EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9590, 24 July 1907, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

.The report just issued by. the Department .of Lands in relation to "Scenery. Preser- ' vatioh" wilt appeal- strongly to all who have a sense of the beautiful in Nature ;- ; though in.sonie quarters the work-of the I compilers imay, meet; with scant respect. •Many there are who recognise in the world around them nothing beyond the where- ; 'withal for a mere matter-of-fact existence; jwhiie others; like Froude the historian,are'very much more nearly.affected by the' sight of "sawmills, and' farm houses and . fishing' boats"' than, .by the sublimity of ijord or- mountain.. The report admits tnat the question of scenery preservation in a new and picturesque country like Xew Zealand is one that requires to be carefully studied and sympathetically treated, and is also one that can be regarded from many diverse points of view. Consequently, it is all the more desirable that a brief statement of what has been done up to the present,, and what it is hoped may be accomplished in the future, should Le clearly, set forth. From its foundation the lie-' partment of Lands has been entrusted with the task of exploring, surveying", and subdividing for settlement and other pur.poses the Grown lands of the colony, but it was not until the Land Act, 1892, came into force that "scenery, preservation" was added to its work. Since that date "the protection and preservation of the beautiful natural scenery with.which Xew Zealand is", so richly endowed has been kept steadily in view, and when any portion of down land has been opened for settlement, areas of specially attractive forest or .land surrounding waterfalls, caves, or thermal springs have been excluded from sale and set apart For all time by permanent, reservation in the. Gazette." In 1903 the Scenery Preservation Act- was placed on the Statute Book through the efforts of the Hon. Sir J. G. Ward. Under this Act a Koyal Commission was appointed to visit and report upon all areas possessing scenic .or historic interest, and lor the following two years the Oommisson iabored 'with advantage to the .colony. Last year simpler machinery was called into -.existence by an amending Act, which appointed a small boaid of- Government officials, consisting of the Surveyor-General, the head of the Tourist. Department, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands for each land district. This body, known as the "Scenery Preservation Board" acts as an advisory board to the Government, and reports on all cases "of suggested reservations. The change has been in the direction of .economy with no sacrifice of effi eiency.and was, therefore, fully justified. Coming to details, the report states that since the Act of 1903 was put into operation £11,403 has been paid as compensation for- land acquired, and 83 reserves, with a total area of 25,501 acres, have been proclaimed. Added to those previously made under the Land Act, etc., the total aiea comprising the colony's : "scenic reservations" amounts to 2,873,724 acres. These reservations include the na« tionai parks of Mount Egmont, Mount Cook, Tongariro. and Ruapehu, and the West Coast Sounds; and embrace country that can never be suitable for close settlement, but is of "world-wide fame as the home of scenery." Amongst other reserves (some 300 in all) are the famou3 stalactite caves of Waitomo-and Ruakuri; the great Wairua waterfall; the Sutherland Falls; the .historic Maori pas; the islands -of Little Barrier and Revolution ; patches of forest in close proximity totowns; and picturesque points and promontories on many harbors all. over..the colony: The •Scenery Preservation Board' are further.anxious to preserve for scenjc purposes (among of hers) "suitable spots along the Xorth Island Main Trunk Railway line. • The" hundred odd miles traversed, from Makohine to Manunui form, say the Board',""a national 'asset'that, in our.opinion, should be most jealously conserved and protected."' Most of the" area is not well, adapted for closer settlement"; but, "the natural beauty of'the forest, its magnificent situation among numerous deep ravines sinuous gorges' through which run rapid mountain streams, together with the-background'of frowning . hilis and lofty ranges, and in the distance the grand snow-capped peaks of Ruapehu, Xgauruhoe, and Tongariro Mountains, all unite in proclaiming this portion of Kew Zealand as one of the principal attraction's of the colony:"' The' whole report, with its maps and -illustrations, is calculated to .intensify an -intelligent 'in- : teiest in the natural .beauties of the colony ; and a.perusal-thereof is a pleasant Telief to the necessary, but occasionally dry and. matter-of-fact, details which the session of Parliament brings under notice. The Scenery Preservation Board serve an important purpose in the general scheme cf our colonial administration, and their efforts and suggestions are worthy of sympathetic attention not only from the general public, but also from" the Legislature ■ which has the power to second those efforts by-enabling the suggestions to be successfully carried out.

The action.of the Government in bringing ine State railways to the aid' of the settlers of Central Otago, North Otago, and South Canterbury who are sorely perplexed liow to carry their stock through winter, owing to the drought having destroyed or prevented the accumulation of winter feed, has- been hailed with general satisfaction-. It is right gad well that it should receive approval from all sections of the community, ami' tnat there should be no talk of a "paternal Government" such as has been on occasions in - dulged in when the Ministry have lent special aid to a section of the people. The railways, as we have held, were made for the people, and to assist in developing the , resources of the coumtr„, and it is fitting I that when greit rmral industrial are threatened with disaster they should be utilised to mininiir-e th-3 impending dire -results. They have been so utilised on former occasions,. bat never under conditions of greater need. Even the severe snowstorms of some winters ago, thouga entailing great losses of stock and threatening still. further misfortune, provided no greater occasion for .Government assietahec than docs the .present. The less now- threatened encompasses a' much greater area of country, and involves weilnich all the farmers .within .it. people who .have not travelled -over '.the countrv. though aided by an active imagination and a knowledge that for a year and a-nalf no good,: rain .has fallen, - cmuot form .an a.c.e-°uafe idea, of the condition of matters. Up to the present farmers haver been able to. maintain their greatly-reduced flocks and herds by reeart to ' all manner >- of methods of providing feed—methods all necessitating considerable expenditure; but in many directions 6hecp a.re falling out of-condition,' and' in the case of breeding ewes comine to lambing this involves considerable risk of hss. -All-feed sur>-lies have been exhausted, even straw stacks 'haiving disappeared, and! there remains- two months to go before spring feed' will become available. It is, therefore, imperatively' necessary that . either the stock must be-carried., to-where feed is available, ot feed brought to the stock. The ■ ■Government have practically.. placed the ra-ilways' t at the disposal of farmers'to enable them to adopt one of these alterna-tives-at the lowest,cost, and- they are deserving'of credit not only for having made the concession, but for having granted l it so promptly upon the necessity being represented; to them.