vbjlkj;i TE WEJRAITE PtOAD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3852, 8 July 1891, Page 3

vbjlkj;i

TE WEJRAITE PtOAD.

(Tp the Editor) Sik,—-Mj'-Jittention has been dmwi to Mr Wm. iteethara's ' few remarks it the late ]fioad Board meeting fron svhich I wa£ unavoidably absent. ] iiave no limitation in characterising [lis ' remarks ' as misleading and i nisrepresfjutation of facts wkethei ntemionaltor unintentional, and arc wry to see\a man in his position releatedly the Road Board aw which distinctly says : " No Road lioard niembev shall vote or discuss my subject before the Board in whicb le or his partners have any interest

ither than interest-ifi-sominon, under lenalty of £SO and the~fe§§ofhis ■eni," and so misusing his positiDft,as o have recourse to so many unfair actics at my expense knowing full veil as he does that the carrying ol ris project simply means enormous ixpense to me if not the complete loss )f my property. On public as weli as n-ivate grounds I feei bound to m.ike ii strong protest against any uuderranded schemes. Who has apphed o the Board asking for the road hrough Te Weraite ? 1 assert that

here is not yet a single application or it before the Board, other than he verbal assertion of Mr Wrn, 3eQtham, the chairman. Surely the 3oard does not usually entertain and liscuss such important matters withmt written application, due notice, ir in the absence of the warden reiresentiug the ward chiefly interested, object to the manner of obtaining ly a catch vote at the tail end of a neeting a resolution to take a road hrough my property without notice, ,nd when there was only a bare [uorutn of members present, and hose the younger ones, Mr Dagg, the xperienced member lor the Ward,

,nd another being absent. The new nembers both told me that they were iuite ignorant that Mr Beetham's esolution in any way affecied njy merest, one being under the imiression that Mr Beetham's resolution oferred to the road "from Chalmers o the Coast," and the other the " Te Yhiti-road" which he himself hi-lpcd o lay off when on the staff of the 3oard, and which was very pardonble, as my name was never once nentioned in connection with the esolution throughout the whole of a ery rambling speech. This was in )ecember last. Shortly after this Ir Beetham, without the knowledge f a single member of the Board, lstructod the clerk to apply to Mr Jarchant for a governor's warrant 3 take and legalise the road through Veraiii. All this the wardens imlediaiely nullified by Ciilliti<?a special meeting to review the question, ml aftpr considerable trouble jointly isited the proposed lines and

lso carefully studying the engineer's sports, plans, and estimates, which liey had specially ordered to enable liem to have all necessary data to uide them, were unanimous, with the xception of the chairman, in adoptig Bennett's line out to die County aad as the best in the interests of the itcpayers, being cheaper both to lake and permanently maintain, and iiortest, bein« about two miles long liroagh mostly level, unimproved ush land, with a compnraLively short

ise of a grade of lin 2C or 1 in 40 * deemed desirable, with plenty of ard rock metalling. This as against J miles through Weraite to the Jounty Bond, of which over two ailes is winding steep hillside catting f a grade of 1 in 15 with possibly hree or four bridges according to oute taken, and would moreover now o enormous damage to the many ighly improved wire netted feuced addocks, throughout its whole course arefully estimated by my manager nd others at not less than one housand pounds in fencing and emodelling the paddocks. Knowing uese things, and that all this trouble light have been avoided had M essrs Jeetham applied for the road some ears before, Mr Beetham is facetiusly pleased to say Dr Hosking has no ight to complain! Mr Beetham's inense egotism preventing him perceivtig that his judgment might be at fault irofeased to be startled and surprised /hen he saw the ether four wardens, ried and experit need men, " in whom

