WESTLAND IN THE FUTURE.D

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1921, Page 4

WESTLAND IN THE FUTURE.D

1 ( 'ln*! si ;■! i ill's'll 'ibe " l The placing in p sitic.n on Saturday ol the last block o| the concrete lining; of the Olira 111 i 111 .'I seems t,, bring i;s appreciably nearer to the eomjilet ion of the iindci taking, and the innugu ra lien oi a daily tiaiu seiche beiwc.it (In i -tehmvh and Ihe \\ .St t ,iasi. Sonic months, pnssihl. a tear, v. ill. however, elapse hef.ire llm; .oil :::• mil lin n ot the hopes rf a ic'iiera tmu is reached. But already Ihe ( nasi iy beginning to make ready for ils nceomjilisliment. A new spoil is siining j M Wc-llnnd. The; Cinderella u! i lii* provinces no longer lives mi I lie incline ies ~f j; s golden past, bill looks lO'w ard wit 1 ' eoiiliili'iiee to a golden future, in wide' l wealth will once more (low Irom the land, but through the agency of the Inriiii'i even tunic than nl the miner. Some might In- imbued dispute the claim 'that the miner can eier do much to bring hack ihe old-time pros polity of tile Const, hut though mining has been going hack for twentv years, there are many West Coasters who asseit eoiilidemly that thorough seieut i lie prospeel iiig will prove thal the mineral uonhh of "the Geldi-n Coast" so far from being: exhausted, |,a- ha .1 ly yei been lapped Especially is thi. the ease with Southern Westland, where, as .Mr 11. ■I. Eians pointed out reeeiitlv in an midi-ess to the Westland Chnmbei of

( Y.miiioi i o. alluvial gold w as'picked up hy "hillyfals" in ;be early iiishes to the gold-laden he.-iehes. rich linds being made even now Imm i Olio i.■ I Ihe mother reel , ihe siiun e ol thal gold, which is assumed to he brought down hy the rivers, ' ill awaits discovery. And gold is only one of •he many minerals that have yet to lie exploited. Me take the address h\ Mi Evans to which we have relent'd to h,. synipto ma tie nl the spirit that is now moving in MYxtland. lie dealt s,de!\ wit it the possibilities lII' tile soul!m jiart of ihe provime ils (intent ialities in the way of dairy produce, of beef iai t le. of timber, the dormant value of iis wnler-powo!. one liver alone being; capable ul generating StI.IMIU borse-po el' —all waiting devekipniem l.y Hie help of roads, a railway, and a harbour, and settlers with smut hearts and Ihe will to work. One of the p oviliee's greatest assets has ye! to he named till' beauty of ils seeneiy. In which, il is eoliiplained, Ihe Tourist Depart nu n I gives so little attention (hat many visitors to New Zi'al.ind I. .vi; w.lnoul hearing of what ikey have mis-ed hy not making the trip to the Ini'iiz Josef Glacier.

Tile West land lirmieh of the Progress League is doing its host In make known the opportunitios that the province oilers. One paper read at the annual meeting of that body ilea’l with Ihc agricultural ami pastoral pssihilitios of Westland, in which it was shown that, though the province is half as large again as Taraiinkt. ami is singularly favoured in the matter of soil and climate, it produced lasi year only some CfiO.OOO worth of huttor and cheese, against nearly iltivo millions from Taranaki, its dairy ca'lie numbering ](),■100, and ils hoei' euti i HI),000, against Taranaki’s Kil.l-t' ami A A"*. 01 If) i e sjxu-ti vely. Ael a Westland cheese factory received the record price lor cheese in the Dominion last season, ami l'roi|iienteis of Addington yards, who have seen the drafts of hcef cattle that are sent across from the Coast, would agioo filial it should “prove the finest heelraising province in the Dominion.” In 101!) the Coast contributed (,11,’lSI of the 19] million pounds’ worth of wool exported from Now Zealand, yet