THE HOT LAKES DISTRICT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10127, 9 May 1896, Page 4

THE HOT LAKES DISTRICT.

f* is heedless say that . one of the most valuabl* assets of the people' of Auckland And of the people of New Zealand is the Wonderland of the thermal District. Already its fame has gone through all the earth, and as I years pass on, it will, unless by" our indifference or neglect we.mar the proepeotj be the cynosure" of the Void's wanderers, and be eagerly sought by thousands ( of voyagers from distant lands for its healing waters and its weird and imposing manifestations of the forces of Native. That there is a fortune in it cannot be doubted by any one capable of casting liis friiltd into the future rilid trading tlie sequences of things, and it will be a grave blunder if the Government allows the creation 6f any condition that may operate agaiust the attractiveness of the district to tourists. .We do not desire to accentuate existing evils, or to refer unduly to the results of insam* tafy cdnditidiis in the Rotoi'ua district which were painfully familiar to the residents during the past season, but which properly enough were 1 dot given publicity. For the evils which produced those results are capable of removal, and ere another tourist season comes round they may have ceased to exist. ( But it is not too much to say that if these are left to exist and develop, and the world of tourists become apprised of it, as they are sure to be, they Will shui> the district as a plague spot. From that township and district the Government receives a very large annual revenue from rents, and it is but a matter of justice that some reasonable proportion of the money should bo devoted to prevent the recurrence of a malady Which during the past season, by its prevalence and severity, gave so much cause for alarm. With a liberal water supply there is no system of either drainage or sewerage' at Rotorua, a combination of circumstances which has often beeh found to produce more insanitary conditions in a town than if the water supply did not exist at all. For want of funds the Town Boßi'd is unable apparently to do anything for the improvement of sanitation, except in the most peddling way, and such as had generally beefi better left undone; and the nuisances that make themselves palpable to the senses, iu a stroll along the foreshore of the Lake, and even in the vicinity of the streets in the two townships, leave one no cause for wonder at the prevalence of sickness during the past tourist season. What is wanted is a system of surface drainage, concreted, if nothing better can be given, which the copious abundance of water supply cOuld keep continually flushed or vanning; and what is not less urgently imperative, some place remote from residences, and beyond the possibility of contaminating the creeks running into the lake, where the nightsoil and garbage, at present polluting the atmosphere, could be deposited with safety to the inhabitants and visitors. It is extremely discreditable to the Government that a township the source of so much revenue, and one the attractiveness of which may be a mine of wealth to the colony, should have been allowed to get into such an insanitary state. A very large amount of capital has been invested in buildings, including among them probably the largest hotel in New Zealaud, and a number of other hotels and boarding-hOuseS which would be worthy of the best watering places in the colonies-investments that will be virtually ruined if the idea gets abroad that the place has the character of a fever bed. No harm has yet ensued, but the incidents of the past season should be a warning, and the Government will be severely to blame, if, before the next tourist season comes round, steps are not taken to prevent Rotorua from getting the name of being a death-trap to tourists, instead of being us it was by nature, and as it still may be, the most charming and effective sanatorium in the Southern Hemisphere.