Palmerston North.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1670, 29 March 1886, Page 4

Palmerston North.

[By "RBiaibler' fl ih Wanganui Chrdnicle.f ] Outside' of Wanganui this is certainly ' jthe most business-rlooking. town on the icoast; but to judge, by the consistent 'growling of its' tradesmen one would im- . agine it to, be the poorest. They say trade' is 'bad, and cash is' scarce'; they, may sell goods, .but very much on the jdeferred; i payment system. ' ' This. • jhowever, is. their own verison. ,To look at the place it has a decided air of comfort and well -to-do-isni about it. All its shops look stylish, bright, and prosperous, the tow^ residences are patterns of neatness, the 'farmers' 'residences are built and laid out with great taste, und 'generally they have' a great weakness for paint. Here it i'sthe exception to see a house impainted ; elsewhere on the coast the boot is on the other leg. '* Times jar? bad, but wait Ml we get the £50,000 t " is everyone's cry. ' Th it amount is to be borrowed ai«l,spent m the borough,' and what a jolly time we'll have, while it is bursting, but how about the day of reckpning ? A water supply will no doubt be a great boon to the place, and money that it would cost to procure it would be Well spent, but I think going m, for &50,000 for a small town is coming it pretty strong. If they confined themselves to borrowing for actual necessaries, iifc would meet their purpose m, tira meantime, and. would be much more Convenient to ixieet when-due. Property- . holders think that ! when the stir is on, that the loan-spending must create, that they will be able \to realise at fabulous prices, 'but that little game has been, played, so often, .that people's eyes are open iuSichswider.. f ttian m days \p^' yore, and the outlook T of ha vine' hfeav/ rates to pay will make people look before' they leap. {oa© man informed; nic that he has a " standing offer of £18 per acre iFor 50 acres of land, about two miles put of town, but he anticipates it being worth considerably more when the rush comes' ■ — very expectations. One Very noticeable feature m the Maaawatu and Rangitikei districts,.' is the fide Toads they, have. Good roads run into, the districts for miles where there are very few settler, and present a striking contrast to what similar country did districts 25 years ago, when m a great many instances, for want of roads settlers-had •to ca^ry/their m o'duce phftheir jblicks} to market^' and' bring home their supplies m the. same . manner. The Roads and Bridges Construction Act, was ,ceritainly, a great boon to these out districts, . and the settlers having felt the benefit, of State capital to dp their works, and they, haying j only to meet ..the interestJon it'- should J> gradually become strong Idisciples of the tenets of land inaiidnaiisation I and perpetaal leasing. 1 JLarge additions are to ,be made to the railway station here, but not before they iwere wanted, for considering the import;-. ! arice ; of 'the town,- the present^frarie-e-' ments are disgraceful. Having the train running .thrflagh. ,the town, is a- great benefit, from a business point of view, .but {it spoils the beauty of the Square, which. otherwise would be an- ornament. • ;of ( a very beneficial kind to the town'i es- ' specially when: it gets mere densely,popuilated:'s Some day, lam afraid, a serious iaccident will have- to be chronicled.',/ ;owing to the careless manner in* which ;peo pie stress pass on the line,, and if any, iof the officials Warn them, or tryto, pre vent them doing , so, it is immediately made a matter of offence and set down as officiousnesa. fl think it (r would be ! ;wisej,for.,the Schooil- Gprnmittee^ to alter jthe time' fo'r A dinner' recess, - as' thfe chiljdren troop down the line ; when out for jlunch, juat'at the time the train arrives, ;to their very great danger. : • , *