The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 1 July 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1879.

In a recent issue we reprinted from the New Zealand Times a report of a deputation which waited upon the Hon, the Minister for Public Works respecting the Forty-Mile Bush Road. The following is the correspondence referred to in that report, We trust that a road which has cost so large an expenditure of public money will not be permitted to be closed, but that the ■Government next session will make some provision for its reconstruction. If once the road were put in good order, ■we think the County ought not to hesitate to undertake its maintenance. If it were a through lino passing through a barren country, the County might -well refuse to be responsible for even its maintepWe, but such is not the case. Tile Forty-Mile Bush promises in\the fpure to be a rate-producing district, and with a little mining would not jflHgp of smAting: its

own roads, bat also of recouping J ad-1 viiuces which might be made to it from ' tile County ti'tMry, . : ..The only difficulties in dcalinflnf tlio road ate—first, the bad contraction which requires replacing, which' must be met by the Government; and, secondly, the native lands in the district which yield no rate, and the attitude which the natives assume towards travellers through'the'road by levying black: matt on them. How long the North Island will permit its progress to be arrested by pandering to the indolence and' ignorance of the native race, wo. know not, but we trust,public opinion will in timo sweep away all exemptions by which Maories possess advantages over European colonists, and so compel the native race to assist in instead of retarding the settlement and civilization of the land:— Longwooil, Fcatherston, June 23rd, 1879. Sin,—l have the honor to forward for your information enclosed copy of estimate made by the County Engineer, under my instructions, of the probable cost for the ensuing year of maintenance of the road from Opaki to Mauawatu river, amounting in all to £11,503. In doing so it is so obvious as to be hardly necessary for mo to point out that the amount required is far in excess of any sum which this County can possibly spare for the purpose. The County subsidy for the ensuing year will only amount to £2,071, out of which the maintenance of the main road from Fcatherston to Opaki, a distance of about thirty-five miles, including a bridge near Groytown, estimated to cost £I,OOO has to be provided for; so that obviously very little can be left for the Opaki to Mauawatu road. This County has not declared any portion of the main road from Featherston to Mauawatu a County road, consequently under section 81 of the Public Works Act, 1870, the control of the various portions is vested in the Highway Boards of the districts in which they are situated, and the County distributes among those Boards the whole of the subsidy received by it, for expenditure on the main road alone. It will be clear from this explanation that the whole of the Government subsidy is expended on the main line, and that in the most advantageous manner possible, as the various Boards can exercise a better supervision than any one body can do. This being tho case, nothing will be gained should the Government think proper to exercise its power of carrying on the works, and retaining the Countv subsidy in payment. I would therefore respectfully urge upon, you the absolute necessity for making some special provision for meeting tho estimated expenditure of £11,G6'3, as, if this is not done, the inevitable alternative is that the road within a few weeks will become impassable, is a proof that the danger is not an imaginary one, I may mention the fact that I have only within the last few hours received a telegram from the County Engineer informing me that one of the bridges has fallen down. I have in this case instructed him to rebuild at once, so as to keep the road open for traffic; but directly another bridge gives way, nothing can be done in the matter by the County. lkcognising, as I do, the absolute necessity which exists for throwing upon local bodies the cost of local works so far as is practicable, I would not make this application were it possible in any way for the County to meet the expenditure. The fact that it cannot be done, whatever effort and sacrifices might be made, renders it my duty to lay tho facts before you in anticipation of the estimates for the ensuing year being passed, so that the Government may decide whether' a sufficient sum for that purpose can he provided, or whether a road which was constructed, and is used for colonial rather than local purposes, shall he allowed to become impassable. Had the bridges on this line been constructed of proper material, it is possible the progress of settlement by increasing the rates derivable from the district might have been such as to enable the Board to replace them as they become worn out, but the material having been of tho worst possible description, obey could only he considered as temporary structures, and therefore the road can hardly he said to have been properly finished. It appears to me that this fact makes this an exceptional case, and therefore that a sum might bo voted for properly completing the work without violating the principle which lias been laid down, by which the Government refuse to provide for local works.

I shall bo obliged by your early attention to this question, as, unless some arrangement is made, traffic on the road -will in all probability be entirely stopped within a month,—l am, &c, (JIUKLES PIURASiYX, Chairman W.W.C. The Hon. the Minister for Public Works, Wellington. County Olliccs, Mastcrton, June 20,1879,

Silt, —1 have the honor to submit the following brief report on the bridges of the main road from Opaki to the Manawatu river. Most of these bridges are built of rimu, a large proportion of which is of sapwood. Many of the piles are spared saplings, and these are in most eases quite rotten, A few of the bridges are built of matai and totai'a. They arc in a much better condition, and-with slight repairs will probably be serviceable for four or five more years. Several of the bridges are jn an extremely dangerous condition, the weight of the embankments behind the piers has broken off the piles close to the ground, ami burst the wing-walls away from the piers. The road is as yet open, but I think it highly probable that several of these bridges will fail during the present winter. I append an estimate of the cost of substituting bridges of heart wood of tohu:i, and wrought iron for those that are in a sounder condition, also an estimate of the cost of maintaining the main road from Opaki to Manawatu foriwclvo mouths.—l am, tfc., Joux King, County Engineer. The Chairman of the Wairarapa West County Council. Total costs of repairing and rebuilding £8,023 Cost of earthworks, engineering expenses, &c 1,022 Cost of maintaining main road from Opaki to Manawatu river for 12 ■ months .. ,-.; 1,918 Total £11,503