le bad every confidence," voting for nd adopting Bennett's line. What jols he must have thought them ! rhere cannot De the slightest doubt 11 any well balanced mind, but that hey decided honestly and well, vithout bias or persuasion, in the titerests of all concerned. Mr Beeham said " his self respect would not Jlow Dr Hosking to purchase a road or him." What does he mean by his ? He admits then that the road s for him, in spite of his repeated lenials ! Mr Beetham, however, be t noted, does not at the same time ,t all object to put me to more than louble the expense and permanent njury through my own place. Mr 3eetham is pleased to remark that I mght to have known that the road vould have been required, etc. My mswer is that if it be required, it ihould go where I affirm, and the nost experienced wardens have inanimously voted it should go, and jut for his selfishness would have jeen taken long ago in the public nterest, so that other people could iave had a chance of getting ,he land as well as his firm only. Mr Beetham is pleased to credit Dr dosking and die member for Master,on with the removal of the legalising surveyor from the district. The mem. )er for Masterton had nothing to do ivith it. The Government found suffi-. stent reason to know that the decent 'ellow was being fraternisod with considerably, and promptly removed him :rom the district. The interest taken in ;his young man by Messrs Wardelland Beetham, both Road Board members, iva3, to use Mr Beetham's words, •'startling and surprising," considering be was armed with powers to judge and report on the merits of the rival roads on behalf of the Government. It is now more than eleven years since the certificate of title was granted for Weraiie, and the liability for roads has existed for that time, (ouly ten years is now required to mature grant of Native Lands, and live for Crown Lands), and had the Beethams or Road Board applied for the road, as thej should have doue before all my extensive improvements were effected, (and of which the Beethams were fully cognisant, knowing as they also did for more than twenty years thai they intended to take the road in my direc tion), no possible objection woulc have been offered, and it would bav< been deemed a neighborly and straight forward action, and fully appreciutec as such. That ihey have i}qt dam: this is toy grievance, and in explaiu in" this Mr Beetham says I have beei abusing him. Will Mr Beethuu deny tint his firm have lately acquire* all the remaining blocks of land on th opposite bank of the Taueru, nnd tha their proposed road through my pro 1 perty would greatly enhance the valu of these late acquisitions? Had thi I road been laid off betore so that th

not much of this have private lnnds, or would petition for it Lave greatly increasM their difficulty in acquiring it? It seems an injustice that I should now suffer pecuniary loss, seeing that a better and cheaper line has been offered theni free of cost ! It may be •juite true and business like, as Mr Beethnm says he did not feel called upon to tell me about the roads, but I think he should now be taught the Golden Rule and that be cannot now be allowed to play ducks and drakes with struggling settlers at his own sweet will. Property owners have duties as well as rights. Mr Beetham mentioned that there were several small farm sections on the othpr bank of the Taueru requiring a rond, but be was careful not (o explain that every acre df-tbem had recently been absorbed

into Ifegreat run of 55,000, and that ii ts notuntil this has been accomplished that shsove has in my direction. e of the above facts Mr?"Beetham dares

to incur the ridicule and derision of his fellow wardens and the public generally, by talking such insincere rubbisi as "It is in the interest of every settler so see 10U families on small farms where there was now only one! Query. Is not this a lapsus ? Do'-s he not mean sheep ? Or has he visions of the new Government Land Tax before him ? It would have been impossible for Mr. Beetham to have carried his motion to rescind Bennett's line without the vote of Mr. T M. Brown, hotelkeeper, Taueru. Of course ho was surb of Mr. T. W. Wardell's vote. In the list of roads given by Mr. Beethim in

his "remarks" the wardens noticed that Mr Wardell's road requiring to be legalised was the only one omitted. Can Mr Beethaui explain why this was done ? It is evident that Mr Beetham's influence, position and arguments were more powerfal than mine in moving Mr Brown, who, from

being a warm seconder of Mr Dagg's motion affirming the adoption of Bennett's line in the interests of the ratepayers, became suddenly a rabid supporter of the desirability to take the line throujrh Weraite at all costs,

"even if it were not required for fifty years !" This change of front was stavtlingly instructive, for wheu only a fortnight before I visited him at the Taueru, he, with warm protestations and final hand shaking?, in the presence of a witness, assured me that "he had told Wm. Beetham that he was of opiuion that neither road was required," and that at Mr Bennett's request he would help to rescind Bennett's line ; and could be depended upon to vote straight with warden McKenzie if he moved a resolution that it was not desirable that a road should be taken through Weraiti ! Comment is needless ! How

much he went out of his way to prove and protest too much at the Board table that he was worthy of the trust imposed in \Am, his brother wardens and others can testify and have. Whether I am to be crushed under the wheels of the " Beethamite Juggernaut," the chariot of broad acres and [anded influence, or whether the pagoda of idolatry to position or rather " assumption " will come tumbling down yet remains to be seen. I am, &0., W. H. Hoskixg.