The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1939 TOWN AND COUNTRY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 3, 26 April 1939, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1939 TOWN AND COUNTRY

Dependent for its very existence on the goodwill of the far flung- farming community in its immediate surrounding districts Whakatane has every reason to provide service and good custom to those country dwellers who regularly look to it as a buying and shopping centre. No truer saying was ever uttered than that prosperity of a pastoral country depended completely on the prosperity of its farming community, and the sooner this is recognised, the sooner will come ao-operation and understanding between town and country. "Take away the town" said a well known Waikato dairyman recently "and the farmers would carry ic)n ati a pinch and become self supporting, but take away the farmers and see how long the towns will remain. This is not merely patent to any town in particular, it is applicable to every centre in New Zealand, for the Dominions total income, directly and indirectly is dependant upon a. blade of grass. It is encumbent therefore on Whakatane to recognise the claims of the. farmers who called it into existence. Country dwellers look to it to supply not merely the means of shopping, business deafe, recreation, entertainment, but a centre which .they can call "their own town," a flourishing and vigorous town fully equipped with all the amenities which go to make it a healthy, progressive and expanding trading point. It must be modern and ambitious, clean well-kept and properly conducted. Honest trading will earn appreciation from the best spenders in the world—the farmer and his family., Visitors to Whakatane have praised its unique situation, its historical and' legendry connections, its smart and attractive shopping section. These are assess of inestimable worth, but there remains much to be done in the way of creating civic pride and loyalty to the place in which so many are making a com fortable and remunerative living. There is room foreith beautifying society., So muph could be done in a personal way were the .to co-operate with the Borough Council in the building, pointing and laying out of a waterfront drive connecting the town with the proposed memorial park at the heads. Suburban Whakatane could take a greater pride in the cultivation of gar- , dens and road frontages. There is a call to the sporting bodies to promote amateur and professional sports which will bring visitors to the town on holidays. A New Years annual carnival is not merely a stimulous to business but is actually the finest tourist advertisement any town can have. Why not Whakatane! We have the centre, the people and the goodwill. Again why not. Local movements of this nature indicate a live and progressive com- i munity capable of accomplishing big things and attaining objecr tives. The amazing growth of our tiown shows only too well the confidence which has been established in the rural population. Now is the time to do something in return to retain permanently that patronage. The duty of right thinking citizens does not end at 5 pjn. when they close their doors. It is necessary for their own good to link up with some body, society or organisation with a definite interest in the towns advancement. By so doing they will not merely be assisting the already established kxial bodies, but indirectly helping themselves and cultivating still more the goodwill of the country.