PRESSING PUBLIC WORKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1919, Page 4

PRESSING PUBLIC WORKS.

The deputation to the Minister for Public Works (Sir William Fraser) at W'uitara last evening put a ca.se as convincing as any that has come before a Minister of the Crown for many years past. They showed how the development of a large and fertile district was hampered iiy the bad communications, how for many years the settlers who had taken up sections and wrought tirelessly to establish a competence had been handicapped and ofttinu's broken in health and pocket by the failure of the Government to redeem its repeated promises to provide reasonable roading facilities. 'I hey proved once again the national importance of making the north road through to Te Kuiti an all-the-year road, instead of one that can only be used for a few weeks in the year It should not be necessaiy to stress the importance and urgency of improving the main north road and pushing on with the construction of the railway into the Ohura; they are so obvious. No country can progress without adequate transit facilities,"and |w« make bold to that uo part of

New Zealand lias suffered in this respect bo much as Northern Taranaki has at the hands of past Governments. The Member for Taumarunui has been indefatigable in his representations. No man in Parliament, indeed, has worked harder for his constituents or has their interests more at heart He has secured grants for this and that road, but the whole policy that makes necessary his peroistent supplications, and those of the deputation last evening and former deputations, is utterly wrong and a reflection upon the intelligence of the people of New Zealand. The Government should treat the question of opening up a rich country like Northern Taranaki undoubtedly is, as a matter of the most vital importance and proceed forthwith with the work. There could be no better investment of public money, and no greater return for both the State and the settlers. The history of Taranaki's hinterland is pathetic in the extreme. Settlers were placed over twenty years ago in the bush and promised roads and bridges and railways. t These promises have never materialised. The settlers, their wives and children, have had to undergo privations that are little realised by townspeople; many have lost what little they possessed; /...my have broken down in health completely; many have wasted the best years of their lives in waiting for the loads and railways that have never come. It is an unhappy story and entirely .discreditable to past Governments and an enlightened community. It is true that of late the public works have been affected by lack of labor, but before long there should be 110 such excuse, especially if the Government carries out an enlightened scheme of assisted immigration of suitable labor. If the Government is in earnest both labor and money will be found to complete the great northern highway connecting Taranaki with the Auckland province and completing the StratfordOkahukura railway, the construction of which at this end has almost entirely ceased. The indifference shown in the past by the Government towards these important works has been almost criminal when one considers the money that has been frittered away on railways and other public works in the south, in country not one-tenth as productive as northern Taranaki, and upon ornate public buildings in the larger centres. The war has afforded us all many lessons, and not the least is that if our public men cannot, or will not, rise to their responsibilities and duty in respect to the development and exploitation of our great national rcsouces they must be superseded by men who will. We do not blame Sir William Fraser for this neglect. It is his predecessors that are to blame. It has to be recognised that Sir William has had many and unprecedented difficulties to contend against, and it is not his fault, for instance, that Mt. Messenger still remains a quagmire for len months of the year. He says he will have this work done as soon as he can get the necessary labor. His promise can be depended upon. But more is wanted if justice is to be done to Taranaki's back country. The whole road to Mahoenui and Mokau bridge are urgently required. So is the extension of the Stratford line, tapping as it does a million acres of splendid country that is crying loudly for an outlet. New Zealand simply cannot afford to allow these urgent works to hang fire a day longer than the exigency of the labor market compels.