The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1895.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1767, 30 May 1895, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1895.

A few weeks ago a reporter was sent by the Christcharch Press to Cheviot, for the purpose of obtaining an independent description of the state of the settlement, regarding which many conflicting accounts were being bandied about. The reporter appears from his account of what he saw, to have striven to be impartial. He had much to say m favour of the settlement, but also much to say against it, and especially he made it evident that many of the settlers will have a struggle to pay their next instalment of rent, owing to the fall m the values of sheep and other produce. Some of the settlers wrote to the Press and other papers, discounting the accuracy of the reporter's remarks under this head, and the Press, as an Opposition journal, was accused of political bias m obtaining and publishing such a report. We observe that the Lyttelton Times, which is certainly not an Opposition journal, has also and more recently sent a special correspondent to Cheviot, whether m the hope of obtaining a more satisfactory report or not, we of course cannot say. The two accounts are m substantial agreement, so far as they touch upon the same subjects. The Lyttelton Times representative perhaps looked upon some things he saw with a rather more friendly and hopeful eye, and gives the land itself a better character than some good judges have been able to give it. On one point both the professional investigators are agreed, and that is that many of the settlers are just now hard pushed for money. The reason for thi3 is, m most cases, that the settlers invested the cash they had left after making requisite improvements, m live stock, expecting to get their cash back again when they needed it, but owing to the fall m prices they have had to sell at a loss. The settlers hope to be able to make terms with the Government for the postponement of the next half-year's rent, and if they get over this cash difficulty they look forward to going on safely and prosperously. We sincerely sympathise with the settlers on the latter point, but after reading the Lyttelton Times report we do not see much ground for their hope that they will be able to pay half a year's rent with a promissory note, for their landlord has shamefully neglected them, m matters within a landlord's duty. Many thousands of pounds — all charged to the settlers m the capital value of their holdings — have been spent m halfmaking roads, which have been left m worse condition than if they had not been touched at all, and some are already impassable, though the real winter is yet to come. About £15,000 was spent m making a road to tlie port, and it is now almost useless because portions of it were not properly finished; and m other cases roads have been shingled and boggy creeks across them left unbridged. To quote the Lyttelton Times report: — "As showing how money was needlessly spent m rinding work, the method of making the Waiau Flat road may be cited. The road, it may be said, runs for some miles through a wet fiat, and has a Blight incline towards the mouth of the Waiau. Preparatory to formin g the road, the official m charge set a gang of elderly men to work at chipping off all the tussocks, and it is said that their average earnings at the job were 10s per day. The next proceeding was to raiso the road by covering the line from which the tussocks had been cleared with about two feet of clay. Large drains were cut for some distance on either side of the road and the material taken from them was used for raising the thoroughfare. What the object was of making two drains is not apparent. When I saw them, the one on the upper side, which has to carry off the water coining from the hills, was full, while the one on the other side did not appear to serve any purpose at all." We gather from what follows that the drain on the upper side of the road is not carried to any discharging point, m which case the drain on the lower side will be useful for storing the excess of drainage escaping over the road from the other. All the accounts we have met with of the road works on Cheviot indicate gross carelessness or gross incompetence m the officers who were entrusted with their design and superintendence, and we cannot understand how the Minister for Lands, upon whose reputation the success or failure of Cheviot must reflect, has not taken steps to see that the works were more skilfully and more reasonably carried out. The Ministry owe it to the settlers to give them good roads m return for the money charged to them for roads, and they need have no fear of Parliament on the score of a little extra expenditure. Cheviot is a fact, m the production of which Parliament was concerned, and Parliament is concerned to make it a satisfactoiy one. The position now we are told, is this : The County Council is asked to take over the district m its present unfinished state, and has been told that there is no more money available for improvements. The Minister of Lands | had much better have prepared to ask Parliament for approval of unauthorised expenditure, pointing to a well roaded settlement for its justification, than to face the sneers and condemnation he will meet with for the present condition of Cheviot.