THE PROGRESS OF CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14324, 9 April 1912, Page 10

THE PROGRESS OF CANTERBURY.

TOJTUE Eblioil OF "THE rjtKSS." 'TL'wnV- the 1 , to tako iiuo r°« m M° n , tL ° P ro S r «* of Canterbill J on .March 28th thon- wa.s a stor.n "' Cyclonic in its character. carr>ins the meptins off its fwt an(| 'J' ' , d Tr nn S in *«voiir of adopting the I anal Comniissioiiei-R , recninnieiida,,ons. During the hoight of a storm it •v tt-JM. tO I,o W to .\ aturo and she i. tor. At tor a uhil o it is pnnlonablo, I i.)fH\ to peon out therofiom, and Jnimhy ask soiro questions. This I now do.

,„: '* ** "ip that from- 187G to I<>o. the Cmmiber of Commerce by numerous deputations to tbe Government complained 0 f t i ie hindrances put on our trade owing to heavy railaire charges, shortage of trucks, doubi'eha ndling and delay. One resolution is .*-. stron;. that I oiioto it: "With a view to tne more efficient and equitable management ef the railways constructed, it is desirable, in the opinion of this mretitig, that such management .should be relinquished by the Government, and be vested in a nonpolitical hoard." I ask, Were the said members who made these complaints, level-headed, or wore they suffering from hysteria all that time?"

li. Have tho Commissioners suggested any remedy to remove these disadvantages? No—l say no emphatically. They propose to incur a heavy expense, some .sny nimroaching a million rounds, in pulling" down a hill and enlarging stations. Will that be likely to reduce charges? Obviously it must'increase them in order to liquidate the increased cost of interest and depreciation on the sum invested, leaving, the shortage- of truck's double handling and delay unaltered. 1 will here draw attention to a paragraph in to-day's ••Press" re. shortage of trucks at i>iinodin. that tho trouble will always be a recurring one. Mental scientists say if you will only exercise your mind and believe you are not ill, you won't be ill. Some go so far as to say one can thus counteract the effect of poison. .Similarly, the Mayor proposes to alter the name of Lyttelton and call it Port Christchurch and then cxullingly implies ''There, now, what becomes of your drawbacks complained of?" This reminds mc of tho Yankee trying to- sell his horse of doubtful character saying: ''Put him at the bottom of the hill and you'll'find him thai - ."

Mow 1 want the citizens of Christchurch to join with mc in expressing amazement at the unanimity of opinion arrived at at that meeting. How fiin.it be accounted for?. Surely thero was .some occult influence at work. The story is told in '" A .Midsummer Night's Dream."' that the fairies anointed tho eyes of sleeping men and the result was that when they awakened the very woman that they had previously loved they hated, and her that they had hated they now loved. The idea is that tlio fairies had played their pranks on all the members of the Canal League there present and who had given evidence to the Commissioners in favour of the Canal. All, I say, except Messrs Allison and Short, who had somehow or other escaped the anointing- Or we may account for the metamorphosis by saying, as was said of the Pirates of Penzance: •' They were noble men all gone wrong." '

Now. what is to bo done? I think tlio first thing is to take steps to counteract thc effect which the said meeting is calculated to produce, though it was in my opinion farcical. Says the Mayor, as reported: "All I want you to do is 'to sink parochial differences, drop the canal agitation, and strive for the advancement of the province.' " What a iumble of ideas! The advancement of the province can be accelerated by cutting up lands into smaller farms, and by using manure and intense cultivation, and thus increasing the exports, and the advancement of Christchurch can be obtained by the removal of trading disabilities. Hut shutting your eyes and -wishing for things will do nothing. Practically, then, I move in tho direction of getting a stay of judgment. I submit that tho time is opnortune now to elect a Mayor who will have the interest of Christchurch more at heart tlian has the present one, and a mayor who will take steps to submit tlio question to tho public, whicli. after all, must be the final court of appeal, and let it decide whether consent should be given to snend a large sum of money that will ininrc the future prospects of thc town. —Yours, etc., JOSHUA LITTLE. April Bth.