ROADS AND THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 75, 29 March 1913, Page 4

ROADS AND THE LAND.

We hope mat the Hon. W. Eraser's experiences in the Northern Peninsula have convinced him. lirstly. that there is a large amount of good land tit for settlement in this part of New Zealand: secondly, that it is practically useless, unlesß and until it is made accessible Ivy roads and railway.-. It is ;l great ad var.-l.vire to any district >i> situated Hint the Minister for Public Works should investigate personally i he conditions of settlement there; and we have no doubt tb.it Mr. Eraser has been agreeably impressed by jll h.- nuv. An to the requests for i iovermnent grants nnd subsidies, to be used in opening up the country, the !Mini«ter was naturally disinclined to i-0.-nniil blm*elf; but it :< consoling to learn from him that lie re.rards roads us even mon- necessary than railway* in this pirt of the country. Certainly, if Mr. Frn-cv wauls to economise out of the railway programme in favour of the roads, he can Und ample scope in the South lo do so. But, no matter what is done tv open up the land in this way. it cannot be

too oPten repeated that uo perman ent good will result, so fur as tin

i ijreat cause cf settlement is concerned, iinlpfis effective steps are taken by Gov- | ernmeni. to prevent the land from being I monopolvcd by a few fortunate individual*. On every side throughout, the Dominion evidence as available to prove that ijre work of accumulation and aggregation is frohisr stoadily on. Wo observe that Mr (litlhric. 'M.l\ for Orona. has publicly declared that so far as he knows, there ii? no iggregmtion in his district. Tho "Mniig-i.weka Settler." which has recently published Rome intcresiting information on thy point, chal longcs this slitr-mcm. and asserts thai there is positive proof that this process is in ncCve operation along the Main Trunk line. The Liens and figures that we have reeeiHly quoted from the "New Zealand Times" and the "Evening Post " certainly seem to confirm this view, an!. in our opinion, the whole question is so inrportanl that it is high time Government, took Rome defin ; te steps, to find out what the situation really is in regard to the reaggregation cf land. A Depart mental Inquiry would be sufficient if properly conducted, to eflVvt ibis purpose. Hut some step of th : s sort should be taken at ouee, nnd thrs proposal should meet with general support irrespective of party preiudiccß. For Reformers nnd Liberals, however else they differ, a<rree on thY point, that the settlement of the Li ml should be the chief object of ihe S;.at.e's care here; and it is manifestly absurd and futile to talk -nlwut promoting snttlemertt, or opening up the counirv if. as far as it U rendered accessible or nvailalb'e for oullivntion. it is swallowed up by speculators or aTeorbed info lar a e' holdings which are effectually looked up for the enriohm?nt of their owners, while hindering the development of the whole country.

rollowinc is Mr D. C. Bates' weather forecast for 2+ hours from nine a.m this day: "The indications are for westerly strong winds, itieronsino- to uule. nnd veering by \Y. to S. after 'about 10 hours. The weather will probably prove squally, with henyv showers, anil will prohnbh- become colder. Bnrometor falling, but rising after about in hours Pens roujrii off sdiore. Tides moderate." The stopping of the second express on the Main Trunk line to Welliusrtan has resulted in indignation at To Awamutu, with the result that a letter has been forwarded to the itcWand Chamber ot Commerce, ofieri;,. to co-operate with that body in any effort; made to secure the continuance of that train. The letter states that the set ond express bus been most beneficial to the inland districts, and its withdrawal wjlj be a serious matter to the _ !_„__

No matter what safeguards arc taken [there appears to be a wav of getting : round them. This appears to be particularly the case in respect to the Government land ballots. The new regulations requiring that an applicant who lias boe'n twice unsuccessful shall have preference on a third occasion seems a j very reasonable one, yet it has this l drawback, that people may apply for I sections they don't want, and if successi fill, they need not take them up. On j tlie other hand, if they fail on Lhe two , occasions, they can then rank as preference applicants for the section they | really wish to secure. At the ballot I yesterday, there were at least two instances where the successful applicants ■were not present or represented in the | room, and the section was awarded to the next on the list.

••There were three land baHotn yesterday." said the Prime Minister (the Hon. W ■ F. Massey ). speaking to a Wellington reporter, "one in Auckland and others in Southland and Ofcago. The Auckland ballot was rushed, but in the case of neither Southland nor Otago have the whole of the sections .been taken up. though the oommi_ioner reporbs that ail will he ta,ken in a short time." The Prime •Minister added that there .was still some frown land in Canterbury for election. lii the oases mentioned (Southland and Otsgol liiere were more sections offering I nan applicants. "It looks a* if we are beginning to overtake the demand" observe I Mr Massev.

