MR. NELSON’S SCHEME.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 238, 20 September 1922, Page 2

MR. NELSON’S SCHEME.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I have wondered of late why such little public interest is taken in the reclamation scheme propounded to the Harbour Board by Mr. Geoige Nelson. It can hardly be from indifference, and the thought has struck me that a few’ lines of explanation from a geological standpoint may prove of some help in bringing the residents of this district ti see the great promise that the scheme holds out to Napier in particular and to the whole of Hawke’s Bay in general. Let .your readers form a mental picture of the Heretaunga Plain as it is to-day. This plain extends in three directions taking Napier as a centre. First, through Taradale and Omahu in the direction of Maraekakaho and onward to the Matapiro country; second, through Meeanee, Hastings and Paki Paki to the Poukawa Lake; and third, through Barndon, East Clive and the Grange to the Tuki Tuki river. Those who have resided in the district for the past thirty or forty years are aware of the great changes that have taken place in the swamp and lagoon area that until lately extended between Papakura and Farndon, and in the direction of Napier. The reclamation of Napier South is evidence in itself of what is possible in making lagoons and swamp areas suitable for man’s needs. When the reclamation work in Napier South was taken up by Messrs. Nelson, Kennedy, and Co. many of the Napier business men prophesied disaster, and certainly the Borough Council of the time refused to consider the matter as a business proposition, though urged to do so in your paper again and again. Napier South is a monument to the foresight as well of the Harbour Board as of those who set themselves the task of reclamation that has so largely added to the welfare of Napier. And even die progress made by the extension of the borough to include Napier South is only the prelude to still greater conquests in the way of reclamation of the adjoining swamp and sea area extending tow’ards Meeanee and Parke Island. The proposals put forward by Mr. Geo. Nelson ,and approved by the Harbour Board and supported by the Napier Borough Council, are bold in their outlines and suggest the possibilities of a great future for Napier and district. 1 have seen the completed plans and maps that have been prepared showing streets, allotments and a settled area for small farms following the carrying out of the engineering work that must he undertaken, as in the case of Napier South previous to its reclamation. The opening up of the East Coast railway will bring Napier and Hastings into daily, touch with the settlements and towns along the coast as far as Gisborne, and this will mean increased trade, for where there are now a few dozen of settlers in the more remote places along our eastern watershed there will be thousands. Their products will be brought to Napier as the shipping port, and they will naturally draw their supplies of stores from the local centres. External and internal trade will be fostered and the whole of the plain area will become a hive of industry. One acre of the reclaimed alluvial land is capable of producing under intensive cultivation an amount of produce of far more value relatively than is possible in 50 acres of the hill country. The engineers who have reported on the floods of the plain have told us in what way the disastrous effects of floods may be minimised, and Mr. Nelson shows how the reclamation of the present useless area of some 2000 acres can be made suitable for a large population of industrious cultivators. The keynote in the proposal is whether the scheme will pay. Again it is necessary to go to Napier South for an example. There can be no doubt as to the reclamation of the proposed area. As to the time it will take to carry out the work and the cost of the work 1 am no judge, but there are questions of importance that should be considered as belonging to the scheme and are in some measure affected by it. It should be kept in view that the whole of the plain to the limits stated above is of very recent formation. The Heretaunga plain is even now’ a plain in the making and its deficiencies and incompleteness are within the limits of extending from Farndon by. way of Meeanee to Parke Island. This area, partly of swamp, partly occupied, and partly tidal washed, is the lowest area of the plain to-day. The river Tuki I’uki as a shingle-carrying river, the Ngaruroro as a silt-carrying river, and the Tutaekuri as a. shingle and siltcarrying river, have provided supplies chat have filled up the plain, and have formed the wonderful deposits from which the artesian water supplies are now drawn. The series of lakes that run through the railway valley as far as Hatuma Lake came into being when the Heretaunga Plain began to receive its first supplies of flood materials from cue back country and the mauntains inland, including the Ruahine, Wakarara and Kaiwaka mountains. No filing up remains to be done other than the area indicated, the greater portion of which is in the uireciion of Napier Mr. Nelson’s scheme proposes to reclaim. But what of the probable floods ? Will they affect the scheme, or conversely will the scheme have the effect of staying the natural deposit of silt over the low areas at the time of floods? These are questions of very nigh importance, and’ it is only right and proper that fair and open discussion take place. Let me then say at once that I make no doubt whatever chat given free play to the rivers which pour their supplies into the bay, chev would in time fill every swamp area and all the inner lagoon, and all this without the intervention or heed of man—whether engineer or farmer. But hbw long this would, take to accomplish I could not say, nor would it be possible to estimate the damage to prooerty and the possible destruction co life that would result in the meantime. Those who have experienced the real meaning of a great flood in the Hawke’s Bay rivers know what destruction took place, with loss of life, in he 1897 flood, but there would need to be a recurrence of many such floods over the whole of the low country before the land was raised sufficiently high for occupation. Putting the time required for filling in the swamp and the low-lying areas, and the losses in property and life beside the cost- of reclaiming the land on

