The Wairoa Bell, AND Hobson County Gazette. FRIDAY, JULY 14th.

Wairoa Bell, Volume V, Issue 206, 14 July 1893, Page 5

The Wairoa Bell, AND Hobson County Gazette. F RIDAY, JULY

The necessity of roads for tlio North seems just now to be a prominent question, anil in many minds there seems to be a determination to do something for this part of the country wh’ch has so long been neglected. The problem to be solved is how te find the money, but doubtless some solution will be found. Mr Filth sees no way of finding the necessary funds except by taxing the gum, and would impose an export duty by which a good round sum would be raised. But tin re is one aspect of the question which must not be lost si<rlit of. —-Our necessities are as great as tbos« of any other part of the colony, and it is an indisputable fact that in the past we have not had anything like a fair share of public expenditure. Northern settlers are to-day paying large sums to meet interest on loans spent in making roads and railways in more favoured parts ; and though, as Mr Firth put it, it is no use asking for our share of that money now for, like butter in a dog’s throat, when once there it is gone 3 yet, when it is an undeniable fact that we have not been fairly dealt with, surely it is not too late to ask honest fellow-countrymen to do something extra for us now in order to make amends for past neglect. If the Government decide to raise money by means of our gum iudustry we would impress upon their minds that such money should le exclusively an extra of our own. We would still be entitled to a full share of any public funds available for roads anl bridges, and something extra as compensation for past neglect, Any moneys derived from kauri gum must not be debited against us in such a way as to lessen our fair share of other public moneys.