THE WAIKATO AND RAGLAN ROAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5177, 20 June 1878, Page 2

THE WAIKATO AND RAGLAN ROAD.

Within th<3 last week or so several statements have been made to the effect that the Maoris had prevented t'ae lormation of the road from Waikato to Raglan, for which a contract has recently beei taken. It would appear, however, that the statement was a grourvdiess one, circulated, perhaps, by some mischief-loving Pakcha Maori. *A private letter was received in towa last night from Raglan, from which we have beea permitted to make the following extract, The writer says :—" I think wa are now iu a fair way to commence work. I had tue expected visit from Te TuLi aud Honana on Saturday morning. 1 told them I had been infoiined that tksy wuuU likely pay me a vi3it, or, if not, would say what they had to say to the natives at Wai te tuna. They replied that if they followed Maori tiLnuja they wouii not have come to me. 1 toid them I surmised the I purport of their visit. • Yes,' thsy said, 'it is to let you know thj iutention o. the King regarding the road : that it is not to be proceeded witb at present,' and asked whether L had made a beginning. 'Ho,' I said, ' but I sent up tools yesterday, and I shili begin on Monday or iucsday.' 1 iuiiutr stated I had received my instructions fioai the Government, and the Government ouh could stop the work, and that I ehouM procc i >vith the road, aad if they had anything; to say, they would require to commuuicate direct witti the Government. I gave them to understand that it wa3 form no desire to set at detiance the proposals ma<ic at ilikurangi (on the part of the (jv;veri,ment) that this road was to be made, inasmuch as my instructions were prior to that raeetiug, aud that I considered this rjal wa3 exempt from the King's authority, even if he had accepted Sir George Gray's proposals, which I understood ha had not, but had taken time to think the matter over. However, it ended by their consent being giren to oar working, as far as tLe Maoris and myself were concerned ; that my words were very tika, aud that they would communicate with the Government on the subject. I toid them that was the beat plan, as I had made up my mind to do the work, and failing natives, would employ Europeans. They spent Sunday night at Waitetuna, aad related all our conversation to the natives there, and when I went up on Monday morning they were all in good spirits, and eaid the word oi the Hauhaus was now good, and that they had told them to go to the Government, and that we could proceed with the work, and so forth." The writer stated tha: he had the namss of 22 Maoris who were willing to work, and so soon as the news spread that work was about to go on he expected to have double that number. The contractor had received a telegram from the Bon. J. Sheehaa, when he was a.z iiokianga, instructing him to employ Kuroye.ins in the event of there being any diihuuity in obtaining a sufficient number of Maoris. This he intended to do, but did not anticipate that a deficiency of Maori labour would bs experienced.