THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1908. THE RAINS AND THE ROADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13694, 10 March 1908, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1908. THE RAINS AND THE ROADS.

The timely rains which have broken up the drought and quenched de- , structive fires have also made our Northern roads generally impassable. Wherever the roads are suitably formed, bridged and metalled the rains are an unmixed blessing, but throughout the immense' areas where our roads are only formed and indifferently culverted the passing of the dry weather ha: thrown our settlers into that indus' trial isolation which may last unti the summer comes again. This is not only an intolerable hardship to the country population thus affectej but is ah unmistakable criticisn upon the effectiveness of our administrative methods. It has been frequently said that a civilisation is to be known by the degree of perfection attained in means of communication. Judged by this stand,arr!i ; our . civilisation is small indeed. We are ton * ' 1. >- ing that " to make the re' to bridge the ford" is the first industrial mission of British civilisers in the heathen lands. India has been covered by a network of railways and roads. Africa is being threaded by the Cape to Cairo line, which was conceived in the brain of Cecil Rhodes, and is being herring-boned by well-made roads that are the feeders of the advancing railway system. Even Russia has driven a great railway line across Northern Asia and has striven to road Siberia in connection with a voluntary and compulsory system of settlement. And in the South Island there are not only railways in every wellsettled district and in many unsettled districts, but splendid roads which make the railways available to settlers. In the North, > however, our country is still in that barbaric stage of development which must be expected where the Government sits at the receipt of Custom, gathers into its treasury the heavy taxes imposed by the State, and makes no adequate effort to fulfill its duty as a Directory of Public Works. As far as a great part of Auckland province is concerned, particularly the i North of Auckland, Macadam might \ never have been born and Stephen- j son might be a mere myth. The ] roads are only roughly-formed tracks ; cut into the uncovered clays : and railways bear no relation whatever to the urgent needs of the public. In the summer time there is little to complain of, for then the dry clay road makes easy travelling, creeks and rivers shrink to trickling rivulets, and the heavy grades are cm countered at their best. But with

the falling of the rains all this is altered. It is absolutely impossible for those, who have never seen our unmetalled Northern roads, or who have only traversed them during dry weather, to conceive the condition to which the rains speedily reduce them, and in which they remain throughout the winter mouths. They become bogs, quagmires, morasses, indescribable. Wheeled traffic becomes generally prohibited. Horses can only struggle along their edges under the guidance of skilful riders, for in many places they would sink to the girths or even out of sight. Much of the climatic advantage of the Northern Peninsula and of other desirable parts of the province is lost because there is no means of conveying produce to market. The rains which make the grasses grow and the whole country fertile lock down industry and cheek progression because of the failure of the Administration to solve the road difficulty.

Sir Joseph Ward could not traverse now the route he followed with ease and facility some weeks ago. It lias been closed behind him as completely and effectively as the Antarctic Ocean closed behind the retreating Nimrod. Even as things were, the Premier was nearly caught by the embargo laid upon travelling by the autumnal rains—yet we venture to say that he cannot realisein the remotest degree the present state of the roads he came over, whether he travelled them with ease or with increasing difficulty. If the Ministers of our Cabinet—or, better still, all the members of our Parliament—could be started to-day on a journey through the North, it would be a severe trial to their endurance and patience, but would be the making of the North. Parliament would meet three months late, but when it met there would be a unanimous agreement that the first thing to be done by the Department ,of Public Works was the redemption of that most uromisine country from

the isp which befalls it annually, P r the larger part of the year. [Joseph Ward has stated that government intends to devote } amounts to the making of I'd but unless a sound and cora pjsive policy is outlined and adoptouch of the money spent w j]] frittered away.. What is want? that roads and railways shoul regarded as co-operating facte l a general scheme of internlnmumcation. To form and gracP-ds without metalling them does modify the winter position in Appreciable measure. The se t«vants metalled roads whereverl'o is sufficient traffic to justfhe cost of metalling, and to obfjinetal he must have a railway' carry it. From a railway poi'f view alone the Helensville Nofard is deserving of the enere mpport of the Government, for it j, its way, which is more than cap said for a number of lines to eh the Government is devoted. F r , a road-making point of view, thtpid continuation of the Helensvij Northward is imperative, foj only as it, is pushed ;l l; can the roads it will fcnbe metalled and made availa| for winter as well as for sumin use. The North of Auckland oit to be the stronghold of winter dying. There is no industrial ison, other than the absence of ids, why its dairies should not be yked all the year round, for its jlsses hardly cease growing, and ry little ' artificial feeding would fep its herds in condition throughit the winter. In the present state /the roads, however, it is generally ipossible to keep butter factories inning economically during the let months, which is a distinct loss J) the country as a whole, as well 3 to the individual settlers, and in iairying is only an illustration of he effects of its roadlessness. Every Industry suffers, all settlement is tampered, social as well as commercial interests are quite unnecessarily paralysed. There ought to be no difference of opinion, based on partisan sympathies, upon the great Northern road question. The roads are not there, whatever else the Government may or may not have done ; the railway is not being carried forward as rapidly as a dozen much less desirable .constructions, and it does not matter what Administration attends to the matter so long as it is promptly and energetically attended to. Every citizen who has the interest of the province and of the colony at heart must recognise that we have a right to demand administrative attention to this most legitimate claim, and that no member of Parliament is entitled to the confidence of a Northern constituency, who does not loyally use the legitimate power entrusted to him to compel Government whatever the Government may be — to do more than promise reform.