THE MINISTER LANDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 16

THE MINIST ER LANDS.

INTERVIEWED AT ROTORUA. (Fkom Oxjb Ows Oobhsspondint.) AUCKLAND, January 27. Interviewed in Rotorua, ihe Hon. R. M'Nab made some most important statements relative to east coast lands and railways. Mr M'Nab eaid that the country from Napier to Rotorua was entirely new to him. He- had formed some idea of its rugged _ nature, but found that in this his conceptions were erroneous. Continuing, the Minister said: "Several points stand ' out in clear relief. First, that the great stretch of country classed as pastoral, and ■ which is by nature pastoral, has a carry- ! dng_ capacity in stock equal to the best j agricultural country in other parts of the i 'Dominion. Only a very small portion of ■it can be called poor country. EveryLvrhere there is a sprinkling of agricultural [areas, and in places there is some of tho [(richest class of land in the two islands. i This east coast country has not developed as it should according to its productiveness, because it' has been hampered by the lack of communication. There is lack of natural ports and harbours, and the centres j of trade cannot draw fully on the resources of this country." f While the Minister was in Wairoa the river was practically closed to navigation. Giaborne was struggling under difficulties ito make a- port for seagoing vessels, and i there were a few other ports where vessels I could lie off-shore and take in cargo j through the surf. These disadvantages (-produced definite results. They did not i affect the wool trade much, but they effected the frozen meat and dairying industries. He believed that the export of frozen lambs, which is the most profitable part of the cheep industry, was less, in comparison to the number of stock in Poverty Bay. than in any other part of New Zealand, due to transport difficulties. This meant that the sheep-owners jvrere not getting the best returns from , their farms, and the most profitable tracte , was lost. " You cMinofc export lambs," said Mr M'Nab, "if you have to drive them 40 or 50 miles by rough road's. This ,was expressed in the cry of every local centre for freeing works. The same thing struck me in relation to dairying. There are only 20 miles of railway in the whole iTast stretch of good country. Dairy factories must send their produce long 1 distances by waggons, oil launches, and email seagoing craft. This haa meant deterioration in quality and heavy expenses in freights, the result being that some factories started to close down is despair. This complaint was voiced in an appeal to have Gisborne made a grading centre, but in my opinion this would be a mis■take. _ i recognise tn»t the success of the 'dairying industry depends on quality, and the only proper method is to handle the butter as little as possible. Railway conneotion with Auckland and insulated I trucks would assist the East Coast dairying more than new grading stations. The f&me argument regarding the proportion •r «xport lambs applies to dairying, Th*r« afe less milking cows in proportion i to tho number of oattlo on the East Coast iUuin Juiyv?here eko. Att this loss of j

profitable outlets is due to want of good communication." This led the Minister to express h^s • opinion as to railway iratters. Ho saidt j " Nearly all the complaints made to mo were due to want of railway facilities. I believe that when Auckland and Wellington are connected by rail the next great national undertaking is to link Gisborno with the railway system of New Zealand, and this by way of Rotorua. If the people of Auckland are alive to their interests- they will put railu-av connection with Gisborne first on the li=t. " Auckland has another aspirant for tho North Auckland trade, but whichever centre first establishes railway connection with the East Coast adds a now province to its trade area. The line from Gisborne through Motu to the Bay of Plenty is thought by some to be a cosily undertaking owing to the rough nature of tho country. It v nothing if the routo is chosen by capable officers ; and tho lino is estimated to cost no more per mile than other lines in New Zealand. Tho present railway from Gisborne to Karaka is laid through a very fertile valley, presenting 1 no engineering difficulties, and the extension 'to Motu and on to Opotiki could bo done at a cost per mile not exceeding tho average cost ; for, while the country is fairly broken, Nature appears to nave anticipated and prepared for the coming of the iron horse. With the work already done on tho Gisborno to Karaka line, and the route surveyed, Gisborne must be linked with other centres by way of Rotorua, and I would adviss Aucklanders and I East Coast people to join forces on this issue. This railway would put the East Coast sheep-farmer on the samo footing as those elsewhere and give the means of developing a profitable lamb trade. It would give dairy farmers the samo advantages, and introduce dairying into many districts wrich are marvels of fertility. Already new settlers from the south are showng th© Gisborne people the drawbacks of isolation. _ They have put forward arguments against duplicating the number of export dairy centres, showing that modern, condtions and requirements are all in favour of big collecting central ports, where ocean steamers could be filled in the shortest time with the least damage to the produce. * I did not find the East Coast people so hostile to the idea of making Auckland a central port as tho people of Raglan and Kawhia. The extension of the railway from Gisborne to Motu would open up some fine timber country. This line would nob wait for full completion before it proved payable. Moreover, it would pass through extensive settlements. At one settlement on this route (Paparoa) there are ! farms being worked _ and homesteads where no wheeled vehicle has been able to come within five miles, and even under these adverse conditions tho settlers are paying their way even now. It will be nearly a year before the road is completed, so that a dray can reach Paparoa. From Motu to Opotiki is 56 miles by the present track, but the new road will reduce- the distance to 36 miles. The railway when finished through here even will have settlements all the way, and, besides tapping extensive forests of timber, will open a \ast stretch of country to settlement no (

