CANTERBURY'S PROGRESS FORMATION OF A LEAGUE. [BY TELEGRAPH-SPECIAL TO THE POST.]

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 77, 30 March 1912, Page 5

CANTERBURY'S PROGRESS FORMATION OF A LEAGUE. [BY TELEGRAPH-SPECIAL TO THE POST.]

CHRISTCHURCH. This Day. The Mayor expressed high hopes for the future of Canterbury when speaking in favour of the Canterbury Progress League. There were in Canterbury, he said, large areas of land which could be cut up and settled, and this would increase the population outside Industrial advances. Young men were leav- ' ing Canterbury for the North Island, and they could not wait till the North Island was filled up for progress in Canterbury. If they waited they would be so far behind when their turn came that they would never catch up in the race. With cheap electrical power from Lake Coleridge, Christchurch would be placed in a favourable position as an industrial centre, but everybody would have to I pull together, sink parochial differences, drop the canal agitation, and strive in a whole-sonled fashion for the advancement of the province. In South Canterbury, from the Waitaki to the Rangitata they worked together as one man, and' the result was that Timaru had made wonderful progress in the last ten years. He wanted^ to see Canterbury united from the Waiau to the Rangitata. He said this in no parochial spirit. Canterbury must, help itself, and by helping itself it would help the whole Dominion. Christchurch and Lyttelton must be solidly linked together. It would be necessary to alter that name "Lyttelton," he considered. Lyttelton should either become part of Greater Christchurch or change its name to Port Christchurch. To facilitate communication between the city and the port he ' would suggest a second tunnel, with a tramway for passengers, leaving the existing tunnel and railway for' goods traffic. The people of Christchurch must be made' to realise that they must do their best to help Lyttelton in every possible way. Not only this, bnt an endeavour should be made to have Lyttel- , ton made a first and final port of call for some of the English and American steamers. Canterbury deserved Government assistance. The railway returns ■were) very belated, and the latest he could get were for the year ending March, 1910- The duplication of the Addington-Rolleston line cost £55,209; of the Auckland-Penrose line, £146,150; Wellington-Hntt, £193,244; DunedinMoegiel, £262,280. The Public Works returns, including railways, roads, and public buildings for the years 1906 to 1910 showed expenditure as follows : — Wellington, £3,736,254; Auckland, £2,467,461; Otago and Southland, £1,753,I#7; Canterbury, £922,930. Mr. A. Kaye said that Christchurch euould advance its interests with the same energy, bat not by the same ' "Jttethodflj as Auckland employed/