King Country Chronicle Wednesday, May 14th, 1913. ACCESS TO MAROKOPA.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 567, 14 May 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Wednesday, May 14th, 1913. ACCESS TO MAROKOPA.

Probablythe worst treated locality in respect to roads of all the country wliich has its oulet to the Main Trunk line at or near Te Kuiti is the district comprising Marokopa and Moeatoa. Settlement has been going on in the locality mentioned for more than ten years, and many of the sections have been brought to a high stage of production. The only thing required to give the settlers the opportunity of reaping the reward of long years of patient industry and isolation is the fulfilment by the Government of the obligations entered into when settlement was first promoted in the district. Hitherto incessant agitation, and appeals from the settlers, have been studiously disregarded,, and the facilities provided for the settler in the shape of roads are little better than were in existence when" settlement began. That a district which has been under settlement for over ten years should still b« without a road of sufficient width to allow of vehicular communication with the railway is astounding to those unacquainted with'the manner in which the roading of the district has been carried out. The circumstance is all the more re markable when it is realised that settlement between the railway and the coast is practically continuous. The slender justification that Marokopa has an outlet by the sea is entirely discounted from the fact that the inlet is only workable by the smallest craft in fine weather. It is also widely known that the interests which can be served by the sea are entirely overshadowed by the interests which

lie towards the railway. The stock markets of the district are on the railway: by rail come the mails for all the settlements right to the coast, and community of interest exists in every respect throughout the chain of settlement. Still the fact remains that it is impossible to drive a vehicle from Te Kuiti to Marokopa. It is high time the residents of the railway towns, and the settlers combined to remedy Buch a deplorable drawback, which stands a striking exemplification of the patchwork policy of roading and settlement. The evils of the policy are in evidence on all sides, and the district is being cramped, and progreßß retarded to a degree which threatens to bring disaster to many. There can be no doubt that, without further development of the land, the providing of decent roads to the railway would increase the production df the district enormously. During the early months of the season settlers find it impossible to supply to tha dairy factories, and lose a large per centage of the season's profit in consequence; stock, which should be marketed, have to be kept grazing through the winter, and the whole business of the district is held up because of the lack of roads. Portion of the responsibility undoubtedly rests upon the settlers themselves, but in many instances such as that of Maro-kopa-Moeatoa district the Government has failed to perform its legitimate obligations. Such a state of things is entirely inexcusable, and it is altogether in the interests of the district and of tha Dominion that a combined effort should be made to bring about a remedy.