LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14301, 22 February 1910, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE ROAD QUESTION.

. Sir, This is a red-hot question in tho Taumarunui electorate, and in the North Island generally. Various Governments have tried to grapple it at close quarters. On one occasion, in 1882, the Ministry of the day, when lormulating their local go« vernmonf scheme, sent out 385 circular! to t county councils and road boards. The Government found itself in the position of an artist who placed his picture in the marketplace, inviting suggestions for its . improvement. He found his picture would bo unrecognisable if ho. attempted the suggestions sent him. Now, a good road mean* a lot to settlers. It improves the properties, on both sides, and signifies cheap produce and personal comfort, economy of time, as well as economy of means.

Government are interested in the question. because it gives a value to Grown lands. The question is more complicated ill the North Island. as most of the counties and road boards are poor. .They have not had he endowments that were so lavvJily bestowed on local bodies in the South. in the good old days of provincialism. Then a xain, owing to the native owners possessing in some districts the greater portion of the land and paying no rates, tin? local bodies, particularly iii ncwly-settledi. outlying districts, have been kept in an impoverished state. This is where the she;' pinches, and South Islanders cannot understand the position until they live in the North Island for a few years. So far as the main roads are concerned, I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that a Government should maintain them, particularly when no railways are'formed. The change adopted by the present Government of placing on local bodies, like the newly-formed . Ohura, Waitcmo, Kawhia, Whangamomona Counties, the responsibility of contributing towards the? erection of bridges, like the one over the Ongarue into Taumarunui, and to rate themselves for maintaining and metalling main roads, like the Ongarue-Matiere-Mangaroa-To Kuiti-Awakino, Pirorigia, Kawhia, ana other such like roads, is unjust, and I do not wonder at the outburst recently all round. ' Wit. .T. JENNINGS. .

ROTORUA TROUT. Referring to your remarks in the Supplement of the Herald on 12th inst. re the unhealthy state of the trout in Rotorua lake, it appears to me the unhealthy trout, , and the' disease which is/ so prevalent!.;, amongst them are due to the , spawning ot weak and unhealthy fish, and the destruction of the large fish, which arc the scaven- " gers.. A very large percentage of the spawn of the best-conditioned fish that go up the rivers' to breed will not turn into strong and healthy fish. The only way in which these weak and unhealthy fry were destroyed in the first place was by. the big trout , in the lake, and .even if the unhealthy;/; fry hatched each ; year lived for a year of so, eventually they became the prey of the big trout; the big trout were cleaned out by netting; and minnow trolling, with the result, instead of the -unhealthy fry -Ijeirig destroyed, they lived, and soon, went up the rivers to breed, and their progeny did likewise, and so it has been going on from bad to worse for some years. : ; . t: There are no eels in any of the lakes or i rivers of the Hot Lakes district. In most ;, of the New Zealand rivers the eels act as scavengers; in fact, it is only the best and strongest fry and trout that can escape * them. They are the greatest : obstacle in . the way of stocking rivers, with trout. It is duo to' this cause that a diseased or unhealthy fish ;is seldom, if over, found . in. rivers or lakes infested with eels, because the trout l must be strong, vigorous, and active to s. escape the eel. This - applies- to both rainbow and brown trout. There are no eels or any other kind of fish , to prey y upon the trout in the lakes and rivers, in the Hot Lakes district, and, therefore, the' trout must become their own scavengers if food is not too plentiful. As the fish decreased in. size the food became" more and : more plentiful, and the trout more and ■ morev lazy, until the 'present state of affairs has been reached.

