UPPER WAIKATO. HAMILTON. FROM OUR OWN CORRESSPONDENT.) March 28.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2719, 4 April 1866, Page 5

UPPER WAIKATO. HAMILTON. FROM OUR OWN CORRESSPONDENT.) March 28.

Ik your issue of the 16th instant, in a leading article, you make some pertinent and judicious observations on the proper mode of expending the, grant of public money in the Waikato district ; and so far as I am acquainted with the opinions and expectations of the settlers here, I believe that the mode you recommend would be most acceptable to them. It would be unreasonable to expect all the cross roads to be made by the Government ; such a course would indeed tend to hinder the development of individual exertions and manly self-reliance, without which the settlement could not be expected to prosper. If we get a main road to Auckland, on which one could take a dray safely, we might, in the matter of roads, be safely put on a level with the rest of -the province. Such drams as you recommend will be both immediately and ultimately, of greater value to even the present settlers than the making of cross roads ; for besides the important advantages

which you enumerate as certain to result from drainage operations, there will be the further benefit that, from the very level character of the country, if you drain the swamps, you, in a great measure, make the roads. There is a probability of the present favourable weather continuing for some time; and if operations were commenced at once, a considerable portion of country would be shortly available for sale. There is a large tract of flax swamp lying to the north, and tending to the north-west of Hamilton East, which, to a certain extent, is penetrated by a gully above forty feet deep, rendering it easy of drainage, and would yield a splendid return to Government for the outlay. There are many more swamps of a similar description, waiting only a comparatively small outlay to yield a magnicent return. In regard to roads, one main line of road is all we can expect, or, indeed, all that we require ; and, in the present financial state of the Treasury, it is of the utmost importance that the line which will cost least in the first instance, and for subsequent repairs, should be selected. From Maungatawhiri creek to Ngaruawahia, the road, such as it is, as is well known, runs on the right bank, or the east side of the river. But, from the circumstance that passengers were landed at ETgaruawahia, which stands on the left bank, it was found convenient to continue, the journey to Hamilton on the west side. The east side is, however, greatly preferable for various reasons. All along the Waikato the ground on the right bank is higher, and consequently firmer and drier than on the left ; and, while there are six gullies between Ngaruawahia and Hamilton on the west side, there are only three on the east, and one of them (the only formidable one) is already substantially bridged. There is much less swamp, and the actual mileage is less on the east side, while passengers to Hamilton would be saved crossing the river. From Hamilton to Cambridge the advantages are altogether in favour of the east side. There has been a most unwise expenditure already on the west side on this line; some three or four gullies having been bridged, apparently in the hope of inducing passengers to take that route, but without success, travellers .invariably taking the east side. And no wonder ; for, on the former, there is an interminable succession of gullies and swamps, and the road is considerably longer ; while, on the latter, there is only one gully in the whole distance, and no swamp at all. It was on this gully that the natives were recently employed ; and, as they have completed the puttings on both sides, a small bridge is all that is necessary to connect these two settlements. So far, then, as the settlements on the Horotiu are concerned, the natural and easy line for a main road is on the right bank of the river ; and, in the event of Cobbs coaches coming this way, he would, besides having fewer wooden bridges to cross, and hardly any swamp to traverse, save crossing the river twice, which, considering the breadth and rapidity of the river, is a most important matter. In regard to the settlements on the Waipa, I am not much acquainted with their roads, but I understand they are reached more easily from Hamilton than Ngaruawahia ; and, as they must cross the river at one or the other place, their interests are not affected. I recollect seeing on the plan of the township of Ngaruawahia a street running through it marked Great South Koad ; but the country was very imperfectly known at that time, and it was then quite a sufficient effort for the public mind to reach as far as the Maori capital; the country beyond was hardly thought of. In any case, however, it would be a great mistake to permit any local interests to divert a main line of road from its natural direction, and incur an unnecessary outlay at the present time when money is so scarce, and involve an equally unnecessary expenditure for the maintenance of bridges and swamp roads, which might be saved by merely using the naturally dry and firm ground. Any doubt on the subject would be at once dispelled by the employment of a competent and disinterested professional man, whose remuneration would be far more than covered by the saving which would be effected by the adoption of the best line of road. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Provincial Council, and the Executive, and indeed to the whole of the people of Auckland, for the great interest they have taken in our welfare, and for the vigour with which they have initiated measures "for our relief, contrasting so strongly with the treatment to which we have been hitherto subjected. But above and before all, our thanks are due to the Editor of the Daily Southern Cboss for his able and unflagging advocacy of our interests, and to whose continued and earnest appeals must be mainly attributed the favourable turn in the policy pursued towards the military settlements, which will in all probability avert their theatened failure, and enable them yet to fulfil their early promise.