WANGANUI RIVER PROBLEM

Otago Witness, Issue 3239, 12 April 1916, Page 62

WANGANUI RIVER PROBLEM

S ETTLER S AF F E CTED.

NATIONALISM lON OF TRAFFIC REQUESTED.

(FflOM OUH \iA.\\;A.\H UOBBESPONDENT.)

One of the most important events of the week so far as tiie Wanganui and Taumarunui districts, as well as other parts ol New Zealand, are concerned was tne conference 01 representatives of interested local bodies to discuss matters in connection with the present state of the Wanganui River, and the urgent need of funds to keep the highway open. One of the ma.n arguments used for an improvement in the present condition of affairs was the question of settlement.

Mr G. V. Pcarce, M.P., stressed the fact that roads were required. No settler, he said, wanted to be dependent on the river alone. If a man had 10UO sheep he would not want to ship them on a Lttle steamer. Roads were constantly urged. He considered the people who used tne river should pay for it —in fact, he considered each tourist should be charged 10s. It was an extraordinary position tnat the tonnage dues had been reduced from 2s 6d to Is 6d. He considered they should be put up to ss. Mr Ford said that the settlers were prepared to find half the money for a bridge across the, river seven and a-Ualf miles from Taumarunui. The policy of the Public Works Department was to have the road on the right bank pushed ahead. Mr Cummins said he would like to disabuse the minds of the Taumarunui representatives that the trust wished to have the 16-milo section from Taumarunui to Aukopae cut out.

Mr D. Connor said the Waitotara County Council recognised the importance of maintaining the water, as the charges for freight were 50 per cent, lower as compared w:th the roads. The county had a irontage of 80 miles. There were 126,000 acres lying between the Waitotara watershed and theriver. Twenty-two settlers were occupying 40,000 acres. The balance was unoccupied native or Crown lands. In one stretch of 40 miles there were but live settlers. Mr D. Ross said the issue was how to get money. There were large areas of Crown land on both sid<:s of the river to be thrown open. He thought that the revenue from this land should be 'placed on one side instead of going to the Consolidated Funds, and should be used for the river to keep it open for ordinary traffic. The trust had done its best, but it was short of funds. The Government should keep the river open. The settlers would not pay rates, as they had enough to do to look after their roads. He was sorry the Taumarunui people thought they wanted to block the river. Their desire was to keep it open as far as possible. The tourist traffic alone warranted the river being kept open. If the meeting hoped to strike a rate it would fail, as it was unfair to ask settlers to pay for a national highway. The chairman of the trust in the course of a lengthy statement pointed out the altered condition of affairs since the trust came into existence. A large amount of settlement had been going on along the banks of the river reaches, but at the same time the bush .was being cut out and the fern burnt off. As a result of the denuding of the bush there were quicker floods and longer periods of lower water in the river. It was considered by several of the speakers that the settlers should have representatives on the board. This point was particularly stressed by Mr Jennings, M.P., who asserted that there was a good deal of antagonism to the constitution of the trust on the upper reaches of the river. The people there thought they should have representation on the board. The Hon. Dr M'Nab had told him that the Government contemplated getting an expert to report on the Waikato, Mokau, and Wanganui Rivers, and that some proposals would shortly be placed before Parliament.

Mr "Veitch, M.P., considered that in order to provide assured finance the Government should ho requested to promote legislation extending the operations of part 2 of " The Land Laws Amending Act, 1913," to provide revenue for waterways, and, in moving accordingly, added that the conference asks the Minister of Lands and the Wellington Land Board to take steps as are necessary to declare all Crown lands within the jurisdiction of the to be a special district under section 50 of the said Act. Mr Veitch argued that they could not ask settlers to contribute for roads, bridges, and rivers as well. Much of the land on the river was not as yet highly developed. In other parts the Government had built railways, and in instances main trunk roads. Five thousand pounds was urgently needed, apart from anythinsr else they want. A resolution asking the Government to assume control of the river, being, as it ia, a national hi.<rlvway, and that the Government be asked to run the service under the control of the Railway Department, was eventually carried.