one can now touch owing io want of communication. A special feature which makes the railway here moro necessary is the absence of road metal over a long stretch of country, and the climatic conditions which make the roads impassable for heavy traffic during the wot season. I was informed that in this part some roads wero officially closed for months in the year. I do not think once railway connection is made between Gisborne and Rolorua it will be long before the line would be pushed southward to Wairoa, and after that probably to Napier. The gap between Xapier andi Gisborne will be difficult to fill from an engineer's point of view, as there is some rough country to negotiate. I told the Gisborne people that they had boon reticent in pushing forward their claims to railway connection, and that they should unite with Aucklanders in urging forward the work. As to tho route the luijway will take from Opotiki to Rotorua, I cannot say definitely. Surveyors state that a good road exists that would serve Opotiki and Whakatane." Asked ua to the East Coast lands to be settled, Mr M"Nab referred to To Arai and Karakara Estates, which would be available in February. Very heavy balloting is expected. There are a number of East Coast grazing runs leased under the act of 1885 for 21 years, the Government preserving the right to resume them if | they are wanted for subdivision. The [ leases are falling in, and the Government will now break up some of the areas for close settlement. The runs cover a great extent of country, much of it excellent land, and could be thiokly populated. When I was jn Gisborne the people complained that, with the exception of Wellington, house rents and land rents in Gisborne were dearer than in other centres, euch as Christchurch, Dunedin, and Auckland. This was due to the population and industries growing faster than the opening of the lands for settlement. Some of the Gisborne flats command £40 per acre. Questioned on the effect of dear land, Mr M'Nab said i "If the high price depends upon the great profits made from, the U6e of the land, that is right enough. If it is due to the owners being so well off that they can demand the last penny ox' to the land being so scarce and the competition of sellers so keen, it is absolutely wrong. My own people had thi3 experience in the Old Country, when farmers had to compete with men who had! made their money in other ways and wanted the position that land-ownintc gives. This had cent up land values and rents until there was no profit for the farmer. I would not like to see that state of things here." Asked as to the reception of the new Land Bill, Mr M'Nab said, among a very large number of letters from intending settlers, he had not received one complaining of the short lease, but he had received many showing appreciation of the preference clauses for men with families, etc. Asked to define what Crown tenants could transform their lease into freeholds, Mr M'Nab said that lease-in-perpetuity lands, except under the Land for Settlements Act. ccuid be purchased and made freehold. In speaking to a deputation at Gisborne the il mister of Agriculture stated s "I

hare been over the bes£ parts of tho ' Dominion now, and as a result of my visit to the Poverty Bay district I have no hesitation in saying that I know of no part of New Zealand where the want of railway communication to the ports and tho capital cities is to be put in the same street as the want o£ Poverty Bay for a railway with Auckland and Wellington. Tho railway, I have realised, is the weak point in connection 'with the Poverty Bay district. I am astonished that a district with such capabilities should be satisfied to remain without railway communication so long." Mr Elliott: "We are not satisfied." Tho Minister: "You have not said much about it, which only confirms what I have said elsewhere, that had you been of the Scotch community in the south you would not have waited 6o long, for Scotchmen when there is anything wroner are in the habit of letting the whole world know." To-day Mr M'Nab visits the Government experimental farm in the Waikato, and later goes down the Main Trunk line.