COUNTY AMALGAMATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 865, 5 September 1881, Page 2

COUNTY AMALGAMATION.

[To the Editor of the Waihabapa Daiit,] ! There is only one point in Mr J. V, Smith's letter which talis for a reply from

me. - >'"• He says to me in effect, with a oheerfuj' Philistinism, " Of ciurie youhaye a sel-. fish object, And I have been trying.to findj i out what it is ; I have discovered it; you;! and Mr Bpnpy (laying propertied on the' J Western jßpundary of jho County jJajf. ' desir? fpqe accesf tq the jnjand centre qnf{ cars nothing ab.oujt tea poaal interests: all yo.ur talk is meresen'timent and say I wi'tji j: §ir Peter Teazle' I)--p your sentiment, 1 ' shew me what I atji going to get by yodp pfonqiali, s Well, Sir, J do not pretepd to. ba moro virtuous or less selfish than my rieighoori, but y o t) fnuch ai I object to intrude my 'personal into : public qu4stiopij I pit take up'tlw cJiallepße, 1 and show how far Mr Bmitn'a sujgpition has any basis, and whether)he |last"pOMf runs have atiy interest diffilritig from my own. 1 "

f" l tyJM placp my ppg njms of access to Ipsterton apa the railway n"r® entirely independent of the roacls from the East Coast, and in common witli other sutlers, lji. this d'lsjrjot,;' J am actiy j'Wfl f» injfWtj jyhipt) fcjippg will .«joupe.Jo jfsan iproyi;pn«:of'cop|. inanimation; on these' arrangements thq pifln of the' tyo poiintjcs lias jio'tj.por gaji h?yp ip tpy jijdeipit any Wring wjiatevpf. '

Jn rpppt pf that pfirt of the property which abuts on the Mungapaftelw rofid, J have an interest in the maintenance of that road, and I am glad of it, not that it cum nitj piay any w wu * that it is enough to justify my claim to a voice among East Coast settlers,,in' tht ouestlpji of opening up thijt road, ' TJie qu&tibii is Wfiofrover, whether lam selfish, ! biit',' wfieth'er'tjie 'aotllttts' i'ji the Whhreamn', and Tiraumoa, "and the people of Tenui, are, or are not interested in getting such a good well-formed and well-metalled road to Masterton, as shall enable them alike in winter and summer, and in spite of wet weather to get themselves and their produce to Mastertoi) and the railway. 'I tjjink that they are deeply interested, and I think th'at-on l 'this depends' development of the great resources of i naturally very rieh district, -and its ulti< mate prosperity; that I a'm not alone in this opinion, I have satiafiad myself by personal intercourse with some of the settlers in 'th6 flidtritt. 1 ■ ■ The present' policy of t)ie Qastlepejnl • Highway Board ik totoab i-nod the High road from Tehui to'pastlepoint', and ! doubt' not tjiey have t|ie approval of the majority pf the setters i)bqut j ' hajl a lpaf is better thai] np bVead|"'{in4 thp access to Optlspoint is possible, whil® the a«ess to Mastprton seems hopeless i' yet, I very much fear that by' accepting the_half loaf they are seriously postponing their prnspecti of the far greater benefit : - of direct access to the capital. The access' to Castlepoint leads them no whither; it is a temporary relief from their embarrassmentj; but, when they have it complete, they will find how far.it. falls short of what is necessary, and they will have to fighp foj thsr land roetj td the Hort pf W.eV lington. ' " " ' : "• "■ '■

I think {hat under existing lcpal (Joyernment arrangements there is little hope of such work as tljiß bpjng done, I belie*# that the oondition of these Districts ii only a sample of the oondition of others ■: in County East and I believe that the ' union of the Counties would be & very important step in the direction of its alteration and this is one of the reasons for which I advocate the Union.

Mi Smith thinks that I indulge in "sentiment" ; I do occasionally, and if he iraded through that (pud vfith ro9 for about fjfteen miles' in the" Whsfeaiii#' which ii'termed i''roid lili' woiild haW heard some sentiments pretty forcibly ei« pressed; what astonished me is Mr j. f, Smith i apparent satisfaction with tile present disgraceful it|te of affairs,' JJi'Smith js wjtfy on npjders, Icanpot but think that he hiaself new trareljt that windjng rjver of mud, or that if ftp does he. has the qualities of that large brown handionio spider, that dives Into the mud and riappears bright and un. itemed as before he plunged beneath the the flline; certainly whin I arrive in Mai. terton splashed, bedaubed from head to foot with Taueru mud, it is pleasant and refreshing to meet my friend Mr Smith in all that glory of spotless linen, wellbrushed broad cloth and polished boots that makes him so notable a figure in the streets of the small metropolis of the Wairaripa,

I am yours #O., '"s■ $• Hawk™. BowUnds fjO Apgust; 188].. •