OPUNAKE'S WANTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 December 1920, Page 7

OPUNAKE'S WANTS.

RAILWAYS, HARBOR AND ROADS.

MR. HAWKEN, M.P., ENTERTAINED.

Mr. 0. Hawken, M.P. for Egmont, was ■the guest of Opunake Railway League at a conversazione in the Opunake Town Hall on Wednesday night, when occasion was taken to lay before him several of the pressing needs of the district, particularly in regard to railway/construction, which has been .before the Government for very many years past. Mr. C. A. Trotter, chairman of the Opunake Railway League, presided, and there were present about 50, including a number of ladies, the gathering being representative of the district from Rahotu to Awatuna and Pihama. Apologies were received from Messrs. W. R. Wright and W. L. Chambers. A light repast was provided, after which a lengthy toast list was discussed, opening with the usual loyal toast of "The King", proposed by the chairman. "The Parliament of New Zealand" was proposed by Mr. J, S. Tosland, who said that it behoved the people at all times to bestow the utmost care and thought in the selection of the men they sent to' represent them in Parliament. In Mr. Hawken, Egmont had a live and progressive man, who had the best interests of the district and Dominion at heart.

Mr. Hawken, in responding, said that ' the last Parliament had met under ra- . ther difficult circumstances. The great obligation they had to face was provid- ; ing funds for the repatriation of re- • turned men, and this proved more diffi- ) cult than was anticipated. The £12,1 500,000 which many had thought would have been ample was all expended be--1 fore the session opened. The Gnvern--1 ment in power was determined to do! its duty to the returned men, and the present loan of £0,000,000, to which he hoped all had subscribed, was for that ' purpose. The Government also 3md to . provide a great deal of money -t-.> maks up for the wear and tear of the sb : years' war, end in this connection ther. was half a million for the extension o telephones, and a huge sum for .the re ; , pairs and renewals of rolling stock.Tht'' people also were insisting on a great deal of legislation which might be called ■ class legislation—legislation to better ihe condition of the mass of the people—and a lot. of money had been provided for housing. Then last session £1,100.000 nad been provided to subsidise food products— vis:.. £OOO,OOO for butter and £OOOOOO for wheat, All this naturally depleted the Treasury, and many things had to go on that account. Thus when it came to the Public Works policy money was pretty short-perhaps, unfortunately so, because in this country the great thing necessary was increased production, and that could be done most by increasing the facilities by which the products could be got to the* market. SHORTAGE OF MONEY. [ He considered the vote of £BOO,OOO was not sufficient, but until the other items mentioned were out of the way, it was impossible for the Government to increase it to any great extent. Taxation, he said, was now verv heavv in fact direct taxation was as heavy as : could be borne, and it would not be ' safe to increase it. He showed the great increases the present Government 1 had made in the direct taxation of i wealth pointing out that when the late 1 £ifinnnn'n d 0 died they got le3s than ' £1,000,000 from income tax, whereas i now they obtained £8,000,000, thougli i there, had been practically no increase ! in Customs duties, any increase being 1 du e to the difference in price and quant tity. Direct taxaton now provided two- t thirds of the revenue, as compared with s one-third previously, showing that the : Government had faced the taxation of ( wealth. There was considerable room t for thought its to how it would be poss- c ible to provide money to carry on the \ Public Works, and at the same time ; provide such large amounts for social I work. He did not know how this could I be aone unless railway and road works l were to suffer. It was unfortunate, be- 3 cause at the present time the country v needed developing. They would be well r advised, he said, to make their wants a known, and keep them before the public, and he could assure them of his y port. He then outlined at- some length t the work of members during the ses- i sion. .

Mr. R. Ferguson, in nroposing the "Opunake Harbor Board", referred to the difficulties the board had had to face since its inception, and he urged all to put their shoulders to the wheel and provide the necessary money to build the harbor, which should be an adjunct to the railway, and would undoubtedly pay its own way. It was up to the. people to help themselves. In this connection he expressed surprise at the apathy of the people of Opunake in not attending this gathering, the majority of those present coming from a distance, a HARBOR PROPOSALS.

Mr. T. P. Hughson, chairman of the Opunake Harbor Board, said that some of the uphill work of the board was due to the red tape of the Government Departments, which was in many cases carried too far. There was considerable extravagance going on at present, and he considered that it was the Government's duty to regulate the matter of imports and exports. He was afraid provision was not being made for the lean years, and in this direction he stressed the need for curtailing the excessive importation of motor cars which was taking money to America and else' where. The Government must endeavor to increase production as much as poss. ible, and settling soldiers on the land was a step in the right direction. Other things would assist, such as putting down railways that would immediately pay Railways had been put down that would never pay; yet the Government would not construct the railway round the mountain, which would pay handsomely from its opening. The Government, he considered, put, obstacles in the way of harbor boards, which labored under great difficulties in regard to hous» ing and other matters. Both the Opunake railway and the Opunake harbor would assist the district materially, and would also assist the Dominion by facilitating increased production. It therefore behoved residents of the district to assist the board in the matter of finance, as it was proposed to put the harbor works in hand as soon, as an amount sufficient to warrant a start had been subscribed. Advice had been receiyeel that, providing some of the loan was raised and the work started, the balance could be raised later without taking another poll.

