THE H.B. TRIBUNE. FRIDAY, FEB. 6th, 1920. EAST COAST REQUIREMENTS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 46, 6 February 1920, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE. FRIDAY, FEB. 6th, 1920. EAST COAST REQUIREMENTS.

It has to be confessed that yesterday’s meeting of the executive of the East Coast Railway and Development League created no verj deep impression of either the enthusiasm or the. energy with which its purposes must be pursued if any good practical result is to be attained. In the first place, the’ attendance was meagre, and it was a notable fact that of the five, or perhaps six, Members of Parliament who should be . concerning themselves with the objects of the League not a single one was . present or accounted for. These are, of course, matters that are capable of satisfactory explanaiont, but, □one the less, in the meantime they leave a sense of very distinct disappointment with regard to a body or whose activity so much is expected. If the League is to have any influence at all, it will certainly need to have a little more “ginger” introduced into its proceedings. We still contend that the expenditure of money on public works should be in no way guided by political considerations, and that the Government, or Parliament, should lay down a comprehensive programme of State undertakings for the development of*the Dominion’s great resources and adhere to it regardless of any political pressure that may be brought to bear. But this doctrine is in no way inconsistent with an urging of energetic action upon such bodies as the East Coast League, whose first function jt is to impress the Government with . the fact that the big and fine district which it represents is worthy, in the interests of the whole Dominion, of the earliest possible attentions at the hands of the State. The fact , that we have some hopes. of new methods of public works administration makes it all the more imperative that the claims of the East Coast district should be sanely and rationally emphasised, a thing that can, with all earnestness and sincerity, be done without involving any spirit _of parochialism. Nowhere in the two islands is there , to be found an area which will yield a more speedy and generous return for money prudently spen. upon it, or one that has better .grounds of complaint against neglectful Governments of one colour and another which have for so many decadoff allowed themselves to be swayed by the counting of heau». The first thing that has to be done is to ascertain the intentions the Government, and then to act accordingly in the way of keeping it to an energetic prosecution of such commitments as it may make aud of seeing how far it is possible for local effort to carry through such urgent undertakings as the Government cannot include in its immediate scheme.

For these purposes it is necessary to consider whether it is practicable to enlist any cordial and systematic co-operation from other districts. It is now many months since an Auckland missioner visited us with a. view to a combined movement having for its object tbe bringing of pressure to bear upon the Government with regard to tbe East Coast Trunk Railway. Many fair and friendly words were then spoken, and apparently there the matter is to be allowed to end, for we find the Auckland Railway League playing a very strong Jone hand in the hope of winning favourable consideration for the section of that line that is of more intimate concern w the northern city—the section that i.s to serve the Bay of Plenty district and link it up with the Auck-land-Waikato-Thames system. I£ would thus appear, if any reliance at all is to be placed on Auckland assistance, that it is high time that some definite understanding was reached as to the priorities of construction that are to be. jointly advocated. Short of this our East Coast district is simply putting a blind dependence on the good will, of a community whose own interests are at variance, if not in direct conflict, with our own. This loose entente cordiale is altogether .illusory, and what, if anything; is wanted is a declared alliance with stated objectives that are to be pursued with all possible reciprocal vigour. If on the other hand, the suggested association with Auckland is to be dropped altogether, then let the fact be qjade public. Similarly, with regard to the prosecution of the head-works of the Waikaremoana section of the North Island HydroElectric Power Scheme., there seems some reason for thinking that the Wellington people will find that the power to be developed at Mangahao ' will be inadequate to .supply all the needs of tbe area which it was . designed specially o serve. Wellington is thus compelled to consider how some part of that area may, be supplied frota some other spurce, and at once Waikaremoana suggests itself. Assuming the facts to be as represented, then we have between Hawke’s Bay and Wellington that definite community of interest that makes for hearty co-operation, and the East Coast League has taken the right course in determining .to ascertain the real situation witn regard to Wellington’s anxieties and needs with a view to a possible association in pressing forward the Waikaremoana construction work. In this connection it will, of course, be necessary for both parties to bear in mind what Mr. Parry has had to say with reference to the distance limitations of profitable transmission.