I for several years past the City Coun- | cil has been trying to find a suitable site ■ near the foot of Queen Street whereupon Ito erect a public convenience. The selection ultimately fell on a site imme- . diatel.v in front of the Government : buildings in Customs Street, and ercavuI tion work is now in progress. The Government authorities have protested without avail against the action of the :<Y>uneil, and this morning the foil-owing i letter was sent by the secretary of the , Auckland branch of the New Zealand ; Institute of Architects to the Mayor: — j " 1 have the honour to inform you that ;at a (special meeting of the Auck- . land branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects it was unanimously resolved as follows: 'That thi3 Institute respectfully and vigorously protests against the placing of a public ; convenience in Customs Street, in the ' position contemplated by the Council, ; viz., immediately in front of the Government Buildings, and adjacent to the train terminus,' and the hope was ex- | pressed that by bringing the matter bej fore you another site would be selected."

| 'Ilie new Dennis pump, recently added jto the city's fire-fighting pliant, was I given its initial trial this morning, when i the brigade's first warning of a big tire jwns the sight of Endean's buildings in I Sanies. 'ITie now pump is mounted on a ; motor, and was quickly at the scene of | the outbreak. It was run on the Quay Street frontage of the harbour, and salt water was immediately pumped from the sea -in to the top storey of the building at tiie rate of 800 gallons per minute. 'I he same engine which drives the motor from the station to tho scene of the fire likewise works Hie pump, and it draws up enough water to keep three leads of hose going at full pressure. "It made the ordinary hose look like a • liild'.- plaything," said Superintend-cnt Woolley, in expressing his pleasure to a. "Star reporter at the success achieved in the use of the pump. Where a supply of sen water is available, as was the ease this morning, the advantage is very great indeed, since tho pressure is not then reduced so far as the other hoses are concerned. When a fire takes place away from the water front, the mains hive to be drawn upon, and the water is sucked by the pump from canvas dam-. This valuable addition to the city's tire lighting plant was acquired at a cost of C 1100. Sir Joseph Ward gave his opinion on women to the members and guests of the Imperial Industries Club assembled in London on February 22, at a dinner in the Criterion Restaurant. He did so in desponse to the request of the chairman to submit tho toast of "Tlie Ladies." " I come from a country where women have equal rights in the'adjustment and settlement of the laws of the country," sul.l Sir Joseph Ward. He had seen women discharge duties, some of which wove quite unknown in this country. In New Zealand women were admitted to the Bar. Their clientele appeared to be in every instance men and not women, and the number of oases they succeeded in winning showed their ability to influence judge and juries. Sir Joseph said he did-not believe that women were inferior to men.

j " Wars-hip week " in Auckland will come at the,same time as the Chapman- • Alexander nAsion, and it was feared i that there would he some inconvenience I because of the fact that the Mission I Committee had engaged the Town Hall i for the whole of the time that the battleship is to be in port. Lost evenI ing the Mayor, accompanied by members jof the City Council and the Citizens' Re ! ception Committee waited upon the i 'Mission Committee with a request that j they should relinquish the Town Hall I during the week of festivities. Tlie Rev. IM. Turner, who has just returned from | the South, stated that in discussing ffie j matter Dr. Chapman had said that he i wished to have no cause for feeling, and j was quite agreeable to relinquishing the I Town Hall if other suitable arrange- | merits could be made. The eommitfeo decided unanimously to agree to the request of the deputation, and to give up the Town Hall premises from April 20 until 2 p.m. on May 2. The Mayor, in mentioninir the matter this morning, slid that the City Council and the Roeciitici (ommittne appreciated' very much' the public-spirited action of the Chapman Alexander mission in giving up its occupancy of the Hall during the week that the citiM-ns wanted to entertain the officers and crew of the warship. Aueklanders, added the Mayor. should give the missioners their best wishes for success as a return for their consideration in this mutter.

Tlie Wniwera Hot Springs Hotel, with iO acres o-f adjoining land.\va-s sold yesterday nt a largely-attended auction ■sale al the rooms of Mr. Louis Lewis. The purchaser was 'Mr. Wenzl Scholium. i*f Puhoi. and the price paid was .€3.300 wilh a provision for the stock nnd furniture to be taken at valuation. A block of 100 nores of unimproved land in the Wniwera district was also sold at 14/U per acre. A man named Thomas William MeKay was arrested on the steamer Aorangl at Y\ ollingfon last evening, just before s-he sailed for San Francisco, on a eharo-e of attempting to leave the Dominion while bound to appear at the Supreme Court. Auckland, in May, as a witness in :i criminal trial. Complaints y-ere made at a recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce regarding alleged pilfering of goods on tho trains. The complaints have boon brought under the notice of the district traffic manager, who has promised to inquire as to the truth or otherwise of the allegations. llradncy and Rinns will run an excursion to Riverhead to-morrow. The ueual flaking excursion will ako be run.