Mr. C. H. Hurst, a member of the board, remarked that settlers should provide the finance for their harbor, pointing out that in the past they had mortgaged their farms for roods, fan. ifijieg--***

FINANCE DIFFICULTY. Mr. O. Hawken, in proposing "The Egmont County Council", said that the splendid work done by county councils was recognised throughout New Zealand, and in no district had a higher standard of road construction been set than in Taranaki. He touched on the difficulties that counties had had to face in the past regarding labor and finance, and stated that, while not wishing to appear pessimistic, he believed that local bodies would find it more difficult to obtain finance than in the past, as the Government would not be able to advance money so freely. Mr. S. Campbell, chairman of the County Council,'said that Egmont County was in the worst position of any county in Taranaki. It was hemmed in with toll-gates, s while many of the roads were worn out before the loans on them had matured, and the rates would not keep them going. He hoped their member would put the matter before Mr. Massey. He had duriug the last few I weeks seen men filling in holes in the roads with wheel-barrows, in order to get their milk to the factory Mr. M. O'ffricn also said that Egmont was in a very bad way. It had practically no revenue. As fast as they improved their roads they were destroyed by foreign and tourist traffic from which the county got no revonue. Natives drove at high speed in motor cars and contributed practically no revenue. Mr. Hawken, he said, had been very considerate towards the Wiremu Road, for which several grants had been made, but it was an up-hill fight to get these grants expended. Within seven miles of him there were 50,000 acres of good land fit to milk on, that was given over to grazing because of want of reading and bridges. The by-roads leading to it carried three loans, but were worn out and dangerous after dark. The main road, which had to be kept up at the expense of the whole county, was too near the coast. The Government, he said, wanted increased production, but in this district it was impossible to give 'this, owing to the difficulty of getting their produce to the market. He touched on the necessity for the harbor, and, turning to the need for a railway' remarked that it was a downright scandal that the line was to be diverted to Manaia, characterising it as the most corrupt affair that had ever occurred in Taranaki. He urged Mr. Hawken to block the laying of the rails to Manaia, and to have the work continued towards Opunake, where it could bo brought quickly to a point at Auroa where it would g lve returns. It was a scandalous, v Uianous thing to take the line down to Manaia, whore they never wanted it. and where it would never pay. if it were ever worked at all.

Mr. Ferguson expressed pleasure at p", r ?. m « th »* the preaDnt ' Mincer of Pi bl,c Works favored the small contract system. Unless thev could put be unable to maintain their roads. MoreRAILWAY QUESTION.

toa of #i V; '" P r °P° 3 i"g the toast of The Railway League", said hat body had worked' hard in the nerests of the district, but he considered hat years ago a mistake had been made departing from the route that had been reserved for the line. He referred t m n « w i lfe TT lnf,,se(l in'" the League I™, 1 ; *. Hl «l«y. and stressed the point that the people of Opunake should solidly back up their member in his efforts to secure the line.

tWti. : 1 ?. lckc . v ' ln r6 *Ponse, said that the agitation for the line to Opunake was becoming a weariness of the , , T ' h r, di9tr!ct warranted a railway, *nd should get it. Tha people of the

district could expect as much from the Massey Government as from any Government ever in power. He now felt convinced that Mr. Hawken had left no stone unturned to get the railway from Kapuni, and it was not his fault that the railway had been side-tracked to Manaia. The League, he said, was anguishing for want of support, and he believed that even if at this late hour the people "kicked up sufficient noise" they would get the railway. "Our Guest" was proposed by Mr. T. S. Hickey, and, in replying, Mr." Hawken said that no on e was keener to see the railway to Opunake than he was, because he knew that the railway was really needed. A member, be he ever so keen, must have the strong backing of the people. When he was elected a member the railway was already diverted to Manaia. He had tried hard to have a big vote put on the Estimates tor tins line, but had failed. However he hoped to have the vote expended. He did not believe there was any undercurrent in Eltham fighting against the rai way, ns Eltham was agreed that the railway should go on to Opunake. He pointed out that with the high cost of rails and sleepers, at £6OOO per mile as against £17,10 before the war £»0000 would not carry the line far, and"a's a matter of finance and business,'he J-lnn "° W .7 hethw the y shtml( "- PV £OOOO per mile now for material or miit a while. He recognised that the heavy traffic must be put on rails and he was going to do his utmost to j see this done as soon as possible

OPUNAKE'S DRAWBACKS.

"The Opunake Town Board" was proposed by Mr. Ross, and responded to by Mr C. A. Trotter, chairman of the Town Board, who said that he had felt the hopelessness and isolation of the position during the 33 years he had been in Opunake. He considered that various services, in the way of telephone communication, harbor and railway, to overcome this and to develop the commercial life of Opunake had been blocked by people living a |on'g the ie from Hawera to Moturoa, who had al the advantages Opunake desired, and who wished to make Opunake people support their institutions ' Other toasts were: "The Ladies", proposed by Mr TS. Hickey and responded to by Mr. Q. S. Campbell, junr.; "The Press" proposed by Dr Watt ami responded to by representatives o the Opunake Times and Daily News, "The Chairman', proposed by Mr T. P. Hugh-

Daring the evening a pianoforte solo was puyed by r£ tat.ons w ero siven b Mc3sr \ Hurst and T. S. Hickey. The arrangements for the gathering which proved a decided success we" in' S e S h S^ MeMM - C - A- Trotter and