MR. BRYCE'S IMPRESSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 140, 12 June 1912, Page 4

MR. BRYCE'S IMPRESSIONS.

Among the many interesting remarks made yesterday in Wellington by Mr. Bryce on his experiences in New Zealand, not the least important and valuable was his comment upon the nafcirral beauty of our city sites, and the obligation thrown upon our municipal authorities to utilise them to the best possible advantage. It should be a source of satisfaction to all patriotic and thoughtful men and women that Mr. Bryce has formed a. high opinion of our municipal management, and that he is favourably impressed with the efforts we have made to beautify our cities, and the care we have taken to reserve open spaces in the form of parks and public playgrounds so as to secure the health and well-being of our people. Auckland can certainly stand comparison in this respect with any of its Southern rivals, or for that matter, with any city of its size and population in the Southern Hemisphere. But as our cities grow it will be necessary for our municipal rulers to look steadily to the future, and. to provide not only against any encroachment upon our public domains, but for their expansion to an extent commensurate with the needs of our steadily-in-creasing population. Another fact which has evidently been impressed upon Mr. Bryce in a less farpurable sense is the necessity for repairing the destruction of the native bush and supplying the wants of future generations in regard to timber. Mr. Bryce thinks well of what has been done in a tentative and hall-hearted way at Rotorua and other State plantations; but he is el-early of the opinion that far more strenuous efl'orts .are required to cope with the many phases and aspects of this great problem of deforestation. We have frequently drawn the attention of our readers to the disastrous consequenegs. that must necessarily : follow the wholesale destruction of our "trees, unless ■a large amount of money and energy is devoted to the task of replacing them. The failure of our timber sup s - ply, the erosion of our hills, entailing the destruction of fertile soil, tbe silting up of rivers and harbours, disastrous floods, the deterioration of the whole country in regard to climate and productivity—these are the inevitable consequences of a system of reckless and wasteful deforestation, such as we have followed in the past; and we have already begun to reap the fruits of our folly. "We are all trustees for posterity," Mr. BrjX'P reminds us, "and we. are bound to think of those who will come after us." But even those to whom this argument may not appeal strongly .must give heed' to such warnings when they reflect upon the magnitude of the material losses and injuries inflicted on us already through the wasteful and needless destruction of our native timber, and the certainty that even worse evils will overtake us in future unless we take vigorous precautious against them in good time.