KORAKONUI

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1778, 3 July 1926, Page 5

KORAKONUI

A SPECIAL SETTLEMENT AREA.

ROADING METHODS. (By a Travelling Contributor.) Korakonui was a special settlement area established between 15 and 20 years ago by the Ward Government, which bought the land from Jthe native owners for something -likPlOs per acre. The block was surveyed and subdivided into farm sections of about 200 acres each. The land was disposed of on a leasehold tenure at cost price, plus the outlay- for surveying, at a rental of 5 per cent based on the actual cost. The qualifications of applicants debarred capitalists. But experience on (the land or a knowledge of farming was deemed necessary. Preference was given to discharged civil servants. Somqf of them may have been unemployed through being unfit or unwilling to work, were married men, while some were dwellers in the slum areas of our cities. As may be realised, Ministers and members of Parliament had been pestered by all sorts and conditions of men and women to be provided with easy Government billets, hence the grand idea of settling some of those unhappy town dwellers on the land. Free railway transport was provided for all the new settlers coming from a distance, and a competent farm instructor was pub in charge of the settlement to guide and direct. The new settlers were each advanced a sum of about £3O with which to construct a temporary habitation. The instructor from time to time directed the settlers how to break in new land, and payments were made by the Government by way of an advance on. the nominal value of the work executed. These payments also covered grass seed and fencing material. The advances were all debited against each respective holding, and at, the end of three years capitalised, on which the settler was asked to pay interest. Thus he had to pay interest on the capital value of the land, plus the advances. During the slack season the settlers were given employment, mak. ing and grading roads to and through their own lands. The men were paid full wages out of the Consolidated Fund—the good worker was paid the same rate &s the indifferent or lazy man. When, the grassed land was ready for stock tha Government supplied dairy stock. There were several other such settlements established in the King Country at about the same time, and these were commonly referred to as “the spoon fed settlements.’!’ Practically all those early settlers who blazed the track (in most cases the life was uncongenial) have by now disappeared, and in each case the place is occupied by a man who possesses a motor car for use on the metalled road' passing his door. The car is considered indispensable to enable him to spend leisure hours at the picture theatres, the races and. football matches : The main road from Te Awamutu railway station to . Ngaroma runs through the settlement, and this highway is well graded and gravelled. There are also some byroads that are only graded and formed. Those clay roads are all right in the summer, but when the winter rains come the motor car has to be laid up. The settlers on the by-road known as Walker’s moved to have their road, some 100 chains in length, metalled some little time ago. The ordinary county rate (Otorohanga County) was insufficient for the purpose, the engineer’s estimate for the metalling being about £6OO. It may be remarked, in passing, that engineers invariably add a bit extra in case of accident. The settlers in this case were advised to apply for a loan on the security of their lands, and that a 36! year annual payment of about 7 per cent would wipe out the loan. In any matter, for the welfare of a district. it is a peculiar circumstance that country settlers rarely can agee. Mr James Kay, the owner of one of the original sections, violently objected, as he had a frontage to 'the main metalled road. He told the authorities and his fellow settlers that they might shut up the by-road so far as he was concerned, for he never used it. However, as the end of his,section butted against the by-road he was legally liable to be included in the special rating area. It was computed—and pointed out to him —that his rate would be only a pailtry £4 annually for 36J years, a total of £162, when the whole indebtedness would be wiped off. Road boards and county councils may permit needy and hardup settlers to pay their rates by labouring on the roads. Jim Kay claimed the right, under this custom, to do ■his portion of road metalling. The offer was accepted, and an agreement drawn up and duly signed. The county engineer measured and marked the fourteen chains, specifying the width (9ft) and depth of metal (Sin) to be laid. Splendid shingle was obtained from the banks of the Mangatutu creek close by. This time of year being the dairy farmer’s idle season, Air Kay borrowed his neighbour’s waggon, and with his own waggon and cart, he got busy. One set of horses worked the two waggons. As soon as one waggon was unloaded the empty waggon was brought into the pit and the horses hitched to thei loaded wagon. Two shovel men were engaged in the pit and one man was on the road spreading. In this manner a continuous stream of metal was placed on the road. Being favoured with fine weather the job was finished in five days. Out of pocket expenses totalled £lO. My Kay did not reckon his own time worth anything, and his horses were idle.

It may be observed as an axiom of present day conditions that when a man takes a road contract lie usually tenders too low, and to make ends meet he then tries to do as little as possible. Maybe the inspecting official does not like to be too 1 hard but considers it politic to find fault and threaten deductions. It is usually considered quite legitimate to “do” a road board, county council or the Government, for neither of those bodies has a soul. If an engineer lets a contract specifying say twelve inches he usually does not expect to get more than eight or nine inches. After the metal is laid and some traffic has passed over it it is almost impossible

to accurialteliy measure (the dressing. The road engineer or inspector rarely, if ever, compliments a contractor, or cedits him with doing to much. Instead he grumbles, finds many faults, and threatens deductions, thus “making a play’ ’that he knows a lot and therefore a contractor must be careful. In the present instance the inspector came along just when the Korakonui gravelling contract was finished, and before any traffic had taken place. Running his tape over the work and looking for faults/he pronounced the filling an inch too narrow and an inch too deep, but as the traffic would soon obliterate those defects he graciously passed the job. There is, it may be added, an understanding between Kay and the ten other settlers along the road, I am assured, which will be honourably observed. It is to the effect that in the event of any hitch or default in raising the loan, thereby hanging up the metalling of their portion, the ten settlers benefiting by the provision of the fourteen chains of metalling will pay Jim Kay £4 per annum for 36 h years.

This gravelling business has revealed the great dearth of casual labour in the country. The Government has been encouraging the building of numerous workmen’s cottages in the towns, but it should really try the experiment of building a few workmen’s cottages at Korakonui with, say, five acres of land attached. There is a good scffoolhouse at Korakonui, but the attendance of scholars is not sufficient to warrant more than one teacher. Therefore a couple of workmen, with families of school age would be welcomed.