Inland Taranaki —A Land of Promise.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 11978, 28 May 1902, Page 1

Inland Taranaki — A Land of Promise.

♦ (By Dunboy.) - WHO FIRST SHALL. ARISE FROM HIS SLUMBERS ? Do you know, my reader, that within easy reach of New Plymouth* you have a veritable) Land of Prwnise—a land laden with fertile soils, with extensive forests and limitless) supplies of first-classl coal ? Geographically this region belongs to Taranaki, .but to-day it may be described as "No Man's Land." Sootar- very eo|an— iitj >will be- betterknown as the '<' Land of Contention," for each of the North Island centres will make an effort to win it. Auckland,, as we have known her in by-gone years, waa a self-satisfied and self-contained* city. She slept on in easy confidence that cone could rival her beauty, apd slumbers were sweetened by visions of her own {air refleck tion., Auckland is awakening; the ■ easy saunter of her commertual ' men • is giving place to a more btlsinesslike gait. An electric tramway?-sys-tem is awakening, an interest' in places as remote as 1 her own suburbs, and this,, I take it, is- the first-, forward step in a march of progress; which will over-run most of the North Island, and even cross the route long since trodden by the enterprising Wellingtonian. 'At present the Taranaki farmer is invading the Auckland province, but, if I have any foresight, the Northern, province will soon make incursion into Taranaki. Roads will be improved and railway, construction will be pushed ahead until bur back block settler, if not secured by. New Plymouth, will look upon Auckland as his own city, and will transfer to it most of his trade. Wanganui, when properly aroused from her Rip Van Winkle state of coma, will gaze seaward, and bethink oft ocean traffic— of a Seaport, and of English vessels lying in the river, as they lay full 30 years ago. Then that same river will present itself to her hitherto torpid imagination, not simply as one of the finest resorts for tourists in the " wide wide woi'ld,"- but also as a grand commercial artery through, which the trade of the inland, di&wicts may be induced to flow to the town and port of Wangantii. She will learn how this river may be made to carry her merchandise inland, and bring down the timber, coal, and produce of Taranaki. •Wanganui already shows a restlessness in her slumbers, Auckland is arousing herself, where and when does New Plymouth come in ? Echo answers something suspiciously like " nowhere." The only sign, of commercial vitality whichi strikes the visitor of the present} day is a keen and shortsighted RIVALRY BETWEEN STRATFORD AND NEW PLYMOUTH when, as a matter of fact, the two communities should work hand in hand. New Plymouth is the seaport and the natural capital of the district ; Stratford is the central point and chief outpost for securing to the province ohe irade of much of its own country districts.* Wanganui and Auckland are rivals to both towns, Stratfird is heroically doing her duty and is certainly showing more enterprise than any other iborough of her w |Size. in the colony. Stratford looks upon the East Road -settlement as- her own special possession, but sne- will never hold- the whole of it, and, for such trade" as- she command, she will soon need a sea port, where the largest ocean steamers will be able to discharge and tak-2 in cargo. In securing the trade of the East Road District Stratford xvill -n«ed the active and whole - hearted cooperation of New Plymouth. E\en then, for the more remote rarts of inland Taranaki, New Plymouth will have to make a special effort of. her own. Further .on I will suggest a plan for tupping; this very desirable territory. That my readers may know the full value of this pnize, I will .endeavoun in} the lined that follow to give at least some faint idea of what I justly style a Land of Promise. Is it too much to hope that I may induce New Plymouth to rub the film, from her eyes, and see, that as an ornamental excrescence of a time-honoured province — as a -home for the' valetudinarian and retired boniface— as a soporific little borough without push or go, without drainage or* electric lifeht. ,or decent harjbbur, she is not fulfilling her destiny,, and is letting slip into other hands, a magnificent bit of country, which, if lproperly exploited, would be the means of converting the town, into the ' commercial capital of the West Coast. The writer of these notes is a wanderer. The' sole of * his foot finds no abiding place for any lengthened period, and, hence he may, without egotism, claim that his knowledge of New Zealand is of the mtost extensive charater. JEIe "would ??peak to you, reader, of the commercial prospects of your province, and of its pastoral potentialities ;' but his task would be miserably incomplete if he failed to speak .of TARANAKI'S MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. V Are you any authority on the question of scenery, ?" you ask. Well, here go.es for whati may appear mere self-gratilicatjioa: — I have said; that 1 was a wanderer ; let me add that scenery, whether, grand or pictures«';uL', wierd or gloomy, has *always attracted me with an irresistible fascination. I deserve no credit for this, like the alcohol or. morphia habit my desire for scenery became a passion. The glories of the Otira Gorge, with its diazy heights, its: glaciers and waterfalls 5 the , beauties of the Buller Gorge and the gem-like lakelets of Westland have afforded me untold pleasure. The %Vest\ OoaisKf /Sounds, the idyllic islets and inlets -of Stewart Island, the Cold Lakes, and the (socalled) Hot "Lakeß • hiave. di^wn . me like a loadstone. I claim no credit when I tell you that, I have climbed Ben Lomond at t^ueenstown.negotiated the Crown Ranges, and, down that treacherous zig-zag (now a thing of the past) have descended the hazy depths of the ShotoverGorge. It came also quite as a matter of course that I one day, found myself two thousand feet above sealevel, exploring the fairy-like scenery of Lake Waik&remoana and marvelling at the angry waters which escaping from the lake by a subterranean channel burst boldly into view on the teteiep mountain side to form a whirling torrent descend* ing 1400 feet in three or four miles, and thence forward as a deep swift flowing formidable river to find their way to the sea. If these anh a thousand other fascinating scenes.have led me astray, my reader, kindly pardon the confession,, since I make it only that I may know 'that I may emphasise my statement that ' the scenery of Taranaki, particularly that of the Tangarakau Gorge, and of the Mokau River, may be classed as second to none in the colony. " This beautiful scenery, with its setting of rich pastures and timber lands, and its inexhaustible coal ->lds, should .furnishiJbtuibject matters to interest the Taranaki readers of this journal. Let me first ask my reader to? supply himself with that excellent map recently published with The Budget: He will! thtere trace •» out the East Road or what in the Survey Office is now known as the Ohura Road. WihjV sityije thjs gfceatf flantral route) to Auckland tJhe "East Road? It is a misleading term that robs the route of much of its importance. The Auckland Road, or better still THE. GREAT NORTH ROAD would be a" more comprehensive title, but, for these notes I must use the familiar name and shall designate