the lines proposed by Mr. Nelson. I am satisfied that the advantages are very greatly in favour of Mr. Nelson’s scheme. In the first place, much of the land could be brought under cultivation at small cost and in a short time, and this in itself is of much importance as helping settlement in th© vicinity of Napier. The early settlers, as everyone who inquires into the early settlement is aware, found great difficulty in keeping the rivers within their bounds in time of flood. They were as wayward asi sturdy, healthy children. From the time the rivers came within the plain limits their rates of flow’ were stayed, and the water rapidly got nd of the shingle and silt mud that were carried down. All the rivers sprawled hither and thither over the plain, and a cursory inspection will show even now how the waters spread sometimes in one direction ,sometimes in another, just as places were filled in and the flow was diverted into other channels. Now r . floods have not ceased. They are to lie expected in these times as in the days of long ago. They might be allowed to go on their wayward courses asj of old, or they are to be dealt with as science and experience direct. Rivers can be utilised constructively or destructively. Modern engineering has taken in hand river control, and what was formerly deemed impossible is now regarded as a matter of course. Hence the recommendation made by the engineers on whose report the Rivers Board for the district was constituted to deal with and control the rivers of the plain. Here, then, is the position at the present time. The Rivers Board, in accordance with the recommendations by a Commission of three engineers, aim at keeping the river channels clear of hindrances to the free flow of water from the back country at all times. Channels of ease are provided to carry off surplus water at times of high floods so that w’ater may not flow over settled lands as in times gone by. Those who resided m Haw’ke’s Bay at the time of the great flood in 1897 will realise the importance of the duties for which the Rivers Board is responsible, but the Harbour Board owns the area know’ll as AMiare-o-mareanui and which is partly above high-water level, partly swamp, and partly shallows. It would be difficult to tell the value of this land were it reclaimed, and the direct and indirect benefits such reclamation would confer on/Napier commercially and as a place of residence would be enormous. The maps prepared by Mi. Nelson represent the results of w’ide inquiry, and they should lie made available for inspection by all in this district who are interested in its future prosperity and well-being. I began the inspection of the maps as a critic, feeling that the resulting dangers from floods would destroy all possible engineering work in the way of reclamation. but 1 have become a convert to Mr. Nelson’s scheme. The flood difficulties can be overcome on the modern engineering lines such as Mr. Nelson proposes, and which he has seen in operation in England and in different countries of Europe. The undertaking may cost a considerable sum, but the results—the assured results—as in the case of Napier South—will bring an ample return with it. Napier and district will become the centre of early spring and summer produce a,s to land in the world is better suited to the growth of rich crops of early vegetables that will always bring a high price m Southern markets. The carrying out of Mr. Nelson’s scheme means a great future for Hawke’s Bay. and the Harbour Board will be justified in asking for a loan to carry out the undertaking at the earliest possible date. I join with others in heartily recommending Mr Nelson’s scheme of reclamation to public consideration as representing a great step in the progress and close settlement of the swamp areas that surround Napier towards the South.—l am etc., H. HILL. Bluff Hill, September 10, 1922. THE NEAR EAST. Sir, —It is hard to see why all the Mohammedan races should combine against us, unless the British Government behaves with an extraordinary mixture of rashness and timidity. I understand that Mohemmedans are divided into several sects that hate one another like poison. In the recent war Mohammedan Indians fought loyally for us against the Turks, and Mohammedan Arabs were quite ready to murder eithe Turks or Indians tor the sake of loot. The Turks and Bulgarians, though not deserving much respect, yet deserve, probably, better treatment in the way of outlets on the Mediterranean, etc., than they have received. We can hardly blame the Turks for getting restive under the “law’s delays,” of a law they could not be expected to recognise, while England and. h rance were quite unable to agree, except, apparently, to toss the subject of the Turkish treaty into some pigeon-hole, in the hopes that something would turn up. We have a right to keep the Dardanelles open at all times for ourjvarships and merchant ships, and in this we should nave, or demand, the full support of Rumania, and of British firms trading to the Black Sea, as they seem to be the people most affected. The Navy seems to have a great length of coast line to watch, and is doubtless short of small craft useful for such work, but it could be reinforced in a few weeks, and for a demonstration the Hood could be sent out, having 15in. guns that can carry much further than those in the Queen Eliabeth. The bat-tle-cruiser Hood and several of our battleships are practically torpedoproof, while paravanes have greatly reduced the dangers of minefields. The Turks are now without U boats to help them, and as for the Bolshevik Black Sea fleet, the Iron Duke alone could probably sink the lot if they ventured within 20,000 yards of her. It might also be possible to make use of our 18 inch guns, firing ton and a halfshells, and of aircraft-carrier ships with some modern aeroplanes, in carrying our point of an open and unfortified Dardanelles. The Turks and Bulgarians are not, perhaps, perfect characters (nor are the Greeks and Armenians) but they should be given a “square deal” as promptly as possible. The delays of one Government can make its employees talk of striking, but the delays of two combined Governments that can’t quite agree to combine, like France and England, must be intolerable. The Greek cruiser Kilkis is really a battleship, small but powerful, purchased, like her sister ship Lemnos, from the United States Navy in 1914. Greece has the war and England to thank for the extinction of the Turkish navy, which would have been vastly superior to the Greek navy if the Turkish battleships built in England had not been taken over for the Royal Navy in August. 1914.—1 am, etc., R.H.F. Havelock North, Sept. 18th, 1922.