NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 43, 15 November 1918, Page 8

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WAIKAKIiMOAKA AND EAST COAST RAILWAY. Sir,—lt is u most unfortunate coincidence that every succeeding Ministry contains nothing but dead-heads so tar as ii progressive development policy gues, ■intl Hie important positions of Lands "and Public Works appear to be given •to men who have long lost their dash mid nerve, and who do not seem able, to arnsp the importance of their positions by .looking 'ahead and realisniß thai),, it this Uoiniuion is to carry an increased national debt, of one hundred and Iwenly miliums more than before the war witn any degree of comfort, the number ot producers must also be increased. So far as the settlement of the East Coast and the construction of the tailwuy in* concerned, none of the Ministers to my knowledge lias ever been able to get up enough interest in national development more than to riuo'o, in answer to the heart-broken appeal of Hie neglected Ea<t Coast, the motto of the Ministers so well and unfavourably known in this country, "Your request will receive'con-

Biilerutiuii in due course.-. It is our (own fault, nud if we want to see this -arden of the world blossom torth and carry with honor and dignity a coat ot arras bearing the words, "Seo the bast Coast and die," we must start dow in earnest to do tilings. -Up to the present moment all that has been done tor iihe development of the .East Const from Wellington to Auckland in making roads, building railways, settling the. wasta lands, and making use cf the gpeaf hydro-electric ]io\ver which the Creator' has so generously provided, is on a par with tlie, nation which would ge into this prcsenl. great war with a bow and arrows. Now. 1 reckon that it we saw' our brave boys leaving these shores equipped, with bows and arrows to meet an enemy armed with the latest up-to-date weapons, we would rise in our wrath at such inhuman negligent*; but, that is exactly what the people artallowing Cabinet to do, by way of providing up-to-date tools for the returned soldiers and others to fish!' the great fal tof national development witli. I am disgusted with the'apathy and lack of cohesion of the people; the most ot iliem'seem quite content to sit like a lot of old turkey*! on a wire fence, drugged with self-satisfaction, with never a thought for the future development of our nation. With the return of our men, we can surely say we have got (iho .men, we have got the pluck, and we have got the money, too. Wβ (should not wait auofhe- da; , , but demand from Parliament'now'assembled, that at lenst a million bo nut on the Estimates at once, and the great work started on thn first of next month." under the control of a Minister with "pluck, which is aTI that is wanted to make the undertaking a soui.d and successful commercial enterprise. Mr. Beauchamp says money is very pl?nxj/,ul and cheno?r * to-day in ftew Tisalund thnn in anv other part of the world.—T am. etc., ■SAT.-BEAMISH. Hastings, November 11.