MR. FISHER'S FIGURES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 260, 1 April 1914, Page 4

MR. FISHER'S FIGURES.

The Minister of Marine mviiik inclined to unloose the. Government pursestrings, and Mr. Okey really ought to try and bring him along to Taranaki whilst he is in this expansive humor, for we, have many avenues just now for the profitable, use of capital, Slate anil otherwise. If .I'l-I,<IIM van be given for the establishment of a new harbor, as a. subsidy pn local effort to the lime of some £4».00() to .UHUIOI). perhaps Mr. Kisher could be persuaded lo give a few thousands to assist in the oil develop-

mc.nl in Tavauaki, because (he successfnl establishment, of the oil industry would be one of the hiugest things '<; the history of the Dominion, eclipsing even the Premier's famous warning to Mr. Winston Churchill on Admiralty matters. It may be, of course, that Mr. Fisher's liberal promises will lack the support of his colleagues, for this Milliter lias often been found at variance with the policy speeches of his chief. Here is an instance. Speaking at l'ahiatua the other evening lo an audience wildly enthusiastic over the Minister's promise, of jtlla.UOl) for a wharf, and the glorious picture painted of a future full of ocean liners loading at Aki'io, be said that the cost of the strike to the country was £-150,000 in hard cash. for which reason it would be quite impossible for the Cabinet to recommend Parliament to pay out as much as the ! Hon. W. Fraser bad promised for some iPahiatua road works. Xow Mr. .Masscv. ivlio possibly is not so well informed on the matter as his eloquent coadjutor, told the Otago people, on Friday nigiit that the strike cost, the State only £IOO,OOO. In the face of this, it is doubtful whether the glowing promises made by tbe garrulous Mr. Fisher will lie honored at the b.uk of the State ev.-

chequer when considered in saner moments. There i.s another aspect. Mr. Fisher, as representing a party which claims to be the friend of the farmer ana the man on the land, could hardly have heen serious when he proposed to recoup the cost of the strike out of the Public Works Fund. The national interest demands that, whatever else happens, there must be no slackening off in the work of developing our rural districts, and this can best be done by providing the wherewithal to open 'roads, and bridges, thus improving the means of communication, bringing the primary producer nearer to his market, and making life on the land less solitary and more desirable. The Government has used the late strike for all it is worth in the present electioneering campaign throughout the country, but even the farmers can have enough of a good thing, and if, added to the. inconvenience and loss suffered by them at the time and since the strike by the general dislocation of shipping and trade, they are now to be deprived of the promised improvement in means of access to their holdings, they may well wonder whether the Government is giving them the "square deal" that has been the boast of the so-called reformers since they clambered into power. One. would thinkthat members of the Cabinet which, when in the cool shades of opposition, prescribed a stay-at-home policy for their Ministry, would now, having been banquetted and junketed right through the Dominion on an extensive and well organised electioneering campaign, be constrained to say that roads and bridges in the country must have first consideration. But 1 apparently this Minister has failed to be siezed of the importance of any work outside, Wellington unless it be the Akitio harbor.