NEW PLYMOUTH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 198, 30 November 1910, Page 6

NEW PLYMOUTH.

ITS ALYAXCEMEXT. "'Wake Up" writes to the Editor:— "We hear a great deal about Greater Xew Plymouth, electric trams, etc., as factors to help Xew Plymouth along. All these may act very well in their place. If New Plymouth was helped along in other directions, these would come along as a natural consequence. Now what Xew Plymouth is in need ot more than anything is the establishment of industries that would create a wageearning population. Look at Waitara. What is and has been the making of the place? Why, largely the establishment of the meat freezing and preserving industry in their midst. What would the starting cf industries here,, circulating £4",9 Ci) or £50,000 a year dn wages, lr.ean to the place? Why far more than t.vanis or harbor extension, good and UM-ful as they may prove to, be. Xew Plymouth is languishing for want of

something to keep even the natural increase of her population in the place, let alone attracting other people. I noticed in the papers that owing to Mr. Dempsey's 25 years at the Central School something like 0000 children had passed through his hands. Where are those children (or rather men and women mostly) at the present moment? Well, probably not one sixth of them at the outside could be found in the town and district, and most of them, at any rate of the boys, have had to go elsewhere because there was nothing for them to do here. What industries have ■we? Very few, and what we have are probably not paying any more if as much in wages as they were a few years ago, and probably the whole of our industries in Xew Plymouth combined are not paying as much in wages as the one big industry of Borthwick and Sons docs in Waitara. Probably, Mr. Editor, you will be wondering what ail this is leading to. Simply this: Every now and again we hear it spoken of, and in the columns of the Press we see the opinions of correspondents away in the settlements to the eastwards of us constantly calling attention to the need of establishing another freezing company, preferably a co-operative one, to deal with the ever growing production of stock that is going on in our back districts, and each of these correspondents seems to indicate the dcir? that such works should be started i:i the vicinity of Xew Plymouth, so as to be as near to the harbor as possible, and the opinion is also expressed, that failing Xew Plymouth Stratford would be the next best place for such a venture. In response io these hints and overtures, what are cur business men, who should take the lead in such things, doing in the matter. From .what I can see and hear nothing is being done, and Xew Plymouth will wake up some fine morning to find that another opportunity has been let slip and some more enterprising neighbor has got the plum. To me it does seem strange that more go is not shown in these matters. The Press here have drawn attention to the trade that could be worked up from Xew Plymouth to the various coastal ports of the North and South if our merchants here took it in hand and procured a suitable vecssel for the trade, but nothing is done; and if indications go for anything, our neighbouring river port will be made the distributing centre for this coastal trade and New Plymouth will again find itself left."