BEYOND THE QUEEN CITY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 251, 16 February 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

BEYOND THE QUEEN CITY.

Tho Parliamentary tour of the Ore 11 .Northern Peninsula, which was succe si 1 illy concluded oif Wednesday even ng last, was nerhaps the biggest and n.o-t

ambitious enterpri-e of its kind ever attempted in this i). minion. It was nat, ko.vever, as its name might imply, a Stato enterprise. It was organi-cj and financed by the people of tho North, through tho agency oi the North Auckland Executive and Development Board, and it lost the taxpayers not so j much as a single penny. That it was | "good business", tune will as-uredly ] demonstrate. To those who took part | mi it, the tour proved a unique, an] instructive, and entirely pleasurcable 1 experience. In the popular comeption j of a very large number of SOl tlic.ners, , what is usually understood by "tlie : North" to initiates in the vic-inity of Auckland City. They In w. of coarse, j that beyond that I usy, turning metropolis there is some territory, represent- j td on tho map in tl.e form of a fantas- : tieally shaped peninsula. Bit i.ito that j territoiy—some of it the 0 dest so:tlc J j territory of tho Dominion—they have not been induced to penetiate; and : consequently they have known of it; only by its reputation—a reputation that has not been all that could he j desired, and that has for.n 1 widespread j acceptance in the damning phrase "the poor north." It is an indisputable fact j that most people south of Auckland j bad come to regard the N nth as a sort , of "'No Man's Land," in which the i hewers of timber and the oi gum eko out a more cr hs< precarious j livelihood under conditions fur from | enviable. Consequently it is safe to say ' that the majority ot those who set out j from Devunport 011 tiie morning oi Jan- | uary 16, 1917, would 11 jt have been sur- j prised had thov four. 1 themselves trav- j clling amid condition-) approximate to tho Sahara. They went out expecting ti lin 1 a desert or a wilderness, an 1 they DISCOVERKD AN EDEN

—a land rii.h in its mighty hills and fertile valleys, rich beyond ail Southen dreams in its magnificent- harbours and waterways, rich 111 the possession of a salubrious and practically winterless climate, lich 'n historical assets of priceless value (for the most part sadly and shamefully ne.glected), and rich, too, in the sterling character, (oarage and ondurance of its pioneer settlers. Das this revelaton to the Southern visitors been made in vain? Surely not. The knowledge they have gained will bo spread far and wide, and men looking for new homes and great opportunities will bo led to turn their "eyes towards the North, and will find amid tho thousands ot now unpeopled acres the solution of the secret of happy and prosperous citizenship. The bad old reputation under which a fine stretch of country aggregating approximately sumo 3,800,0b0 acres has so long suffered has been banished for ever, and the North—the great North, fertile and fruitful —stand;; levealed 111 its real and alluring character. For fifteen days, during which the motor cars travelled something over 800 miles the visitors were carried through the lands of nine counties, and everywhere, on e very hand, they saw great stretches of unoccupied land hungry for :.ettlement. Certainly they saw some poor country, but they saw, tro, a great deal o l ' good land, and the frankly expre se 1 opinion ot more than one c impotent farmer from the South was H at there was scarcely an acre cf all the land they had seen which was not capable of being turned to useful and profitable account. Indeed, it may truthfully ho said that the southo:n farming experts who went the round with the touring party were unanimous in the opinion that, speaking generally, North Auckland affords

SCOPE I ' R EVERY TYPE OP FARMING

or cultivation. Particularly were they impressed by the great -ire s eminently suited for gracing and dairying. They saw thousands of acres that will carry a cow to the acre, hundreds of thousands that will carry a cow to two aciPs, and v:ry littlo that will not carry a eow to three acres. To the suitability of the land is added an iele il climate and an abundant rainfall. Alovc all, the land is cheap, :>o d> jm.- that >n general terms it may be said that the maximum price in North Auckl.-.nd is equivalent to tho minimum price fo" similar land anywhere south of Auckland province. .And this, it must be undcr.-tood, applies to all classes of land, whether for grazing, m xed harming, dairying, or fruitgrowing. As to wlnn "the poor(r*) north" is capable of in the matter of fruit nol'iitiori th j visitors had abundant evidence. At every place where a halt was called, th • party found the H'ttlers as-cnibled to greet them with lavish hospitality, and at 11 1 plaeo did the inevitable '"spread" fad to include a generous • tipply of delicious fruit—peaches, ue tarines, plums, and gr oq Icing < onspicco s'v in evidence 011 nearly every table at public! function or private billet. Tho old-established fruit-growing district cr Henderson, in ciose t udi with tho Oucen City, demrnstrated conclusively the. material worth of tho industry,

THE FRUITFUL NORTH. A LAND OF GREAT OPPORTUNITES.

