OPENING THE BACKBLOCKS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 220, 5 February 1913, Page 3

OPENING THE BACKBLOCKS.

LIGI V ;; .ILWAYS. The subjec! of the b.u■!•:blocks of N< v Zealand by means of light railways. monorails. motor tractors, and similar methods, is one which should receive earnest consideration, not only of the (lovcrnnient, but of the whole people. (1111!11 nnil cheap means of carriage and communication are essential to the prosperity of any nation. Road and railways are just as much a business equipment. of a Country as horses and ploughs are nf a modern agricultural farm. Without them there can be 110 real progress. Willi them the land can be settled and improved, production can be increased, goods can be carried quickly and cheaply to markets and ports, and the people, of various districts ean hold regular and ficf|ueut communication with one another. New Zealand, since the days when it was first settled by Europeans, has made remarkable progress in many ways, and even in the matter of roads and railways the South Island can favorably compare with many much older and more densely-populated places. But in the North Island, and in nearly every part of the Auckland province, means of communication are very little better than they are in some parts of savage Africa. A country like New Zealand, settled by u mere handful of people for littlfe more than half a century, cannot, of course, expect to have highways and byways as perfect as those countries which ] have been fully occupied by civilised people for thousands of years. Still, now that New Zealand has a population of over a million, and is producing more wealth per head than perhaps any other country, there is no reason whatever why great districts should be unsettled and great settlements paralysed for want of railways or metalled roads. < OMISSIONS OF THE PAST.

Xo doubt the South Island owes its good roads somewhat to the fact that it has abundant metal readily available; but it owes them still more surely to the fact that in the earlier days of our history members of Parliament and members of the Ministry were largely drawn from the landed class, who knew that the future of the land absolutely depended upon good highways. There have been various excuses put forward why the northern parts of New Zealand ore more backward in the matter of roads and railways than the South, but the real facts of the case are that since the old political party which developed the South went out of power the later political parties spent most of their energy on social legislation, and neglected the material interests of the country. If this were not the case, would the important highways between Auckland and Taranaki be a mere series of bogs as soon as the autumn rains fall? Would there be an entire absence of roads between the King Country and Wellington? Would the main roads between Auckland and the great Northern Peninsula be impassable for wheeled traffic for months in the year? There is no need to answer these questions; they answer themselves, and the only discussion needed now is how to best make up for the omissions'of the past 20 3 ears. There can be 110 doubt that if the political leaders of this country, backed by the genoral public, will take the trouble to realise the importance of roads and railways, some means will be quickly found to bring these very necessary works into existence. THE BELfITAX EXAMPLE.

Mr. Edwin ITall wrote in a recent issue of this journal on the subject of light railways, monorails and motor traffic. He showed the tremendous advantages which have accrued to Belgium through the use of light railways, and has shown the remarkably low cost of transporting material by means of the monorail, ft is absolutely certain that New Zealand could make use of both those methods with great benefit to itself. The monorail might he the pioneer of new districts, pushing out with the march of the settler.-, carrying their goods, playing a great part in the making of new roads, and acting as a binding link between civilisation and the backblocfcs. The Belgian scheme for financing light railways, as outlined by Mr. Hall, may not perhaps recommend itself to a people who have so long looked to the eenlral Government for the construction. ol all public works, but no, one will contend that light railways would not be of immense assistance in helping forward the main industries of this country. Light railways, acting as feeders to the main lines, would in many cases cost little more than ordinary roads to construct. but would cheapen the carriage of heavy material to a very important extent. They could lie made to carry fat stock, agricultural produce, manures, coal, timber and minerals. There are many places to-day in the northern districts which have their productive capacity severely limited because they have not good communication with the consuming centres, and the price of timber and coal and farm produce is increased on this account. The people in the cities, secure in the idea that railways and roads converge towards them, apparently as if obeying a natural law, will not take the trouble to understand this point, they will not take upon themselves the task of helping to bring these ne\\ loads and railways into existence. This is where the main defect lies in any present system, and this is why it is necessary to harp so continually on the theme that roads and railways are essentially national undertakings, ami that all political parties and all sections the public are equally interested in helping forward their construction wherever they are likely to help in the development «,f the countrv— New Zealand Herald.