The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1925. A STORY: A DANGER: A VISION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 January 1925, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1925. A STORY: A DANGER: A VISION.

Delivered everj evening by 0 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuni, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley, ' Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Meremere, Eraser Road, and Ararata.

Once upon a time there was. a little boy who lived with, hist father .and his mother on one edge of a fine, big orchard. The. orchard was so large that it was quite a journey for the little chap to reach its farthest side; and, indeed, it was only very rarely that he had been there. There, was such a wealth of luscious fruits on either hand the moment he stepped outside the door of his home, that he seldom thought of going any distance ; and it was only at odd times, when the spirit of adventure came upon him, and he cared less than usual for the rosy ripeness all around, that he struck off across country, as it were, to see the trees that lay beyond the trees. And when he came home those nights he used to tell his mother that, while the rows were less orderly and the branches not iso well pruned away up at the far end, the trees bore other fruits quite as. juicy and sometimes even more delightful’ than those he- was accustomed to pick on his own side of the orchard. At times, too, after he had been one of these journeys, he would look very wise and tell his mother about the nasty boys who lived across the paddocks at the hack of the orchard, and how he feared that they were casting envious eyes on his plenty. Then mother, who knew perfectly well that all that big orchard was too much for one little boy. and who shared the feeling against the bad boys across the back paddocks, would say that they really must put the distant parts in order, and get the trees into fullest bearing. They would get some of the little boy’s cousins to come round and give a. hand; then those could have a share of the fruit that was now going to waste. And the little boy would fall asleep dreaming of a full-blossomed orchard merry with the voices of playmates of his own blood. Biit when morning came the fmit at his hand always called again, and, although a. cousin or two dropped in neoasionaly, all they did was to join the little boy in playing about the one edge of the orchard which was fully cultivated, while all the time the unheeded parts of .that big area cried out for care and attention—and away yonder across the paddocks the unwelcome neighbour hoys, huge families, of them, jostled enrh other unceasingly an they moved about gardens all tfto .small for healthy play. Of course it’s all a story—it just had to be when, it began “Once upon a time.” But sometimes stories help us to see things in a truer light, so perhaps the little 'boy should be introduced. His name is Australia — Australia the young nation with five million people to hold three million square miles; Australia with crowded coastal cities and league upon league of inferior wholly unsettled; Australi i. trying to keep herself white while liewhole north coast stretches out its arrive in invitation ; Australia threequaiters empty in an ocean washing

the home shores of half thje human race. In the overseas news this week there have been .several items which, linked together, serve to throw into strong) relief the position, in regard to the unpeopled spaces of the Commonwealths —a position which will assume the outline of a grave problem unless it be faced resolutely in the near future. First and foremost is the Japanese bogey. Previously in this column the hope has been expressed! that nothing may arise ever to disturb the harmony at present existing between East and West, between the yellow races and the white ; but —to- go back to our story—a big and abundantly fruitful, orchard, with, only one little boy to look after it and eat of its produce, is a constant temptation to less fortunate neighbours. The indications to-day are that the people of Australia, have realised, this to the extent that they are done with talking and ready for .action. Speaking at the turning the first sod ceremony of a new railway in Queensland ten days ago, Mr. F.. G. Theodore, State Premier, dwelt on the future of the great Northland. The attempt to govern that country from 3000 miles away, he said, had been a lamentable failure which ought to be remedied. It was vital to Australia that it should be remedied, as in the years to come some nation to-day friendly might raise the question whether Australia had the right to consider that she owned the Northern Territory when she was not settling, developing, or occupying the country. That, question would have to be settled under the terms of the Protocol of the League of Nations, and might go against Australia. Save that, the Protocol is no longer so live a force as Mr. Theodore assumed, his summing up of the position i.s eminently practical. And the Premier of Queensland has seen a vision splendid. Australia is proposing to ispend a mountain of money in unifying the gauges of her several railway systems. Queensland has a 3ft. 6in. gauge just as we have in New Zealand, and to convert, the whole of the State’s railroads to the standard 4ft. B)in. gauge would cost anything from £25,000,000 to £50,000,000. Mr. Theodore suggests that only the main line south from Brisbane should be made uniform, and he has a bold scheme of development in view to absorb the money which the Commonwealth would otherwise sink in widening the railways of Queensland. This is nothing le.s.s than the building of a railway right across the North of Australia, linking the present Queensland system Vith Derby, a AVest Australian port on the Indian Ocean, and allowing for branches to AVyudham and the mouth of the AUctoria River on. the NorthWest Coast below Darwin, and to the mouth of the Macarthur River and Birrketown on the Gulf of Carpentaria-. The total distance would be 1800 miles, and the cost of construction £18,000,000; but Mr. Theodore contends that the expenditure Would be the means ultimately of settling millionsr of people in the Northern Tei-ritory and the northern portion of AVest Australia. His' ischeme involves the creation of a. new -State, to include all that country lying north of the twentieth parallel of latitude. This, it is claimed, is for the most part country having all the potentialities for farming and settlement that North Queensland has —about 400,000 square miles suitable fo-r raising cattle and sheep, a.nd for dairying, cotton-growing, and general agriculture. It is a vision which catches the imagination, a picture painted with great, sweeping strokes. Also, it is a challenge to official apathy. Something will have to be done .and done soon. As the Melbourne Argus aptly puts it-: “The North, will have to be remapped some day. The Northern! Territory is an embarrassment, and, ■ for all its potential wealth, a nuisance to the Commonwealth. Administration there docs nothing to' keep Australia ‘white’ ; the Territory is. almost Asiatic, in its character.’’ That is exactly the trouble. While politicians in Melbourne prate loudly about keeping the continent white, yellow men are running amok in Darwin. Mr. Theodore has had a long experience of Queensland, and it may be taken that he knows what he is talking about. His scheme, it is worth noticing, has nothing to do with the desert or semidesert areas of Central Australia; i* deals only with tropical Australia — rich, well-watered, and crying out for exploitation. Before the Royal Commission. on food prices in London experts are .pointing to the decreasing cattle herds of the world; yet tropical Australia- has been proved capable of producing beef of the highest quality. The world to-day is wearing more cotton than over previously; and tropical Australia, can grow cotton. But neither cotton, nor beef, nor any other thing will be produced in quantity until, the country is opened up. Eighteen, hundred miles of railway is a big stretch, and £18,000.000 is a heavy outlay; but if the return be to hold Australia for the white races who will ever stop to count the cost.? Mr Theodore s.avs the North should accommodate millions of people. Ro it should and so. some day, it will—be they white, yellow or black. The question* is how best, to prepare- for the settlement of white millions. At the moment the Commonwealth Government is negotiating with the British authorities for the launching of an immigration, scheme bigger than, anything attempted hitherto. Not for generations yet can Australia be fully peopled ; but if she could run a line of settlement along her northern front itwould give this quarter of the white world a- considerably increased sense of security. May not Mr. Theodore's vision point the way? In the present state of affairs the orchard is invitindv empty; and the little boy would find himself so. very, very little if a dispute should arise.