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Hokitika Guardian, 5 January 1920, Page 2

The Government propose jto hasten slowly with .the reform of ppper House. The Ministry ,takes leave ajid licepsp for another year within which to appoint to the Upper House, and jtliyresffpr the nominee system is to end. Rujt it will be three years yet before the elective system comes into vogue. It is proposed that when the next general election for the House of 'Representatives comes round, half of the Upper House is to be elected b v a system of projwfthma] reprpsen-

tat ion over what will be of the nature of provincial districts. It appears to u s thaf tlip elections for the two Houses should I>e kept ns far apart as possible. The second, ur revising, Chamber should he ns free from party politics as possible, but if the ejection of its members is to proceed side by side with the Lower House, the party element will obtrude unduly, and there will not be that political distinction between the color of the two House's that there should he. It b a considerable time now since the reform of tins

Upper House was promised, and by delaying another three years, the sincerity of the Government on the matter comes into question. There seems no sound reason why at the coming sossiop the machinery’and details for an elective Upper H/juse should not be put ,in,to working order suid the poll take

place early npx.t year. The country would then get what benefits .there are to l)e derived from the elective system within a reasonable time, and the poll could be taken at a time when political rancour would not run as high as it does during the period of a general election. The measure of reform to accrue to tho country would be greater,

we are persuaded, if the elective Upper House is brought into being at a time when the country is not disturbed from end to end with all the extravagant political feelings which a general election arouses. If the Upper j House is to maintain its reputation for the serenity of its political atmoi sphere, the election of its members I should be as far removed as possible from the polling date for the House of Representatives.

Visitors to the district during the holidays have been numerous, and numbers of motor cars have gone into South Westland. The passengers return with glowing accounts of the scenery, the excellence of the roads, and the delights of the journey generally, except in one important respect the difficulty in fording the open river crossings. The want of the bridges is the crying need of the south, if it is to be the happy hunting ground of motorists. No part of New Zealand ha s more glorious scenic attractions than South Westland, yet it is the most neglected part of the Dominion. The Tourist Department appears to bo totally indifferent as regards the opening up of Westland as a tourist and holiday resort. Yet the same Department is spending probably not less than £50,000 a year at Rotorua, several thousands a year at Mt Cook Hermitage, Hnnmer and Waitomo, and a few hundred pounds ior Westland is begrudged. If less than half the expenditure on Rotorua for one year were apportioned to South Westland, all the dangerous stream crossings could he bridged and regular and safe transit could be assured. Instead of helping to find money to bridge the dangerous rivers, the Department prefers to spend money on golf links, palatial hostels, and what not at centres which have been a veritable sink already for public money, while to

enable those centres to maintain their artificial glamour more and more money has to be poured in in thousands of pounds year by year. While this extravagance and favoritism is going on, a natural tourist resort such as West-' land is completely neglected by the authorities, and barriers to development are left in the way by a callous Department which both neglects and avoids Westland under itf? peculiar system of administration. It is high time that the strongest protest were raised against the inaction of the Government regarding the development of Westland from a tourist point of view, and some measure of justice should be demanded for a district which has so much in the way of natural advantages to commend it.