CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VI, Issue 1854, 2 December 1884, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

# (To the Editor) Sir—l wish through the medium of your valuable columns to make a few comments on the action initiated by Mr Hawkins and apparently endorsed by a majority of the settlers attendant at the Masterton and Tinui meetings. From the time I first entered political life 1 have never been an advocate qf indiscriminate railway extension, I baye ajways believed that road construction, if it did not precede, should at any rate be extended concurrently with the construction of trunk lines of railway to enable the settlement to be possible, that it is so much required to make our railways pay a remunerative rate of interest on the cost of construction. When the interests of the public service induced the Government during the session of 1882 to propose the raising of a loan of three millions; I and some. others holding similar views endeavored to induce the Government to appropriate a large sura for the purpose of opening up the.roads in the North Island'and in other parts of New Zealand where it 1b absolutely necessary that roadmaking should precede settlement, Unfortunately we were not ho successful as we wished. I and my friends were in a helpless minority. The majority of the jLegislature had evidently determined that a railway extension policy was best fitted to promote tbe interests of the colony. The following figures will shew the determination of the Legislature on tho subject : Schedule attached to the three miljiou Loan Act: £ Railways ... 1,650,000 Purchase of Natjye lands... 200,000 Public Buildings ... ' .., 3,00,00.0 Immigration ... .'.'. 2OO,(J0o Roads to open up Crown lands ... „, ~.. 20.0,000 Roads and bridges.., . „ } 00,00.0 Railway wharves and bridges north of Aucklaud . ... 100,000 Goldfields 100,000 Harbors ... 100,000 Telegraph extension ... 50,000

£3,000,000 In tbe allocation of the railway vote the share of the Wellington provincial district yaa £275,000, £200,000 being for $o ex.tensjpn of the " Wellingtonlew Plymouth via Wopdville extension from Jf asterton jin.e,'-' and £75,0,00, for " New Plymouth-Foxton line to. complete 195 miles." Npyr your readers ought to bear in mind th&t $ railway policy having been adopted by the Legislature, the question of proportionate expenditure becomes a very important factor in the distribution of, funds available for the purpose. During the session of 1880 a return was" laid pn the table of the House which set forth " the contribution to revenue (exclusive of land sales) of each pro vineial - district during the financial i year 1880-81, also the proportion of 1 loan expenditure to which each district would be entitled on the basis of such revenue as compared with the actual I

expenditure in each district." These are the results :

: ' Auckland-Population, .98,r55;;..:rc? venue,\ entitled' td loan" exfjehditure.in proportion'itftfrevenue'-'i £2^73Q,4db ; actual . . : expendjtur.e > , i2j68^900; 'uhUer tbe j proportion,' £49isoa -. -.-; ;";?.;

• Wellington— revenue;,. f292,4e,3 ! V entitled : to: £1,880,740 ; actual expenditure, £2,620,510; in excess of proportion, I #39,770. | v . Following-out the above" system of. return;— Canterbury had received" '%t74,689,-and Otago £51,658, less than their proportion. Westland £366,654, Hawke's Bay £184,055, %anaki -£213,7-72,. Nelson £87,980, more than their du^proportion.

'■■ '- Prom a colonial point of view it is no-doubt; unwise, tind in, the case of' .some of tire provincial districts, it is. these.figures should be taken into .consideration, before, the question of whether, or not the works proposed to be undertaken'are likely to prove reproductive, and -generally in the interests of the colony as a whole. The Canterbury railways, owing toithe;: natural configuration of the province,. are inexpensive to construct, while ours have been entirely the teyerse, Parliament includes among its members a number of. men of intensely selfish views, who bring with them their local jealousies and antipathies, each of them endeavoring to get as much as possible for tbeir own district out of the general purse, Your readers raust see that with these figures before the Parliament, that the Wellington representatives have failed in very many cases to get even fair consideration for the just requirements of their electorates, Canterbury for instance, being comparatively, little in want of roads, objects to a general road policy, The opposition of the Canterbury Members to " The Roads and Bridges Construction Act" proves-this, By them the measure was always considered an Act' for the benefit of the North Island. Perhaps I may be deemed diffuse in alluding at such length to these questions., but in my opinion they bear materially on the points at issue. In .1879, although considerable sunis had been spent in plant and on construction of works on the Wellington to Foxton line, the Government determined to abandon the works and to continue the trunk line through Mastertpn to Woodville. Appropriations were passed for continuing the work, between Wellington and Masterton, Further expenditure on this route would not.havp then been approved, had it not bean for the purpose of extending the main trunk line towards Woodville and Napier, If, when the proposal to vote £200,000 was before the House in 1882,1 had proposed to divert the sum for road making purposes, every other district requiring roads would through their representatives have clamoured for their share, and Wellington, much as she needs assistance for such purposes, would have received but a small proportion, even if the Legislature had agreed to the diversion, The Wellington district did get its fair proportion of the money allocated for roau purposes. Now, I must ask your readers to note the wording of "The N.Z. Loan Act, 1882," Clause 15:-" The moneys received under the authority, hereintofore contained, shall be applied to the purposes mentioned in this Act, and the schedules to this Aot * # * and to no other purposes whatsoever, and as to the purposes mentioned in the said schedule, shall be issued and applied in sums not exceeding the amounts in the said schedule, respectively provided," All this, of course, subject' to the annijal appropriations of Parliament, The deputation that wailed on Mr Richardson seemed to assume that he could himself divert the money from one purpose to another. This course was impossible. The original allocation of the loan as far as our proportion is concerned, was for a railway from Wellington to New Plymouth, via Woodville. A|l Mr Richardson could have done would have been to have determined the contrapts now in existence north of Masterton, paying possibly a heavy compensation to the contractors, He could then have expended tho money 8o realised on the Buimythorpe or Pallia-, tua end of tbe section of railway ' towards the Gorge and Woodville, 1 fc therefore should be understood that any aotion ' undertaken during this financial ye»r by determining ..the. existing cohtraots, would have accomplished no good for the distriot roads. Undoubtedly the Manawatu Railway Company would have been benefitod very materially by such a diversion, Bujitbe Masterton settlers that I am informod we ?Q much in favor of- the. suspension of the works, wou)d they have been prepared to see the money that is now being circulated through their hands suddenly directed to Bunnythorpe orPalmerston without the. possibility of the money being expended on road works throughout the County until the sanction of Parliament could be obtained, I have nover ceased to urge to the utmost of my ability the necessity for opening up the country by jroads, not only in the Wairarapa but in ajl other' districts similarly situated. But at this juncture I cannot deem it my diity to injure the settlers of tho Forty?Milo Bush without having a chance even of benefiting their neighbors to the eastward.. While on this point 1 wish to draw attention to Resolution No. 3 passed at the Tinui meeting, which is as follows:—" That this meeting protest against the action of the Waste Lands Board in stating that the lands now open for sale are in the vicinity of the Trunk Line of railway, as such statement is misleading to intending purchasers, for in no sense can tb,e line from Masterton to Woodyil|e be considered a main line, and that such statement js at variance with the feelings of the meetings Jjejd at Masterton and here, at whicj) resolutions have been passed praying the Government,to discontinue the railway north through the Forty-Mile Bush." I am compelled from my knowledge of the whole circumstances to differ with the'Tinui meeting on the points raised in this resolution. I would ask them where js there anything to show that the line is not to be gradually extended although some considerable time may take place before a junction is effected, and if effected why.should not the

