PROGRESS LEAGUE

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 May 1944, Page 3

PROGRESS LEAGUE

greymouth meeting 1 enthusiastic proceedings ; 1 poetically every I°“}. body, pro- : - ■ .oni trade, education, recreaHonaT union and personal interest in I r’X district was represented in * t Gey d Qf weR oyer 10Q per _ a meeting in the Lyceum Hall, G°i n eymouth, c th 6 followin'* resolution was carried ? The n?wSv on the motion of Messrs na D TaylS «nd J. B. Kent:-“That | meeting realising the necessity }■ r Ihn establishment of a Progress f Kaf e tor the benefit of the comnf Grey mouth and the Grey f n i l c ri d resolves that a committee be £ 2>t S n > L to prepare the constitution and j roles- of an ‘organisation along the irnpQ of a Progress League and sub- t iSohe same to a further meeting to , teUlled within one month, and that r fhp m’pa to be covered by the operaHons of the ®> d re °XuU? ti0 Ru b n e anra ; and°B B runne°, the Grey County plus j the territory up to ! an it 'vasdecided that the provisional ‘ committee comprise eight members, nnrl the following were elected:— 1 Messrs W D. Taylor, J. M. Bunt, W. } K J. Steer, T. Pratt, J B. Bluett, F. } Bird, W. S. McClymont and W. R. M Th^ i 'Mayor of Greymouth, who j convened the meeting, presided, and £ with him on the Platform were ( Messrs E. W. Kennedy (Mayor of t Runanga), W. D. Taylor J M Bunt, W E J Steer (president or the Ro- . tary Club). J. B. Kent and E Par- j fitt (secretary for the meeting . Mr ( Kitchingham, after congratulating ( the organisations and. individuals re- ] snonsible lor the large traced the history of the movement ) to consider the formation of a Pro- c gress League. He said that after a discussion at the Rotary Club some j weeks ago it had been decided that j it would be in the best interests of j the district if a Progress League r were formed, and he had been asked t to call the public meeting. Though j the meeting was called at the mvi- , tation of the Rotary Club he wished £ it to be understood that once the , League was formed the Rotary Club ] would drop out except as individual ( members. He pointed out that for ( some years local bodies had been do- j ing work that was rightly the con- , cern of such a body as a Progress 1 League, and he instanced the calling j of a meeting of West Coast local body , representatives to deal with the pro- < blems of rehabilitation. One of the c sub-committees elected at the meet- f ing, the timber sub-committee, had achieved positive results, but so far j the others had not achieved much,. The utilisation of waste from such industries as timber was a matter which could occupy the attention of a Progress League for years. In October last, he said, he had attended a conference of representatives of South Island local bodies, and that committee was concerned with the development of South Island j industry as against the North Island, f He came away from that conference } with the firm conviction that each ( district would be trying to secure < decentralisation of industry for the ] benefit of its own district, and what- < ever industrial development took £ place on the West Coast would have < to bo secured by the efforts of the } people of the district. That was where < a Progress League could do great i work. ‘ Such matters as he had men- •( tioned indicated that the time was ; ripe for the formation of some such ( body as a Progress League. (Ap- ■ plause). WHY. A PROGRESS LEAGUE? J Mr W. D. Taylor was the next ' speaker, and he “formally moved the resolution set out above. The question would be asked, he said, Why a Pro- ( gress League? Why not a businessmen’s association or a Chamber ot 5 Commerce? The reason for the sue,- . gestion of a Progress League was that such a body was much wider in its scone -and in its membership than ( either of the other two associations mentioned. A Progress League was concerned not only with business and commercial welfare, but also with social welfare, and all could be members, whereas a Chamber of Commerce or a businessmen’s association was necessarily limited in its membership. Then, what could P.L. do 9 The basis of a P.L. was the truth that unity is strength. A P.L. provided the opportunity for all to express the opinions they had on any matters of public importance, and with the opportunity of pressing for necessary reforms. To his mind, continued Mr Tayloi, the most vital question so far as the public of Greymouth was concerned was the Greymouth harbour. He had no doubt that the members of the Harbour Board would be pleasea to see the formation of a P.L. and to receive its support. Then there was afforestation. He was informed that during the last 20 years or so £50,000 □ year had been paid in royalties from Westland, and what had Westland i eceived in return? A P.L. could interest itself in pressing Lor some permanent value from such royalties. Other necessities which a P.L. might take up were: A new railway station, the question of farming and farm labour (“any farmer who lets his land go back should be put off it for what' - he is holding is a national asset’') - the Greymouth aerodrome: a community youth centre, including a gymnasium, a running track, and social and debating rooms; a new ; police station; an automatic tele- ' phone system; tourist traffic encouragement: improved postal and railway services, including the running of three railcars a day each way between Christchurch and Greymouth and eliminating the steam service more or less except at holiday times; new industries, etc. Such were some of the functions which a P.L. could assume with benefit to the district. The list was by no means exhaustive, but it covered a lot of ground, and there was no body in the district now to deal with many of the matters mentioned.

