WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 16 July 1928, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

GOVERNMENT IN BUSINESS,

PRIME MINISTER’S GOOD INTENTIONS. (Special to “Guardian”.) WELLINGTON, July 12. The good intentions of the Prime Minister to give practical effect to his slogan “ Less Government in business and more business in Government,” which' served him so well at the last general election, seem to be beset by interminable difficulties. The latest is a demand by a deputation that waited upon the Minister of Industries and Commerce the other day to urge the Government to take over the Wanganui River Service, which for years past has provided delights for the tourist ancl a ready means of communication for the up-river settler. It appears that the present proprietors of the service, who, doubtless, have expended a large sum of money in its establishment and development, are anxious to realise upon their investment, and towards that end are prepared to hand it over to the State at about half of its present value. Failing an arrangement of this kind, it was stated by the deputation, the proprietors would abandon the service. much to the detriment of the tourist traffic, the settlers affected and the flourishing town of Wanganui. MINISTER’S DILEMMA.

Teh Hon. A. D. McLeod naturally, felt some difficulty in dealing with-such an abstruse problem. He had sympathy for the tourist, for the settlers, for the flourishing town of Wanganui, and a little, no doubt, for the proprietors of the service. Just at the moment, however, the public was not looking appreciatively upon the State’s excursions into business enterprises, and the time was not opportune for the Government to embark upon additional enterprises of this kind. But the Minister thought there might he a way out of the difficulty. The people directly interested in the service, the good folk of Wanganui, and the river-side farmers, might see their way to float a limited liability company, and so keep the boats running to the mutual advantage of town and country. If this were done—and to the Minister it seemed quite feasible —the Government might see its way with perfect propriety to grant a subsidy to assist in maintaining the river traffic, to and fro, to the advantage of the whole community.

UNCOMMITTED.

It was cpiito understood by the members of the deputation—or, at any rate, should have been—that when Mr McLeod referred to the possibility of a subsidy towards the maintenance of the service he in no way committed the Government to any expenditure in this direction. The Minister merely suggested that if the people immediately concerned in the continuance of the service showed a disposition to help themselves the Government would give them such reasonable assistance as it could. It is being whispered about, however, that the promoters of the movement are proceeding on the assumption that a substantial subsidy from the (Government- will he forthcoming. This inevitably raises the question as to 'whether or not a spoon-fed service would fare any better than the ono from which capable private enterprise is anxious to retire, lhc scttleis along the route of the river, and their interests have to he considered, of course, hut they have to he considered along sound lines that will not lend to their becoming permanent dependents upon the bounty of the State. CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES. An official of standing in the PublicService, whose acquaintance with the Wanganui River traffic extends over a period of thirty years, gives it ns his opinion that with the growth cf settlement along the banks of the river many of the former attractions of this tourist route have disappeared. There still are many delightful spots between Taumarami i and Wanganui, he says, little impaired by burning and clearing, but the trip- down the river from the Main Trunk line of railway to the East Coast is much less interesting to the tourist than it was even ten. or fifteen years ago, and to the average New Zealander positively tedious. The change, he thinks, must seriously affect the traffic and its returns. Then reading and railway extension have largely diminished the transport business and many settlers are finding easier ways to their markets. The lower reaches, from Paekaknriki to Wanganui, always will facilitate the carriage of produce, and here the State and the farmers might very well co-operate making the conditions as favourable as possible.