ADVANCE, CANTERBURY!

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16167, 22 March 1918, Page 5

ADVANCE, CANTERBURY!

PROGRESS "LEAGUE FORMED. REPRESENTATIVE CONFERENCE YESTERDAY. Th(B preliminary -work in connexion with the formation of a Canterbury Progress League, which is to attempt t 5 secure for this province better treatment from both Government an 3 Parliament than has been obtained iu the past was begun yesterday, when a meeting, convened by tho Mayor of Chnstcburch (Mr H. Holland) was largely attended by a gathering representative of both city and country interests. Mr Holland prosided.

THE MAYOR'S SPEECH. In his opening remarks the chairman referred to tho previous attempts to form an Advancement of Canteroury League, which resulted in a scheme being prepared ready for launching, but which was interrupted by the outbreak of war, it being decided to postnone activities till after lwstilities tiad ceased. No one at that time, he said anticipated that tho war would latt four years, but it was still raging and might contunie,lor some time yet. In the meantime the position m Canterbury had not improved, but, on the codtWi" iiti/I gone from bs.cl to woi This was largely accounted for by tho enormous sums of money withdrawn from 'Canterbury for expenditure in the North Island, and the many thousands of men who had left for active service at the front. The Government had turned a deaf ear to 'every request for a local or any camp iife tho South Island, while several camps had been established \ji the North. The result was that millions of money had been withdrawn from the South to be spent in the North, to the groat advantage of the Northern cities and tho detriment of the South. Ho had discussed the position with many business men, public man, and representatives of trades unions, and one and all agreed ■ that the time was opportune for the formation of a Progress League, to insist • than Canterbury got a fair deal in the future—a thing it had not enjoyed in - the past The old saying that Canterbury had been the ''milch, cow" for ' tho rest of the Dominion still held j : good, and it was their duty to see '•■hat - it - did not continue. Ministers of' the 'Crown and members of Parliament were just human beings, and naturally yielded to tho district maK-..ing-strongest claims for the expend.J tare of public money. He hated the idea, of continually nagging, but ho felt satisfied that this was the only! way to secure fair treatment. It might be asked what grounds had he for gaymg that Canterbury had not received fail' treatment in the past.! His answer was briefly, as follows: — • In the year before tho abolition of the provinces, Canterbury's financial position was very buoyant and flourish- ' ang, Ir. the "Gazette" for the quarter ended Juno 30th, 1876, he_ found that the credit baiance, including balance brought forward, was £207,407. For the quarter ended September 30th of the same year the balance, including balance brought forward, i/as £244,062, and each quarter showed a substantial balance. In addition to handing to the National Government roads, bridges, schools, asylums, hospitals, Courts, gaois, and the Lyttelton tunnel, Canterbury handed over 246 miles of completed railways with all rolling-stock.

The valuo of public frorks and other property so handed over was no 'ess than 3J millions sterling, together wita r>* chcque for £10S,000 and liabilities of* only £79. while the other centres were jn debt to the of from £31V.000 to £1,300,000. Quite recently the Railway Department saw fit to so seriously curtail the train sorrice-connecting the city with as to practically isolate the port and city. As a result of constant nagging this disability had ' to some extent Deen removed. He knew the Railway Department would say it treated Canterbury in the samo manner as all -other centres,- but to-that ho submitted that Christchurch ought to have recciveci special consideration owing to its geographical position. No other centre was so severely hit and trade driven from their port and citv, while the citizens had suffered Teat loss and inconvenience. The abstract of statistics for November revealed the fact, which proved the unfair treatment of Canterbury and the South is-, land. It showed that the Public Works Department employed on railway "onstruehon and roads 1799 men. of whom 1347/ were employed in the North Island; leaving only 452 for the Soutn this equitable? The percentage of men employed by the Public Works Department in the North was: Ou railway construction, North Isian«l 74.5; on railway construction, Souta Island, 25.5. On roads construction, North Island, 75.6; on roads construction, South Island, 24.4. The abstract of statistics for February, 3913 showed there were 1184 men employed on railways and roads in the as against only 432 in the oouth. In regard to the expenditure of public money, just about the same percentage prevailed, i.e., three to one. On the Public Works Estimates for 1917-18 there was put down : £296,000 tor railway construction in the North Island, while only £107,500 was voted for $he South,

