A JOB TO BE DONE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 145, 10 April 1940, Page 4

A JOB TO BE DONE

RESUSCITATION of the Whakatane Chamber of Commerce and the renewed hope of establishing a businessmen's association the activities of which will be pledged to the progress of the town as a whole and not merely to the prosecution of making' money in a private capacity, has raised the hopes of those who desire to see the town help itself. In spite of the war, in spite of the uncertainty of the outlook, this is no time for the business population to sit back and twiddle their thumbs. Our town is still growing; growing fast and an active Chamber of Commerce co-operating with the Borough Council would find its hands well filled with constructive responsibilities. In the past the town as far as enterprise is concerned has done little more than rest on its laurels. But the time for smug complacency is past. The achievements of the past are great in themselves, we have a right to feel proud—forget 'it. The time for grousing and criticising is past for everybody knows that it is impossible to make headway by complaints—forget them too. The sooner we tear down the cheap bunting, roll up our sleeves and. begin to grub the ground with good co-operative endeavour, the sooner we will discover that our own innate spirit of enterprise is all that is required to break through the barriers which divide us from a one-mind community bent on improving and advancing. Until we obtain this spirit of unity, we are in reality, "up against ourselves! In this bigger game of pushing our town ahead, everyone is a starter; there is room enough for the least of us to pull cur weight. The Chamber of Commerce with its ranks open to as many who care to become members has and will achieve great things. As a body it is often the stepping stone to important things for its members, while the friendly and social aspect cannot be overlooked: It is no use waiting for something to happen. That is merely stalemate— and moves nothing. There are those of course, who claim that the time is inopportune to make any forward move, but as pointed out before, the time for putting one's 'house' or town in order is always now- Why procrastinate- The brighter and more progressive we can make Whakatane, the greater and more consistent the volume of business, the number of visitors and the growth of permanent residents. The town as a trading point is ready to supply goods; the people need goods and have the money to buy goods. In short, war or no war, we must live. But nothing happens until intelligent energy is applied and then there will be streams of water in the economic desert. Prosperous as our town 'is, wealthy and solid as is the surrounding district the time is right here when we should, in our own interests direct our efforts towards making it even better. Those who draw their living from Whakatane owe; something «m return. .Recognition of this simple fact is known as 'civic pride" and the Chamber of Commerce is a fitting medium by which it may be put into practice.