The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1884. TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1608, 13 February 1884, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1884. TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Trade in MnstiM'toii is at the jireson time KoitifAvli.-tt- ili'|ii'('.ssiil. A fair amount of Inisinuig is iU-.s|jtlc!i"tl, but it is transacted under difficulties. The process of selling goods is easier than the task of getting the money for them,. and the main reason for this is the low price of wool. Wool is still t-ho leading;product of the district, It brings more money into the Wairarapa than any other source of income, and its rate in the London market is the barometer which indicates fair or foul weather amuiigst us. We have always welcomed the establishment and development of other local industries, because it is not good for a community to be too dependent upon a single pro--1 duct; If it were not that we had some other smaller irons.id the fire, the present rates for wool would be almost disastrous to the'district. As it is, they simply result in a period of depression, which reminds us how dependent we are on the pastoral lords of -the district. From a Masterton. point of view little can be done to mitigate the unsatisfactory position in which the- trade of the town is now fixed. Depression in the country districts is followed by depression in the town, and till the Country districts are more prosperous the town must wait patiently. We would gladly soe a more hearty sympathy than is usually apparent on "the part of town residents to their country neighbors. Wo have often noticed that settlers in Masterton fail to realize that their trade and prosperity mainly depend upon the opening up outlying districts and connecting them with the road lines that converge into Masterton. Of these outlying districts the County has been the champion, and yet we venture to assert that popular sympathies in Masterton have been adverse to a local body which has been Masterton's best friend. Tho construction of public works in outlying districts'are the best guarantee of the prosperity of Masterton, and anything which tends to retard the progress of these enterprises such'as the proposed: County suspension is a blow which will be felt riot only on the extremities at which it is directly aimed but at the.heart in Masterton, from which they branch. The coming winter does not promise to be a cheerful one in this district, but it may be . .made better than it might otherwise be by town and country pulling together to keep public works going in the County** orjt may be made worse by town and County falling out over forms of local self-government, and during the contest stopping the machinery, As things are now we'cannot afford to put I Counties or Road Boards out of gear. "\

no work, we would lose little or nothing . by suspending, it, but to. stop ut. local Government-machine when it is in-full swing is about the maddest tiling' that can be done, If the conflict of opinion which exists between the County and the locfi} lvO'id Board were adjusted in the interests'of .town and country we feel sure that the result would be some compromise which would prevent a serious lo3s to the district by a partial or complete stoppage of important public works, We do not believe that any real difference of opinion exists which could not bo arranged without adopting an oxlreme alternative, which must enhance the existing depression in town and country. We hope that moderate councils 'tillprevail, and that some half dozen individuals who have fanned the discontent which has been manifested, to serve personal passions and prejudices, will not be allowed to sway town and country to an act of folly.