KING COUNTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 179, 29 July 1913, Page 7

KING COUNTRY.

CLAIMS FOR CONSTDERATIOM.

■MINISTERIAL STATEMENT OF POLICY. (BJ Tde *»P»>—PHrijiuneßtary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Monday (JWw fj M '™ te r <* PnMic Works evenin/h , %/ " H - Hemes) this SSEJg , a /notation representing the eountrv th -t in roadlng the back be P^ivpH C T P / ehelleive schpme should and ti ? , bet, L een the Government and the local authorities, that the Government should take the control « the mam arterial roa-ds, that tetter provision should be made for the collection oi rates on native lands, so as to make them contribute towards the construction of road., which served to open them up, and that for that purpose the country should be given a lien over .those ands. xbe local bodies also asked to be protected against the necessity of maintaining roads which had been constructed solely for the. purpose of opening up native lands acquired solely for speculative purposes. The Hon. W. H. Herries remarked that there was a Native Ratine Bill coming down this session, which he hoped, wonid give satisfaction. "As you wit. -, remarked the Hon. W. F. Massey. in the course of his reply, "it Ls part of our policy to open up the backblocks, and I think, with the means at our disposal. w e have been doing arlmos-t everything that might have been expected." He reminded the deputation that last year the Government allocated i103.n0 for roads alone. He di'l not mean to say that the whole of that money was spent, but every copper of it would be spent, and more also, during the present session. The Government, he went on to cay, had had considerable difficulty with the expenditure of that money. There was si scarcity of labour in many cases. The Government asked the county councils to undertake the expenditure, and in some cases they were actually unable to do it. The ratinn; of native lands was really a most difficult subject, and he did not agree with the suggestion that people taking up native kinds had the same claim to assistance as the people taking up Crown lands. In the case of Crown lands, the whole of the purchase money went to the State, if it was leased the whole of the rental went to the State, bat, in the. disposal of native lands, 'nothing went to the State. He thought the State should do all it could to assist people who took up native lands, hut he could not help thinking that the people who went on to Crown lands had a prior claim. The Government was willing to assist, both. As to the rating of native lands, the Native Minister had told them that a bill was in course of preparation- illh (Ithe Prime 'Minister) thought it would rlo a-way with that difficulty. In regard to art-erial roads, he was of opinion that they should ! be taken over, and made and" maintained by Uip Government, but he quite understood that there were quite a number of counties which were not of tha.t opinion. The difficulty of obtaining loans for road construction during the last -veax or two had been due to the stringency of the money market, but he pointed out that there was on the Statute Book provision for obtaining monfy and so ear-marking it for backblocks roads, and to obtain it at a lialf per cent less than the ordinary rate. Since the Hon. .T. Allen came bark from England £50.000 hid been set ,iside for that purpose. It had atao tieen suggested that a special loan should be raised for the purpose of constructing tniclcblocks roads. lie was of that opinion himself, And the proposal would be submitted to Cabinet in the near future. He believed that when the moivey market improved they would be able to raise a loan solely for the purpose of roadinor the out district?. The .Minister of Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) stated that the distrirt represented by the deputation (Tauma.runui) had had one-fifth of tbe amount spent on the main roads of the Dominion. If they went on doing that other parts of the Dominion -would complain bitterly. Prom 'March. 1912. to Juno of this year there had been spent or authorised £106,000 in that district alone. The authorities had been given either to the local body or the district engineer. He authorised that expenditure because he wa? quite convinced the district required it.