THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1909 MINISTERS AND KING COUNTRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 139, 15 March 1909, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1909 MINISTERS AND KING COUNTRY.

Whatever may be said of the recently appointed Ministers, it has to be admitted that they are making a laudable attempt to familiarise themselves with conditions throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion. The North Island in particular has been thoroughly inspected, and the conditions prevailing in the backblocka are probably better understood by the members of the Ward Ministry than they were by the members of any previous administration. If, as is fondly hoped will be the case, the individual Ministers are to be allowed something of a free band as regards the 'working of their respective departments, there is reason to hope for more attention in future for our district than has hitherto been the case. Without a doubt the visit of the Premier to the district last year, and bis memorable trip over backblock roads in winter, contributed largely to

the increased expenditure on the roads of the district. The Minister for Public Works, on railway business bent, has just concluded a tour over the authorised route and suggested deviation of the Stratford railway, and though certain preconceived ideas required to be dispelled from Mr McKenzie's mind, we have every confidence that the tour will ultimately prove benefiicial. Mr Jennings plainly indicated in his speech at Mangaroa that he would lose no opportunity of combatting the wild idea that the construction work on the Stratford line could profitably, and with benefit to the settlers and country at large, be concentrated for the next fifteen years at the Southern end,and our member can rely upon widespread and strenuous support in his crusade. Moreover, when the facts of the case are clearly presented, Mr McKenzie's practical mind will readily grasp the situation. It is beyond the bounds of belief that a Minister could imagine himself to be studying the best interests of the Dominion, to say nothing of the local interests, by bottling up the district and retarding its progress for a matter of fifteen or twenty years, for the sake of indulging in a far-fetched idea that it was better to put the line through a district he had never seen. Quite possibly in fifteen or twenty years' time the outlet for the Ohura may be Taranaki. Meanwhile the requirements of the present, and of the immediate future, have to be studied. Our present outlet is the Main Trunk line to Auckland, and if the Main Trunk line is to continue to be thejoulet for fifteen or twenty years, the prospects of Taranaki capturing the trade of the district do not bear a promising aspect. However, what is to happen fifteen years hence is of small moment in this case, and the future may safely be left to posterity. The line is to connect with the Main Trunk ulitmately, and the settlers have everv excuse, and the strongest possible incentive, for demanding the best possible facilities for carrying on their industries, and assisting in the march of progress. In addition, the settlers can be relied upon to determine which is the'best market for their produce; in any case, if the settlers cannot do so there is little use trying to do it for them.