The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 81, 1884.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4752, 31 March 1884, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, MARCH 81, 1884.

The County Council has received a communication from the Postal authorities concerning the state of certain portions of the road between Thames and Tauranga, and pointing out a few places on the road requiring repairs, with a view to the resumption of coach traffic from here to Tauranga. There are several reasons why this subject should demand immediate attention not only at the hands of the County, but also receive consideration from the Government, in the matter of mail subsidies, and in other various ways. It is only a few days ago that we learnt by telegram that considerable dissatisfaction had been expressed at tourists to the lakes resolving to visit them via Hamilton owing to the bid route via Tauranga, which is reached from Auckland by somewhat inferior steam communication. A considerable number of lake tourists and visitors to that part of the country pro* ceeded to their destination by way of Thames when the coach ran over passable roads, but last winter proved too much for the roads or the coaches, or something connected with both, and the coach was discontinued. This was a means of revenue lost, not only to the coach contractor, but to the people generally who, along the road, as well as in the towns, detived revenue from the coach traffic. One reason why the service proved unprofitable was the niggardly subsidy granted for the carriage of mails, and there is not s tittle of doubt that the Government is in this particular to blame for coach traffic being discontinued. There can be no question that the County would be studying its own interests in keeping-—not only for the convenience of those using them for district purposes, but for coach traffic throughout it—the roads in a state of thorough repair, The thoroughfare is now in very good condition, and although small patches on the road, which could be easily attended to, might cauce an annoyance to coach drivers, there is really no reason why the usual conveyances should not run over them as far as the roads are concerued. The only dread coach proprietors shoutd liftyc, would be .the winter months, and the letter written by the Thames Postmaster asserts that a few trifling repairs are only needed to place the road ju |* ouyditivy iit for through traffic,

Seeing the host of interests affected, it would seem only reasonable that something should be done by the bodies and persons interested nrkeeping open roads, the freedom o?er which is beneficial to the place.