TAUPO TOTARA TIMBER COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3004, 11 October 1911, Page 7

TAUPO TOTARA TIMBER COMPANY.

FETITION TO PURCHASE LAND

BY OPPONENTS. 1 WELLINGTON, September 28. I The Parliamentary Committee set up to inquire into the petition of the Taupo Totara Timber Company for an Order in-Council to purchase and occupy a large aiea of Native land, and eventually seli . it to the Government, was resumed to- ' day. James Raw, president of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, was emphatically of opinion that the ambitions of the company were opposed to the interests of the State, as well as the districts concerned. The creation of such monopoly, which proposed to buy 412 square miles of land" from Natives without competition, was, he considered, against the country's interest. He had no objection to the company as such, but if the company could sell the line with the advantages of large areas of land proposed to be acquired, .the control of hotels and accommoI elation and "means of transit by land and j water, as well as actual possession of the i active thermal sights of the district, they j were no longer dealing with the comj pany, but with a body of capitalists with j a huge monopoly. If the Government agreed to the proposal it would be party to side-tracking Rotorua It was not true that Rotorua opposed the company's sug- ! gestion on account of the competition of , Taupo and Wairakei. ! Mr Myers asked witness: -Would you, as a business man, prefer to see the land idle for many years if told that this syndicate was prepared to agree that the Government should take over the line at any time at the cost price, that the charges were of a reasonable nature, that as the volume of business increased the return was not to exceed the limit when mortgages were to be decreased, and that the syndicate was prepared to spend money to prove that pumice land was • capable of being farmed satisfactorily; or would you consider the granting of a charter inimical in any way to the best interests of the Dominion?

Mr Raw replied: Where a company is granted a charter for "all time I think it is against the best interests of the State with all the provisos mentioned. In reply to Mr Dalziell '(chairman of directors of the company), witness said that when he referred to monopolies he referred to the tourist traffic. He admitted that the' private ownership of lands was better than ' a Native proprietary. Some of the Rotorua holdings had increased in value considerably over 100 per cent. Mr Dalziell: Would it not be better for the community that some attention should be given to increasing the value of this great area of idle country rather than further increasing Rotorua values? Witness: I may agree with that, but not w4|h the manner in which it is proposed to be done. Mr Dalziell: Would it not benefit the State' Witness: Indirectly, yes.

John Neil M'Lean, who also appeared on behalf of the Rotoraa Chamber of Coimmerce, spoke against the petition. September 29.

The committee met again to-day. The chairman read .a telegram from the meeting held at Putaruru, urging favourable consideration of the company's proposals. A similar message was also read from the Toupo District Railway League. Edward Earle' Vaile, farmer, Waiotapu, owning 53,000 .acres, said the proposed line would gio within five miles of his land He thought the Government should construct a line from Rotorua to Taupo. Success would be assured by the tourist traffic alone. But it was improbable that the Jdne[would be started within the next ,30 ylears; therefore private enterprise should be encouraged. He did not think the Government right of purchase should be exercised for a reasonable period. He suggested that the company might be allowed to charge higher rates than the State did for, say, five years. He did not oppose the company's land purchase proposal. Replying to questions, witness said the scheme' would undoubtedly do harm to Rotorua, he thought, if the company acquired the actual thermal sites. This should be safeguarded against. He had been farming for four years, and he was more satisfied every day that the country would be occupied bv closer settlement. The Chairman: Which, in your opinion, would be the best line for the whole district?

Witness: The line from Rotorua, as there is settlement on the route.

Replying to Mr Dalziell, the witness said that although he thought the Roto-rua-Taupo line the better one, he now

favoured the company's proposals on the principle that half a loaf was better than none.

William Louis Luxford, farmer, Hamil ton also strongly supported the com pany's proposals. MASTERTON, September 30.

A meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce yesterday decided that the chamber approve of th)i3 Taupo Company's . schme for opening up the Lake Taupo district by rail, provided that the concessions in land are reasonable and that provision is made for subdivision and sale.