The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1946 IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 18, 30 August 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1946 IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION

IT has been said, with more than a measure of truth, that we are living in the midst of a revolution. In the making, as a result of extended facilities for education, controlled economies and various forms of social security, throughout a large part of the British Commonwealth and Scandinavia, is a new type of democratic society and it as well if we pause to consider the revolutionary implications of the changes in progress. In all human societies, throughout history, there has been a fairly sharp distinction between the small privileged class and the rest; and the functioning of society has always depended on this class division. Now, by opening'secondary education to all, we are giving everyone a chance to qualify for something better than hewing wood and drawing water. By aiming at continuous full employment we are seeking to provide an unfailing choice of jobs. And by introducing a comprehensive scheme of social security we are dismissing gross poverty and hunger as recruiting sergeants for the hardest toils. Contrary to the deeplyheld convictions of many people, this revolutionary experiment does not receive its impetus merely from the rising political power of the masses; it springs also from a quickened sense of social responsibility. Those who feel this responsibility most keenly should be the first to face and study the questions which the experiment is going to raise. The primary and most obvious one is: Who, under these new conditions, will do the heavy, disagreeable work? The problem is by no means merely academic. Already, in British coalmines, recruitments are so far behind losses that Mr A. Horner, the Communist leader appointed by the National Union of Mineworkers to stimulate production, said recently that if the present ratio continues, in ten years “there will not be a miner left in the country.” Agricultural experts have stated that. if prisoner-of-war labour is withdrawn from the farms after the next harvest Britain must expect “an agricultural crisis of the first-magnitude,” for “the ex-

Servicemen who have been .demobilised so far are showing

a strong disinclination to become farm workers.” The British Government’s housing programme has been hampered

by a shortage of bricks; the brickmaking industry is having difficulty in getting men to return to it. These examples have their own parallels, familiar enough, in our own coun-

try and they should make it apparent to every thinkingperson that we are facing a problem which touches the foundations of our way of life. There was bound to be unsettlement in the months following the end of the war, of course; but things will never settle back into the old grooves.

Changes have taken place which can never be reversed, and we have to adjust ourselves from new foundations.

ADVANCE OHOPE OHOPE is fast discovering a powerful community spirit which is directed towards the settlements advancement. The newly-formed Progress League has dedicated itself to the hastening of better facilities and the advancing of Ohope’s claims as a rising beach resort which has been criminally neglected in the past. It is fitting that the new movement should come from the residents themselves. They are undoubtedly the natural promoters and guardians of the settlement, which can never hope to advance under the .present administrative set-up. The County Council, which is the nominal administrative body holding responsibility has its hand& far too full with major roading and bridging problems to be worried about a concentrated effort to develop a seaside resort as it should be developed. Likewise the Borough some five miles away is also weighted down with the heavy reponsibilities of drainage, water supply, sewerage and a fast-expanding residential area. Ohope with all its glorious setting and potential loveliness can hope for little encouragement from either of these authorities. The only real help can come from within the community itself, an this appears to be taking place. In wishing the League all success and in> congratulating it on what it has achieved in the comparatively short time of its existence, we would earnestly suggest that once again the effort be made to make the beach an independent, self-governing community along the lines of a Town Board. We know that this suggestion has been turned down in the past, but feel that Ohope has proved its case by the steady growth of its population and by its growing popularity as a resort. Only when a self-contained administrative authority has been set up from Ohope itself, can we hope to see our beautifully situated beach settlement take its rightful place as an up-to-date and progressive resort and community centre.