The Arthur's Pass tunnel had received so much public attention lately, and as a large and influential deputation was to interview the Hon. Sir W. Fraser on the -27th instant, lis felt it was unnecessary for him to detain them discussing this verv important national undertaking further than to say that, according to Mr Bruce, of Westland, the State was losing £1000 every week in interest on money spent on this tunnel and its approaches. From another source he was informed that the people of Canterbury were losing £76,000 a year on the carriage of coal and 15 per cent, by overhandling, while from another source lie learns that they were pajnng £50,000 a year for the carriage of timber more than they shouJd, a total of £170,000 a year to tho State and people of Canterbury, without considering the ioss to Westland. All this surely pointed to the urgent necessity of a Progress League. The land laws were another matter requiring immediate attention. Were the land laws the cause of our declining rural population? How many counties could report an increase in population? The League should set to work to discover the cause and remedy it.

Everyone knew that very soon Parliament would contain three fewer southern members than the present one, while at tho same time t)ie North would have three extra Representatives. This was bad enough in all conscience, but what in his judgment was infinitely worse was the reason for this loss of representation. Whilo Canterbury had gained 8898. in female populatioh, it had actually lost 472 of its male population, leaving tho net gain only 8426. In the same time the North Island had gained 79,000. He felt convinced there would be a large influx of people after tho war, who would desire to make their future homes in New Zealand. This in his opinion cast a great responsibility on every public man, and others who had the interests of Canterbury at heart, to see that we received and retained a fair share of any such increase of population. | Every family settling in the district was a direct benefit to trade of every description. Very large areas of CTOwn lands were still held in a few hands. He felt convinced that these runs were not being subdivided in the interests of closer settlement or in the interests of the community. Tho League might employ its time iu considering this.

That land aggregation was going on he thought no one would deny, and a remedy must be found, and was a subject to which the League might well direct its prompt attention. If land aggregation was increasing production there would not be much room for complaint, but, he asked them, did land aggregation increase production? He would quote official figures, and only deal with wool. Between December Ist, 1916, and February lGth, 1918, the New Zealand Government paid wool-grow.rs in the North Island £13,075,959. while for the same period the South Island wool-growers only received £0,380,511, or less than one-half. This was not as it should be. If we, as a people, were to provide our share of taxation, our productiveness must bo largely increased, unless wo made our minds up to go under. He mentioned that the Patriotic Society was unable to secure land in Canterbury for returned soldiers, and had to finance them to take up land in the North Island. In reporting to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, Mr Cyrus J. Williams, engineer to the Board, had actually reported on six different proposals for better communication between tho city and Port. It must be clear to everyone that five of these must be eliminated, and concentrated action directed to one.

In the matter of railways, roads, and other means of communication, the development of. shipping and commerce, the promotion of industrial, agricultural, and pastoral interests of the province, education, parks, and scenic reserves, town-planning, advertising Canterbury at home and abroad as a field for business activities and a place of residence, in encouraging and attracting tourists, anglers, and sportsmen, in supplying reliable and up-to-date information of industries, trade, commerce, exports, imports, agriculture, climate, health, and generally doing all in its power to promote the best interests of Canterbury, the League would find a wide field for its activities. He considered that they should appoint a paid secretary -with central offices, and that branches should bo formed in every centre, the branches appointing delegates to the executive for everv fifty of their members, the League to hold a conference at least once a year. He suggested that they should ask the local bodies to provide a guarantee fund, and in addition they should ask for voluntary contributions towards the expenses. He read a letter fr-om the ComptrollerGeneral intimating that it would bo legal for local bodies to make such contribution. He moved: "That this large and representative conference of local bodies throughout Canterbury heartily endorses the principle of the formation of a League to promote and encourage the agricultural, commercial, and industrial prosperity of Canterbury." A DISCUSSION. Mr F. Horrell seconded the motion. He disagreed with the chairman's remark that though the engineer to the Lyttelton Harbour Board had reported to the Board on six suggestions regarding communication between Lyttelton and Christchurch, it was clear that they all must be boiled down to one. The chairman: That is so. Mr Horrell: That means the canal. The chairman: Not at all. Mr Horrell said there was a lot of land lying idle on the Port Hills round about Mt. Pleasant, and the' running of a tramway bfetween city and port in that direction would result "in much settlement. The chairman said they had to find cut which. Bcneme of communication b©-

tween city and port was the best, and concentrate their attention upon securing it. POLITICIANS' VIEWS. ' Mr L. M. lsitt, M.P., said he did not see how they were going to have a league of tins kind non-political, when they referred to tho aggregation of land. The most they oouid say was that it should be non-party. Dr. Xhacker,. M.P., suggested inviting North Island members of Parliament and Mayors to inspect the Canterbury district, and so ascertain its needs. He urged that the old Government buildings should bo returned to tne people, and tnus secure for the city a si to for a Town Hall. Mr H. G. Ell, M.P.j suggested the appointment of a committee of picked men to go into the question of land settlement and focus public opinion upon it. He complained that tourists in Christchurch were "chiviad" away by tho local Tourist Office to other parts instead of being encouraged to remain in the city. Canterbury possessed large areas of land lying idle, growing gorse and breeding rabbits, which could bo utilised for afforestation purposes. He suggested the appointment of committees to deal with the matters he had referred to.

