The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1927. BACK ON THE JAUNTING CAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 174, 13 October 1927, Page 8

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1927. BACK ON THE JAUNTING CAR

WHEN Mr. De Valera recently swallowed the Oatli of Allegiance—a big; mouthful for an Irish Republican—the political consequences of the wry formality were visualised most happily by Mr. Punch in a characteristic cartoon. An incensed Irish Republican elector was made to say to the leader of the Republican Party : “I’d never have sent ye to Parliament if I’d thought ve’d break your word and go there; and, now that ye are there, where are ye!” Where, indeed? Mr. De Valera is back where lie was, but more than ever a disillusioned tactician and probably remembering the mordant wisdom of John O’Leary, the veteran Fenian who (as recalled by an Irish commentator) used to say, “There are things a gentleman cannot do even to save his country.” Though some politicians all the world over seem to escape the right punishment for the wrong policy, it is a general rule that the man who breaks his word, even as an empty formality, finds in time that he also has broken his ambition. So, at any rate, it has been with Mr. De Valera, whose defection caused Miss MacSwiney, now known at the “Constant Nymph,” to weep tears of blood. The sixth Dail in Dublin has set Mr. W. T. Cosgrave up again as President of the Irish Free State, while the electors behind it have made him l'eel easier on the box seat. The sturdy man was re-elected by 76 votes to 70, the majority representing exactly liis numerical strength in the Dail. This proportion would be deemed adequate in any tranquil community, but Ireland, as everybody knows, is rather different politically from all other countries. And it is easy to be thrown off an Irish jaunting car on the rocky roads to Dublin. Still, since there have been statesmen who, in the flush of conceit, have believed in their ability to rule the world with the irreducible minimum majority, President Cosgrave should be able to ride in reasonable comfort and drive forward to his goal which is simply to make the Irish Free State a happier country and a prosperous loyal Dominion of the British Empire. Now that Mr. Cosgrave is again in power the task of the Government will be to exercise its resources to the best advantage of all the people, and go on courageously with its well-intentioned work. It looks as though there will be little, if any change, in the personnel or policy of the Ministry. Though the jingoists outside the Irish Free State will look too much on the Imperial aspect of Irish affairs the real question for Southern Ireland at the moment has more to do with money than with anything else. The numerous small farmers need financial aid to carry them over the worst crisis in their industry that has been experienced for over a quarter of a century.' This assistance the Government is pledged to give through the new Agricultural Credit Corporation. The State’s revenue is very satisfactory, income taxation has been reduced from 5s to 3s in the pound, and tariff adjustments on a protective scale have already increased by over 4,000 the number of persons employed on local manufactures. Indeed in nearly everything that counts the Cosgrave Government has a much better record than that of our own Reform Administration. As for public safety, it is not likely that President Cosgrave or bis colleagues will easily forget the brutal assassination of Kevin O’Higgins.

DIVERTING TRADE TO AUCKLAND

IT is the opinion of the members of the Auckland Harbour Board, the Chamber of Commerce and certain interested local bodies, supported by engineering authority, that the construction of a canal at,Waiuku to connect the Manukau Harbour with the Waikato River is a perfectly feasible proposition, which would present no technical difficulties. As roughly outlined, the proposed canal would be about seven miles in length, and it is thought that its cost would not exceed £350,000. Such a canal would bring water-borne traffic from the Waikato by a short cut to Onehunga, instead of, as now, having to be brought through Waikato Heads along the west coast, and through the Manukau Heads, and it would divert to Auckland, to increase the activities of this city, much of the produce which is now sent South from the Waikato. It is a scheme which, will undoubtedly be given the serious consideration of the Auckland. Harbour Board, backed by the merchants of the city, though it is doubtful whether it will be looked upon with much enthusiasm by the Government, which operates a costly and unremunerative railway branch line from Paerata to Waiuku. The topography of the Auckland district lends itself admirably to an extensive canal system. In other parts of the world, water-carriage by canal has proved to be the cheapest of all forms of transport for goods, and there are illimitable possibilities presented here by our extensive waterways. The carrying out of Mr. David B. Russell’s Whau Canal scheme, to provide a waterway between the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours, in conjunction with the Waiuku scheme, would give smooth watercarriage right from Hamilton to Auckland, and there is another feasible proposition in a canal from Riverhead to ITelensville. With the completion of these three projects three harbours — the Waitemata, the Manukau and the Kaipara—would be connected, and a huge stream of water-borne traffic would converge upon Auckland from the rich lands north and south of the Isthmus. Such a comprehensive scheme may not quickly be brought into operation; but it has passed the dream stage and, in the opinion of experts, the future will see its accomplishment.