The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16th, 1939. THE WILLING FEW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 50, 16 August 1939, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16th, 1939. THE WILLING FEW

THE trite remarks of a speaker at a, recent public gathering relative to the lack of interest and the apathy displayed by many of of the citizens of Whakatane towards any movement for the betterment of the. town, will not be relished by all who may read them —yet such is the case. There are dozens of our citizens whose living is made in the town, yet who have no interest in anything' other than that—let the sports, social, and other bodies do what they will to assist the town's progress or bring visitors here. That such a state of affairs exists is beyond dispute, and it is rather disappointing when some new public, effort is proposed, which is calculated to direct outside interest to the town, to see at the inaugural meetings the same old faces—the same willing horses, who ha.ve come forward time after time. Whakatane, carrying its growing number of organisations of every possible nature and description, can have but a smajl section, compared with other towns, of those selfish individuals who do not "pyill their weight" in local affairs. This is gratifying up to a point, but at the same time it does not hold the offenders any the less blameworthy, for their habit of sitting back. In a town such as ours, everyone should be willing to put their shoulder to the wheel. That is the ideal spirit, but unfortunately there will always be at disinterested element which, while ready enough to reap the benefits, will afford no assistance in the effort required to have these materialise. . The furtherance of public affairs, in towns large and small, is not forced upon anybody. No one can. be compelled to do this work. It is merely an appeal to one's citizenship which is either answered or rejected by the individual. Therefore; those who respond are the more to be praised for their voluntary patriotism. In the large centres public service falls to a comparative few. The great bulk of the citizens have little or no interests beyond their own backyard when working hours are over. But the smaller towns provide innumerable opportunities for everybody, and Whakatane more so than most towns of its size. The successful functioning of our local clubs has earned for the town a reputation for active progress, for animation, and for distinct forward movement. Yet there are still those people who leave the promoting and running of all these activities to the uncomplaining willing horses. Surely it can be realised by every businessman that Whakatane's fortunes are his fortunes. If the town declines and trade falls off, he Will suffer in common with his fello\vs —public workers or otherwise. What the patriotic citizens are trying to do is not only to avert such dangers, but to increase, build up and boom Whakatane so that returns will maintain as high a, level as possible—all the time. In this they have succeeded, for no one will deny that Whakatane, without its attendant name for progress and zeal for sport, would decline and become ''dead" —and ''dead" is the worst advertisement for any centre. Let it therefore be. realised that every businessman sponsoring or actively assisting in any club, the object of which is 1 to push Whakatane ahead, is serving directly his own interests The Spirit of independence, if nothing else, should prompt the sideliners to join in the great game, and not leave it all to willinghands to carry it through. Too often has the toiler for public weal suffered the aqid attack of criticism from a spectator who has never raised a finger in general well-doing—and the pity of it is that the "mud-thrower" often gets away with it. In Whajkatane all hands are wanted to carry the town, and to maintain in the future its name as a "solid, energetic centre." Lu