(By a Member of the Parliamentary Touring Party.)

LESS SELF-RELIANT

1 whilo the 1 o!::;>arativvly recently la:d j out orchards of the 11 LAP AI lit LIT COLONY

afforded a revelation ot what, in loss than three yens can bo accomplished by co-operative effort. Over 100 orchard sections have bien taken up (.-onie or more by Wanganui citizens), -oino 00,0011 fruit trees liavs been planted, together with the neees•sfiry temporary and perma lent shelter, and tho present, growth and a x ;«aian. e of tho or.Juids 1 roniis s wed for the future, when tae time arrives for the co-o;.erativo grading, 1 aekmg, and marketing 01 the produce. Tie amazing tiling is that a country so richly endowed by Nature, and which in tho early days of settlement ! ad a Lig start of tho rest oi tee Dominion, should havo been permitted to stagnate for so long. The settlers, most of them, attubute the hi me to successive Governments. The North, they declare, has been robbed and neglected while more favoured southern itiitricts have been fattened by Ministerial spoon-feeding. Doubtless there is some truth ill the allegation. But tae politician is not alone to blame. The people of the North arc -lemselves largely responsible for the creating condition of affairs. They ought years to have protested against tho free exploitation of the gum fields, and insisted upon every hundred-weight ot that immensely valuable product (ontnbiU ij a reas nablo royal/- to the public funds, for the purpose, primarily, of loading the 1 enmsida. Jt is idle now to say that this was tho duty o. the Gavernment of tha (Lay. Obviously, it was; i t it was still more the duty of the people direttly interested to see to it that tho Government was effectively reminded of its duty. It is not yet too late ta make tho remaining kauri n Bcurce t revenue. Again, speaking generally, the settlers appear to have been

and less enterprising thar their fcl'ow colonist-, in many other parts ot the Dominion. On the whole tho country does not lack for roads. The fact that s; inu thirty odd 111 >tor cars were able to make the long jaurnn w. ich they did is proof taat there were roads, of a sort, for them to travel on. As a matter of fact, tlie dtivers had the pleasure of taking their c a 's over many stretches of fairly good roads. But. except in two or three localities, the revenue from rates is wholly inadequate to provide for proper maintenance. Heavier rates . nd more courageous borrowing arc essential to the solution of tho loading problem, and the sooner the responsible local authorities succcsJ in persuading their constituents to realise this fact the better it will be for all concerned, 'i.ie Government must, of course, be called upon to do its share. It will pay the State to expedite tho completion of tho trunk railway and its essential feeders, and i 1 this matt r the North is undoubtedly entitled to special consideration. Tho native land problem is also clamourous for solution. In every county ti.erc are signs that the North has of late been stirring in its slumber. The tour just ended will, wo believe, serve to oemplcte t'.e awakening. It should lead to a constantly increasing infusion of new blood, and to tho creation of a new spirit of enterprise tho effect of which will be fet from Devonport to Ka'taia. But to this end the Parliamentary tour must lie looked upoti merely s il'.- beginning of a courageous campugo. There is room and to spare 111 the lfruitful, winterless 110. th for more than the entire present population of New Zealand. and if what is undoubtedly one ' f tie most beautiful pieces of "God's Own Country' i> to come into it, own tlie slogan of the Development Board

MIST UK XI'IPT RINGING

wherever there are men and women y ! looking f 01; now homes and fresh opi p rtunitics. in one respect the North

y j is at this moment peculiarly fortunate, . | and that is in the possession of a leader ■) ( of enterprise such as Colon. I Allen Bell, t j To that gentleman and his secretarial . associate, Mr. E. J. Samuel, is largely . j due the remarkably successful organis- ; ation and management of the great n . tour —a tour which, we sincerely hope, [C! wll mark the dawn of a now and brights cr era. for Ncrth Auckland. To those •• who wero privileged to parti ipate in - tho tour tlie expericme was not al--2 together that of a joy ride. Happily, no 1' serious accident occurred to mar the . 1 pleasure of the trip; but there wero 1 some exceedingly nirrow 1 scapes from j i disaster, several minor mishaps to g'm > 2 ' eif the ears, and snmo exciting and t strenuous experiences. It was only > j n't ral. therefore, that at the banquet > I held to celebrate the conclusion of the 1 I tour, the guests should voice their con- ' j lidont held' in the p s destiny f ' of tho North, and at the same time , i give expre-sion ta their souse of indebtI edness to Colonel Bell and the members tj of his executive, to tho hospitable > : people l of the icnins ila, and to those t 1 gentlemen —the car owners and drivers 0 —who, as 011 > speaker put it. "'have v I had our lives 'n their keeping fo ■ tha , ! past fifteen days."