Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 8, 1892. "To be op not to be."

Manawatu Herald, 8 November 1892, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 8, 1892. " To be op not to be."

The struggle for existence is everywhere apparent. No one at the present day can afford to stand still, for if he does he gets rudely pushed aside by more ambitious minds. As it is with men, so it is with places, and no new districts can simply put their trust in the efforts of one man alone. "We could easily point to many townships which have prospered solely from the well-directed efforts of their leading men, energetically backed up, when needed, by the whole force of the settlement. There are townships which are at present so placed that they have no other organized body amongst them except a school committee, and the qualifications for a seat on that bedy does not necessarily make the members capable of really understanding the needs of a district. Therefore comes the question what is best to be done. We have had instances, of where crime has become rife, of vigilance committees being formed to take the question of their own protection into their own keeping, and if this has been found valuable why not extend the principle towards the furtherance of the prosperity of the settlers, and thus form nr every township, that is without a local governing body, a committee of five men, who might be known as " the Committee of Progress." They could meet once a month and generally discuss the position and would thus be able to make such suggestions to their representatives in the County or Boad Board, and also tip J i^e authorities, as to the wants Ihafc needed attention. We are confident that some sort of organisation is needed, as owing to the present large area of new country placed under the supervision of a member of the County Counoil or the Road Board it is utterly impossible that he can, unless a most energetic man, and a man of means, do full justice to his position. Many excellent* settlers object to constantly" in t'erviewing a representative or a. local body from a dislike of appearing a nuisance, but as public bodies require a large amount of stirring up, it is necessaay that it should be done, and it thus makes the constitution of some such committee most necessary. A committee would have also more weight than a single representative, and it would out away from the public body the stereotyped excuse of waiting to learn the opinion of the public, which comes so glibly to the mouth of a non complying chairman. Time is the essence of any undertaking, and time thus saved when making application for- Work, may frequently mean a whole twelvemonth, for the season when such work could be done is short. At any rate a committee means a most efficient backing of a representative, and as more heads are better than one, a discussion may frequently bring out some excellent suggestions, and when the general public are required, in meeting, to back up the demands of the committee, the support of its members makes a more powerful appeal for their attendance. We have not instanced any particular place for that is not necessary as everywhere

some organisation to push a district along is required, though in town ships where a resident local authority does its duty, ifc takes its place, hut still where the local body is dilatory, mi organisation such as we have suggested would do much good in wakening it up. We close these remarks with a very apt quotation from Mainlet — "To be, or n tto be ; that is the qnes'ion: — Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune ; Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ?"