LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13612, 4 December 1907, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

■^; m<» _ ~ ,1.:. . ORAKEI CATTLE-LANDING AGAIN. 'Sir,—-In your issue of - .'October 30 appeared -'' a' report oi a meeting ot tbc Auckiauu liar* )', .: :: bout .board,;; at whicn : a letter uomyttfii.':■■■ '• i; Urakci Road Board v. as read, whicu letter.., was a repiy to 0110 received tiora tno Auckland Harbour Board, caning awciiiiou oi uio < ■ UraKci jvoaa Board to tne bad state 01 the*. ' , roaa , leaan.g to tno cattiu lauding, and re- ~ ' ; < questing txiac tile same be repaired, bo tnat ■[> -y. live stock may bo driven to ana : . ironi the'',"'.. :, said cattle landing. Mr. Mucnelson lthcv : chairman), in. epeaidng on tft© matter, :ia " reported to have said that " the .Government had already coutri&uted very libeiallT ;. • tovvaras the cost ot tno road to the Orakei Whari, and ho would move that the Har- - bour .board decline .to enter into any expense tor the road. The Orakei Road Board's territory consisted soieiy of tno Maori reserve, and this was leased by two people—the bulk of it by one' person; ana simply '. to avoid payment oi rates the people of. Urakci\ had ; induced' tho ; Government to : • form tho area into a road district. They V had severed themselves from Rernuera. Had • Orakei still been , part of Remuera, tin* Kemuera Board would havo been obliged" to make tho road.. He (Air. Mitcluuson) had objected to tho' setting up oi the Ofakei ! Road Board, but tho Government had per-; ' mitted it. It was no use asking the, Harbour Board for anything, towards- this road,., ■ for it had already incurred a large expenditure. Ho moved that the Orakei Road! Board bo informed that the Harbour Board - ; declines to expend'any more, money in connection with the road." As Mr. Mitchelson'a statement is utterly incorrect and mislead-' ing to tho general public, I must ask- for space to correct the false impressions made; by him. Mr. Mitchelson states that " Orakei . was leased by two people, the bulk of it , . by one person;" this is incorrect, .as there are seven lessees. With regard to his statement that, in order to avoid payment of rates, tho people of Orakei had induced the Government to form the area into a road •-. district, the following explanation will total-> ly disprove this:—ln the year 189.> the Government renewed the Orakei bridge, and, • as there was no road connecting the Orakei Block with the Kemuera district, I made an." application to the Kemuera Board for a. "'"".. road to bo opened for wheel traffic connecting the Orakei Road with West Tamaki. , The reply * was they had no funds for this ■' purpose. Subsequent applications were met with the samo reply"No funds." About this timo it came to my knowledge that : about £150 (accumulated road rates on the \ Orakei Biock) had been paid by the Go- , vernment to the Remuera Board, which sum should have been spent on' a road leading; ' .: to, or through, the Oraflcei Block, and this' ' I urged should be done in justice to thai Maori owners of the > Orakei Block, and, a* ■'.■■' the Board still ; refused to .comply with" raj;.;, request,''. I /asked/' that the . Oralce-i .Block; ■ should be separated from Kemuera, to which * . the Kemuera. Board readily agreed, and the separation was gazetted on June 15, 190J,-at-' .: which time the Orakei road district cam 4 * into existence. Since then the Orakei Roaa.. Board have . done" good work in forming and,! metalling/ roads through this district,- as - Mr. Munro Wilson, C.E., can testify, i Con- .*, : corning the cattle .'; landing, and the - road ■ - leading to it, the agitation for this necessary work was commenced by the-Auckland Agricultural' Association, at the request of the; :■'; •/; branch associations on the East Coast, and '.'•'; , after some considerable delay i the Auckland:. ; Harbour Board agreed to construct a cattle landing, "on condition'that, the Government v constructed ; the road leading to it. The" : Maoris gave; the land for the road, ' but,- in-" v stead of. the , Government constructing ; tho. 