DEPUTATION TO WELLINGTON

Te Puke Times, Volume II, Issue II, 22 July 1913, Page 3

DEPUTATION TO WELLINGTON

;• ■' j— '-+-7-7— The very inclement weather experienced on Saturday last was responsible for a comparatively 1 ' sparse attendance .at the meeting , < convened by the Chamber of I Commerce to receive the report of the deputation (Messrs Bennet and Gill), which recently proceeded to Wellington to interview Ministers upon various matters affecting the district. ,Mr J. Roberts (President) occupied the chair. After a brief discussion it was decided that the report be read in committee, the meeting afterwards to decide as to whether it was advisable at 5 that juncture to hand it to the • press for publication. The heavy • > rain had precluded Mr Gill from attending, and Mr Bennett was 'called upon ,to place the report before the meeting, which he did . as follows ■vg: REPORT * ' ;;We have the honor to furnish .• you with a report of our mission to Wellington as your delegates. We left Te Puke on Thursday; , July 10,1913, and caught the ex- ■ press to Wellington on July 11, : and returned on Friday, July 18, ■ 1 En route we heard that the Hon. v- •; Fraser, 1 Minister for Public .•; Works,' was travelling by the ' same train to Wellington, and he kmdly allowed us an interview ;; In his private carriage. : v The first matter we brought before him was the need for a . permanent wharf at the' Mount. In reply to this, the Minister ' 1 said he could not promise a permanent; wharf at present, but 1 , would see that provision was made for enlarging and strengthI • ening the present structure so as x ; to- deal wth . all necessary * k traffic for the next few years, ; • and it would then be seen what '' ..tforks of a permanent nature .would be required.' He considered' that the. Port of Tauranga would ? nave to deal with . the Avhole and had been in-. ■ ' formed, th at the Mount was' not - suitable on account of' the diffir " cuity of shipping at that place. We did; our best to refute this, ' \ ancl cohsider' that expert opinion -should be-taken on the matter. We subsequently interviewed Mr R. McKenzie, M.P. on this poin t, <■ > who was the Minister of Public "i* Works r ; ; at' the present. v line was started, and he informed >V;'US/that the Mount was the. place, 1 ari'd;it -was-after careful consider-. ■ ' ation that the last.Government decided to start from that puit. The next subject dealt with •was the extension of the line to Oootiki, and; immediately to Matata.. The Minister was in ' • accord with us, and he will do ' his best to carry out the wishes • ; of vthe coast east of Tauranga. . In. reply to our statement that - . Matata settlers would by the , Government dredging the Rangi- ' ', Hiiki swamp, taking 1 the river into . - the:ocean.before reaching Mata- :' ta, materially depreciate their * • port, M'was of. opinion that as '-'they still had the tide coming ir., . it might not be as bad as it was : thought, but still he would do •. . * ;his best to get the railway, to V them as soon as possible.' ' v The next matter taken was the ■; '• -urgent need of a courthouse' at T6 Puke. He referred us to the '. r Hon. Mr Herdman, Minister of Justice. .We subsequently interviewed this Minister, who promised to go into the matter, and if . -.•.•.possible do what was wanted, i v v The Hon. W. Herries' also prom- > -vised to co-operate with him. The !r 'v.'next-matter was the straightent' /.-ening of the Pongakawa river. •: -The Minister was pleased that we • had brought this matter under . his notice, as it might be ad vis- , able to undertake this work { ' prior to , putting the railway /bridge over it, and he promised -• to communicate with the Lands ■ Department in the matter, ■ With regard to a request that ?; - a piece of land be set aside for '.. : the purposes of a road- in order .. to obviate traffic to Paengaroa . having to cross the railway line twice, the Minister replied that ' • the land would be set aside as (Jesired, so that' the local body > concerned\could form a.'road ..when required. . .. " Nq. son our list was the line . • - into the quarry reserve at Te '. • Puke, we requested him to make ( ,tfiis a permanent one, as the | local bodies would require metal 1 for roads in the future. He . j I promised to set this down, and j that the department would fav- " \ orably consider any requests local \ bodies might make later for a ; supply of metal. 'f J ''.Our next interview was with ■ • ! tHe;Hon, W.' Massey, Premier, I' ' ™and was of a semi-private nature. He'kindly, invited us to his private'residence on Sunday afternoon. We endeavored to place various matters before him

in an impartial manner, and he promised that In would at the first opportunity visit the district and make himself acquainted with its requirements.

Our next interview 'was with the Hon. Herries, Minister for Railways and Native Affairs. The first- matter that we brought before him was the need of a permanent wharf at the Mount. Mr Herries considered what the Minister of Public Works had said, that he would see that we had proper facilities for shipping our produce from that port. The next subject was the extension of the line to Opotiki and immediately to Matata. He promised to give this his support, and> asked us "What about the Auckland connection ?" We informed him that we had not been sent down to advocate that line at present, but recognised that in the future it would be necessary to link up the railway with Auckland, but on account of the scarcity of money for public works it would be advisable to t extend the line towards Opotiki with all the money available, with the object of making the line pay, and establish freezing works in the vicinity of Tauranga, which would be a benefit to the whole district, and if any money was spent on the Waihi-Tauranga railway to get the line extended from Waihi toAtnenree, thus bringing the Katikati people in direct touch with Auckland, and linking up by water service with the coastal line. .

He said this was a new aspect of affairs to him, and that he woukj give the matter his earnest attention. He also quite saw the advantage it would be to Tauranga if connection could, be made with the Waikato via the Kaimai or some other practical route, in drawing stock for the proposed freezing .works. We also requested him to purchase all Native lands possible in advance of the construction of railways. In reply the Minister stated tliat he was prepared to purchase all native lands available, and asked us to send him particulars of any such blocks. The next Minister interviewed was the Hon. Mr Allen; Minister of Defence and Financ'e. This was in reference to the orderly room at Te Puke, as we wished to have this handed-over to the Te Puke Town Board for a public site, . ' He informed us that the Government had already made it Crown property, but that the Act provided for it to be under the control of a local committee, and suggested that we arrange with the Area Officer to have this done, and to give him the names of the gentlemen (say three) who are to control same, and he will do his best to scarry out our wishes. The next Minister interviewed was the Hon, Mr Rhodes, Minister for Health. This was in reference to getting a subsidy for our local doctor on boholf of natives, We explained to him that we previously had a subsidy but it had been taken to Tauranga by a former doctor when he "went to reside there. The Minister promised to go into the matter and see what could be done.

The following matters have boon with the member for, Bay of Plenty to arrange for Post Office at Paengaroa, Papamoa No. 2 School grant,' Mr W. Brady's railway crossing. In conclusion, we beg to place on record our appreciation of the courtesy shown us by the various ministers interviewed, also to Mr W. D. S, Macdonald, member for the Bay of Plenty, who made all arrangements for us and did his utmost on our behalf, He has promised to look after the various requests whilst he is in Wellington, and we feel sure that we are leaving them in good hands, Yours faithfully, W. A. Bennett, H. J, Gill. After hearing the report, which was the subject of very favorable comment from those present, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Messrs Bennett and Gill for the trouble they had gone to, and it was deeded that on the latter appending his signature to the document, it be handed to the pra." for publication.