THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1912. ADVANCE MASTERTON!

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10599, 3 April 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1912. ADVANCE MASTERTON!

For some years Mastea'ton, in common .with other centres in the lower portion of the North Island,,has been passing through a period of'duress-, ion, the cause of which has been almost as difficult to discover as its effects have been impossible to frustrate. It is satisfactory to note that, oil every hand, there are indications: | pf "av return* to prosperity. The lasticouple of seasons have brought hand-: isome returns to the farmers, ■■ who are the mainstay of the lowns, and .the free expenditure of money is re-' ■fleeting itself upon every business iiii .the community. , Those who bought town properties at boorp prices may have to wait for a time before they see a return for their outlay; but itihat all will come right in the course' Of a few years is as sure- as that nightfollows \lay. Masterton is a township .which must develop in proportion to the development off the outlying districts. If its people desire to see rapid progress, they must adopt such measures . as will more speedy development of tw surrounding country. This leads us' to ask, are we doing all that we miglht do to ibring about this result? "Twelve (months ago we heard certain candidates for the Borough Council declaring their intention- to strive to secure closer settlement. What have they done in particular to 'redeem the promise they then made to the ratepayers ? The Chamber of Commerce has been discussing, the question of close settlement over since vc came into existence. Btit how many small 'set;t-' lers has it succeeded in putting upon the land? Candidates for Parliament have proclaimed their earnest desire ito seo the country closely settled. But iwhat have they succeeded in doing" to bring about this much-desired result? A retrospect will, show that there are practically no more homesteads in ■the district to-day than there were ten or twenty years ago. Ajid yet the itoAra ,has forged' ahead. The reason it has done so is that rural settlers have ivAptcd k:ovq .scientific methods

of fanning, and haive I'o.n enabled to increase iihedr spending power. The duty of townspeople, at the present jtiiictuire, is not only to endeavour to faring about the dose;! - settlement of the land, but to encourage 'those who are on the soil to develop it on scientific lines. They may do a great deal, also, in assisting those who are in. the fcack-blocks to secure easy access to the markets. If it is impossible to induce the- Govern men* to acquire areas adjacent to the town for, the purposes of closer settlement, it may be possible t° bring the outlying districts closer to the town by means of road and railway communication. This brings us to the question of the- Ma-s----tterton-Pbngaroa railway project. A new Government has come into pawier, and of that Government declares that Us energies' will be devoted to developing the resources of the country. It will not be difficult ■to convince him that tte policy _ of Mr Roderick MeKenzie was entirely wrong, and that instead of settlement preceding railways, thie railways should be made to precede settlement. M- anyirafce, therfe is nothing like testu ing the position, and the sooner it is done 1 the better, if'the Chamber of Cbmmercb were to set to work now, it might succeed in , convincing _ the Mackenzie Government that a railway connection between Masterton and Waipukurau, via Pongaroa, is not only an urgent national undertaking, but could be rendered immediately profirtabfe to the State. Let us keep pegging away, in the knowledge that persistent agitation is bound to achieve results.