ROADING: AND MORE OF IT.

Waipa Post, Volume VII, Issue 342, 21 August 1914, Page 4

ROADING: AND MORE OF IT.

WE have frequently said in the past, and we do not hesitate to say so again, that the prosperity and advancement of this district to a very great extent depends upon the carrying out of a rather comprehensive system of roading. In returning to the subject to-day we make special reference to the loan proposal of the Waipa County Council to raise £3,000,. which is to be determined by the ratepayers of the Rangiaohia Riding to-morrow. By their decision to-morrow ratepayers will, through the ballot box, show evidence of prosperity or stagnation. They will prove or disprove the genuineness of their oft-expressed desire for the general advance of the whole district. Good roads—and more of them—are exactly what this district needs, and must have if its further advance is to be assured. Good roads to the settler are almost as important as the opening of a maritime trade route. The district may produce vast quantities of agricultural wealth, and yearly the amount and value of its produce may be increased. But if the settler is to receive the value of his labour in bringing the lands into a higher state of ! productivity he -must have the means of ready trarisit so that his produce will speedily reach the world's markets. When produce is locked up at the water-front through labour or other troubles or when war clouds cause the withdrawal of ocean tramps from the maritime trade routes, the settler is not slow to realize what it means to be almost entirely shut off from the markets which make for the wealth* of all that his soil produces. But, unfortunately, he is not so ready to realize what a proper outlet in his immediate district means, and what serious losses he sustains through the poor roading, which, in the first instance, may be the key to his market door. Whereas produce may accumulate in bulk stores occasionally owing to temporary unrest—and the effects are serious, we admit —it is all the more serious for the operations of the farmer to be hindered year in year out through his failure to provide for himself that which is essential for his prosperity. We have heard it said, and there is probably a good deal of truth in the statement, that the district of which Te Awamutu is the trade centre and outlet is capable of producing double its present amount of agricultural wealth. If there is truth in this statement,.then we firmly believe that it is good loads which will be primarily responsible tor the increased production. To the farmer also must not be lost the fact that a means of access is a very determining factor in the value of'his holding, and those who have lands for sale or those who may be in search of a rural home will realise to the full what good roads mean to a district. The present loan proposal differs somewhat, in one respect at least, to recent proposals brought forward. In the main it is a Joan to complete works already undertaken. On the Ohaupo-Te Awamutu road £I3OO of loan money has already been expended, the major portion being absorbed in necessary grading works. By approving the present loan the benefit of previous works will be felt, as the greater portion of the moneys proposed to be allocated for this road will be for metalling. It is hardly probable that the Rangiaohia riding ratepayers will decline the 'proposal which means so much to them and to their district. The necessary rate on which to obtain the loan is one-tenth of a penny in the pound —equivalent to eight shillings and four pence for, every £IOOO of ratable property. But rates proposed and rates actually levied are oftentimes two very different things. Assuming that the full j

rate is called up we are aegured that the benefit conferred by the saving of time, trouble, and annoyance will more than compensate the settler for any out-of-pocket payments. It has been proved in every county and road district that so far as road works are concerned interest charges on loans are not so heavy as the maintenance cost of make shift roads. We congratulate the Waipa County on having brought forward this loan proposal, and also for having concluded all negotiations for the floating of the loan immediately the ratepayers' sanction is obtained. As we said before we do not consider it likely that the proposal will be rejected at the poll, as there is a growing feeling in favour of the district's greatest need—good roads and more of them.