this northern thoroughfare tha East Jttoad. Six miles from Stratford we reach Toko, which will soon spring, into impox-tance as the terminus of the first section of the Auckland railway. It does not need the prophetic faculty to say that Toko has a well accentuated boom awaiting it. 'J ho present village is the centre of a large and fertile district. Upon Toko converge quit© a number of rou.ds, many of which are closely settled, whilst the others are soon destined to be lined by thriving dairy faimers.» To the speculator my tip is, Buy town sections in Toko ; tju-.e no notice of croakers, and allow me 10 per cent on the re-sale three years hence. My address is always known to the police. From Toko to Strathmore the drive is a pleasant one-^in fine weather. Yes, by Jove ! you do need fine weather in those back-blocks. The road metal gives out about 8 miles from Toko and then one sinks deeper and deeper into the soft mud over which the inland settler » has to take his goods and bring in his produce. It is but ons step from bad roads to the beaten track of politics, hence I must be excused for a slight divergence at this point. I have been told that between thtf Government and the settlers who were induced to take up land on the East Road a compact was entered into, by which the main line of road was to be thoroughly metalled. Of late, the Government has satisfied the cravings of an accommodating, conscience by metalling only one mile each year. In 26 years from' to-day, when the present generation shall havo been gathered to its fathers and other sh&ulders shall bear o.ur burdens, the^joad will be metalled . right into \VhangSLmomona, unless, of course, ish,ere is a change of Ministry in the meanwhile. A few miles past JTofco the more - recently surveyed lin6~'of the Northern Railway takes a sudden turn to the left. After running away at right angles a distance of sozne four miles the line finds its way up a narrow ' valley to rejoin the East Road at a point some miles beyond Str'athmore. This is what may be described as A POLITICAL, * SWERVE TN THE MAIBF TRUNK LINE. Originally, "the line was to havo gone up the Strathmore Valley. Into this., valley come the Taihora, Brewer** and Kirai Roads, lhese, with Co/wern's track, open' up a Vasti district lying between the East Road and the Manganui River. When the settlers took up land on the Cowern' track and " in the various settlements planted by the Pakuerston Associations they were told that their disitrict would be tapped by good roads' leading to this. line of railway. The ■ Strathmore Valley itself contains a large area of fertile land. Why then" should the compact with these struggling settlers be so cruelly broken ? To those living in the district indicated the line will be useless. Residents in the thriving township of Strathmore will have to go some 3£ miles inland and off the main road to reach a railway station. lam writing in the interests of Taranaki when I tell you thai the diversion in, this line will throw the trade of one of your largest inland districts into the hands Off Wanganui. A\. present the settlers have to cross a- mountain range to 'get, into the Strathmore Valley. It is "needless to say, tHat they will not go an » additional six or seven miles to a railway- when the roads are opened as fai» as the Wanganui River. To run the line through Strathmore would injure no one>, while it would afford a straight and more serviceable route.- The explanation of the reason for this unseemly kink in the line at Douglas Road is simple^ — it was given in graphic terms by the honorable member for the district when meeting his constituents recently at Strathmore. The grievance of the outlying settlers - having been laid, before him he said, "-Well,, you ha.ye. only yourselves to' blame. If you were such (blanky)] fools as to give a block vote as you did, for the Opposition candidate, what can you expect ?" At a time when DOCILITY RANKS HIGHER THAN ABILITY IN NEW ZPQAL.AND POLITICS, when the Co-operative labourer is sent into the backblocks to swamp the votes of- the struggling settlers 1 , at a time when all have to pay taxes whilst no one has any right to reap a benefit from' the expenditure of those taxes, save and except only, those who give unqualified support to the Government of the day, it must have appeared an extraordinary thing to Mr Symes that any section of the community should have had the temerity to refuse him 1 their support. When- the member gives dumb unreasoning obedience to the Seddon autocracy surely the Strathmore electors had absolutely no - right to call their political soulsi their own. It has been said that the Farmers' Union needs a platform. Well/ let this be a plank towards one : That this being a free British' colony, every individual who contributes his or her share to the revenue of the country should have an equal right to participate in the expenditure of public money, and that no Government should be allowed to inflict a fine on an elector solely because of that elector's political opinions. *If another plank is needed let them take up the cause of the deeply injured Strathmore residents and wipe away this gross political scandal. To be Continued.

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J. A very. Tobacconist, Dovan* 1 street, New Plymouth, announce that he has obtained the Tvuamkl agency for the celebrated Havelock Tobacco, in aromatic and dark Plug* This tobacco, which is manufacture* by Cameron and Co., has a great; sale in Australia. He also announce* that he has received a new stock of Football covers and bladders, aa > sizes, Hockey and Golf requisite ! Call and inspect,.