CANTERBURY'S COMPLAINT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 143, 19 June 1922, Page 8

CANTERBURY'S COMPLAINT.

(To ine IMltor.) Sir,—lt is amusing to read the address of the retiring president of the Canterbury Progress League, especially that part in which he says: "It is certain that if provincial governments nad continued in operation Lyttelton to-day •would not be behind either Auckland or Wellington in volume of business, and the population of Canterbury would assuredly not be virtually at a standstill." The speaker does not know, or does not wish to remember the good old days. The Otago and Auckland superintendents of these provinces fought all they knew against the abolition of the provincial governments, and Sir George Grey wrote Home to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. But what did Canterbury Province do? It was the vote of that province that went for abolition, and as a reward Julius Vogel stated in tho House, if I am not mistaken, that he gave £3,000,000 of political railways to Canterbury for their support in abolishing the provinces. Poor, spoon-fed Canterbury is coming to realise that the "spoon" and the "feed" is fast passing from then*. An official report on communications, issued ln 1900, reads: "In no part of New Zealand are the means of communication better than in Canterbury. The natural facilities of the country have been abundantly supplemented by railways and roads. Combined with "the railway system is a complete network of main, district and subsidiary roads extending into all parts of Canterbury. The total length of railways is 4.">5 miles and the roads probably exceed 10,000 miles in the agg-egate. The completion of this splendid system is due partly to the foresight of the original settlers, partly to the exertions of the provincial government, and partly to the railway and public works policy of the late Sir Julius Vogel." Added to this the writer of this report n>ight have stated as the greatest factor that up to the year ISSO total cash received for sales of the Crown lands in Canterbury district amounted to £5,815,935—a1l of which was spent in the provincial district, while Auckland district to that date received in cash £38(5,154. Why has the -province not progressed? Certainly not for want of being spoon-fed in the past. The Midland Railway and Otira Tunnel was a private line started in 1884. If Canterbury had been required to pay the cost of this private provincial line, where would the Progressive League be t')-dnv. I am, etc., P. E. CHEAL. :