Concluding, Mr Taylor said that there was nothing further from the minds of the sponsors or of the true I’.L. member than criticism of local bodies. The League would cooperate with local bodies to further the interests of the district. He paid a tribute to the men who have in the past and are now serving the community on local bodies. Further, .if the League' was formed the first foundation should be that it be nonpolitical. Co-operation was the essence of a P.L., and if it Was to be t> success all political differences would have to be left out. It was suggested that, local bodies should be member., at a fixed subscription, that there should be a fee of perhaps £l/1/- fo. firms, and a nominal fee of, say, 5/for private individuals. If the suggested League were formed and then failed through the inertia of th.community, he added, it would be a slur on the district. Mr J. B. Kent seconded the motion and eulogised the proposal to form a P.L., which he said could be of inestimable benefit to the district.

GOLD MINING INDUSTRY Mr F. Bird, in supporting the motion, said that gold mining on the West Coast was producing and had been-for some years, £1,000,000 worth of gold, from which the Gov-1 eminent was taking no less than £220,000 per annum, The industry

was paying £160,000 in wages a year, £65.000 for electric pbwer, £15,000 in rates and goldfields revenue, which was divided among the local £105,000 a year in replacements and engineering requirements and £60,000 in insurance and miscellaneous expenses. It could be seen that gold mining was a great industry and it employed over 600 men directly and indirectly and supported over 2,000 men, women and children. But what had the West Coast to show for it? The Government, with the backing of a P.L., could be forced to return some of the money it had received, for the clearing of land, starting other industries and doing essential works out of that huge taxation on the industry. The Coast had produced about £30,000,000 worth of gold already, and had nothing to show for it, but the industry could not last more than another 15 or 20 years. Referring to the timber industry, Mr Bird said that over 200,000,000 feet of timber had been sent away from the West Coast and, here again, there was nothing to show for it. Mr F. F. Boustridge said he con-, sidered that the scenery was the greatest, asset of the West Coast, and it should be one of the main functions of the P.L. to develop that asset, and to conserve the district’s present resources. J 1 Mr F. L. Turley, who suggested that Kumara should be included in the territory covered by the League, urged the processing of West Coast timber. He said that the processing of white pine alone could employ over 400 people, and would provide a lighter side of the industry for the children of timber workers, of whom there were about 975 in the district from Inangahua Junction to South Westland. In parts of the district he said the resources were being cut out, but the industry would last another 36 or 40 years in South Westland as far as Wataroa. He suggested the holding of two general meetings a year to retain the interest of individual members. Other speakers were Messrs J. Bluett, D. Barnes, H. Hutchinson, J. M. Bunt, N. Campbell, M. Aldridge, E. W. Kennedy, D. Mclvor, R. Chibnall, S. McAra, R. J. Truman, J. Luff, J. Scott, G. R. Harker, J. Saunders, B. Caulton. Among , the suggestions put forward by these speakers were that the secretary be paid; that the utilisation of fine coal from the district mines should be championed by the League; that men on public bodies should be excluded from tlie executive and “give the younger men a chance to do some-thing”;-and that various sub-com-mittees be formed so that every member would be a member of one and that the chairmen of the subcommittees should be on the executive.

The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Mayor.