Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE THURSDAY, MARCH, 4, 1926. COAST’S WEALTH.

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 March 1926, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE THURSDAY, MARCH, 4, 1926. COAST’S WEALTH.

It is pleasant to reflect on the success of the jubilee celebrations, weather and circumstances combining to make the gatherings worth while beyond expectation. If for nothing else, the pioneers’ reunion banquet yesterday would have been memorable, for the very interesting speech by the Minister of Mines (Hon. G. J. Anderson), himself a pioneer and the son of one. It is not necessary to agree with all he said, but few should quarrel with his advice to work more and talk less. He paid a tribute to Kumara’s quota in advancing the welfare of the Dominion, and this achievement can surely be used as an argument why the Government should now assist the district which in the past has done .so much for the country. It is not quite fair to declare that as early pioneers went prospecting without Government subsidies, so too should to-day’s generation. The circumstances arc entirely different, but there is little reason to believe that the spirit of the sons of the pioneers has deteriorated. To-day, there are many more avenues for work and . pleasure than existed in the ’7os, and there is now happily Jess necessity for enduring hardship. The figures quoted by Mr. Anderson regarding the enormous wealth in minerals, timber, etc., extracted from the West Coast, should not only encourage district pride and initiative, but ought to induce the Government to be more liberal in its attitude to Coast requests. It cannot be claimed that the Coast which has contributed so much to the national wealth, has been given a relative share of the “loaves and fishes,” but on the contrary it is the neglected Cinderella of the Dominion. When future deputations from this district have occasion to apply to Ministers, opportunity should be taken to remind them of what the Coast has given to New Zealand. Mr. Anderson volunteered the statement that the “West Coast had been a great factor in the development of New Zealand,” and this admission should be utilised when asking the Government for district rights or favours. The Minister was optimistic about the future of mining, especially with the aid of ‘electricity, and it may well prove that wealth will be ex-' tracted from Coast areas in future, even beyond what has already been won. The new method for Government aid to prospectors appears to be sound in theory, but many pioneers will recall that some of the greatest fields have been discovered and worked by men with little academic knowledge. Nevertheless, it is well that prospecting should be placed on a better footing, and the Minister’s new scheme should be beneficial to Coast areas. The Minister was optimistic, also, about agricultural and pastoral

prospects in these parts, and lie quoted figures showing the in creased production in butter and cheese. Timber, too, was also a topic for his eulogy, and altogether, those who have any anxiety about the future prosperity of the Coast, should study the Minister’s speech, and use it as a tonic. There may be temporary set-backs, people will come and go, outside competition will have to be met, but all these are trifles compared with the vast potential wealth both on and under the surface of the West Coast, to be won if, as the Minister, said, we talk less and work more.