The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1911. WHAT NEW PLYMOUTH WANTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 117, 8 November 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1911. WHAT NEW PLYMOUTH WANTS.

The somcwha.t belated discovery made by mil' contemporary in its issue of .Saturday last that there is a spirit of lethargy abroad retarding the development of the town and district Ls worthy of deeper exploration. To our contemporary the lethargic spirit is an unaccountable one. ]!e that as it may. we are equally concerned with the Herald in devising ways and means for the development of such a spirit of enterprise and go-aheadness as should be manifest in a community having within its grasp such immense potentialities. It is undoubtedly true that to a large extent Xcw Plymouth is asleep, vaguely dreaming that great events for its betterment arc on the tapis. It is equally true that as a community we arc making no visible effort to wake up and analyse the dream, its feasibility, and the wisdom of assisting in its realisation. We seem content to hope that something is going to happen, that somebody is going to do everything- to bring Xcw Plymouth into prominence, that all we will have to do is to sit by and participate in the good things that will overflow from the vats of the subsequent prosperity. What a delusion? That Xcw Plymouth is to be given, almost within sight on the current year's calendar, its first lift on the road towards cilvhood we are assured, but we are equally certain that unless we >how manifest evidence that we intelligently appreciate the responsibilities thai progress entails. We will soon find out-elves again side-lracked by some community possessing the enterprising spirit of ihe age That is no dream: il is but the application of ihc natural law of evolution -the survival of the fittest and worthiest. II i- dear, then, thai we miisl be up ami doing: but you will ask. What shall we do? Where -hall we start? We are afraid thai, judging by our contemporary'- remarks, we shall make but poor progrc-s if we mei'ely adopt its remedies. 'Pin- future of New Plymouth, judged by the Herald's standard, is to be oni' „f toadyism and Modgy-i.-m toadying to (he tourist and the vi-itoi

'l'll.- till UK- (hill WC hope to ■ee N'l-w Plymouth livinjr Mini pro-pcriiif: i" is not -., miii-li tin- adveriisi»fr »f 'iiii altractions. our lieauK spots, our yolf links, our bowling greens. al I r:ti-1 ivc oplanade. swimming hath-. I'tc. 'Unit. Ihey lend elmrm to residence here we can vouch, lnit that even determined '*l»ori-=.tinir"-of tlifin is going to bring Xcw Plymonth to the forefront as even a small factor in the world of commerce— and thul- is the only factor that coiniU now-adays--we most seriously donlii. What ■we want first of all is a local awakening. We sully want the leadership ( ,f ~ f,, w public men, business men far-serin™ enough to realise the needs of the future,

and possessing the courage and determin- j ation to lay tlie foundation stones of I that future now. We want an invigor- I a ted Chamber of Commerce that can \ think of the New Plymouth of the next decade and not of the lethargic present; we want a Mayor who will take :t comprehensive grasp of the needs of the future and inspire tlio public with a belief in him, in the possibilities of the necessity of making early provision foithem; we want, most of all, representation in Parliament that will be closely associated with the party of progress and development, not representation allied to a party that, in the paraphrased words of Mr. fsitt, "lias to be dragged at the heels of the Liberals." We must

be progressive if we are to preens. As a community we should therefore ally ourselves with those whose proven policy is enlightened progress, not retrogression. Our future, is a business speculation, not an academic lottery, and a«i a business speculation wo must adopt husiness' methods—those methods that will return to the town the dividends. Tlight through tho whole structure of our government, local and geueral, there is need for the infusion of a more enterprising spirit, of a spirit harmonising with these progressive days. ...The Administration of, the day is keenly alive to the necessity of keeping abreast of the times, anticipating and providing for the ever altering conditions, ever vigilant in evolving plans that they believe will make for the growth, development and prosperity of the Dominion and its component parts. Are we to continue to be out of touch w" '• 'hat progressive policy, or are we to imbibe of the spirit of progressivenoss, and advance quickly along the road that Nature has mapped out as the destiny of New Plymouth- a great, industrial centre, a shipping terminal, a factor to be reckoned with in the commercial life of the Dominion? To realise that destiny, we must help ourselves, not leave, it to the chance "generosity" of others. Wake up, New Plymouth! Wake up, you men of substance, yon who have always pursued your own selfish paths without thought of your town and your fellow men! Wake up. you ratepayers, and bring to the forefront those with ability and enterprise and. the most valuable possession of all, courage! AVakc | up, you electors, ami return to Parlia- [ ment a representative who will reflect I the progressive spirit of the times!

