HELENSVILLE HOT SPRINGS.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 6 November 1912, Page 3

HELENSVILLE HOT SPRINGS.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —I note with much pleasure the arrangements that are being made for the opening of Bowling greens, etc., at Helensville Hot Springs on November 7th. I trust the day may be fine and that a good number of people may make the journey from Auckland and surrounding districts so that the important • proposition (the Helensville Hot Springs) may get a good advertisement as a result of j the gathering. My principal reason for writing you however, is to express my astonishment at the alleged desire of the Helensville residents to hand these Springs over to the Government, and like Bret Harte's Chinee I want to ask " whaffor." Is there any suggestion that the people of Helensville through their representatives on the Domain Board, have been guilty of maladministrations, or that anything more could have been done by them under the circumstances in which they have had to work than has been done ?• Is it not a fact on the contrary, that every Minister, members of Parliament, and other prominent people who have been at the various functions at the Hot Springs at different times,-have invariably expressed the various sums of money granted from time to time, have been well spent, and the Government and the country have got excellent value for every pound that has been granted to the Helensville Hot Springs.

I repeat then, Mr Editor, my question " Whaffor? " The present Government when in opposition were never tired of charging the past administration with the desire to centralise everything in the way of authority and Government in Wellington, but I never remember either Sir Joseph Ward or the late Right Hon. Mr Seddon presuming to interfere with a thing of this sort, where a Board elected by the people were voluntarily carrying out work in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, fired by no other ambition than to develop the public resources of their district in the best possible manner, ana I sincerely trust that the residents of Helensville in whom this proposition has been vested up to now will make it abundantly clear that, having brought the Hot Springs to their present state of development as a result of a lot of battling for grants, and havir>p; had men sufficiently public spirited to devote any amount of time and trouble to see that these grants were more or less judiciously spent, they not only do not dejsire the Government to take the *€?prings out of their control, but that they absolutely object to it. I trust those cone : <rned wiil not be apathetic in this matter and allow themselves to .-be misled or bounced into quietly acquiesing to an arrangment which I consider is an insult to all those who have worked so hard to get things into their present state of development, and also a slight to the whole community of Helensville, the implication beinejhat Helensville has proved itstii unable to discharge the duties of a Domain Board in a fitting manner. I should like to know where this agitation started, and although I think I could pick it in one and could also assign the real reason of the agitation (which does not have its origin in the consideration of the best interests of the town), I think I can safely leave the most ordinary intelligence to discern for themselves, if they will only take the trouble to think the proposition out in all its bearing. In any case surely the people of Helensville should be entitled to have an opportunity, by means of a vote or something of that kind of expressing their opinion in the matter. Trusting that some others may have the courage of their convictions and speak out, I am, etc., Joe Re a..