WAIROA’S WANTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2083, 8 January 1908, Page 1

WAIROA’S WANTS.

VEP.fi .MUCH THE SAME AS GISHOUXE’S.

hi 1 1 1■ * course oi a leading article dealing with the Ac tv Year, the ‘'East Coast Mail" says: —At the opening of flic new year wo pass over retrospection and take a look ahead into the new-born year, to see if we can discover in it any possibilities or attainments within the range of practical, polities, within the reach <

<>l' practical people who know their wants hut lack Clio courage to make 'i_ bold move forward to attain such. Throe great requirements for this district rise up before us, each of them .so vast, and so fid! of possibilities, that wo scarcely know which to place first in order of importance. The settlement of the waste lands of the district should probable come first ; for if this were effected the other two would he marie more ease of attainment. That the lauds o'f this district owned by Natives have been too long locked up will not bo denied; but it is when we come to consider how best this should be effected that differences arise. But why need there be any divergence of opinion? The enemy to progressive settlement surrounds us on every hand. It is not our duty to discuss 'tiio bnl\ VaPla' Vat n u'o it IS to support those who are endeavoring to solve a knotty problem and bring about a better state of afliirs. The passage cf -the Native Lands Act paves the way for the throwing open of vast areas of Native land m the North Island, and in this work the connection of Auckland and Wellington by rail will mark a great increase in the production of the North Island, assimilating it more to the South, and to a certain extent abolishing our insularity and singularity. That Wairoa should participate in this work goes without saying, and wo hope cro the year closes that a great deal of the land now lying idle will bo running sheep and cattle, or producing butter. The next tiling needed is better roads -all over the district. Surely, after the amount of experience Wairoa has bud, the era of clay roads ought to pass away. They are utterly inadequate for promoting settlement, and they should lio no longer countenanced by the local authorities or the ratepayers. Well graded metalled roads are a sine qua non to rapid settlement of the district, and we hope a forward policy will bo adopted in tills matter. The fact that the statute ruling Government lending to local bodies limits borrowing in any one year to the sum of L'OUUO need not be allowed to operate against a policy of progress. If it is considered advisable to borrow £:30,00U, surely that sum could be. obtained lrom private .sources or lending corporations? The security of the district is good enough. The metalling of the whole of the roads of the County will give a vast impetus to settlement and advance our population. The third requirement, the accomplishment of which should be aimed at for 1908, is the improvement of our communication b.v sea. In other words, this bar to settlement must be: ended or mended. Th.it it can be 1 mended j if an honest and systematic iilan is pursued, we have no doubt. Probably few in this district to-day will bo inclined to say the necessity does not exist: That in fact the communication wo have is gopd enough. All .agree that the district is kept back by want of fairly regular communication. 'But when it conies to a matter of wavs and means then the differences begin to appear, and these widen out as opposing interests meet. However, there is no need to discuss this point now. It is enough to affirm the need—ami that lias been pointed enomdi these last few months —and then to press forward to accomplish what Is necessary. Then let these three great requirements be set down for achievement in 1908—land settlement. good metalled roads, and haibor improvement, and the people will soon begin to wonder wltv they did not long ago make the required effort in' this direction. I opulaLiqu will increase rapidly, new blood u ill infuse now ideas, new ways of doing things, and the district will progress, as the, fertility of its soil, and the geniality of its climate fusdv entitle it to rank as the. richest and most progressive portion of the Last Coast of this Dominion.