1.—12.

184

[j. BOYD.

bigger and a breakwater constructed outside to give calm water inside. The principal difficulty is that of slips. For ten boats it would require £3,000 or £4,000 for slips, and if there was safety for these boats ten more boats would no doubt come, and that would mean an expenditure of another £3,000 or £4,000. To Mr. Graigie: It is really a Government work to provide the slips, and not a work for the local body. I cannot see any remedy except the slips. The breakwater would be a big job. The Engineer and Mr. Ayson came here and decided to recommend the slips. That is not long since, and I suppose the plans are now in Wellington. I think the ratepayers would be against raising a loan for any big works. The harbour is under the control of the County Council. To Mr. Sidey: The harbour has had £8,000 spent on it, principally in the building of a wharf.

WANGANUI. Wednesday, 9tii April, 1919. C. E. Mackay, Mayor of Wanganui, examined. The first necessity for the extension of commerce and industry is a plentiful supply of cheap power, and in consequence an early developnnent of hydro-electric power. I need not stress the point, because at various places where you have held your sittings the matter has been brought before you. Wanganui, however, feels the need as keenly as any other manufacturing centre in the Dominion. We trust that your findings will hasten the completion of the Mangahao scheme, and thus place us on an equal footing with the South Island as regards cheap and plentiful power. Cheap and efficient transport is one of the necessities of commerce. In the solution of its problems the motor-lorry is destined to play a most important part. Several of these are owned b3' Wanganui firms and ply far into the country, but the state of the roads is all against them. A poor road means heavy running-expenses and dearer freights, while in turn motor traffic over a poor surface means expensive road-maintenance and heavier rates. Thus the country customer is penalized both ways. The Government should recognize the position and insist on local bodies doing their duty in this respect. If necessary the main arterial roads should be taken over by the Government. The important influence of closer settlement on every branch of trade and commerce is such that no apology is needed to bring the matter before the Commission. Every transport returning to New Zealand is accentuating the position. Soldiers are anxious to get on the land, and in most cases it is cruelty to send them into the bush. In Wanganui we feel very keenly the apiparent apathy of the Government Land Purchasing Department, Practically no land has been bought in this district, although there is plenty of suitable land available and a large number of men here ready to go to it. I am glad to be able to say that the Patriotic Association is endeavouring to meet the difficulty by itself acquiring land for the purposes of soldier settlement. The question of workers' homes has been brought into special prominence since the influenza epidemic. In Wanganui we have erected several, but our operations have been hampered by the high prices of material. A valuable suggestion had been made by Councillor Sigley that by doing their own buying and building the municipalities would greatly decrease the cost of houses. Municipalities have wide powers in this direction. They can either erect dwellings and let them to tenants, or they can erect the dwellings and sell them on easy terms, or they can lend workers the necessary funds for building and allow them to repay on easy instalments. If the municipality erects houses and lets them at a low rent, there is a grave danger that the reduction would ultimately benefit not the worker, but the employer. In any case there is no inducement for the worker to take an interest in his home. I cannot help thinking that the preferable course is to give the worker a proprietory interest in his home and in the improvements he makes on it, The municipality has by law to charge the worker 5 per cent, on unpaid purchase-money or loans. But no borough can now get loans at 5 per cent. The Government should find the various boroughs funds for that purpose at '.\\ or 4 per cent. That means, of course, that the Government should subsidize any borough which recognizes its duty to improve housing conditions. Such improvement, wherever made, benefits the Dominion as a whole. To the Chairman: The borough would spread its repayment of instalments over, say, a period of twenty-five years—that is where the advantage would come in; not that the price would be much less, but the terms of repayment would be much easier. To Dr.. A. K. Newman: It is impossible to get houses in Wanganui just now. In the Avenue there is a big new building which consists of tenement houses. I know of one case where two families are sharing the same house. I have a letter here which the Town Clerk received yesterday which shows the difficulty of getting houses, and that is an instance of many. I think the Corporation could build houses much cheaper by day labour than by contract by large and careful buying. To Mr. Hornsby: There is no doubt that cheap electric power would enable us to extend our tramway system much farther than it is at present. To Mr. Pearce: At our last visit to Mangahao we were told that it would probably be completed in four years. We understand that Wanganui will be about the limit of the Mangahao scheme. In his report Mr. Parry refers to three schemes, each to be linked up and to supplement the other,