The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1937. WEST COAST HARBOURS.

Grey River Argus, 15 September 1937, Page 4

The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1937. WEST COAST HARBOURS.

The news that Karamea is once more to have a navigable harbour, after having for eight years had to depend on thc shallow haven al Ihe Little Wanganui, will be gen- • erally -welcomed. The present i Government has gone to consider- i able lengths in order to bring i about this desirable result, and ■with its engineers and surveyors, is to be vonipliinented on the fact that the works undertaken have turned out a success. With the augmentation of flow in the Karaniea from thc Oparara, which 'forms part of the scheme, the port may turn out to be even an improvement on what it was before the 1929 earthquake threw the river oft its course into the adjacent lagoon. The Hat nature of the surrounding country has dictated the course adopted, and with a steady current now concent rated again upon the former channel, the harbour should remain navigable. This development draws attention to thc fact that the present Goovermnent has in comparatively a brief period done not a little to provide the West Coast generally with a better outlet to the sea. At Okar ito it has arranged with private enterprise •1 o carry out a scheme in some ways resembling whal has been done in the case of Karamea. At Okarilo, there was not necessary a training wall such as at Karamea has been construed with rock Ironi the quarries at Oparara, but otherwise there was a similarity in that a lagoon has had to be dealt with. In either instance, the productivity of a

considerable area of country ought now to be enhanced, and in thc southern locality a great tract of timber country will he brought within range of prolit able exploitation. Probably the major harbour undertaking, however, the inception of which stands to the Government's credit ,is that at Jackson Bay. For hall a century, the pioneers of the Far South have Availed for an Administration rvitli the vision to make a port affording that district an outlet. The linking of this province Avith the provinces further south, is certainly a prudent and essential national Avork, hut the road in course of construction could be regarded scarcely as being much more than a link, suitable. no doubt, for light, trans-

port and the movement of live stock, but by no means calculated to enable heavy .transport to be conducted. Aviation has removed. in a degree, the isolation of Far South Westland, and made life more amenable for the settlers - there. Yet until the decision to make the Jackson Bay harbour was taken, it could not be said , no inducement existed for the development of the resources that ’ have so long lain latent in the surrounding region. The opening up of back country still offers : one of the best possibilities of ' promoting national prosperity ’ and of absorbing additional popu-

; lation. There have already been Opposition speakers this session heard to say that the Government has made public works the primary means of reducing unemployment. Those speakers are careful not to suggest a comparison between such public works as those to which they devoted employment taxation when in office and the works that have since been carried out. These latter are undoubtedly paving Hie way for a spurt in economic expansion, and, in due time, will return the State a revenue manifold the outlay of to-day. There, are yet hidden the 'West Coast mineral deposits which must

prove valuable in .time, and m South Westland especially, judications are, of a wide variety. It might incidentally be stated that the port, of Hokitika is another where- the. Government is lending assistance, being prepared to provide a. structure, so as io prevent as far as possible, a recurrence of silting at the bar. The value of such ready aid for district development as tlie West (.’oast has been obtaining from the Government, may not immediately impress itself upon public notice.. It is apt to be regarded as but one of the consequences of a general change for the better which the dominion is now experiencing. This general change is, neverthe-

less, no merely fori nitons occurrence or coincidence. It is the outcome of a definite plan Io bring I he country to a more prosperous era.