at all it intended to take full control. Mr. F. \V. Wilkie renewed the position. lie said that when he first heard •°Lj project he thought the idea a good one, but lie wan inclined now to look upon the matter from two points of view. Should the Tourist DepartBirtt assume control, it would run the nooses purely as a tourist resort. During the present season 7000 or 8000 people had visited the different accom-modation-houses and made use of the conveniences there, but the majority of thoae could hardly be described as "tourist*" as defined by the Tourist Department. Would the Department continue to maintain the present existing conveniences for tie us* of—for want of a better term—the general public. <nwould they make provi-inji only lor t!ie globe-trotting tourist; should the latter (nurse be meditated, lie thought that ' the Board should stick out and look after the interests of the general public, who looked upon the mountain trip a> ' a fairly inexpensive way of enjovablv 1 picnicking in the bush, tie thought the ' policy of the ftxird should 1> C to offer ( every opportunity to establish higherdas* accommodation without interfering with the present arrangements, li ■ 1 would not favor any attempt to run the place tarirtly on- tourist lines, tliu* c!c barring Uk public from the use of the ' cheaper and plainer conveniences whieti ' they now enjoyed. ' ■Mr. O. A. Marcbant said lie ap- ' proached this question witn some dilli- ' dene*. There was no use attempting to disguise the fact that the pre-nit ar- ' rangement* were not working out satis- f factorilv. The houses were intended to ' be used as plat/es of rest and recreation, ;l but, whilst he held no extreme views on ' the liquor question, it wa- u-ele*s to " eiote their evo to the fact that an ' enormous amount of liquor wa> taken ' there that could very well l>e done ivitle '' out, and that this led to a condition of affairs that was not altogether desirable. The caretakers had not the authority they should have. It was within his knowledge that very frequently the surroundings of the house* were extremely noisy at night, and people who had gune there for rest, for a good, quiet time, for recuperation from sickness or •tress, were deprived of the sleep and rest that they should have. Of course, the caretaker had a certain amount of moral control, but he was like a man-of-war without arms, having no means of enforcing his control. He was afraid that some parties went to the mountain houses to run riot. Being out of reach of alt control, they seemed to consider they were entitled to do as they pleawd. No doubt the Tourist Department would improve this state of affairs, but before resorting to that course he would like to see the Board adopt even- means with a view of remedying the' position which undoubtedly existed. This National Park was the peculiar heritage of the Taranaki people, and large numbers ot Our people availed themselves of this holiday resort. He had no particular fault to And wkU the accommodation provided il the other matters criticised were improved. He held no brief for the globe-trotter, and wasn't very utudi interested in hiiu, for he could not do the Board much good. If the gluljetrotter couldn't enjoy himself and get what he wanted—apart from the aspect criticised—he was a man they wnld very well do without. He was not prepared to move tliat tln» control W handed over to the Tourist Department, but if the state of affair* obtaining in tho past few yearn were not improved, he migUt, in the intents of the community, consider it advisable to change bis attitude. Mr. Colli* said there were two sides to the question. He would like to see improved accommodation, but he recognised that they would have to approach the matter very carefully. Were the reserve handed over to tiie Tourist Department, it would be gone for ever. They would never get it back whether they agreed with the manner of running l the houses or not. The Board and the wious ivmmiltees wvre doing their best, and lie thought the Government ought to give greater financial a—i-t----anee, in view of the enormous sums of money tl»t were l*ing expended elsewhere. Were the Government anxious to erect an up-to-date accomniodatwnhouse under the Tourist Department - doßtiol, the Board could give them g sufficient area for the site. The Board should not put any difficulties in the way of catering lor the globe-trotter, and he WOold rtot be a party to interfering with the liberties the public now enjoyed. air. Wilkie, in reply to Mt. Alarchanfc _• criticism, said that a vast improvement tad been made in the conduct, of the houses latterly. At the Falls house there was leaa rowdyism now. with W" visitors in the season* than there wa' three or four yeare ago when the vHtor-i numbered only 40ft or 500. Mr. Marchant was probably not aware that the Board had decided to go into the whole question of the regulation-. Mr. Collis reported a similar otate of affairs with regard to the North Kgmont house. As compared with previou.-. years, rowdyism it»- practically nonexbttht. Oile young fellow, who hod evidently broached the refreshment sup-

plirt on* the way up the track, wa- fo no»y. so the caretaker not only put him out. Imt kept him out. Some people I described as "rowdyism" the noise that was iweparable from the arrival of large parties of visitors during the night. Mr. Simpson, whilst admitting the correctness ot the foregoing remarks, oaiil neither hcu.se was favorable to invalicK Th# good spirit - ■' or the "had spirits" they i... -.... i. prevented sleep. The Cowrnment. he thought, would lint ImiM h<r.i sto meet the wants of the hulk of the |>eoplc who risitfd the house* now. I'" it-viM he »rry to see the present aimimwKhtfcm done away with. Very few invalids rwitrtl the hrwws. but nrnstU out for picnics and iol!iti>-:iti'"i- A 1 SanW time he ' u " ! '

\v..rU (, n limit'-'l nifiin-. Mr. Smith m'h! th* roiwnMi- »i ion to }»> ttait it wiiM •* coM thntjf for the Tourist D**|«arf t.» take part of tho Park an«i pmvuie first class mmmmndatinn. H,, believctl in enmirajrinjr the jr»*nernl tourist*, for a* a nile they *pent nmfley freely in tW town*. The«e j»ef>i»Je. hrwevrr. «*mM lie attracted only l»y a'^inmOiUtion. anH the Tfcx»r<l i«wtM not »ivc it. . .

Mr. Colli* nmv«(i. "Tbal in iln* opinion i of tli' 1 mwting the time ha* arrived fc>r the riom-nment to erM tir-tila— ae-nrntmndali-m on Mount Kgm«nl. so a(o fill a lonnfelt want. and !!>:•( the fioTCTumcnt hp approached villi a vi.'wnf effertinjr objects »f tin- lir-t part of this resolution." Mr. Smith »<<<md«l. Mr. M'ri'lrint. in a per-onal explanation. said he had nothinir asain-t the gMic trottm? t"Uri*t«. lmt il »a<- 01. vim* that if tlwy -et out to rater fur the toitri~tf our own nmul s«(T-r. The motion «as carried.