The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1919. TO-DAY'S HARBOR POLL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1919. TO-DAY'S HARBOR POLL.

to-day ratepayers in the New Plymouth harbor district will be called upon to vote 'on the Harbor Board's proposal to bdrrbw the sum of £300,000 for harbor improvements. The proposals have been thoroughly explained by the board members, and ratepayers should by this time be fully conversant with the position. A more convincing case for the prosecution of improvements could not have been made out, and we cannot conceive any ratepayer who is alive to his own interests vetoing a proposal that means so much for the province. Since the last loan was raised the board has done remarkably good work'. It has attained its object of securing ocean liners without having to 'strike, a rate, but now it is seen that the accommodation must be increased to cope with the increased trade, and to provide additional protection for the biggest insulated ship 3 trading to New Zealand. A port, like a business, cannot remain still. It must either go forward or fall behind. Taranaki cannot afford to be behind in its harbor facilities or anything else. It has a future second to.no province of New Zealand. Already its exports are the highest per head of population in the Dominion, and it is as yet only partly developed. With its back country opened up by good roads and railways, with its present lands more closely settled and scientifically farmed, there is really no limit to the development of the province. A deep-sea port is a' necessity now; in five or ten years it will be doubly or trebly so —that is, if a progressive and enlightened policy is followed. The members of the Harbor Board are men of vision, as well as of practical experience. They have adopted a scheme that will provide for Heeds as they grow, each new piece

of work fitting into the whole, and so in years to come, when the trade warrants it, we will have a harbor equal to the best in New Zealand. In our humble opinion it will be required sooner than is generally expected.. To show the development of late, in the trying time of the war, when operations Were hampered and enterprise stifled, we can cite the case of the Smart Road freezing Works. The first year was a great success; the second year the works had to he doubled, and at the end o!! tlie third season it is found that the works must be doubled again, and even then the accommodation wiil not be too great for the stoc!: coining forward. All the while t!:c other two freezing works in the province have had more to do than they could manage. The spirit of progress is in the air, and the people are in no mood to put up again with a Government which will not move with the times. "Taihoa" spells stagnation and ruination, and an enlightened, progressive policy must be substituted. If this is done Taranaki stands to gain tremendously. "With the development of the lands We must keep pace with harbor development, for the two are insolubly bound up together. It is unthinkable that anyone should veto today's proposals. Members bf the board have made it qirite clear that they must have the loan to carry out the improvements, which Are becoming more urgent every day. If not, then they will have to strike a rate to dp what is absolutely necessary. The loan will, they have proved, cbst the fatepayers nothing in the matter bf rates. They said so in respect bf the past loan, and their promise has been kept. Their word can be relied upon in this instance, for the good reason that with the increasing trade bf the port made possible by the provision of improved facilities the profit will meet all interest charges as well as provide a sinking fund. But apart from this aspect of the matter, Taranaki simply cannot afford to lag behind. It must keep in the van, and make the best possible use of its magnificent possibilities. We know ratepayers will do their duty to-day and register their vote for progress.