THE TRUNK RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10836, 20 August 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE TRUNK RAILWAY.

THE OHURA ROUTE. •;;;'• [BY A SETTLER.] *~ No. 11. ' THE LAXII SETTLEMENTS.. . Taranaki has been, almost from the early days of the province, the land of close settlement ; but the policy of the present administration has made the garden of New Zealand truly the land 'of special settlements— theatre of all the wildcat experiments for getting the people back to the soil, for which this Government is justly famous. In the Ohura road district alone, or within the road's influence, there are 12 special settlements and labour colonies, occupying upwards of 60,000 acres with 370 selectors, and this does not represent a quarter of Taranaki's share of the Government land settlement schemes. How far these Ohura settlements are a success, after a period of from three and ahalf to six years' trial, will be- dealt with in this article; and also the question if it would not have been economy ou the part of the Government to have started the rail way from Stratford, keeping pace with settlement, for settlement was forced 50 miles into the interior, fully 30 miles ahead of the formed road. .», And now commencing at Stratford ,we. will follow (he Ohura road-line to the farthest out point of the Auckland railwayat present open for traffic, a little south of Te Kuiti, a distance, say, of 90 miles (allowing for the windings of the valleys)—the Ohura Road is practically the railway route with a few unimportant deviations. From Stratford for about 10 miles.the road runs through a first-class dairy country, some of the best land in Taranaki, originally heavily timbered, now nearly all clear and settled fairly closely, nine miles being metalled with shell rock, the only metalled portion of the whole road. TOKO AND STBATHMOKE TOWNSHIPS. The township of Toko is passed six miles out from Stratford, a promising little town with a good dairy factory. For another ten miles the country is in holdings of from 2000 to 3000 acres, is first-class sheep country, at present carrying both sheep and cattle. The land close to the road-line is cleared, the back portion is still in standing bush. Twenty miles out is the township of Strathmore, destined to be a good bush township; it now boasts of a good store, a public hall, which would do credit to a town of a thousand inhabitants, a blacksmith's shop, and telephone communication with Stratford. It is a centre for a large district, some of it already closely settled. The Palmerston settlements adjoin to the west, comprising four separate settlements, occupying 17,000 acres with 85 original selectors.

Those settlements may be said to be fairly successful, for though only about half of the original 85 are now on the ground, many vacant holdings have been taken up by adjoining settlers, and other men have come in place of those who threw up their allotments. But these blocks have in one respect been the most fortunate of all the Taranaki special settlements of the last six or seven years. The valuations were reasonable, viz., from 10s to 17s 6d per acre, other settlements in worse position and inferior land have been valued up to 30s, 38s, and 45s per acre, Several other blocks of 4000 to 6000 acres of close settlement in the neighbourhood have Strathmore for a town. It is good dairy and sheep land, which was taken up in the ordinary way some five years ago; and there is also the Mangaerc small farm settlement, a mile distant, of 10 selectors, 25 to 35 acres each, also on a fair way to success. The site is good, and the neigh v bourhood a busy one, and the land not valued unreasonably high. A dairy factory .will, soon start operations at Strathmore.'' Strathmore is the point of termination to' road contracts taken in hand by the Auckland firm, Messrs, Heywood and Marten, about the end of 1891. These works covered about 11 miles of the distance from Toko, and were in progress till the autumn of 1893—excepting stoppage during one winter. They were the last contracts let by Government; all tho rest of the road was formed and bridged under the co-operative works system. Messrs. Heywood and Marten struggled on under difficulties of weather and low prices for tho work, but to their credit, be it said, that now after five years the work stands out as conspicuously good.

