AUCKLAND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 784, 6 April 1910, Page 9

AUCKLAND NOTES.

THE KNYVETT CASE,

WRTPR; REMARKS BY M.P.'S.

' (By TeleeraDh;--Special Corresixradent.) Auckland, April s. ■■'. Further speeches by members of Parliament on'the Kriyvett-case, in which, ly ; the.way,' I-discern a: lessening public interest,' were made at: last night's indignation meeting at'Deyonport.

... ;Mr. L. R: Phillips, member for Wai'temata, ' in; moving a protest motion, Istated•"that' ;for the injustice; that had •been .committed Cabinet was responsible, v. For. a-good many'years we had allowed .a conception,to grow-,up that Cabinet could do no ■ wrong. ' Cabinet had assumed to itself a superior intelli•genceand a superior power, with the. result that many members of Parliament had -been used only as' recording imachines tocarry into effect the will of '■■'Cabinet.'. In regard to the methods, of Cabinet,;: had' they' not the bland ackhowledgmeht'of' the 'only" Auckland iMinisfer; (Mr. Fowldsj.iliat he/.delibe-. ratedi.'.and •'. voted, upon .'this-..: question without} knowing anything about -it?. He would also say that if the Minister ifor. Defence knew no more about the lease 'than; he. knew about the Defence ißill when it was before the., House he .iwas not competent to deal with it. ■ ■'•..

.'. ,Mr. A. E. Glover, member for Auck■larid Central, 1 -remarked that the Prime [Minister expressed to .him . at, :ton the opinion- that.' the case would out... In reply "he (Mr. Glover) tad said: "Excuse me, Sir Joseph, you : may. be a great statesman, but you are no' diplomat.'" '■■ (Laughter.) They were igoing'.,to.: fight this'' case;.right-to 'a, [finish, and: he, would 'assure/them; that (when he 'stood on; the floor of :the House ie'.would do.his best in the interests of Captain Knyyett;'' This : valiant"', speech was cheered, and at;a.ilater.stage. Mr. Glover':■again- arbuse"d ; enthusiasm by intimating that he" was prepared' '.-.to' vote against the ■Government'; inf.the. event of a no-confidence.motion'arising \ 'outof the Knyyett-case. ;-. -. ■''■■■'"]

,l : v SETTLERS'; DISABILITIES.; : ; Mr. W) F--Massey, Leader of the Op- ': position, ,who visited, the Te Akaudis- ... trict recently, gave, a '.'Herald"' repre- ' sentative- some interesting information. concerning, the settlement there. "The land," he said, Vis for the most, part .'•: fairly, good, and the settlers, are men . who, with a fair .oliauce,. are likely, to. ibe successful;, but they are : already face ,to face with ihe usual .difficulties of ■backblock settlers—want .- of ' roads. 'Speaking generally; the roads\_ are un- -. /made, and : the creek ■ ::unbridged.' 'There .■'is every probability-/that for several months during.the coming '•; winter. ,Te Akau will. be: cut off .'.from communication with the .nearest'centres .of; population, Ngariiawahia. and Rag- . lanV ; ; The .summer;'has been. ■•' almost wasted r/so far ■as road-making. is conthere is little pros'pept/pf 'any' really useful work being done, ber fore host November.: In the meantime : I■•certainly, don't envy the lot of.''the, ■ settlers,; .some' of whom,' I. thihk,;.are '■' acting unwisely, in-locating their families. ■;. at: Ngafuawahia for ■;;. the. /winter.' ■.;■'. : It will;. therefore, be" 'necessary -that:.the * land should be made, as.productive as, .possible/ and as soon as possible. - However; comparatively; little Acan' be ■ done untilittie;Government- do- their dutyin / theV-way-i-'uf. 'rpad^makihg.Si'-jlititthis stance,'they have a .'special.dutyj/'/be-r .' caiise.v the',' difference'? between £2 ;:,i>er i.acre'and £5.105. pen. acre qn aj.lSjDOQi,, ; acre-blpckiOeaves tt'fiind;ofrover £40,000 • for, cost of /subdivision and road-making.' : If ;the. members of the.preSehtlGpve'rn-,, ■ meht' how;much' the pros- ' .perity of ■' the. country'depends on good: ' roads, I am quite sure they; would take; fmore'pains to seeithat"the/money ,ap-'. Ipropriated by Parliament for.-this pur-,-pose*: was< well and'.; ecohojnically ex- . •pehded." . In conclusion,; Mr.-.- Massey said that until the TeAkau,.district was ! properly roaded the Government should ►spend iiless' money,.; in'feme . other 'direction.-/, ,";:''■':;';; .

"[ ;THE; KETRBNCHSIENT SCHEME. ; ..The country Settlers, especially in'the Jbackblocks,' are loud in their condemnation of the/merging. 6f :i the 'Roads. ..and /Jfridges Department with the -Public! ; Works Department.' .Mr.' Massey,' who /ias/'recently. been on a...visit . ; to the v country/between Raglan' and Whata- ■• whata,.: voiced the.complaints he met at' ; svery turn. y:"Thesettlers," said Mr.Massey,' '.'have practically lost the . services .of men! of long exDerience who • know the .country thoroughly, 'and ' in whom .they 'had .- absolute "confidence. ■'Under the new ..arrangement little .'or. (nothing can bo done'without an appeal Jto' Wellington. The ; result is delay and ,'dissatisfaction. v l am:certain, that.very much'better results were'obtained when .'the-engineers .of. the Roadsand Bridges Department Were;given.a free hand, to spend to the best advantage .the money avaihible in- cases where the-local bodies were'/uhable or unwilling to undertake ,the responsibility connected therewith.' .1 have seen so much of the hardship ihSfiicted .upon, settlers by being, placed upon land to which there were no roads , that .1 feel somewhat strongly .on this Subject, and I am sorry to'have to say' rthat.in spite of repeated promises I see jio/evidence of improvement in the -system. On the.oontraryVthelast state ] of; things'is worse than the first.". >

/'./■'v^SETTLER'S GRIEVANCE. :-V '■ 'Bearing on: the same subject .'a newsjpapef correspondent -airs■' a.- settler's igrievance.. "During ,the Easter holiidays. I took a trip up to the' King "Country and visited the 'Rahgitoto Modes', which were 'opened for • settlement about November last. '■' The object of these.' settlements .was. to : find work 'for the unemployed and the retrenched yCivil Servants. The Government agreed : to,, pay every' month for the rwprk done by the settlers,: also• to/adj vance from £10 to £50 to each settler !f or Building a house. . Further, that'the /loads would be made at once., thus fcffprdiirg work to the men who nad.no'capital/'and enable them, to 'save/some •money'to keep them and their families wien their own small capital was gone. ,flsia' scheme was a good one, -and' the -got a great : amount) of 'kudos' at the time, for nt.. But' what -are - the facts ? I could not find .one" settler on ;the blocks that had (received one penny from the Government, and some of r those settlers are now- without funds, and are at their wits' end how to, manage during ihe coming, winter months.": I noticed in a; southern paper, that similar settlements down south have.been treated.differently. If that' is true, then this is another example of Auckland being left. out in the' cold by the. southern Ministry. Although the .'Government have failed to carry out their portion of the agreement, they have .called. upon all the settlers to. at once reside on the land, under penalty, of -forfeiting/ their sections! The result is that some of the settlers /have-had to take their wives and families to live in tents, as they have not been able to build their houses.