Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1920. FLAX, FIRES AND FLEAS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2109, 30 March 1920, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1920. FLAX, FIRES AND FLEAS.

A LAD was once asked what Foxton was chiefly noted for, and his somewhat ingenious reply was “(lax, fleas, and tires.” There is no doubt

that Fox ton’s prosperity in large measure is due to the hemp industry, winch has created an industrial atmosphere, to the exclusion, wo. fear, of other important matters. For instance', the 1 port was absolutely neglected for upwards" of half a century, while the wharf was conducted as a side line by the Railway Department, and the revenue of the port was not expended on the improvement of the port, but helped to swell the revenue of the working railways account. The hemp industry was all that mattered. The market went up and down, and Foxton’s prosperity rose and fell in sympathy. Land was held in largo blocks hi (he vicinity, and it was considered quite unsuitable for closer .settlement, and so Jong as the flax mills wore running, what mattered land settlement to Foxton. The public is now beginning to- realise that it is not a wise policy to have all the eggs in one basket; that if the town is to bo made prosperous there must he a wider vision. It has been discovered that so-called (hirdcias.s land can - bo converted info good second-class land capable of producing untold wealth Jo the locality and State, if scientifically farmed. Evidence of this fact cun be verified . at Motuili, llimatangt, and Bainesso. Also a few miles from Foxton may he found land — all season land —second to none in New Zealand. With such natural surroundings, Foxton should be — apart from the flax industry —one of the most prosperous little towns in New Zealand. The mild and equable climate and tine seas’do resort should make it attractive as a place of residence. In this connection the local authority can take a hand by at once going whole-heart-edly in for a water and drainage scheme and modern (ire-fighting equipment. The Council must remove once and for all its unenviable notoriety and make it one of (lie best appointed boroughs in the Dominion. If, in order to accomplish this, a loan' of .£OO,OOO is required it will be worth it. The fleas arc a mvth!