TURNING! THEM OUT.

"We turn out a lot of good men in New Zealand." said the proud father whose boy was a Rhodes Scholar. -'We turn a lot of good-men out of New Zealand," Tcpliejl the othej. fello.w. Roth'statements are true.. We have begun to regard New Zealand as a splendid training ground—for other countries. The reason we do not keep our well-trained young men who specialise is because we do not pay them enough. The reason why we do not pay them well enough is because we do not understand their value. We do not appreciate brains to any large extent unless the brains are imported ami well advertised. We export a large quantity without advertising them and they frequentlvget the recognition that this country refuses them. fit Wellington a couple of days ago the resignation was accepted of'the headmaster of the Teachers' Training College. He was doing the usual thingclearing out of New Zealand because

Australia offered hint a better salary. A member of the Education Board said that this was the fifth appointment that had been made recently to important positions in Australia.' The chairman's remark was, "We're training good men and losing them." We need skill of every kind in New Zealand, but we send it away without the slightest qualm We do not hold as so "many hold that there is nothing on earth to touch a N'ew Zealandcr or that he is superior clay. There have been many New Zealanders who in science and art, in which we include all the learned professions, have been well above tho average. Some have been as distinguished as the leaders of other lands. They all go away and stay away. To pa'v a brilliant man the wages of a mediocrity is to set him wandering, and in so very many cases the real "plums" in this country are held by mediocrities, when the man of outstanding qualifications is occupying a minor position under him. It is not. so much what a man can do as whom a man can influence, and it is only the mediocrities who " pull the strings."

A HUGE .MACHINE.

The distinguished soldier, who is the London Times' military contributor and critic, has lately hern'easting a skilled eye on that huge machine, the German army, and he tells the world that it is not mi good an army as it is supposed to be. that it is over-trained and '-stale, - ' and that it is inferior to the French article. The formidable feature of the army is its enormous size, and the perfect ion of its mechanical action. The whole world is in doubt as to the perfeclion of its leadership; if is not ipiite sure as to its perfect loyalty, and although it believes the Kaiser when he says lie can mobilise three million lighting men. it is wondering what fearful economic. dislnrbanei'S. food riots, and the like, would take place if he did so. The great, satirist who declared that "God lights on the side of the big battalions'' could not possibly have meant to suggest that the light' is always to the largest, for our own Imperial history is full of instances where brilliant leadership carried victory for the side nl' the "little battalions."' The only criterion „f the \alue of any organisation, whether it be a war or a pence outfit, is gained by seeing it working at the hiis.iiir.ss for which it has been organised. Germany's con-cripl army, as at present, constituted, has never been tried, for although intricate and vigorous munoeuvrcs may indicate something of an army's spirit, then, never can lie any comparison between the blank cartridge of held days and the ball cartridge and bared sabre of real conllict. Whether the mechanical rigidity of training given to the German conscript boy for three years gives him courage and makes him superior to every other lighting man, time may prove. The Times' expert probably retaliates somewhat for a German General's criticism of the British army manoeuvres at Aldershot, The eminent German was of opinion that the British army was not as good as he thought it, ought to be. and -o on. but as he has not fought against in. a lid as ihe Times' gentleman hasn't fought against the German machine., neitln r knows how the other will ■■shape" , should peaceful evolution givu place to aggression. Hard and fast rules of strategy and tactics are being blown sky j

high in Tripoli at the present moment, and the preconceived notions of German military supremacy might easily be fractured in a week of war.