NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1088, 29 March 1911, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

A fine character sketch of a great ! statesman was given by the Marquis of Lansdowne last month in unveiling a statue of the late Duke of Devonshire. He attributed the success of the Duke in public affairs to three qualities: In the first place, ho was a man possessing a sense of duty stronger, I tlnnk, than that of any public man with whom I have ever come into contact—a sense of duty to himself, a sense of duty to his party, a sense of duty, above all, to his country. That sense of duty made him n6ver shirk a hard task, however hard, however uncongenial. If the work lay ready to his hand ho was there to do it thoroughly and fearlessly. The second characteristic on which I venture to dwell was the absolute independence of his nature. lie was a party mnn, a strong party man, but he would not go all lengths with his party. Ho would sacrifice his own interests, his own convenience, but not the principles, the convicwhich lie held. The third characteristic which I will mention was the transparent sincerity of his nature. Ho was a man who sought tho truth, the whole truth, and nothing but tho truth. Ho had an absolute contempt for the kind of half-truths and evasions which are some-> times resorted to for the purpose of getting over a difficulty. In other words, the late Duke of Devonshire was just tho type of statesman that is sorely needed in New Zealand, the exact opposite of tho ordinary politician as fostered and encouraged by twenty years of so-called Liberal administration.

The Hon.' Tiiojias Mackenzie is still anxious lest the Boundary Commissioners should parcel out his electorate of Taieri among the adjaccnt constituencies and leave him without a seat. Some of the local - bodies have shown sympathy with his fears, and last week the Taieri County Council received from him a grateful letter. The Minister wrote: I personally appreciate the action of tho Taieri County. Council in connection with the rumoured abolition of the Taieri electorate. Along with a similar protest from the Western Taieri Drainage Board, I have forwarded the Council's protest on to tho Minister for Internal Alfnirs, for him to hold and to transmit to the boundary Commissioners when the samo bo appointed, in order that they may have tho resolution hpforo them during their deliberations. No action can be taken until the Commissioners have been appointed and hold their sittings. Of course, it must bo clearly understood that the Commissioners have entire control in tho matter as to how the boundaries shall be fixed, and until the census is taken and the statistics made known tho Commissioners cannot como to any decision. The _ Chairman of the Council mentioned, according to the Dunedin Star, said that "the Council would, if necessary, object at the proper time to the electorate being wiped out." The proper time, of course, is when the Commission, having drawn up a tentative scheme, sits to hear objections. _ Meanwhile, Mr., Mackenzie and his friends will perhaps resign themselves to the fact that the Commissioners are not entitled to study the convenience of any politician or the local sentiments of tho people of any district. The basis of their work is simply population, as revealed by the census. If it were otherwise, and if they could, yield to the importunities of Taieri, the settlers of progressive districts like those along the North Island Main Trunk Railway would not reap the reward of their progrcssiveness, and would most certainly have something emphatic to say on the subject.

The illustrated articles which wc publish to-day relating to the progressive district tapped by the central part of the Main Trunk ltailway should serve to throw some further light on the rapid development that has taken place in recent years and is still proceeding in that portion of the Dominion. The pioneer of settlement over a great portion of the country referred to has been the sawmiller. The splendid, forests of magnificent timber trees have tempted enterprising capitalists and men of practical experience in the business to embark on an industry which is said to employ more hands than any other in New Zealand and which has been of immense value to the country.. The sawmillcrs have had to overcome great difficulties and have in many cases suffered heavy losses. They have not always met with the encouragement from the State that their efforts demanded, but it is satisfactory to know that at the present time they are in most cases reaping the reward of their courage and enterprise. In their footsteps settlement has followed; and with_ settlement and increased productivity the hamlets have grown into bustling towns stimulated in their development by a healthy rivalry that keeps thein ever on a forward movement. It is impossible to estimate the future of this great tract of country. At present the fringe only has been touched—merely the surface scratched. Population is increasing, and already it is current talk that one of the new electorates that is cxpectcd to fall to the lot of the North Island as the result of the coming census will'be situated somewhere along the Main Trunk line. Much remains to be done. More roads are needed to open up land for settlement. Better roads arc required where roads already exist to enable settlers to get about i in tho winter month* and so lessen tho hardships of back-block life,

The Government could not do better than devote some of the luige amount of money which it has available for public works to this purpose. It would prove a very profitable investment in the long run—much more so than its proposed expenditure on water-power _ schemes and costly public buildings. The opening up of Native lands is another direction in which the Government might do a great deal to promote the interests of the district and the dountry as veil. However, it is not our purpose to go into these matters on the present occasion, but rather to direct attention to the great progress already made and to the vast possibilities ahead of this progressive portion of the Dominion.