'A: road. at an estimated cost of. £1500, ; the • sum of £750 was granted for the work, on con- '.";-' dition that .tho^;l6it^' v body 7 undertook the ' work. The Oraikei Road Board' was urgedv;V ; :/ by tho Agricultural Association to -accept * ■... tho offer,; which-it reluctantly did, well knowing that the sum voted .was. altogether \ inadequate. Plans f prepared for "the work - by Mr. M. Wilson, 0.E., were approved of by the Government on gineerj and the grant being exhausted- this Board, supported 'by the Auckland. Agricultural Association, made application for another grant of ' money, ' sufficient to complete tho work, which rQ; ':* suited in the small sum of £250 being grant- 1 ed. At this ; time tho cattle landing was ' built, with the space of a chain between it and the road" at high water mark. As Mr, Mitchelson (on behalf of the Harbour Board), "". r refused to make certain necessary alterations- ;. on; tho outer, too. of the wharf unless the. Orakei Road- Board extended the wharf to , high -; water""'' to ' connect - with „ the: road,; . the Orakei Road Board reluctantly agreedf''•' to do this work, t which absorbed £125 of .'• the-£,250,' The balance was sgent in com* ,/f pleting the road formation. 'The road forma- ." tion along the beach to the wharf, proved! to, be much _more expensive than the en- r gineers anticipated, as ; heavy I metal had. ta be,imported from , the Tamaki River (in place of the local sandstone,, which' at oner time was considered suitable for the work),;, to protect the. most exposed portions of the road; from the Heavy, sea wash. : The heavy' , rains ,of \ last, autumn -> having i caused ver>.i ; serious landslips at. the entrance, to. the, . wharf, and more or less all along the beach* road, and as the heavyl'seas' were washing? away portions of the beach road, which had . not,.been protected by: a~ necessary wall/-; v v Mr. Wilson's services were in requisition to' make an estimate of the cost of completing the sea-wall, fencing and metalling the road, , removing landslips, putting in necessary col- =" verts, and erecting cattle yards (which are < indispensable), which the r Harbour Board-', refused to erect, and his estimate for completing the work was £1500. Application for ''' this-sum was ,i made to the. .Government by. , ;Mr. Frank Lawry during past session, . but' without ■" success^ > The % foregoing statemont should convince Mr. Mitchelson t!)*fc the Oraikei Road "Board has done its utmost' to carry out this most important work with the limited funds placed at its disposal by the Government, and I tail i to understand why the Orakei Road Board's aoti<>ns should have been so uncharitably criticised, and I hope that in future Mr. Mitchelson will not make any 'assertions concerning" the Orakei ; Road Board and the people of Orakei bun what; aro strictly correct. In conclusion, lefc me add that I ; consider the Harbour Board has been very negligent in the* past in not having made provision-; for' the landing, of livestock away from the busy, thoroughfare ; , of Queen-street. The Board should not forget that the settlers are'- the'mainstay of tli b country, and for that reason should facilitate ! their efforts to bring' their stock and produce to market. But for my recent prolonged absence from home, this matter would ' have received prompt;' attention. ', Thomas OoATtss. *

THE NATIVE BIRD SANCTUARY, LITTLE BARRIER ISLAND., . Sir,—Should any of your readers interested in ornithology desire at ' any . time to ; visit the Little. Barrier Island,- which it- > reserved as<a sanctuary for native birds oi •■ the Dominion, I would ask your pejtnission to warn them against placing themselves in ' i a-false position, such as they would find; ! themselves in if they ventured to ©all at thei ■"•' island in the hope of ; being able to land) there.; The writer has recently discovered,, by disagreeable experience,, that the superintendent of the Tourist Department, undo* whom this necessary ■' sanctuary. * for ' birds • U placed, has ', issued such restricting" . regulations as positively preclude •, the curator exercising any discretion in the matter, audi ho has no other course ■ than to prevent any and every person landing- on the, island'Every person will admit- .necessity tor preserving the native birds from extinction, and will feel grateful 'to Government fop' their efficient, control in - the - matter, but the writer would,: respectfully submit '■', that W"; the present restrictions} arevunnecessarily w " severe, and that a small portion of the fore- '■■•'■ shore on the west side of the island 1 could be opened to the public, without in any way defeating the admirable object aimed '/■'■'■■ l at..; Otherwise, it;is; not easy to see. any- '. educational benefit :to ■ the public in main»" * taining such a-sanctuary. The, island is not inviting as a picnicking resort; indeed, landing '■ anywhere is nearly always/. daugorous, '£■": and it is not * i conceivable > any one would' -V-v think of visiting the island other, than.. few interested in the study of*orhitho'ogy.- / ..--•■ - -f .• ' •'■■"* 0. A* Yorwo. ■"'