RIVERS COMMISSION.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 14729, 6 August 1921, Page 5

RIVERS COMMISSION.

PAEROA SITTING RESUMED.

WAIHI COUNSEL’S ADDRESS

The* Waihi and Ohinemuri Rivers’ Commission resumed the inquiry'into tho allocation of the cost of providing funds required under the Waihou-and Ohinemuri, Rivers’ Improvement Act 1910, at the-. Courthouse, Paeroa, yesterday, before Messrs. H. J. Blow (chairman), W. S. Short and G. Buchanoan. Since the opening of the sitting on Tuesday the Commission 'Tias visited the various localities, and concluded its tour of inspection yesterday afternoon. . In opening the proceedings, Mr. Clendon asked for permission to represent the Thames Borough Council, who possessed an endowment area in the lands affected. WAIHI CLAIMS. In opening his address, Mr. Johnstone, representing the Waihi Borough Council, said the main subject, for discussion was whether tne allocation imposed by Section 17 of the Rivers Act was a fair allocation or not. . The object of the Act was to remedy and prevent silting and overflowing of the Ohinemuri River , and improve the navigation, and in order to give effect to these objects the Minister for Public Works had wide powers vested in him. No limit was placed upon those powers. At the present time, there was no mine working outside Waihi, and the borough was the only one receiving gold duty. It therefore followed that one half of the moneys required? to pay the sinking fund and other charges fell upon Waihi. The allocation of £SOOO was one which the Waihi Borough Council could no longer bear. Theiy asked, therefore, to be relieved from the burden; in fact, they asked to be relieved entirely from payment. The 1910 Act, which was passed on the last day : of the session, was based on the recommendation of the members who then sat on the Commission. It was set up account of land owners, who contended' that, their locality was affected by silt-a-tion, and other causes; that by reason of the silting many of the farmers were being ruined and the progress of the district)., would . be . retarded. A large volume of evidence was taken at the commission, and with a great bulk of the findings, later eyenfs had shownAthe'. Commission .were vfco a certain, extent led astray, particularly when theV ./assumed, that!the, 'mining industry, would continue on the same" footing as it then was in. !!! The mining industry, which wa& r iihen rich, had become, and so poor was the mining industry' ,that' Waihi could not ; carry on unless they were .relieved."' Again, where farming lgiinds were poor, they were now rich. They were in the position of. sup-, pliants. He referred to the question of gold duty of 2s per ounce exported from New Zealand, and the provision; of the Act which provided, that.the duty was to undistributed in proportion amongst the boroughs. The Waihi borough was entitled to gold ’’ duty to be expended in making reasonable provision for the people engaged in that industry. Since 1910, all the mines. had closed down except two. The payment allocated by the Act bore no proportion to the gold duty received. In 1909, the gold dht-y Avas £22,000, while in .1921 the gold duty received was £BOOO, and the contribution to” the . silting account remained at £500(). He held that the 1919 Commission did not .'take that into consideration.

Continuing, Mr. Johnstone said that all the Waihi inhabitants depended upon the mining industry, and there was no more uncertain industry. ’ In some of places farming had-followed mining, but most; of the land in Waihi was unsuitable for farming. In 1911 the population reached 6,436, and later practically 7000. With the exception of a waterworks loan, the whole of the public utilities had been paid out of the revenue' from the Waihi borough. ' The council had provided its gas-works/water supply, an abattoir, recreatioh grounds, streets, sanitary arrangements, and baths. The area was 3130 acres. The l sections were mostly acre ones. The whole borough, he said, had to be maintained, out of revenue. The borough, had many calls of recent years. Many of its streetswere worn out, the buildings had not been painted for ten years, and the culverts required attention. They, were £ISOO over their limit at ' the Bank. The borough contributed towards the Waihi-Paeroa road, the Puke*-Paeroa road, and also to the settlement of Waikino for - general upkeep. There were mine employees who lived there. The mine owners ■were the largest landowners in Waihi and the borough had. no power to levy rates, excepting on buildings on. the surface. prospecting was encouraged, . while the bodies had to make roads to the mining properties. The Waihi company’s valuation fell by about one million in a few days. The industry was not permanent, the population changed quickly, and in

his opinion £SOOO per annum should not bo diverted for purposes which were entirely foreign to them, i'he •Commission in 1910 based their reasoning upon false views. The industry was on tho wane. In T 909 the gold duty payable to the borough was £22,000, in 1921 it- had dropped to- £BOOO. The population of Waihi in 1911 was 6436; in 1921 it was 3957. There was no house famine in Waihi although 270 houses had been removed in the last few years, and transplanted upon tne fat Plains '(laughter), and Te Aroha. Tho bank overdraft was £7440. The borough had. contributed to date £17,141. . There had been no extravagance 'in the borough and he would put in the borough balance sheets to show that. , To Mr.. Blow: Ho would not suggest upon whom the burden should fall. ' • Mr. Clendon: Any revision'may disturb the. whole thing. Mr. Johnstone: I am not pre>pared to make any suggestion' 1 haven’t the data available, but probably Mr. Clendon will. disgorge a whole lot later. (Eaught-er). “The main Waihou river,” (he said “rises at Litchfield and drains an area of 280,000 acres, the whole of which area is covered with loose soil, much if it of a light character. Such soil presents little resistance to rainfall. The Ohinemuri river rises at Waihi, and has a small watershed.” Both had a rapid flow from their source, and gradually became slower. They were tlda* up to Paeroa. Prior to European settlement both carried a substantial loading of soil and deposited; it in lower parts. The Hauraki j. lains were formed by that process. The southern shore of the Firth of Thames was steadily increasing ..towards the sea. Figures would bo produced to show the amount of debris that was settled in the Firth of Thames, and mining silt composed a minimum of it all. The district was subject to heavy floods. Much of the land was too swampy to be taken up, but with the advent of settlement the bush Had been cleared, while: the sun dried up the surface and increased the flow of silt. One drain alone neat' Te Aroha had discharged' into the river no less than 1,076,000 cubic yards of sand. Five of such drains would discharge into the river as great a bulk of sand as that from tho whole of the Waihi mines. Mr. Blow : And yet, in view of the Commission’s report, you wish tor exclusion. ' • •

Mr. Jdhnstone: The Commission at. that time viewed Waihi as a wealthy , locality.

/Sitting)