Evening Post. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1908. DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUTT VALLEY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 47, 25 February 1908, Page 6

Evening Post. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1908. DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUTT VALLEY.

The official opening of the Lower Hutt waterworks, which took place on Saturday, was an interesting ceremony in itself, and also gave both local representatives and visitors and opportunity, of which free use was made, for speculating on the future development of the district. In the opinion of the Mayor the new borough, which, though hardly oul of it swaddling-clothes, has displayed a most precocious vigour, is now in possession of the finest water supply in the Dominion. Of the power now at theservice of the borough a convincing proof was given by the demonstration of the •Fire Brigade, during which one jet of water reached a height of over seventy feet, and thirsty residents who have been able to get their tanks filled for a modest fee oi haif-a-crovvn have- had stii! more satisfactory evidence of the benefirence of the new force. Tho essontia' condition of effective sanitation having now been established, a diwnage system, with which some progress has already been made, may follow. J.he question of cost for a district as yet so sparsely populnted is, of course, a serious one, but the Mayor is not a citizen who despairs of the republic, and ho is determined to push it steadily forward. There is indeed very good reason for thp Mayor's sanguine views of the future of the district. During recent years its natural progress has received something of a check through the inevitable reaction from the extra- ; vagance of land speculation, but this i 3 but a temporary phase, of which it may reasonably be hoped that tho worst has already passed. With Petone ar> a great industiial centre at its base and a far larger area of flat and fertile land than can be obtained anywhere else within easy leach of the capital, the Hutt Valley will, in the near future, make strides in comparison with which tho great advance already mado will saem trivial. Among the necessary conditions of progress one of the most obvious is that tile valley, which has a common destiny and common int-erests, should bo under a common management. Its division into tho boroughs of Petone and Hutt is already out of date, and narrow views will continue to generate friction and retard progress until amalgamation has bepn effected. The improvement of the means of communication between the district and tlie city, end al?o between tho different parts of tho district itself, is another manifest requiiemeiit. The first of these objects is being gradually becured by the duplication of the Hutt- , Wellington railway line, but the paco is

lamentably slow, and for tho city it m.iy oven prove disastrously :<o, since tho duplication of the Wainui main, which is essential to our adequate protection against fire, has to wait till the Government has dawdled through the other duplication. Within the Hutt Valley itself an electric tramway is rapidly becoming a necessity, and it was again .strongly advocated by the Mayor on Hatuidav. But we regret that he is not as iiifeistcnL as the Mayor of Petone upon a betterment scheme as a necessary nccomp.'.niment of the tramway, in older to jnevent the owners of surplus land securing most of the b?»?fit from a work for which the whole community will be payThe improvement of sea communication was -also (ouched upon by sovexal speakeis. Good wharfage will be an absolute uucpwly as the district progresses And population increases. On this point a valuable suggestion was made by Mr J. G. FlaikiK-bS, tho Mayor of Cm-low. To admit vessels, into the river, dredging at its mouth will be lequired, and though this is not in itself a matter of urgency, the construction of the bridge which is to cairy the city's wUer fauppiy is urgent in the first degree. There will be no use in dredging tho channel after it has been spanned by a ferro-concretc bridge. Mr Harknoss suggested that part of The bridge- might be made movable, j\> as to allow steamers to pass, and though Mr. Bolton spoke of the suggestion a £ being at present "in the air," it must come to earth at once or perish, for though tho dredging can wait indefinitely the bridge cannot. °