LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. HOW THE GOVERNMENT TREATE SETTLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14299, 19 February 1910, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

HOW THE GOVERNMENT TREATE SETTLERS.

Kindly ft How me ['spkcta"- in yoiitf'fvl • *»lumns to draw attention ito the! ■ the Government in connection proposed bridge over the OngariiietKivei' -fJt,£ % Taumarunui. Three years ago tile .iobvefi3w men voted money for the erection bridge, and they have continued doing ho r - each year - since; : but so far nothing has V been spent and - 'no •. work : done! , Tms ■ all along been looked upon ' as": ; . a'' pioneer ' work, ' winch the Government must- undertake. The bridge"would' give access to a : ; :large , amount ■' of . unoccupied Crown land and national . endowment..settlement, (66-yesir lease) land, only recently; taken; up.- Owing to : the undevelopedstate : of -the district, and the total *' absence of roads and 'bridgea, i w|S and the presence of a.■ great quantity of native land, _ the question of : asking local authorities to contribute '. to tbsijpg undertaking was never once mentioned. You can judge, then,--- of. : the surprise created when the-.Estimates were published, allotting £1000 for the Ongarue bridge, on the basis of £2 for £1. You are aware vfcj that renewable ' lease .' settlers are already ?■- < sufficiently handicapped with the tenure of : .'q their land without having this sort of thing put upon them .wit-b'O ,six pjpnths of taking ■ .'| up their land. Also, the fact that such land V ; is already y heavily loaded "in the original J upset value of the,', land, - for the' express puroose of providing the 'means 'for giving access- by roads ' and-bridges. ,' Mr. Jennings, speaking -in Taumarunui during • the Parliament was sitting, . said that he/hact discussed the matter with the Minister for|;':S; Public Works, and he obtained' a* definite - • promise that the Government . would buUilSkJ the *;■ bridge themselves. Tlie whole : thing-:! looks ' like a miserable niece of with the object of shelving the matter «l*»together. It is difficult to . imagine the Minister in / charge . is-in earnest. Taumarunui Town Council" Wtotild • also ,to ; :be ■;.' a contributing surely, everyone knows - enough of 'the poeition of . these • King Country native to^ihipe|yM ; M!& understand that this is unreasonable. How can tenants of a Maori' ; wiffi® short term leases, who are uftable to provide, themelves with the commonest of municipal ■ requirements, owing, ts;t)W; tenure of their ||5? land, ■be expected to . ito works of this description* ? «p«iaWr-;at! it wDI. eventually be used; thtyt-Maori land- ;/ lords as ; a means their rMjfct; at the : next valuation -of foe township H. &JWpsfa*ko,i®®§ t Secretary Taumafuijlii .Chamber of ; ;; ! - ■ JrC^ywj..,-* ' .:-V Y;' \ ' ■ ■ ■ ;'j- ■ ■ •••hJC'-JT ~