LAND MATTERS. Mr J. 11. lilackiveil, Mayor of Kaiapoi, said one iiad only to navel in cutlcrent parts of Canterbury to see areas which couicl glow a great ileal moro and carry a bigger population man they Uid. In regard to liiuuatnes, Cauteibury was iueally situated, tJiero being all tlio factors to proviUo ior future development. To attract population they must provide the land, and the industrial facilities. Air G. Armstrong, Mayor of Akaroa, eaid land aggregation was becoming acute in his district; men of wealtn were buying up tho pick of the Peninsula laud, the average farmer having no chance of competing against them. Something would have to be done to stop the present condition of things, leading as it was to the exodus of their young men to tho North island. No man should be allowed to hold more than a certain amount of land. If -k® did he should be taxed up to its full value. Mr C. I. Jennings, Mayor of Rangiora, said the attendance of children at the public schools in country districts •was considerably decreasing. He referred to* cases where the attendance had decreased by over 50 per cent., ana it was also known that aggregation ot farms was going on in these districts. Mr It. Galbraith, Mayor of Asnburton supported the resolution. They could rely upon Ashburton's assistance. Mr W. Doubleday (Wairoakariri Harbour Board) and M r •J- Jenkins supported the motion.

A MONOPOLY. Mr A. Kaye, chairman of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, said tho difficulty in the past was that small local bodies had not the power behind them to enforce any request. For this reason ho welcomed the formation of the league. The port of Christchurch discussion had arisen solely through the infamous treatment accorded by the railway authorities. The Lyttelton line had been used merely as a weapon to increase the taxes receivod by the nation. Somo of the charges inflicted were absolutely wicked. Wc were suffering in connexion with the port because wo were in the hands of a monopoly, the Railway Department, which was not interested in the port of Lyttelton, but was trving to squeeze out of us all the charges it could. The League should go into the question either of whether it was advisable to retain the city's port at Lyttelton or have one somewhere else, and if it was decided to remain at Lyttelton they should devise somo method of checkmating the railway authorities. The railway people promised improvements after the war to the servico to the extent of something like £600,000, but they would simply heap ud the charges to pay for the cost of the improvements.

Tlie motion was carried unanimously. SOUTH CANTERBURY'S POSITION. Upon the motion of Mr H. S. Bourn it was resolved that South Canterbury public bodies be written to inviting them to join hands with the remainder of Canterbury. Mr W. T. Lill said he felt satisfied that South Canterbury would not join North Canterbury. They had their own port, and were seeking to induce Ashburton to join them. He suggested that the League about to be formed should work amicably with the South Canterbury people. Another speaker urged the inclusion of Westland in the League. The chairman said the executive to be appointed could communicate with the Westland people. It was dccided to call the organisation tho Canterbury Progress League. EXECUTIVE APPOINTED. The following executive, with power to add to its number, was appointed:— Messrs H. S. Bourn, A. Kaye, W. J. Jenkin, H". Hunter, E. J. Howard, A. S. Taylor, J, B. Laurenson, T. W. Iteese, W H. Triggs, M. L. Reading, P. R. Climie, A. F. Drayton. E. C. Huie, and F. Horrell, and the Mayors of Kaiapoi, Rangiora, Akaroa, Ashburton, Woolston, and Spreydon. The appointment of a Finance Committee. was left in the hands of the executive. The chairman said it was proposed to organise branches of the League in the country districts, these branches to appoint representatives to the executive All those present constituted them-1 selves into a general committee, irithi power to add to their number. The chairman said the League would require £450, and he suggested that' this should be met by the local bodies The appointment of a temporary sec-

retary was left in the hands of the executive. Mr J. Maling, Mayor of Timaru, telegraphed Mr Holland yesterday:— "Regret unable to attend conference to-day. The Council and myself wish you success. Our South Canterbury League will bo pleased to co-operate."