The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1914. OUR HINTERLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 186, 5 February 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1914. OUR HINTERLAND.

We hope the trip made ro tile Oiu.'.'.i i last week by * putty repii=eritinj; I'a- i 'i'aranaki Chamber of Commerce will b: i but tlic forerunner of many wore exped: < lions of the kind, for from them nothing ' •but good vim result to everyone concerned. At present, owing to imlill'erent in-ter-communieaHon facilities, there, is little or no community of interest be- ' twoen the two parts of Taranaki, and consequently an absence of knowledge of each other's interests and requirement;). A fact that does not appear to be recognised or appreciated is that Taranuki'ti hinterland almost equals in area the Taranaki we know. The land is practically all capable of carrying slieep and cattle, and some of it even mihh cows. The quality of the country ami the extent of its development greatly surprised the New Plymouth party, and must be unknown to ninety-two per cent, of .people in this part of Taranaki. Despite the roading difficulties, the consequent) 4carness of everything, the innumerable hardships and disabilities of pioneering life, most of the land is settled, and is gradually being won from Nature and converted into >iiiiling and profitable farms. Ten or twelve ye-ars iigo there were but a handiul of settlers in the hackblocks of the province; now they can be numbered by the thousand. What has been achieved in face of the severest of obstacles is remarkable. It is a testimony to the hardihood, the resource and spirit of those ] engaged in the work of subduing the wit- I derness. To some extent these hardy pioneers have, -been buoyed up with ihi hope that before long better transit, facilities would he provided, thus removing the greatest of the. handicaps all'Ccting them, and bringing them into closer touch with the outside world and closer to the markets. It has been a long and weary wait for most, and it is to many not over yet, but the railway is idowly creeping towards them, and. even at *he present 'by no means satisfactory progress the whole length should lie constructed within six or seven years. This will give relief to everyone in the baek country. For one thing, it will be possible to obtain road metal, of which there is a total absence in the interior, and improve the roads, which at present in wet weather tire practically impassable. I'h'om present indicatisns it seems that the line from the north will be the first Lo tap the Ohura. The work on this

sme lor u\e next year or two will he of a very difficult nature, including as it does the construction of several tunnels and cuttings and heavy fillings, besides bridges, one of which, over the Taugarakan, will be no small undertaking. From the Heao valley, up which we understand the line is to proceed, right through the Ohura country, the work of construction should not invoice .many engineering difficulties, When the line is through from this end to tha Ohura there is no doubt that Stratford and Xew Plymouth will benefit, and benefit considerably, from the trade that must of necessity come this way. The port will be the dominant factor in bringing this about. Trade will always lind its cheapest course and outlet, and the New Plymouth port bciiiir over eiehtv

mill's nearer Uian Auckland, it stands I'o reason Unit the producers of tjhc Ulinra. will 'be sitfliciently alive to their interests to choose the route, that will l>ay them better. Trade, however, does lot always make itself. It has to be ndiieed, promoted and aevi'leraii-J, and n-rein lies the opportunely of our trad--rs. They will need to he up and doing, ind to keep.is closely as possible in teuch vith tlieir fellows in the back country, dentifying themselves closely with their ntcrests, and seeking to promote them fill-never opportunity affords. At precut the backblockc-rs' chief wants are he railway and 'better roads. VTe ilionlil try to help them by doing what ve can to induce the Government to nore energetically push on with railway construction, which, with a bigger voto available, could he considerably ao cek-rated at this end. As for roads, there arc two that should be eoucentrat. Ed upon. They are the KotaveJlangaroa and tlio Moki. Both are important highways; )>olh are. partly constructed; both arc practically impassable foil many months in the year; both are urgently riMjuiri'rt to op (m up the country. Both, too, will require the expenditure of a considerable vote of money—money, however, which would find profitable llvestment. The .settlers were promised decent roads a decade ago, but the promise, like so many others, has not been fulfilled. Willi the railway completed | and better roads provided, Taranakfs j hinterland must make considerable pro-

gress and add appreciably to the wealth of the province. X 0 part of Xew Zealand, indeed, lias a better future, from a grazing point of view, than it has. and iw part deserves the. help of thy State in the matter of improving transit facilities more than it docs. The trio of the Chamber of Commerce party, short and hurried as it was, mint resu't in great benefit to all parlies. In the. minds of some of the Ohnra settlors a doubt wa 6 entertainnd as to the ability of the Xew I'lymouth harbor to accommodate large liners. Mr. X T . King, in the course of an illuminative speech that created a marked Impression upon tinminds of the leading settlers assembled, removed this at once. If anything brer red, when discii-diig the harbor, on t!.'<'-i<le of caution. We hope that (h, invitation 1,-,- oxjended t Q thi-m lo vi.iit

Xew Plymouth und see the harbor far themselves will be availed of. TJic visit should prove us enlightening and instructive and, we hope, as enjoyable - us the vi»ib of the Xew Plymouth party to llie Ohura proved. An 01 visits like this should he encouraged, and we hope the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce will take an early opportunity of renewing the invitation to lending Ohiira settlers to visHt New Plymouth, and also of making tho trip to our hinterland a regular annual fixture.