SPANNING THE HUTT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1929, Page 15

SPANNING THE HUTT

N$W BRIDGE OPENED

INTERESTING SPEECHES li

VALLEY'S GROWTH

Thos ceremony of declaring open tho iiew c'oncreto bridgo which has been built (across tho Hutt River at Lower Buttlto replaeo tho old wooden structure Was performed by tho Prime Minister (tho Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward) /estotjlay afternoon in the presence of . large and .distinguished gathering, •asent on the platform with the Prime nister were • the i Mayor of Lower ..' ot -(Mt. W. T. Strand), who presidr thp Minister of Public Works (the ■: ■'!, :E. A. Ransom), the Minister of ' iways (the Hon. W. B. Taverner), tso Mayor of Wellington (Mr. G. : Troup), the latter representing the •tributing local.-authorities/ An 'i^logy was offered for the absence of fie member of Parliament fOr the dis-

'rict, the Minister of Justice and Defence (the Hon. T. M. Wilford), who is absent,in the South Island, and thn Minister" of Lands (the Hon. G. Wi Forbes). Local members, of Parliament and representatives, of surrounding local bodies . were also present at the function.--- •

A guard of honour for the Prime Minister was 1 formed-by- the boys and girls attending the Hutt Valley High Schools. In inviting the Prime Minister to open the fridge, Mr. Strand expressed gratification that Sir Joseph had done the peop'le:pf;the,Hutt Valley the honour of'being present on such an important occasion in tlieir history. The day would be long remembered' not only by the older people present, but also by the boys .and-girls, who would be the citizens of to-morrow,, Mr. Strand congratulated the Prime Minister on the efforts he wa» making to bring the various interests of the country together, and went on to say that they were also pleased-; to- welcome the -Minister of Public Works, who was an old Hutt boy. (Applause.) It was a matter for keen regret that Mr. Wilford had been unable to bo, present, but those present could rest assured that it was only important matters of State that had kept him away. The Hutt Valley was entitled to congratulate, itself on the fact that there were two Hutt boys in the present Government.. (Loud applause.) Ho desired, before calling on Sir Joseph, to congratulate the designers of the bridge,' Messrs. Seaton, Sladden, and Pavitt, on the success of their work. Not only was tho bridgo of utilitarian value, but it was a structure that pleased the cyo. Moreover, it was one that would serve the district for many, many years. Tributes were also paid by Mr. Strand to tho work of the constructing engineer (Mr. Bush), the builders of the''bridge, and the Engineer-in-Chie£ to tho Public "Works Department (Mr. F. TV. Furkort), who had' assisted in every possible way. STILL ANOTHER BRIDGE. The Prime Minister, who was warmly received, thanked the Mayor for tho kindly way in which ho had introduced him. rSir Joseph said that the last occasion on which he had "attended such ,a function in the-Hutt-Valley was in 1904, when the late Mr. Seddon opened the bridge Which the present structure was replacing. Sinco that, timo tho Hutt Valley had mad* wonderful strides forward. He looked' forward to the time when many pf"" fhelri—say,' In another twenty>fiyo' /years—would gather together to opon a successor to the new bridge, which, by that time, he felt sure, would. be inadequate to meet the requirements of the people. (Loud applause.) He wanted to tell them a little of the history of the Hutt Valley. The boys- and girls naturally learnt a lot of history in tho schools, but although the& might loam a lot about the great British' Empire, it was doubtful if they Were-told much abont the district in which- they lived and of the strenuous endoavours of their forbears. Since its earliest days tho Hutt Valley had played an important part in the history of tho country as a whole. It Was at the mouth' of : the Hutt River that the founders of the colony thought the principal town should bo established. The name given' to the proposed town was Britannia,. and it was'to be situated whore Pctono was to-day. The plan was not carried out,-however, tho necessity for safer anchorage ground for the early ships causing the site of the future city to bo changed to Wellington. In spite of the change, however, the fertile and beautiful valley, in spite of the vagaries of the river, appealed strongly to the hardly settlers, and land was taken up. The first thirty years of settlement in the Valley was a mixture of peace and war with the Maoris, with numerous thrilling incidents, and two of three severe earthquakes took place to give variety to the trials that beset tho early residents. The history of the 84 years of progress of the Valley had been truly remarkable. It was early'found necessary to bridge the river, and the first crossing place was.made at Lower Hutt. Owing to floods/great difficulties were experienced in dealing with the rivor, and the history, of the struggle in that connection was partly told in the history of the bridges. There had probably been more bridges built in the Hutt Valley than, in any Other locality of the stae in New Zealand. Sir Joseph recalled that in the case of one bridge tho price of £385 had proved unremunerativo to j the contractors, who petitioned for extra payment and received £50. One might bo-pardoned for wishing that all Jetitionets were so .easily satisfied. Laughter.) WONDERFUL PROGRESS. Sketching tho progress of the Hutt Valley, tho Prime Minister recalled that in 1904 the population of Lower Hutt win 2250, and that Of Petone 475.0. Now the population of the Hutt Valley totalled 20,000, and it was little wonder that the old bridge, with its narrow and danger6Us approaches, had become out of date. It was not too much to predict that in the course of time the population of the Hutt Valley would become even greater than that of the city pi Wellington. He hoped that before very long the various interested parties would come together in an endeavour to provide, a better means of access to the valley for traffic. So far as the Government was concerned, he felt he could say that it would look favourably On such ail effort and give every assistance possible. Sir Joseph then went on to deal With other matters, which are reported under a sop* srate heading. ■ The Minister of Public Works expressed pleasure at being able to return to the scenes of. his boyhood, and he assured those present that he had very happy recollections of the early days in the Valley. The progress of Lower Hutt was not only indicative of the progress Of the Hutt Valley, but of the Dominion as a whole. The progress which the Dominion had made was due, they all knew/to .the efforts of the primary produoers, .but they could not always, hope to depend solely on the primary producers. One of those present had pointed the children Out to him, and had t asked what they were i going to do with them when they left school. Ho did not look upon tho ques- '■ tion in the light of a big prObloro, but xather in tho light of a vision of great hope and great possibilities. He looked forward to the time when their secondary industries would come into line with the primary industries, .and would provide a means of dealing with the unem-

