ALFREDTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3189, 26 April 1889, Page 2

ALFREDTON.

(Special Correspondent), April : We have had a ohango of weather here lately, and the water is a little more plentiful, consequently I will be able to procure sufficient ink to give you an inkling of how matters stand in this outlandish part of the country. There are so many different items,ofmterest',that;r6carcely;knQW.* whick;to;touch jipon jMt,'but a's.the 1 'blocking of thei rbad'by 'Mr" Phillips* seems to be the topio-which is v occupying the public mind; here mostat the ipresenttime; perhaps it will r be IP I thought that tlie .frß .hfti"pMw|' v :

when ''might 'was. right,' 1 When "•he should take who hid tho power, and he should keep who can;" but I find we have travelled back again to the dusky ages, or rather thore are :,_ some jtwongst us who would seem to i& think we had. But they have been <r'& little out of their reckoning. The worm has turned and proved itself not altogether harmless. From what I coil hear, the Eoad Board took • possession of Mr Phillips' land because they wanted a road; but instead of paying for what they took, or giving any recompcnso for loss or injury, his demands were met by the information that tho Board would do as they 'choso, and take what they pleased, whether he liked it or hot. The late decision of the Court at Masterton has proved tho contrary, and now Phillips, having got the squatters by the wool, is sticking to it properly/1 am told he has ploughed i»i" up the road, partly demolished a * bridge over the Te Hoeoreek, and ij nogitiating with a canny Scotchman, who is inclined to purchase the bridge, so as to have access to bis proporty. Not a bad speo for Scotty, but rather hard on the ratepayers, who will presently have both John Bull and Sawny to face. Tho rate- . flayers are waking up to a eonse of «he necessity for action. The Chairv .nan of the Board, I hear, has been requested to call a public meeting, to consider the unsatisfactory state of affairs, but has refused. Now a petition is being prepared, and numerously signed, calling upon him to do bo". It is a great pity that the matter was ever allowed to go so far as it has. At ono time, a matter of £BO or £4O would have settled it. Now, I see by the last meeting of the' Board they have had to pay over £6O, and if it is not sottlad very soon, the bridge which cost somewhere about £2OO will bo rendered useless, and before traffic can be resumed as formerly, another bridge will have to be erected at a cost of about £4OO. It is a great pity ' that the Road Boards cannot act like ' reasonable beings, and treat men as men,' and not because they are clothod in a littlo brief authority, think that no opposition should come " between the windand their bushels." They cannot expect that men are going to allow themselves to be Jjuietly fleeced, and this will open the 4ws of the public to the fact that Boad Boards cannot act just as they please. The whole thing is unpleasant and unprofitable. It is interfering greatly with the traffic, and Mr Bacon, who .has just commenced utilising the flax in the district, and would be tho means of giving employment to a good lew hands to the benefit of himself and the district, has his hands in a manner tied up. Air Bacon deserves great credit for his pluck, and I hope that he will mako a good thing out of bis venture, We had a big turn out at a picnic on Good Friday, but it would require a better pen than mine to do it justice, and the concert and ball was something that you read about and Very seldom see. We are now settling down again to our usual plodding, and will have to continue so for the next few months, - - Jsb&JGketahunii Koad having got its %rst coat of rrud for the winter. jfefl have had a'good many sports/ flßl through here frightening the pigeons. One party of five managed _ to get a couple of dozen in three days.