THE NORTH COUNTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13950, 5 January 1909, Page 6

THE NORTH COUNTRY.

ALONG RAILWAY ROUTES.

A LAND OF PROMISE.

The more on© sees of the great country north of Auckland, the more its fascination grows. It is country totally distinct and different from all the rest of New Zealand, and some day, when the best methods have been put into practice for the treatment of its soils, it will be the most denselypopulated area, in the Dominion, but it is certain that this can only happen under a freehold system of land tenure. The freehold, and the freehold alone, will make that country rich with harvest, and no leasehold system under the K»m will bring the territory to its full producing capacity. The reason is not far to eeek; if the country is to be anything, it will be a country of small holdings, and the sentiment of the freehold is the spur which will cause the application of that patient industry that will ultimately make the North of Auckland one great fruitful garden. In other parts of the Dominion there are some strange ideas about this territory. It is quite common belief in the South Island that North Auckland is wild jungle country, inhabited by Europeans only along the fringes of waterways, while quite a f strong idea is that the country north of Auckland is of such small extent that, anywhere in it one is in sight of the sea on both coasts. It may come as a mild surprise, therefore, to some people, to learn that exclusive of the portions of Eden County, north of the city, and, undeveloped as it is for the most part, there is a population of just on 53,000 Europeans and 10,500 Maoris in North Auckland and the Government valuation of land and improvements, excluding Eden County, totals close on £5.000.000.

It is this country that is to bo opened up by the extension of the North Auckland section of the Main Trunk railway, and whatever the line may be now, it i* destined, beyond all doubt, to be one of ■the best paying sections in the Dominion. Progress has been very slow. There are men living at Maungatauroto to-day who joined a railwav league 30 years ago to urge the extension of the line up through the heart of North Auckland. Of course hope ran high then, and it was confidently believed that the line would be through to tidal waters at Mangomti or Hokianga long before this. Still the works are creeping on apace, and Maungatauroto people are now confident they will hear the whistle of the locomotive in their beautiful valley ere many years have passed. Recent rains have again damaged those treacherous banks and cuttings on the Wayby-Wellsford. section, and a good deal of packing and filling has been necessitated. The opening to Wollsford, 72 miles from Auckland, will happen about the middle of January, Beyond Welleford, again, there is a 22-chain cutting, which has caused a lot of trouble, but the work is being rushed on in order to proceed with the track-laying, and so carry service material forward on the Te Hana section. Generally speaking the formation of the Wells-ford-Te Hana. section is practically completed. It passe* through some hungry looking gum land, but not the worst of gum land by any moans, and quite evidently capable of good results under close cultivation. At Te Hana, there is to be aa bridge across the stream of the same name, and that work has been let by contract. So far the bridge has not been commenced owing to delay in arrival of material. There is to be a siding run down, hero to Te Hana Wharf, where the fruitgrowers of the rich orchard district of Port Albert will land their produce on the railway truck for consignment to Auckland or Wellington. The formation of that siding is completed. At some future time, if considered desirable, a siding of two miles will bring the. railway in close touch with navigable waters 30lt deep at low tide, thus tapping the Kaipara trade. Whether that water route would he preferred to the present one to Holensville, however, is a matter for future consideration.

BayonH Te Hana is the Kaiwaka action. Up to t,iio Mainene Stream the earthwork is well in hand. There is nothing of an i extraordinary nature about it ; in fact, the formation from the middle of the Te Hana ! section to the Mainene Stream is of comparatively easy character. There is some very fine country lyi* - in towards the line. just here, but the gum land characteristics still largely prevail, and there are many thousands of acjps of native land lying idle in the vicinity. Between Mainene Stream and the Topunj Stream there is a -crowned saddle, which has to be tunnelled for a length of 16 chains, with a heavy cutting at each end. The cutting work is well in hand, and the tunnel has been driven three chains at the.northern end. There the line emerges into the valley of the Topuni which is of enormous extent, and at this point, 79 miles from Auckland, the railway is sure to lead to a verv extensive settlement. The route then takes through banks and cuttings to Kaiwaka, 84 miles from Auckland, opening up wide tracts of very good country as yet but partially settled, and much of it is still under the shadow of native ownership. The station buildings have been erected at Kaiwaka, and the banks and cuttings are well in hand. It is about a mile beyond this, just under Rous' Hill, and in sight of the beautiful kauri-clad Pukekaroro Mountain, 900 ft high, that the works have been suspended pending a decision respecting the battle of the routes, which, unfortunately, is being waged between the eastern and western districts. The route adopted by engineering authorities leads under Ross' Hill and then round the base of Pukekaroro Mountain, and thence in a fairly straight line to McCarroll's Gap, - following up through iUararetu, in the vicinity of Maungatapere and Maungakaramea, to the end of the Tangihua Ranges and Tangiteroria, where : it touches the waters of the Northern Wairoa, that great river which is navigable for a total distance "f 90 miles. From Tangiteroria onwards towards Hokianea there is no defined route as yet. The residents of Bickerstaffo, Paparoa, Matakohe, and Tokatoka districts are advocating a deviation to t/he west- of Ross' Hill, skirting the Kaiwaka tidal waters, to Bickerstaffe Estate, and thence across to the Otamatea iviver, that stream to be crossed by a bridge, and the line being then led back" through Paparoa district to McCarroll's Cap. The arguments for and against either route would fill a book. For each it is claimed that it will tap the boat country and the most settlement. The supports of the deviation urge the point about tue connection with deco water at the Ota.natea River, while the supporters of the central mute, as that round Pukekaroro Mountain is generally termed, consider that theirs is the more direct trail to the Hokianga, that it will open un great areas of rich country in the Tara direction, and that it will confer immeasurable benefit on the eastern districts by doing away with the present dependence upon a number of bar harbours, which are impracticable in easterly weather, all inlets between Whangarei and Mahurangi being affected in this manner. Moreover, say the advocates of the central route, the westerly deviation would take the line awav from Waipu and alongside deep water, where the railway could never compete with the cheap water freights to Helensville, in which competition at present is so keen that passengers are being, carried from Dargaville to Helensville at Is per head.