Following on from Strathmore the road passes for threo miles through closelysettled country, good dairy land with sheep country at the back. The valuations here arc very high, front sections £2 5s per acre. Still settlers are straggling on in hopes of some legislation which will relieve them. Several important roads lead into the Ohura along here, and these serve a large area of partly-settled land between the Ohura Road and the Waitara River, good heavily-timbered country. For six miles further the land is in' large blocks, 2000 to 4000 acres, capital sheep country, cleared on one side of the road, on the other side in the hands of absentees who _ are waiting for a rise. The blocks were originally bought privately from the natives. Ten miles out from Strathmore and 31 from Stratford we reach the old confiscated boundary and the land purchased from the Maoris within the last six years. Here is the Pohokura township reserve, having now even a Government house, the residence of the chief road inspector of tho Ohura road district, whose parish extends from the end of the metal (nine miles out from Stratford) to the works under Mr. Hurstkouse, south of Te Kuiti. And here at Pohokura is the junction with the Inglewood-New Plymouth Road, already referred to as a great main artery, which will be extended at no distant dale right through the centre of the island. CANTERBURY SETTLEMENTS. And here we come to more special settlements—two Canterbury settlements— Milsom and Tanner, three miles away on the Inglewood Road, and the Ross special settlement right at the junction of the roads. The Tanner and Milsom adjoin each other, comprising 11,000 acres and 58 original members. The settlers have been on the ground for about six years, and have had great difficulties to contend with, the outlet being, to start with, by Inglewood and per pack horse and wire rope over the Waitara River. But the great trouble has been the valuation. Front sections were put at as much as 38s per acre. To-day there are only about half the original selectors on the ground. These will, now that the country is getting opened up, do well. Abandoned sections are being. taken up slowly at reduced valuation—in some cases, just half the original price. It is hard that the original selectors cannot get the benefit of the reduction without surrendering, and taking the chance of getting their own sections again. ■ '; £,

niGH VALUATIONS.. :'-.'-,'• Mr. Hogg, M.H.R., has referred recently very plainly to the high valuations of the last few years, that the land has risen in value as it rose in the mountains in • hilly and broken country and that surrenders, forfeitures, and abandoned sections' were quite 50 per cent., and all owing to high valuations. In Taranaki there has at least been no uniformity of valuation; individual surveyors being the valuers, whether Government surveyors or . private surveyors employed for certain blocks. Still, with few exceptions, values • have. been high no matter who surveyed the land—just the general policy of'the ' Department. '; Mr. Hogg said land ought to be granted for three or four years free of rent, and then on a sliding scale of one, two, and four per cent, for terms of years. '. Men with experience of bush lands will endorse this.'_ The Ross special .settlement at', the junction'.of the roads is also in the same position as respects valuation, too high— per acre for frontage to main road, 20s for back lots'.;. Still, tho settlement' is • a success—improvements are well advanced, and the • settlers plod along in the hopes of rents being reduced. It is a settlement which has waded through a good many • difficulties—some in relation with the co-operative works which will be referred to in reviewing the settlements in connection; with the road .works.'!' Passing the Ross settlement the road runs for three or four miles ; through country , just taken up, in 250 to 300 acre sections ;.jthen, there is a forest reserve, and 40 miles out from Stratford is the commencement of the labour colony, the '. .Whangamomona -i Improved

Farm Settlement., It occupies both sides of the. road about half-a-inile deep for 15 miles (with: two off-side roads of a mile long). The settlement was Hobson's choice— was "take up land or "no work." The men ballotted for sections of from SO to 100 acres, and were paid for improvements, felling bush, grassing, and building houses up to £150 aud £200— at rates higher of course than the market contract price of labour, for many of the men were not bushmen. They had work road-making to alternate with'payment for improvements, and now after three years and more of coddling and nursing the result is that out of 120 selectors there are only 48 in the settlement, and no others have taken the place of those who are gone. Certainly the land is not, for the most part, fit for close settlement of 50 to 100 acres, but the chief source of failure is that the men were not settlers at heart, and only became so to get work, and when the day came that there was some prospect of paying rent—interest on improved value—they cleared. No doubt there will be some loss to the country over the transaction, on account of houses, running expenses, etc., but the land cleared and in grass can be tacked on to larger sections at the back, an'd anyone taking up 800 or 1000 acres will not object to pay extra for froAtage to main road in grass. The land is all good sheep country. All round the Government settlement and ahead of it the land is in process of survey, and about 4000 acres are already open for selection and a few sections taken up.

