PATETONGA DRAINAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19405, 13 August 1926, Page 12

PATETONGA DRAINAGE.

TROUBLES OF SETTLERS. i INQUIRY BY COMMISSION. » —: . SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION. [by teleo paph.—special' reporter. ] WELLINGTON. Thursday. The appointment- of. a commission to investigate Patetonga's grievances in regard to drainage was announced in the House of Representatives to-day by the Minister oi Lands, Hon. A. D. McLeod, who also stated" that the order of reference would cover only the Patetonga. riding of the Hauraki Plains County, from which most of the complaints from settlers had proceeded. The commission will consist of Mr. Alexander Sutherland, retired farmer, of Whakatanei, and formerly of Rangitaiki, Mr. F.-W.. Walters, farmer and ex-chair-man of the Piako County Council, and Mr. -G. T, Murray,: formerly inspectingengineer to the Public Works Department. Commenting on the appointments the Minister said Mr. Murray was not to be regarded as a public servant from the Lands Department point of view. He had had a* wide experience of drainage problems and was well known throughout the Dominion. -The other two members had been farmers, on swamp lands practically, all their lives and one had bsen chairman of' a county next door to the area, concerned. The order of reference, said the Minister, was practically ready. The commission would be asked to deal with the Patetonga area only. In justice to the settlers ho could not set the conimissiota free to inquire into the wrongs, real or imaginary, of the whole district because many of the conditions could not be remedied by his department. " A Great Disappointment." Mr. T. W. Rhodes (Thames): Does the order, of reference cover, the Patetonga riding only ? • ' • \ ■ The Minister: Yes. ■ Mr. Rhodes : That is a great disappointment to me. The Minister's announcement-was made following the presentation of the annual I report on Hauraki Plains drainage. . Speaking to the motion that the report be printed Mr. Rhodes urged that special attention be given to flax growing projects, and expressed a hope that the commission would be given a wide order of reference in order that it might consider this and other masters of importance to the Hauraki Plains. , Sir. A. M. Samuel, (Ohinemuri) asked that the order of reference be made to include reading. He said many of the settlers considered that the County Coun-i cil in the days of its youth and'inexperience had been'trapped by officers of the department, who had persuaded it to take over the maintenance of the roads. : The Minister: No, I do not admit that. Jf there was any trapping it was the Other way about. ■ Mr. Samuel said the matter should be investigated • by. the commission in order that the latter might be "given an opportunity .to. say, whether, in its .opinion .the original proposals of the department ought to be carried out.- »• It should also be empowered to the,;,problem of noxious weeds on • abandoned sections. < 'Discontent, Exaggerated. . : The Minister said an attempt, he'would pot.,'say a wilful one, .had been made to convey the, idea that there was more discontent among settlers in the Hauraki Plains area than actually existed. There were difficulties, he would admit, but many of them had been unavoidable. In order to clear up a number of these it had been decided to appoint a commission. The department recognised , they- must ; be got over in a fair way and one satisfactory to 'the settlors. •There was no general discontent such as . had existed'-in other swamp areas and he saw no need for a wide order of reference. As lately as May ,29 he bad been approached by the chairman of the Hauraki Plains County Council .and others, the chairman- saying that the, majority of the settlers were- fairly well content ."and that they appreciated the department's, change of attitude. They, .asked, him to , bury the hatchet. : / ' Mr. Samuel: The chairman was not denying the just claims of the Patetonga settlers. ; ' * '. • The Minister .said that .so v far, as, r<iv cerned the suggestion that "the .settlers had been (rapped the conditions under which*- thO'' lands were> 'thrown open had been,,perfectly .well known, as were the works proposed, to be carried put.-. He was seeking the opinion of unbiassed men in the hope-of getting' a fair decision. He had no wish to crucify the* man on the land, j, Still, members knew: well that people bad rushed ahead of the Government's drainage scheme and bad paid ridiculous prices for land, Mr. Rhodes: Ridiculous upsets were put- on. i Mr, McLeod: Tdo not know. There may have been, owing to speculation.