WHAT OF THE BOOM?

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18, 23 January 1911, Page 7

WHAT OF THE BOOM?

I AUCKLAND IN THE THROES. MAYOR OF WELLINGTON'S .VIEWS. I _^ Auckland is iindoubtedly a centre of attraction just now. What with glowj ing reports in the press of unexampled > prosperity and tales of returning visi- * tors, prejudiced and unprejudiced, about booms and inflated values; what | with prophecies of a pre-eminent future and prophecies of a sad day of reckon- ' ing, the Queen City does command at 1 tention at the present moment. "See i Auckland and learn," is the clamorous * invitation of the average Aucklander. 3 To which the pessimistic visitor might 1 reply. "Yes, and Auckland will live to * learn/ 5 Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., Mayor oi 5 Wellington, has just returned from J Auckland with a. bundle of impressions. » He speaks, of course, with an intimate 1 knowledge of conditions and progress * here; but he knows his Auckland well, ' having spent part of his holidays up ' there for fifteen years running. j ! WONDERFUL PROGRESS. "This year," he told a Post reporter . to-day, "I travelled through, th<* whole . of the Auckland district between Iloto- ! t rua and the city, and took numerous ex- . cursions from the city round the subL urbs. There is no doubt whatever,Auckt land has made wonderful progress. It is most marked. All down the main [ line there is a distinct inprovement, and j settlement is proceeding apace. Auck- ! , land appeared to me at Christmas time ! ', to be dressed at her best without any t hobble skirts, if I may say so, to binder , her free and full development. The prosperity of the place is universal, but the streets ar& dirty and the roads outL side- the main streets truly execrable, j , An up-to-date tarring machine would | contribute to the comfort of eitfzens and save shopkeepers a great deal of , annoyance and loss. I spent Saturday L evening in Auckland asking various , traders how business was, and ou all sides 1 found enthusiasm." GROWTH OF SUBURBS. ) "The growth of the suburbs of Auckland is phenomenal," continued the ■ Mayor. "I may say this, too: ihat : the style of architecture is distinctly in , advance of anything we have here. The i city is clearly in the throes of a land > boom. You can see it wherever you i go. The papers are full of ib; it is . the talk in the cars and the ferry boats ; and the trains and the street-corner. It strikes you in the face when you visit the suburbs. Personally, I was very much amused to see reported in the local press interviews with "two of the most prominent land agents on the question whether there was a boom or not. The evidence of these two witnesses (iint partial, of course !) was taken as proof ■ that there was no land boom. I turned up the papers to see the lengths of their advertisements. When I argued with a. leading man that the boom existed, he pooh-poohed the idea. I contended you could not feel the boom when the deposit on the purchase of a section was pa-id, but you could and would when the main amount was required some few years afterward. The- stress does not como until then. I noticed, moreover, in several instances, that the locug. in quo did not answer to the description in the advertisements. But * that's tin old story. THE PITY OF IT. "Really, it is a pity tnat such a state of things should exist. I sincerely hope that Auckland will not feel, as Wellington has done, the pinch and suffer _by being blind to the fact thaD land is selling at boom prices. It is not a healthy thing, and the whole problem should be looked fairly and squarely -in the face. Taking all in all, howovei. 1 should say ihat Auckland has made distinct progress even in tfoo last year. I believe it will expand further, and that the city has a great future before it. Without doubt it is a beautiful place for the retired man to choose for the home of his declining days/' 1