Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1910. THE NEGLECTED NORTH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 9122, Issue 9122, 20 January 1910, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1910. THE NEGLECTED NORTH.

To the preponderating influence of the South Island in the Cabinet during a long succession of years can be attributed the neglect and indifference with which the Government has treated the North Island in the two important matters of railways and lands. The North Island is now in the period of development, but already it has outstripped the South in population, in exports and in contributions to the revenue. Nevertheless the Government continues to pamper and spoonfeed that part of the Dominion where its main sympathies lie. It is well known that the railways of the North Island have to make a profit for the unpayable lines that have been provided with lavish hands, in many cases for political reasons, in the South Island. The quarterly railway returns invariably show how much more the neglected North earns per mile than the Southern lines. Visitors from the South Island are speedily convinced by actual observation of the great possibilities before the North , in the way of greater settlement, and they are frequently fair-minded enough to admit that proper opportunities are not being given for that development to take place. The Hon. A. R,, Guinness, Speaker of the House of Representatives and member for Grey, is the latest to express hie views concerning the railway policy in the North Island. He has just completed a tour of the Bay of Plenty and King Country, and as a result he says he ie willing to do all in his power to forward the construction of the line from Tauranga arid Opotiki and between Waihi and Tauranga. He favours a vigorous policy of construction, and believes that when once it has been decided to commence a line work should be concentrated on that line so that it may be finished and made revenue-producing as soon as possible. This is a view that may be commended to the Government, especially in regard to the North Island, where a policy of procrastination and dalliance has been pursued that has disgusted all who wish to see reasonable progress made. With regard to native lands Mr Guinness could not but be impressed by the great areas of land that are locked-up in the North Island, which the Government shows no desire to throw open or facilitate the settlement of. As a result of his observations he urges that all unoccupied and idle native lands should be acquired-by the Government without delay, and cut up and offered to meet the land hunger of the country. These are - sound views, but until the Government realises that the progress and •greater productivity of a part of the Dominion adds to the prosperity of the whole, it does not appear that they will be acted upon. The needs of the neglected North will not he recognised until it is more adequately represented in the Cabinet by Ministers with greater sympathy arid keener appreciation of the position obtaining. It is only by the frequent reiteration of these sentiments that a change can be brought about.