ployment problem. They had a big population, but that population had to be dealt with in a scientific manner, and in such a way as would allow every Boction of tho population to fulfil its proper function. Ho looked to the day when Now Zealand would bo ablo to treat its own raw materials instead of sending them overseas. The Minister of Railways also expressed his delight at boing,present. The Sovernment, he said, was doing its best to copo with the many. big problems Which were facing the country, and although they did not profess to be miracle workers, he thought they would be :ible to point to evidences of very real progress. The Minister stressed the desirability of people purchasing New Zealand goods in tho first place and Empire-manufactured goods in the second place. He congratulated tho Hutt district on tho progress it had made, and expressed the hope that it would continue to progress in the future. Amidst cheers, the; Prime Minister then cut the tape and declared the bridge open to traffic. He entered his car and drove across the bridge to the Town Hall, where visitors were entertained at afternoon tea by the Lower Hutt Borough Council. HELP OF OTHER DISTRICTS. During the afternoon proceedings Mr.; Strand thanked the authorities who had contributed towards the cost Of the bridge. When the building of the bridge was first proposed, the credit in this direction being due to Councillor D. A. Ewett, there were some who had questioned, the necessity for it, but he had no doubt that all concerned were now pleased that it had been built. The bridge was of- service not only to the Hutt Valley, but to Wellington, Wairarapa, and the--whole of the surrounding districts. The fact that the Contributing, local bodies had agreed as to their respective shares towards the cost of the bridge without any differences necessitating tho appointment of a commission said much for the harmony that existed between them. Mr. Strand said that he wanted to take the Opportunity —probably the last he would have^-of expressing the borough's appreciatioK of the part that the Crown had played in the development .of the Valley and more especially in the development of the Hutt Borough. Although there , had been small troubles, all the Government officers had worked in a wonderful manner to assist the Valley. Mr. Strand touched upon the possibilities of the future. Although a lot had been done he thought that was only the boginning and prophesied that Wellington and the Hutt Valley would become the commercial as well as the geographical centre of tho Dominion. They had in the Valley an opportunity of making a district that would bo second to none in New Zealand. He hoped that this would be dono and that tho bond of union between the local bodies, the city of Wellington, and tho Government would become even closer than it was now.

The Mayor of Wellington replied on behalf of the contributing authorities. Thanking the Lower Ilutt Borough for the opportunity to bo present at the opening of tho bridge, he said that the local bodies who had shared in tho cost of the bridge Would no doubt come forward again to help,pay for any other such public works. All were satisfied with what had taken place that day, from whatever district they came. He agreed with Mr. Strand that there was no difference between Wellington and the Hutt Valley—they were so inextricably mixed that there was no lino of separation. He also expressed appreciation of the fine spirit that existed among the local bodies and foresaw the day -when they would become a homogeneous wholo in ono big city from- Upper Hult to Seatoun and from Island Bay to Porirua. Mr: VT. H. .Field, M.P., :spoke on behalf of the members of Parliament present. He thought that the Hutt Valley was a district of marvellous promise and mentioned the subject of amalgamation between the local authorities concerned. He thought that they were wise in constructing the bridge, the opening of which was a most auspicious event for the Hutt Valley and Wellington City.