MITIGATION OF FLOODS IN THE HUNTER RIVER. Ill 



which becomes discoloured. As the country is nearly all 

 rung it is to be hoped that many of these seeds will be 

 arrested by the fallen timber. 



As we proceed towards the hills from the water-courses, 

 we come to the clay and sandy land and to the masses of 

 undecomposed basalt, which have no manurial value but are 

 a potentiality for future ages. 



The poorer uplands can sometimes only be profitably 

 used in conjunction with the rich flats on which they abut. 

 This is clearly brought out in the evidence 1 in regard to 

 the proposal of the late Mr. Price, to dam the Hunter 

 below Denman. In fact, if we loose our flats, large addit- 

 ional areas will be thrown out of occupation. 

 The Outlook Serious. 



My view is that it is only a matter of a brief historical 

 period when unless preventive steps are taken, these rich 

 river and creek flats will find their way into the Pacific 

 Ocean. Some people, including men of great experience 

 and careful thinkers, are, however, of a different opinion. 

 They view the erosion with more or less equanimity, con- 

 sidering that what is taken off one bank is deposited on the 

 other. Of course erosion is going on all over Australia, 

 and to what extent compensating influences are at work is 

 a question for geologists, but I believe the amount of loss 

 far exceeds the gain. 



I do not like the laisser faire argument as applied to the 

 Hunter. It seems an argument analogous to that because 

 there will always be evil in the world, efforts for the better- 

 ment of man's condition should be abandoned. As a matter 

 •of fact man's existence in the world is dependent on his 

 maintaining an incessant warfare against what are called 

 "the forces of Nature." As regards the particular case 



1 " Hunter River Floods Prevention," Minutes of Evidence, Pari., Stand. 

 •Committee Public Works. Questions 1128, 1385, etc., 1901. 



