CORRESPONDENCE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16404, 26 December 1918, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE MEANS TO PROGRESS

XO THE EDITOR oy "TUIt i'aK33."

Sir, —When he refers to our lack ofcontrol over the auiniuistration of the tunnel, Mr Ciirystall points to the one sana-grain in the gear. I agree with him that the tunnel should Ac vested in the Harbour Hoard, and if wo decide to plump for duplication and a tunnel road, it may be possible to have the combined work administered by one such board. We should certainly strive for this object. Failing this it is always possible to exercise considerable indirect control, notj as Mr Chrystall mentions,' •by humbly supplicating arrogant Government officials, but by stirring up Canterbury / until their loud demand for justice meels with a proper response. In answer to Mr Mataon, "double handling" is necessary in all ports—the goods go into trucks, sheds, and, to some small oxtent, into carts. That would be I done at a Heathcote harbour and ! would be done at Lyttelton with a I tunnel road. Wellington has the aaj vantage of its sheds being near its warehouses, but with the disadvantages of enormdus warehouse charges and hilly transport. We cannot in any case expect to oust Wellington from her position of "headquarters"—her geographical position is too strong— and to build a canal with this object were folly indeed. Referring again with your kind indulgence to progress matters, I wonder do our merchants,, manufacturers, and capitalists thoroughly appreciate what the opening up of" the West Coast means to Canterbury. Our trade with the Coast at present is so small that we, as yet hardly realise that at one bound we will have added to our back country practically the whole of the Coast. Wellington, of course, will be our rival, but; a rival at a -disadvantage—epeed, convenience, and handling being in our favour.. • Telephonically the . Coast has very fair internal communication, and we are promised telephone communication . &with Greymouth. One of the duties of our Progress League will be to fee tnat there is no undue delay in carrying out this promise. When it is done our merchants will be able, with Greymouth as a switching station, to speak directly to any part of the Coast as easily as throughout Canterbury, and we could then supply the Coast with goods almost as. quickly as we Bupply Canterbury, We should also watch to see that the powerful group of merchants in Wellington do not succeed m getting heavy tunnel charges loaded | to our trans-island railway. These re-1 marks may seem trite enough to some | of our enterprising people, but no I doubt there are others who do not yet realise.—Yours, etc.. i

THIN WEDGE.

! OUR SOLDIERS. TO THE EDITOR OF "TH* FBES3." Sir, —The Hon. 6. W.~ Russell is reported to have made the. following remark: "When the time comes for publishing the. history of the war, from the New Zealand point of view,' it -will be found that the work of the women of the Dominion will be worthy to rank with the most glorious deeds of heroism of the soldiers in the trenches." Does anybody know %-hat he means? I feel sure that -the women of New Zealand Would have done work- as valu-* able as that done by the women at Home, had the opportunities for. doing so been theirs, ,J>ut to say that their work was actuaßjr equal—or could possibly be equal—to "the most glorious deed? of the men in the trenches" is a misnse of words and a poor way of acknowledging tho work of our battered soldiers. Has Mr Russell ever seen any returned men. and noticed their condition? Does he realise what their life has been whilst in the trenches? Surely it should be possible for a public man to acknowledge valuable work without losing all sense of the measure and proportion of things —Yours, etc., ] FULSOME "WORDS ARE APT TO ' CLOY. | December 23rd. _