NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 64, 21 August 1919, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Local 'bodies in the South should 1 note the progressive spirit displayed by •many of the northern counties in the matter of 'borrowing: for road construction. One of the latest instaavces is the County of Mangonui, which is authorising the raising of a loan of £54,000 for the makingi of good roads around Kaitaia, a small district iw the "Far .North" of this .country. There is: no comparison .between Mangonui andi South Otago in -reganl to size, wealth, or density of population, but the people there have set an example to less enterprising districts. Local .'bodies' are 'beginning to realise that dependence on 'Government assistance is a rather •uncertain policy, and 1 those that pursuo it are likely to get "left," But it is not only in the matter of finance'that local bodies wall hare- to adopt different methods. The diay of the pick audi shovel mail: 3a. gone. Old- method's of road 1 construction are no longer suitable for the requirements of -nrodem traffic. They neither provide the surface that is necessary to-d'ay nor are they economical. The modern road is built to last> to reduce the cost of traction, andi to cut down the cost of maintenance to the mini'iiiunr. The provision' of good road's is not a matter that can bo iginored. Sheer necessity wilt force us to take action, and the sooner we make a (beginning the. sooner will we reap the .benefits and .the less will wo suffer in comparison! with more progressive parts of the country. Tht j country generally would 'be prepared to pay for. better roads. Recent d'ecisionp 'by ratepayers in the' Bruce County indicate that, and the small .burdens civJ tailed would 'be ! bonve cheerfully once the 'blessings of good roads were experienced. -Motorists would willingly tbe taxed when they found that they could get 20-25 miles to the gallon instead of .16-20, and when tyres lasted up to 60Q0 and 8000 miles instead of an average of 3000 or -1000, to say nothing of the saving in general wear and tear. 'And the saving in other classes of traffic is just as marked. All classes of traction ■would become cheaper, faster, and more efficient. Good roads would make the country "less country' 7 ; they would bring remote districts, where existence is dreary, within a few hours of busy centres, and with the present methods of road transport would far exceed tlie ' railways as a populariser of rural life, and upon this more than anything else depends the development and prosperity of the country.