MR. FOWLDS AND ' THE f CAPTAIN '■ p I . - KNYVETT CASE. . iiiiiM

Sir, lam prepared to answer to Par- ;;; liameut and 'my ; constituents' 1 ; for ; what tISSM have done." Thus *•- Mr. Fowlds •in : reply to;" £ Mr. Parr at""the. Captain Knyyetl deputa-p> ■tion. I seem : to' 1 remember a similar iaseh-: ■ sate ; subterfuge at the time-, of the 1 Te Oranga disgrace;• ? Can ; the man riot comprehend that if he" Resists at legislation detrimental to', our. f public equities he (is not''trf' responsible I: to? 'Parliament -, and// his • j constituents- alone;' but' to every - jiving i human being ol - - ouri-; Dominion?;' £ This common . refuge .of tfte T 'inept had better be . removed, and i the ' ; sooner such shallow • twaddles are, ■ v amended ;ihe sooner will Te Oranga/ and y->i. Captain ;■ Kivvett monstrosities ♦be f•rsre&SMfigS . V J W. 8., Te Ktjitl , : t^M| _, . / THE BOY SCOUTS. ; 'if 13 Sir,—l have failed to see; any - mention in all>;. the arrangements for Lord ; JKitchener's "• visit ■of ;•' the f inspection ? of % -ffotglSi. -bojr;:flCoitts •; in conjunction with the f cadet j corps. :■ Is.-' it " not '-al ! pity that this hard- ? .working,, junior 1 branch -of the service ; should he, left out in. such a' great military display j. j as ; vit-'■'as' will ;•{ be. The thoroughly '- r de'san r e.aljL the eiteouif a^mbnfcmMpossible. : Tbtik •; Bbivon*. ?;• J. - : ■TIMBER AN THE BUILDING TRADEi j; • Sir,—ln my letter regarding the. use cl j , ■ inferior and; unsuitable • timbers; for building purposes I'-•I apparently did ; not make mjr meaning} sufficiently " 'clear, or Mr. MoCou , has' not grasped it. : ;;Kahikat:ea may be good enough j/for- shelving 'and; such : like $ work,. but my • experience. is/ffikt; its want of dur- i < abilitv,'lseadew for-. f work: Had. tint condih6n ; ; of "the kahikatoti taken out ;of a " building Bome' s 'lirtle 1 vi'fiik' Back" 1 fool Eure he would, -.. .have " agreed., with me. I am a great admirer of kauri, but being *o does not? render ' me oblivious to"! its V; weak points. One of these is its want of durability in positions, ; and that is why 1 maintain; it ia unsuitable -for-' fencing; in fact, I will g<» further, ■.'and'' say that whoever uses iti.for such a purpose is both J wasting money md a good i timber. ; As there are two pints at ;"leißfr'G;#hs^' : bring higher prices than tho -best k&uri'Jfc■: can ; hardly ;be held, to; be "unsurpassed on .the-world's market," good as it is. V"I * also join > ilsiie with ; Mr. McpnUfr';;, when he speaks of .the;--" limitless durability" ■ of totara.; ! Some totara \is durable, some is not; but in any s'case' totara is not by means the ;most",' durable timber knowh. to l man,'-. and to speak ; any.timber ; whatever. ' as pdssessed of -A' llmltidsf durability" ;Is - .sheer nonsense. ; • Mr;~*Mc<Snl ■? speaks of th* _l. Australian market and the probable . pansion of trade 'for foitf% timbers, but'->-%»J|.^| :■ ne know, the^trside; New Zealand has wifcn 111 t Australia is chiefly due to the: fact that our .; ; timbers pay a much', lower duty in the Commonwealth than do tho»fe irom the Vnited •; States of America? In return for this con- - cession we charge four times as much '>» , Australian timbers as . thev charge' on ours, and also put a-ipceial addition ofSC'ptr : cent. railage on from the monwealth. Should Australia at +tiy . bring tho rates on America* slid New Z^»f, & land timbers \ into j. line, instead iw :y fft iti' J creased V_.be'. a-Mavy, *«di,!,§iS serious reduction. , J. A. Etiiß. ; ;• n 5 THE AUCKLAND STREETS. vj t ,p ?aK r Sir,—References ''are ' continually being ; ''',' < made to the g*oat progrqss of Auckland, but' y: ; in oho,'thing it has certainly hot in' any ; way ; improved "during recent- yearSj atid ' -is . in'.; its.i streets,. -.We have the, «ame anti- ; quated macadam. and use' the same class of .- inferior material \to ' ptoduoe, ;; if > possible, more v dust than ; ever. I believe a*; few or the city • councillors have i been out of ' Auck- -«•£ - land, some even out of; New. Zealand/' and t these must surely have ' both heard of and >;K»| seen other systems of .roadmaking . than our present one of soft stone*macadam. It can-;: -;■: not oven be claimed the present method ; Is. i . cheap, as where traffic is heavy macadam has in all up-to-date towns been abandoned V ;| on account of excessive cost. ; Ppssibly it ii f?& a • feeling •of egotism which makes our-city fathers use stone in preference to better and >|f: more up-to-date materials.. ;J. .0;' JOSAS. , viC,- z&i : v-; ANNIVERSARY" REGATTA. '-.Sir,—it r has been rumoured th»t the i i^te|pj^ land Anniversary dacontradict this" error? Unfyrtunatclv, th» coihmittee-werb unable a fugwiip; for that day, although, e*cry nioans known • were ' tried; i :A- • $ owners of every steamer in , 'out avail..; The TJnionft'&team. .s*>"; . ■ panv would have givpri: the ,8;*;' Tofua, on account of the' coal 'strike .'in Australia i she •' was compelled to work da;? ! and night loading up 1000 tons of coal, /which dolayed the departure- for nearly day*. n Apart from the flagship ~th® regatta was one of ; the rilcxst : succ«*sful ever j, - held in , Auckland. ? The ; racing was first i'! class, ' the. yachts under, a strong " north-eaeb j 1 wind • v?ere;- handled in -a" seamanship-like •; manner. Captain Da Costa, the Commander ( 7 of • H.M.S. Challenger, complimented • tha .-, ( committee on their management under very ... , trying circumstances, the. : officials , being .j ;. cooped hp on a little tub and exposed '..tov; ; ['■ the weather. He kindly offered the uso,of . his fine ship to start, tho racesviroro^atta^ , ho also , paid high tribute to-the ® B ;; : , : a whole, 'and said he never witnessed bettor. : . In spite of the loss of the flasfship, -he-eom-:« ; mitt-e paid over £280 in prize money alone, besides paying all other expend leavmg . a small baTance to, carry .forward z°»K| vear. As for the. Royal New Zealana Yacht Squadron taking the matter in hand, '■ it strikes •me they already have their hands v j full 'but any member who is a worker W»il >. be 'gladly welcomed by . the committee to;j>> assist them in the next year's function. Great thanks are duo to the two warships; who contributed so lately to the success of the 1910 regatta, as they.gave a splendid display with their ; rowing ■ and' tt sailing con-jg tests. -In conclusion, I take the opportunity ■ of, thanking : the : subscribers and . business people for their most hearty and most geuor-; t ous response in donating so cheerfully ' h^jjs: > wards the eld-time Anniversary RegaiU. Long may the flag fly. '•. . ' 'v - ' V, Amhspj SrKxcER, % Jt!>, - Hon. TreaW 'Auckland - 'Anniversary Regatta; ; ? > - l r r , S-V