Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th, 1920. THE WEEK.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 September 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th, 1920. THE WEEK.

In the course of comment on the visit of the Canterbury delegates to Westland, the Cliristchurch Press this week said “the delegates were greatly struck with the possibilities of the West Coast for sheep and cattle raising and dairying, but the experts came away with the conviction that better farming, as well as, more of it, was ;sadly needed.” There must he confessed that there is a good deal of home truth in this statement. In sheep and cattle raising and dairying there is not the call for farming in the sense that farming obtains in Cantex-bury. Cropping for exI. would be a costly matter to many West Coast settlers, because of the difficulty of transit. But the settlers are awake to the growing of winter feed now, and cropping in that direction is increasing year by year. In the matter of stockraising it has been the custom to acquire large areas, and year by year the bush is felled, and put down in grass. This has been the extent and scope of West Coast farming, but with land growing more and more in value it will pay in many instances to cut up the larger areas and devote the land to dairying. It is in such instances that cropping such as it is now on the Coast is increasing. The new arrival finds a difficulty in securing nowadays any considerable area of bush country on which to pursue the policy of former days—bush felling and grassing. Such areas are in very remote places, and often these dominated by adjoining large areas which have been taken up in the past ivith judgment !by the pioneer settler, who of course is entitled to the reward 'or his pluck and perseverance in stick- ■ jig to the back epuntry till he had the ] diance to come into his own. i 1 'Tow that dairying is expanding-—and t rill continue to do with the present pro- 1 nising price for butter fat there will ] te more inducement to cut up the j nrger estates, and put them into dairy 1 arms. The inflow of outsiders enwr to i ake up land for dairying has set in ] lready, and the publicity the Can- v erbury visit has given to the land c

i values cn the Coast will cncoufrago e • more and more folk to come west aind 1 assist to build up a very.promising conn- ( try. Tliere is room for the new ar- * rival, and no doubt the more liberal 1 use of the plough will produce a greater 1 profit from the land. Some of the visitors remarked when they saw a single furrow plough in use in oiie of the i jejentres onear Holsfittloa. They smiled 1 when they saw a single furrow plough, ' two horses and three lads at work on a small plot of ground in the south. The . farming members of the delegation, , , naturally understood their business, and j , they could see greater opportunities , , here if the ground were properly work- i ed. And they were not slow to recog- | nise the right tiling when they saw it. ' On one farm in the south they saw more implements than in the whole of their Westland tour, as “also a good team of horses, and first class dairying stock. -In that instance their praise was gene- j rams, and they remarked, that the owner i would quickly reap the benefit of his I enterprise by farming his land, as well as grazing it to advantage. They recognised also the need for the damp, to that extent cold, lands of the district being well limed as'also fertilised to get the return and to maintain the J soil. What is put into the land counts i very materially on what the farmer I ultimately gets out of his land.

Westland land is coming into its . own rapidly, and with increased 1 zeal on the part of the farmers its productivity will soon advertise it. The swamp lands of Westland are still in th© main the most neglected, and yet with drainage and cultivation they will yet become the most profitable of, all the lands. If the soil is right and the drainage practicable, the expenditure per acre to bring the land into profit will be cheaper than in the case of heavy bush land which has to be cleared, burned and stumped before it 'becomes grass pack docks. In most cases drainage works can be carried out cheaper than heavy bush clearing. There is a great extent of swamp lands in the Kokatahi district which year after year are allowed to be fallow. There is the Mikonui swamp and other swamp lands away south even in a more neglected state. It is surprising indeed that with a daily factory nearby, the Kokatahi swamp lands continue to be left in their primitive stater The soil is good if relieved of the waiter, and a comprehensive scheme would accomplish all that is required to turn the large areas we have in mind into productive paddocks of fodder. The advaneeguard of the farmers prepared to 1 take up such land are here already t and they speak most optimistically of what is ahead 1 of them. They have had experience elsewhere, and with that knowledge are enthusiastic of what can be done with the areas by a properly carried out scheme. Land settlement is a prime factor in permanency and it would appear that Westland is on the threshold of achieving that permanency in land settlement which will count for solid success. ihe battle for the southern bridges which has been so long drawn is now nearing an end Of the three main bridges it has been decided to concentrate on, one is out for tenders, and the other two are on the stocks ready to invite tenders as soon as the hardwood timber can be imported. Before the summer of 1921 the three bridges in mind should be an accomplished fact. Ere the coming .summer ends, Little Waitahn bridge should he in situ, and thus secure, through traffic in all weathers to and from Harr Hari. This is an important stage and much to be grateful for. The people will appreciate the action of the Government in the matter even though it has .been dilatory in the past. There is now ’of a determination to do the fair thing as quickly ad possible, and letting bygones be bygones in regard to these bridges, it is but right that the Government action at this stage should be appreciated publicly. The district south is well worth helping in the matter of internal development. The Canterbury visitors saw enough to enlighten them as to the potentialities of the district which will be a great feeder to northern Westland and ultimately to Canterbury itself. Westland has reached a. stage in its history now when it can never look back. It has turned the corner of hard and difficult times and by the opening up of the district and the permanent | settlement it is acquiring, its future i becomes more and more assured. Popu- i lation is the essence of success and pro- 1 gross, and the inflowing tide has set in. The more conveniences for improved traffic which can be afforded now the quicker will the population grow and , the whole countryside prosper. j