toe onritA road. The Ohura Road is formed and bridged and open for traffic as far as the township reserve of the Whangamomona settlement, 42 miles out from Stratford, and the formation is completed for about five miles further, but bridges and culverts are only in hand. Further on the earthwork is in progress for a few miles, and bush-felling and clearing the line in front of the navvies is also in hand, the furthest out party being about 61 miles out from Stratford. The intervening distance to the works at this (the Auckland) end is about 16 miles—half of it, say, seven miles, is passable for a horse, the remainder only a foot track. The sum total of progress of the Ohura Road, Taranaki end, since Messrs. Heywood and Marten commenced their contracts near Toko in 1891, is 53 miles formed and bridged and open for traffic; five miles more nearly completed; and 15 miles, part of which is in hand as earthwork, and part being felled and cleared—a good record indeed, for three "saddles," or passes, have been crossed in the distance, involving heavy rock cuttings. And then the road, as made, has been kept open in good style, for the big improved farm settlement of Whangamomona required feeding—pack tracks had to be kept in good order in front of the formation for a year and more, quite 15 and 17 miles in length. The traffic was considerable; counting women and children there were 20u mouths to feed in the Whangamomona alone, 45 and 50 miles out. Bullock drays in the winter tore the new formation to pieces, to be shaped up again by surfacemen. The road has cost £2000 per annum to keep open, besides about £1800 spent in improving soft places— facine work, and sand carted on to the thickness of from Sin to 7in, And every winter settlers paying enormous prices for stores— per ton for carriage; in some cases more. It would have been cheaper for the country had the railway been started to keep pace with the settlement; and it would be cheaper now to build the railway or metal the road—it is folly to go on tinkering with facine and sand when settlement is so far advanced. No doubt hopes were at one time built on the Wanganui River, and may in a measure account for the waste of time and money in repairing and tinkering instead of metalling. KOA1), RAILWAY, AND SETTLEMENT. As to the bearing of co-operative road works and the improved farm settlement of Wkaneamomona on the Ohura country, there is no question that this labour colony, although not a success in the matter of placing people on the land, has been the means of opening up the country and pushing ihe" Wild along in a way that would not have taken place in the ordinary course of settlement. So much has been now done, the road is constructed so far, land in the King Country has been surveyed and in process of survey— more must be done to complete the opening up of Crown lands, so that the country at large should reap a benefit. Desirable settlers will notface oU or 40 or more miles of road which is no road at all during the winter. _ If the railway were well in prospect it is not unreasonable to say that the back country of Taranaki would be rushed by the settler who is wanted, the man with capital and experience. There has been too much in New Zealand of the policy of roads following tip settlementwe want the road first. I'HK RIGHT SYSTEM. As to the co-operative works and the improved farm settlements, we want the settler who looks for nothing but a "fair field and no favour." Under the co-opera-tive works scheme he does not get that. Government regulations and red tape enclose him in Portland' cement; why, for two years on the Ohura road works men were bound down to only earn 6s a day, and for nine months of that time (when election time was a long way off) 6s a day for five days a week—a maximum of 30s, and stores at high rates. Matters are better now, but only after a struggle and worry with the Department. The co-operative works were begun with the very best intentions, but like other good intentions have not been carried out. It was said the poor man was to get the contractors' profits. He did at first for about a year—now these profits go to an army of inspectors. Prices were at first for the navvy double what they are now. Co-operative works were intended to help the settler. Till rows were kicked up, the settler in Taranaki was simply shunted for men from all parts of New Zealand, and almost all parts of the world—arid shunted for the improved farm settler who was paid to work on his own land, and then cleared out when rent was talked about. A POLITICAL MACHINE. The co-operative works have become a huge political machine, in which the last man to be considered is the workman. It might be a grand system under tip-top management; but while human nature is what it is (with the trail of the serpent on it), co-operative works will become more and more a convenient medium for dispensing loaves and fishes to those of " good colour." The Ohura road works have been the scene from time to time of bitterlyfought out battles between settlers and officials; unfortunately it is the case that officials come in for abuse for measures which they are simply carrying out as officers obeying orders. The Britisher likes to see the best man win—under the co-operative works plan merit does not count. And be it remembered, that, for the back blocks settler,' Government is the chief if not the only employe! of labour; he has little option or chance of other work for a few