A MISTAKEN POLICY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 306, 19 May 1913, Page 4

A MISTAKEN POLICY.

Whilst in Opposition, Mr. Massey anil his friends never lost an opportunity of blaming the Government for throwing open for settlement land devoid of adequate roading facilities. It was a wrong policy, was the policy of the previous Governments, of course, as we in Taranaki know to our cost, or, rather, the cost of a good many of our early settlers. And the criticism of the Opposition was, it must be admitted, fully justified. One would have thought that when Mr. Massey and his party got into the administrative saddle they would have profited by the mistakes of their predecessors, and taken steps to change i policy. But what do we find? The present Government is perpetuating the same mistake, the mistake that but a short time ago provided it with effective ammunition to fire at its adversaries! We have not to go far for an instance of what we mean, no further, indeed, than our own town. Last week eleven sections in a block at Taurakawa were offered at the local Lands Office for settlement. For seven sections, to which we are informed on reliable authority there is no vestige of a road, not a single application was received. There was a keen demand for land, as was shown by the fact that no fewer than thirty applications were received for the other four sections, which are better ofl in regard to roading facilities than the' other part of the block. The same thing is, we are assured, going 011 in the Auckland district. The Government is pushing on to the market block after block of land that is in 110 way roaded. The Government's zeal in endeavoring to appease the land hunger that exists all over the country is commendable, but to our mind it is a policy utterly mistaken, and calculated to retard rather than promote settlement to push this land on to the public when it is not provided with adequate roads. It is worse—it is really criminal for this or any other Government to induce settlers to go into roadless country and take up burdens which ill many cases in the past have crushed the life-blood out of the unhappy settlers and their dependents. We want the country opened up, certtainly—it is the crying need of the hour —but let it be done 011 proper and statesmanlike linos. Let the Government use some of the big loan recently floated at Home by Mr. Allen in roading the blocks before opening them to settlement; let the Government act up to its past professions about "roads must 1 in all cases precede settlement"; let, in short, the Government be consistent and put an immediate stop to a prac- j tice that can only lead 1° disaster and. misery.