THE TRUTH ABOUT ARAPUNI

NZ Truth, Issue 1197, 8 November 1928, Page 6

THE TRUTH ABOUT ARAPUNI

Sensational Disclosures Based On Family Grievances

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Representative.)

The Government of this Dominion has a duty imposed upon it which is more important than electioneering — and that is to sift to the bottom the very grave allegations concerning the safety of the dam at the Arapuni hydroelectric undertaking. , .. ;

T^HE whole country; was amazed — and 1 alarmed — at the' grave statements

made the other day by R7 W. Holmes, a former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department to the effect that the dam was "gravely unsafe . . . and should be emptied and abandoned." • •

Holmes went so far as to charge the Government with "having- gambled with the lives of the people m the lowlying country below the dam and the : best part of £2,000,000 of the people's money m as hazardous a venture as betting on a horse."

He forecasted widespread disaster, and, as a result of his public statements, brought a regular^ tiornets'-nest about his ears.

The sinister feature of the whole affair is. the ulterior motive it would seem that Holmes had m making these grave allegations.

Petty family spite against the Government, for its refusal to redress a business grievance Is at the bottom ofthe whole thing— and this fact alone nullifies anything. Holmes has -had to say about the Arapuni scheme.

In view of all the correspondence, and especially the publication .of the threatening letter sent by Holmes' son to the Hon. J. A. Young, m which the' definite statement was made that unless the grievances were remedied by a certain date the facts about Arapuni would be made known, the -alarmist who madjs the statements- 1 - and his son who threatened the disclosures — are to be roundly condemned for 'sinking -to such base tactics.

They sought to hold a pistol at the. head of the Government on the eve of the election, ■

and " "N.Z. Truth" commends the authorities for their firm refusal to be shot at and

blackmailed.! # . Nothing more despicable m the annals of petty spite and cheap vengeance is there than the tactics employed, by the "Holmes interests, bu^ when — m order to further their own pettifogging grievances^they • create consternation in ' hundreds of homes that nestle under the shadow of the dam, and, incidentally cause needless worry and anxiety to women and children, they are beneath contempt. '. ■ " .

Such actions estrange them entirely from public sympathy. Whatever justification they may have for their grievances, nothing on earth warrants such law-down methods of hitting back at the author of the grievance — real or supposed.

Following the publication of the allegations that the dam was a menace to life, the Hon. J. A. Young made public a letter he received from J. D. Holmes, m which he set out his griev : anccs.- ■ ' ■

These related to a gravel business at Otorohanga. The main complaint referred to' the action of the Railway Department m increasing freight -by 1 130 per cent., • which, it was alleged, smashed the business "and seriously'affected businesses from f Auckland to Dunedin. .

This a.ctipn. followed a 'dispute, oyer a demand Jj'jr; .the." riaUway -department that Holmes', com pan y build a new loop to cope with the traffic: ' „

No agreement could be reached and finally, m 1925, Gordon Cortes-arbitrat-ed. The result was that inVMarch and April of the same year, the loop was constructed and extra plant ordered.

In the month of May, Holmes alleged, the commercial agent of the Railway Department told the Otorohanga Chamber of Com- : \ •

merce that the freights were sound and correct, but a fortnight later,' the"

department — with | the sanction of ;- Coates— announced the "enormous increase of 130 per cent."

From thiis grievance, Holmes stated he had been seeking redress ever since.. The letter concluded with the 1 definite threat that ". ..:•• . the facts about Arapuni will have to come out sooner or later . . . and unless Aye receive a telegram or other notification by 10 a.m.. on October 24, from the Government, that our requests will be acceded to, then this statement (re Arapuni) will be made public and also all correspondence m regard to the matter." The Government refused to be blackmailed or stuck up at the pistol point, and, true to \their word,, the Holmes family broadcast their scare warning concerning Ai'apuni.'

Just how deep was their regard for the public safety may be gauged by the fact that, according to the letter/ they were quite prepared to waive the '^safety .of the public" if the Holmes' grievances were rectified. ■ •

Presumably, had the Government fallen for the threat, the Arapuni dam could have bur.st, with all its terrible consequences, without the Holmes' warning going forth to the public, for (from the letter) it is evident that the disclosures were only made failing the Government "acceding to our rectuests." So much for the genuine intent and fears for the public safety entertained by J..D. Holmes. (

As was .onb' to be expected, , the Holmes' bombshell was the sensation of the week, but it is comforting to know that the Government lost no time m bringing m the experts to give their opinion on the safety of the dam.

That opinion, which has been broadcast by the Prime Minister m his election addresses, is overwhelmingly against the contentions of Holmes, the former " ehgineer-in-chief, who, has startled and terrified women m hundreds of homes m the Lower Waikato.

