The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1913. A NEW ROADING POLICY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144199, 16 September 1913, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1913. A NEW ROADING POLICY.

In the Land Laws Amendment Bill now before the House a very important new provision is made for the purpose of roading backblock districts. This is a matter in which the Liberal Governments of recent years failed miserably to do justice to settlers, hundreds of whom were induced to take up land on the understanding that they would be furnished with roads to give them access to the markets. Generally the land was “loaded” for this purpose ; that isto say, after a price had been determined upon, an addition was made to cover the cost of roading, and the!settler had to pay a rental calculated upon the sum thus arrived at. So settlers were, compelled to pay interest for years upon the cost of roads, which the Government failed to make. There are numbers of settlers in Taranaki who for many years have been paying for roads which do not exist and never have existed, and nothing contributed more to the defeat of the Liberal Government in Taranaki constituencies than its heartless treatment of these settlers. Nor did the Reform Government inherit any more embarrassing legacy from its predecessors than this'duty of doing justice to these settlers. It is difficult enough at any time to finance the roading of new bush lands, but when the roading has been permitted over a long series of years to fall into arrears the. difficulty is enormously increased. The Hon. Mr. Fraser had evidence of this at "Whangamomona a few weeks ago, when he was deluged with requests for roads which his predecessors ought to have made but .did not. In the new Land Bill Mr.. Massey has endeavoured to find a solution of the difficult' problem. He proposes that special districts shall bo formed for reading purposes, upon the recommendation of a Land Board in the case of lands already leased, and without such recommendation in the case of lands to be hereafter disposed of. To provide funds it is proposed that all moneys from time to time accruing from the sale, letting, or other disposal of Crown lands in a district, which are now payable into the Consolidated Fund or the Land for Settlements Account, shall for a period not exceeding fifteen years be paid into a separate account, to be applied towards the formation of roads and bridges ‘ within the district or to give access to it. The exact application of the funds is to he left Us far as possible to a majority of the settlers, or a committee appointed by the settlers, to decide. The payment of “thirds” and “fourths” will, of course, be dispensed, with, since the proposal is to devote the whole of the revenue, not only a third or a fourth of it, to roading. We presume that the rights of the New Plymouth /Harbour Board will not be prejudiced in any way, but as the endowment has been so hacked about it would be as well that this point should be made clear. Power is given to the Minister at any time, by notice in the Gazette, to abolish a special district, when the revenue will again be paicl„to the Consolidated Fund or the Land for Settlement Account as at present. It is obvious that these two funds must suffer loss of revenue under the Bill, if it becomes law, but the settlers who have taken up land under a promise of roading facilities which has not been fulfilled are entitled to first consideration, and until ‘they have proper access to their holdings the whole of their rents should, in equity, be devoted to that purpose. In the case of Crown lands to be opened hereafter, we have for many years consistently and persistently urged that roads should precede

settlement. Reasonable access should be given to every section, tbe cost of reading being a first charge against the land. If the land is worth roading, the Crown will have no difficulty' in finding settlers to take it up when access is provided. If it is not worth roading it should be withheld, or leased in large blocks on a moderate terminable lease, with improvement clause, for whatever it will fetch in the open market. That, however, is a. question which we need not discuss now. The point to be considered at present is whether the proposals in the Bill are likely to do justice to those settlers who have suffered such heavy loss and hardship through the neglect of former Governments to give them reasonable access to their holdings. In many oases it will be necessary to capitalise the revenue in order to provide a sufficient sum to make the roads necessary to meet the immediate requirements of the settlers. There should be no great difficulty about this, for instead of only “thirds” or “fourths” to help meet the interest on roading loans the whole of the revenue will be available for fifteen years if necessary, after which the “thirds” or “fourths” would be available again. This portion of the Land Bill ought to receive the very sympathetic attention of the House.