Into the swiftly changing scene in Po- ' ln.rid there has come an interval of , calm. Warsaw appears to be safe, at any ratefi for the .time being. The recent Polish sz accesses have driven the Bolshevist armies from the very gates of the city, and the Polish advance continues. Meanwhile the Minsk conference has opened, and the Soviet Government will have an opportunity of proving the sincerity of its professions with regard to the terms to be granted to Poland. No doubt the Polish recovery will suppiv it with a further reason, if one were needed of keeping faith On various occasions it has declared that, although it' will insist on the reduction of the Polish army and on the demobilisation of war industries, it will respect the territorial integrity of Poland, and will not interfere with the. existing form of Government. This has been confirmed by the ‘London “Daily Herald,” a Labour journal which i s in close touch with the Bolshevik leaders, and may even, if the messages, intercepted by the Admiralty are to be believed, be regarded as the official organ of the Bolshevists in Britain 1 No reasonable objecton can be taken to 1 those proposals ,if, in fact, they repre- * sent the Soviet’s real intentions. But 1 there is a suspicion that they may be J merely a blng, and that the Bolshevists’ aim may be first to render their f enemy helpless and then to deal with f her as vindictiveness and the desire to c spread the Bolshevist system may die- r tate. There is ample precedent for < such a course. Before now victors i have entrapped the defeated by specious f promises. Russia herself had experience of this when, beguiled by the r t mocking cry of “no annexations and no \- indemnities,” she was subjected to the g humiliations of Brest Litovsk, and it e ivould be quite in keeping with the \, character of her. present riders if they g

t employed tactics which, though morally indofe'nsible, had proved undeniably effective. M. Lenin and his associates have never pretended to be burdened with the slightest scruple where the in- » terests of Bolshevism are concerned. ! That there is some ground for the suspicion of mala tides is shown‘by the statemnts of Russian officers who have | declared that they propose to enter the 1 Danzig corridor, thereby depriving Po- I land of access to the sea, to occupy the j territory ceded to Poland by Germany ! under the Treaty of Versailles, and fin- | ally to recognise the pre-war German 'j frontier. The Germans with more glee 1 than discretion have intimated that they are willing to fall in with the ar- J rangement and clearly expect to gain i substantial benefits out of Poland’s ' misfortunes. But it is impossible to ! believe that the Allies would ever coun- i j tenance such a grossly oppressive settle ' ment which would reduce Poland to a I shadow, and would defeat the whole object of the Treaty, which was Jo establish n free and united republic. It would entail the loss of Posen and West Prussia, both of which provinces are overwhelmingly' Polish in stock and J sentiment. It is notorious that under . the German regime from the time of [ Bismarck onwards their inhabitants had been most harshly treated; the avowed policy of the administration was to denationalise the. Poles who nevertheless maintained their racial identity, despite every endeavour to suppress it. 'lt would be a tragedy for civilisation if when/ they have barely tested their new-won freedom they should he again enslaved. Mr Lloyd George, M. Millerand, and President Wilson have repeatedly affirmed that the maintenance of an independent Poland. established in the territory which is rightfully hers, is not merely demanded by every consideration of justice, but is essential to the stability of Europe. She is a bulwark against the spread of Bolshevism tS the West, a buffer between Germany and Russia, whose approaclnnent would be fraught 1 fivith grave possibilities of mischief. Honour and interest alike require that 1 Poland should neither be deprived of ' her national existence nor emasculated ’ j Mk Mark Sheldon, Commissioner for ■ j Australia in the United States, in an ' j article contributed to the “New. Y< rk > j Times Book Review and Maga/J.ie,” of 1 j July 11th., writes: —Compulsory arbi- > tration has proved futile in preve.it.n:' strikes in Australia. There can be no • other opinion among those who have ■ followed recent events in the mdustrial ! life of the Commonwealth. The vrw? ■ I will express are not personal opinions 7 but represent what I believe to 1:0 He 1 concrete results of a generation of Ausk tralian experience in industrial h giria--7 tion. I wish to set out same of tl e ’.in. • pcirtant facts that we have learned to t be true about relations between cm- ' ployer and employee. These facts may 7 be summarised as follows: —< Strikes have not been abolished by compulsory arbitration. This may be said to be the consensus ; both among employers and employees in ■ Australia. i While compulsory arbitration lias noi • prevented strikes the arbitration courts 1 have done away with “sweating” in ini dustries through the fixng of minimum ; and basic wages. The criticism of compulsory arbitral tion rests on its compulsory feature. One reason for compulsory arbitra- ■ tion’s failure is that nio satisfactory » method has been found to enforce it? i decisions and make them binding on both partes. Australian experience has shown the value of collective bargaining. But while collective bargaining ha? proved to be good, it must be develop- . e d in conjunction with closer relations 1 between employer and employees. Arbitration in Australia lias undoubtedly improved the condition of the work ers. It has not yet proved entirely disastrous to the employer. ■ Australia has advanced in material prosperity during the last 15 years more than in any other period in its history. The Australian labourer to-day works under better conditions than any other worker in the world. . Employers, employees, and the general public in Australia are seeking a system to replace compulsory arbitration. ; . , j I There is a general opinion that a ‘ basic living wage must be fixed. _ j The policy for the future offering 1 most chances for success is the “getting together” of the employer and the employee in the different industries without the intervention of outside parties.