Holding A Pistol

The Holmes Scare

,The consensus of expert opinion' is definitely, for the absolute safety of the dam. . ' But even were it otherwise, the genuine,V nature of Holmes' allegations is, absolutely, negatived by the base personal motives that underlie the disclosures. - ■•' Retired on superannuation, R. W. Holmes was, m his prime, regarded as a clever, engineer — one of the best the country has had. '■'■■. . ifae mere faGt of bis high qualifications renders the allegations all the more inexcusable if, as there is every reason, to believe, they are untrue,, and based on no (firmer, foundation than motives. of petty family spite and vengeance.

It is open to question -whether, when he made public his utterances concerning the dam, he realized the public disquiet and apprehension his statements \yould 'naturally create. .

It is almost impossible to' believe that, an engineer of Holmes' standing m His . profession would make i such statements if he did not honestly believe theni to be, true. .-^ ;■'

And yet, judging from the letter written to the Minister of Health and the«member for Hamilton, J. A. Young, he was quite prepared to sing dumb— ' although he believed that the Government "had gambled with the lives of the: people"— if the grievances of the" Holmes over their gravel business were . redressed. ' .' • '" ' The whole affair is a decidedly .nasty* one and leaves an unpleasant taste In the mouth" of the public. "N.Z. Truth" is not m a position to question the experts who have lost rio ■ ■■■•■'■ '■■■-' time -in-- flatly "con- ~

accepted ; at its, full value, this, paper , , does not" hesitate to say that the matter should not be allowed to rest w^b ere it now stands. . .

Here is an. engineer of high .: standing — a man, who, on his own , admission, never believed Arapuni ■ was the right place fop the dam, •. '■ on its present site, at any rate— who tells the country m cold blood that lives and property are endan- * • . gered. '■ ■ ■ _■ ': ; ■ „> : '„■-,' No •■ more serious statement could have been uttered by a citizen, whose qualifications at least suggest that he ought to know what he is talking about. -' But that statement- must be viewed from the motives' which inspired, it. » Even so, "Truth" has no intention of being swept away m the flood 'of -hysterical indignation which "has swept over the Auckland" daily press;- i - : '.\ y On the principle that where there 3s smoke there is a certain amount of • fire, so may it "be that there is some truth m what Holmes has to say about Arapuni. • ■This is just a possibility—r-although-an-- unlikely one, if the evidence of- the experts who have given the lie to Holmes' allegations is to be believed.But there is also an • old saying that '■■' it -is- unwise to put- your trust- m sex:-; >• perts. They have been proved wrong.--; before— and may be wrong even m this ■'■ .case. ■ , ■ ■ ; ' v - ■■•■' ■.-■•■ •: .:'• . ■•■■■•: 1"

Admitting such a■• possibility,, -the paramount duty of the new Government—whether it be Reform. Labor, or United — will be to sift the charges t»o the bottom, even if it means importing an independent commission of engineers from abroad. ' . :: For, after all is said and done, if

tradicting the sensational c h ar'g c s made by Holmes. While, their tes^ timony must be

there is only a fraction of truth iji what Holmes has stated; v no effort should be spared to ascertain beyond

..-.•.:■,. all doubt whether there is any risk involved m- the Arapuni dam, no matter how slight it may be/ ' . .-,■■.■■■ '' . ■■ ' .

. There must be no monkeying with human lives! The people of the Waikato, those who are immediately concerned, must be assured beyond all doubt that the dam is safe, not only for the next ten or twenty years, but for all time.

The vociferous chorus of the local experts who came to the aid of the Government m. denying HoJmes' charges is very impressive, indeed. . . The men who have spoken reassuringly are experts who speak qf . Arapuni from first-hand knowledge of the whole scheme, but even so there is still much public apprehension. ... The seed of. doubt has been sown m the minds of the people and the Government must not be content 'to allow' the matter to pass with bare denials.

Absolute reassurance must' be given to the people that all is well at Arapuni—even, as "Truth" declares, if it is necessary to import the best engineering brains of the world to give complete and final answer to the grave charges that have teen made. - . Too much is at stake to permit of the whole matter being airily dismissed.

If, by any remote chance. Holmes, m spite of the ulterior motives for the* disclosures, should happen to be the one voice crying m the wilderness of disbelief, like the despised, prophets of old, then the subject is :one for the / gravest consideration and investigation. "Truth" is reluctant to believe that Holmes is right. It accounts him an irresponsible and splenetic gasbag, but even splenetic gasbags sometimes get very near the mark — if not quite. It is on account of this possibility of risk and the tremendous issues at stake, that "Truth" urges the Government to have the whole' question scientifically and impartially investi- . gated and reviewed. ~