V The majority of the Rotorua fish taken ara in bad condition and most unhealthy, whilst a portion are not fit for food. The stoppage of the mouth of the rivers should takey place at once to prevent ' any' fish, ex-. cept. ' the best picked fish, passing up -to spawn. This is" the first step towards getting the Rotorua fishing back to what y'ifc; was. April is too late to block the rivers,, but only a small quantity of fish should be passed J through' the ' barrier '; into the rivers. for spawning purposes. Too much crowding; in the rivers is a '-mistake.. All bad-co ditioned and unhealthy -.fish taken should be destroyed (and the more '.the / better);...the; lake/should be closed for, say, two or three seasons to 'allow the best fish in the lake to grow into big fish, and in three years the fry; hatched this year (from the sorted }fish)/; should grow into finefish. ;: These fish * would soon : reduce i the food" supply,. and then'; they will begin 'to prey upon each other. ' Ask any curator of a rainbow' hatchery what >.. would; ." happen .- if he - stopped feeding •' fry for two days, or even a'. ■ day; he would tell you if the fry had not y been very carefully sorted, to separate they; small / from the large, that , large numbers of- the fry - would ■. disappear, having been ,; eaten by the larger fry; but even * if they were all the same size, . lie ; would ;• tell. you'• the hatchery-would'suffer, a fair ' loss, owing ;to the fish fighting; and chasing each;otheri for food, ."many succumbing - to, their wounds,y; to be eaten by/, those that lived. '/' One word re Taupo.', Fishermen who have fished there during the last . three ' years 'have . told mo that most surely the■ trout ,are fast decreasing -in size, and■ ; this year there are .a; few "unhealthy fish; to be seen, and as the rainbow - decrease in size; there will .be less scavengers, and the whole of the fishing will fast deteriorate. The ,taking of .the big fish in May when they are on the /way-/. to spawn should be stopped. /' The. season- should riot, be open for fishing in May. The ' spinning and - netting by the natives during close season should be stop- . ped, i and every /means «taken' to , foster the growth of big fish; / and apart from y the question of the condition and „ quality of the 1 fish, the anglers ' always go -to the 1 place where they think there is a big 24-, pounder to be caught.vT would not. suggest s putting eels in V the lakes: t.hcy'migh: do. good at first, but eventually they would do a great, deal of harm. The, Government lash year blocked the rivers, and commenced throwing out the unhealthy fish, but the blocking was left till too late, and large numbers of fish of all kinds were in til© rivers before the blocking took place. Great, care should be taken to prevent any fish going up the rivers except those sorted,_ and to make absolutely certain of this the rivers * should l>e blocked at once. . 'llie work of sorting should begin sin April, • or, iinmedi- ■ atelv the fish begin to nass up to spawn, y Cecil A. Whitney. -

THE CITY ELECTRICAL SCHEME.

Sir,—Glad was I to, sec in Saturday's pape*; an article on "Harnessing Water Power" by such an authority as S. Irwin Crooks, t. -**ii A.M.1.E.!'., F.C.S., giving Mr. P. S. Hav's; ? M.1.C.E., " Huka Falls schcmo" prominence* relatively «to Auckland. Mr. Wylic'.s (oif. Mr. Richardson's) scheme, published somes time back', is a splendid scheme for suchtowns as Birmingham and Manchester, where water power is not available, but Mr. * Wylio must now eater for a country where ; water power is running to waste. Is it lack of knowledge on Mr. Wylie's part, oil ' "hydro-electric stations," that has led. him ~ to leave water power severely alone, and acb • vocate a scheme that might, do justice ttf his last station in Walloon, England? i-Wittf^-:\\f a steam station the chief disadvantages are: First, the great consumption, of coal, with; .■ which we must consider the strikes, lockouts, etc., that may give rise to increased* '; price; secondly, the limited mount o£ power, increased only at considerable ex- -'v pease; thirdly, an expensive upkeep. Thus -, the current is generated at a very high price - per unit. '■• Let us , credit the Iluka Falls scheme with such advantages? as cheap and : ' inexhaustible • water power, • with, a limit of . about 80,000 horse-power, upkeep compara- *< tively small, able to supply ;. settlements.- . along the line of mains with light and power, thus returning a profit even before reaches the city. It must be remembered, that such a station might cost more to instal, but the upkeep is less, likewise tha cost of the current per unit. Auckland lias* - been named the city of "The Schemes that Failed" relative to harbour management, but let the City Council. and public well lyul deeply consider' before they venture upon an extensive and expensive scheme, involving as this" does a-quartor of a million pounds, based 011 the opinion of men who perhaps have had little or 110 experience in hydro-electric generation, and a.. scheme which, if a failure, would bo a very heavy millstone about this city's neck. Before attempting to float this loan, ' let lis hear tho opinions of engineers on both schemes,""and ' £<.;• let' the people decide by vote 011 which" scheme they are prepared to. float a loan. Multiphase Generator. .