railway arrive at the-'distinction of being called a main line? It must be •remembered .that no-stepahave been taken'by the legislature" to 'remove from the Sdheddeiiftte-AppWpriatioriL: Act the deeigbalioh so Idiig, in usd to indicate the line in question; and until Parliament approves of the action;,of the public meetings,'-(howover unanimous,) the resolutions do not alter the position or determine, whether or" not,the construction shall.' stop ; short at any, point between. Mas- . terton , and ..WoodviM: No one will work' more readily' than I to induce the Government to recognise our difficulties re road making in the . eastern district. .In- this respect I believe that the Cdunty Courciland the Waste Lands Board can accomplish • good'wort if it is. possible to work together, and by joint action arrange a comprehensive plan and schedule.of the roads necessaryior the settlement of the Country.' The Waste lands Board are commencing to construct their scheme, and I am sure would be glad to. .co-operate with the County Council in bringing; before: the Government-, the facts that would ensure the attention and monetary assistance required from the Legislature. Joint action of this ;nature rcight, I<hope,- bear fruit, next session. In introducing the two. deputations to the Minister of Public Works I have endeavored in each instance to place the facts; fairly before him. Knowing, probably, more of Crown Lands available .than perhaps any other man in the County, I have' felt myself in a position to do this. I regret very much that I am unable to leave Wellington at present, but at the earliest opportunity it is my intention to call a meeting of ray constituents at Masterton to explain my course of action during the last session of Parliament. I shall then bring up this railway question and ask for an expression of opinion on the point at issue. It is my intention also to visit my constituents in the out districts as soon as possible, when I shall be glad to discuss these questions with them. I cannot see that the end Mr Hawkins and those that ace wording with him have.in view can be gained. I notice at the meeting Mr Hawkins after some remarks about the institution of the Waste Lauds Board, went on to say " That Mr Rolleston, the champion of the leasehold ground, a pronounced opponent of large properties, gave 150,000 acres ot excelleut. land ui the Wellington province to a private.com-. pany as a gift, This land was valued at £500,000." Now Mr Hawkins can only be alluding to the land allocated to the Manawatii Railway Co. The agreement with the Company was arranged by Sir John Hall, The land 210,000aores is only valued by the Company at L 96,570, and tho land itself has to be sold as the works progress, subject to stringent conditions that assimilate very nearly to the regulating of our Waste Lands Board. The Company attained other advantages, not from Mr Rolleston, but they have a great colonising work on hand, and deserve consideration. Again, Mr Hawkins appears to take for granted statements that he should have verified before using them against a public man, If Mr Hawkins was alluding to the Taitapu Block near Nelson as one of Mr Rolleston's misdeeds he is entirely mistaken in connecting' either Mr/ Rolleston or Mr Bryce wiffi the trans' action. This land, 86,000 acres, was purchased by a Syndicate, of which I was one, on the representations of a Nelson settler, who was anxious that the land should pass into, EmVpean hands in the interests of: settlement and the developement of its mineral resources. The' land changed' hands by a direct sale from natives who had been long anxious to dispose of their interest, in the usual manner,.without any reference to the Governn'ient whatever, No one connected with the purchase need fear the closest scrutiny into the transaction. lam afraid, Sir, my letter has grown to an almost unwarrantable length, but I am sine that yqu would wish that yonr readers should know that there are two aides to every question.

I am, &c, George Bbethah.