UNDESIRABLES IN THE NORTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14932, 4 March 1912, Page 8

UNDESIRABLES IN THE NORTH

TROUBLE AT MAUNGATTJROTO.

According to the story told by a settler of the district to a Herald representative yesterday, the peace of the township of Maungaturoto has been rudely disturbed of late.

Tho Kaipara railway line is now being constructed through Maungaturoto, and the settler states that tho residents of the district are up in arms against th,o Labour Department, owing to tho characters of some of the men sent there on free railway passes to be employed on the works. A number of tho men, he said, were discharged prisoners, who had served sentences, and some of these men were continually creating trouble.

Thero was only < one constable in the district, and ho was having a strenuous time in order to keep a semblance of order. The greatest trouble was that the constable was continually coming to Auckland in charge of prisoners, and thus leaving the district practically unprotected during his absence.. In spite of the constable's efforts, tho settler proceeded, drunkenness was rife in the district, and settlers were often rudely disturbed at night. Thero were two hotels in the district, but the men also obtained beer in fivo and six gallon kegs, and there was a continual supply of beer in the camps. There wero certainly many respectable men in tho camps, but tho settlers strongly protested against a certain class that the Government had sent on free passes to the district. The settlers were of opinion that unless the Labour Department, exercised more care in tho selection of the men they sent to tho works, the Justice Department would have to provide greater police supervision to protect the district from disorder.