The Dominion WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1920. GETTING OUT OF A RUT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 111, 4 February 1920, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1920. GETTING OUT OF A RUT

. * The stops that are being taken to establish a league "to further the progress of the central part of the Dominion" are not merely timely but urgently necessary. It is perfectly plain to all who have taken the trouble to institute comparisons between what is going on hore and in other parjs of New Zealand that the southern half of the North Island will fall out of the running unless means are found of effectively asserting its claims to fair and just consideration in regard to public works and some other matters. There are parts of the Dominion where railway and other facilities are in advance of public requirements. In Wellington' province there is a very different story to toll. At vital points the railways and roads which link all parts of the province, and some areas still further afield, with its chief port and railway _ terminus are decades behind the times. No really good reason is to be found for this state of affairs, but there seems to be something in tho popular theory that the area which contains the scat of government 'is on that account at a positive disadvantage where national enterprise is concerned. In any case it is utterly unjust that this part of the country should be denied, as it is, its fair share of the public money available for expenditure on development work, the improvement of transport facilities and in other ways, and the people of the city and province have the remedy in their own hands.

The right lead is-given by those who arc 'working actively to secure the formation of the Central Progress League. _ From what was said at the preliminary meeting held in the Mayor's room at the Town Hall on Monday, it is evident that a great deal of useful preliminary work has, already been done. As its constitution is tentatively planned, the League will concern itself with the interests and affairs of a very largo area, extending from Hawkc's Bay in the north to Marlborough in the south. Probably no exception will be taken even bv city people to the proposal to make Palmerston North the headquarters of the League and tho seat of the executive. There is something to be said for the alternative of locating the executive in Wellington city, more especially as it will be the business of tho League to bring constant pressure to bear on the Government, but, it is essential to effective organisation that a full part should be taken by the farmers and others who live and work in the country districts. At Monday's meeting, Mr. C. M. Luke said that the local bodies had insisted that' the executive must be located at Palmcrston North, and this no doubt implies that local bodies in all parts of the province as well as in Hawkc's.Bay and Marlborough arc intent on building up the League and making it a force to be reckoned with. Palmcrston North is a suitable centre for the League headquarters, not only because of its situation, but because the agricultural shows which are held there at regular intervals attract widely representative gatherings of town and country residents. There is, of course, ample scope for the activities of a strong branch of tho League in the metropolitan area, but it would only weaken the organisation if its supporters cither in city or country a narrow or parochial standpoint. _ As a matter of fact people oven in the outlying provincial areas have a direct interest in many of the most important national works that progressive city residents arc intent on nromotinir and hastening. This applies not only to the removal of the handicap imposed by the present condition ol the main railway, and roads which interior of the province, but to connect the city and nort with the such undertakings as the erection of a new railway station in Wellington. The whole province, of course, will benefit when the railway terminal arrangements in Wellington are improved and brought up to date. Such improvements rank with the Rimutaka deviation and the improvement of the other main

line as an essential condition of cllicicnt anil cconumicul transport to and from every district which is served by the port of Wellington. It is on the face of it equally true that the people of the metropolis are vitally concerned in securing the enterprising advancement of such works as are calculated to open up and develop the provincial area in all its parts. There should he no reason to fear that local will in any degree impair the efficiency or limit the inilnencc of the Central Progress League. As a whole the territory it will represent has reason to complain of past neglect, and has .such claims as are bound to command consideration if they are fairly presented and firmly pressed. The one thing needed, in addition to effective organisation, to ensure the League a career of successful enterprise is adequate public support. Hitherto public-spirited citizens ha.'e been left unsupported in their efforts to_ obtain fair treatment for the city and province. There must be a great change in this respect if the League is to do useful work. It is apparently assured at the outset of strong support from town and country local bodies; it ought to be supported whole-heartedly also by semi-public organisations of all kinds, and by the general public, with whom it rests to give it a big direct membership. All sections of the community have an immediate and practical interest in building up the Progress League, and the breadth and effect of its efforts in stimulating progress will, of course, be cleHmined absolutely by the volume of support it receives.