Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 11 December 1923, Page 2

Till-: British elections seem to leave the political situation at Home worse eonfounded than ever. 3be Government eannot carry oil as at present composed. The quid ntitics are hazarding all soi ts of views as to possible compromises. A compromise must be readied in the end, and in the not distant future perhaps a fresh appeal on a defined policy. The fate of the recent election Bin settled on tlie tariff question. Protection has gone. Had Mr Baldwin appealed mi any other ground, be might have won through. I'or that reason a modiiied domestic policy might lie propounded. bill ill any case it must bo mere or less radical to rapture sufficient Liberals to bold a working majority. Tile Vi.*w Zealand situation was akin to if. except that Mr Baldwin is ill a greater minority than Mr (Massey was. Mr Massey hangs on to office by a slender thread, hilt with careful direction is success!id. Air Baldwin perhaps would not lie as adroit as .Mr Massey, and may leave il to his polity to suggest bis course of action. 1 lie- whole* situation bristles with difficulties, and the. entanglement, will lake much unravelling. Tt will he a. clouded political Christ mas for the .Motherland, hut some way out will be found with the host brains of England in activity. \ Oikisti iii.i’.cu visitor who inspected tin Exhibition the other day, in common with that of many other visitors, expressed unbounded surprise at the magnitude of the local arrangements, and was no less complimentary in regard to the advanced progress which bad been made in organising so line an event. For the size of the town tho visitor thought the achievement was me..; lemai k.iliit’. This outside opinion is worth recording as a tribute to the townspeople and their executive for the rin d work done in bringing the large undertaking up to the point now prne--1 i.-ally of happy realisation. Tile populace of Westland as a whole can afford. wh.li every confidence, to take a personal interest in the Exhibition. It i- going to be a feather in the cap of rim district that the event, pi-omitcs to pass off so well- AH the countryside should make ii a point ol coming to the Exhibition out of local loyalty to their own district. Wheii .50 years ago. the first Exhibition was boh in Hokitika, the at tendance* v. as creditable indeed. Now there are better laeiJilies i'or travel and far more to see. 'lie.* record of the past should theiefore Ii - far eclipsed. A gieat throng should crowd the building next Saturday.

It is not often, says a correspondent, tlnil West-land is extolled in the tin-ciudoi-ng language used by a Dunedin

visitor uho was asked prior to his return to the southern province to jot dor. n his impressions ot the West Coast. He wrote as follows:- ‘'lt is a lxuiuty spot of the earth, this Westland. with its mountains, its lakes and hush; with its rivers, gorges, and majestic glaciers. !,f the opening of the tunnel does nothing else it will open the flood gates of a tourist traffic which alone will bring wealth to Westl-aud. Neither the Cold hakes nor the Hot Lakes have the matchless beauty of this new land. For 100 miles the province runs with river flats and plains and heavily timbeied lands and hills, its possibilities are undreamt of, its beef is second to none in New Zealand ; its dairying land, in large blocks, is a dangerous rival of Taranaki land, and at onlv a small fraction of the cost; its timber supports 200 workers, ami is vet only in its infancy: its coal in the northern district- is mostly andiseovcied: its gold mining, when the liimu Flat dredge clears £IOOO profit per week, is far from dead. The most airesting feature ct AVest Coast life is its kindly, generous hospitality. In no part of New Zealand does the visitor feel loss of a stranger, avid the friendly people of this region have many to gratefully remember them. It may happen that the tunnel will alter much of this by removing the isolation, but- actually, if a change does occur, it- will he amongst the new anivals.”