CRITICISM OF WEST COAST.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 April 1923, Page 1

CRITICISM OF WEST COAST.

REPLY BY -MR. T. E. Y. SED DUN. t NMEKII Li) REMARKS. (Lyiu-lti.il Times.) In an interview yesterday. Mr I. Y. Svdihn. vx.-AI.P. for Westland, dealt forcibly with <erUiii remark.made by Mr'Julian Grande eoneoniiiig aevl'ii!liiod.ilion and conditions on t-t* West Coast. All* Scudon sail! that Mr Grande's remarks would cause a good deal ol pain ti the We-t Coast people, and , fieri* was a danger that the We.-t Coaster wold ! regard the opinion oi of the average visitor to West land. -Mr Grand" had said that the Coa-t was tho most depressing. neglected and dirty-looking place that lie had seen in New Xc I :*d. These remarks wore quite unmerited, and must he justlt resented by eveiy lair-minded man and particularly hv every West ( caster In some nt the coul-tov. Us the iinptexsinu might ho gained that the people do not enjoy the advantages ut ; garden city, and he thought that* Air Grande’s remarks must have been in reference to such places as Brunner. So far as the town of Greyniouth was concerned, which. Air Seiluon said, he presumed, came under the .strictures of Air Grande, ho thought that the visitor from overseas had been unlovtitlift to iu picking one or two .‘-puts thru might mar tho town to some extent, but similar spots could be found in any town. The residential aiea oi Greynn utli was comparable with any similar area of any town in the Dominion. The business, part of Greymoutli was built on Alaori leasehold land which pi events the business people from erecting large and expensive business

promises—a disability that was not only resented by the business community, but bv the Alaori landlord also. A Bill was recently introduced to the House of Representatives to give some relief to the lessees by rectifying faults and disabilities in the tenure, but some of the provisions of the Bill did not meet with the approval ol the Alaori land-owners or the representatives of the leaseholders, so that for the time being the matter had been held over. But it was hoped that an understanding would be arrived nt shortly, that would be approved by the native beneficiaries and the leaseholders, and that- a more secure tenure would be granted under future legislation.

"These facts,” Mr Seikhm said, “can hardly he known to a ‘bird of passage,’ and so the public is treated to this ‘outspoken criticism,’ in which the Least is described as depressing, neglected and dirty—a statement that will not ho tolerated hy people who know the Coast well and have the welfare of the district at heart. Making statements of the kind may be a cheap and sensational way of obtaining publicity, but the facts prove that the statements were not warranted.

"During the tourist season, hundreds of people have visited tho Coast and have enjoyed the scenery of the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier, and have expressed their amazement at, and admiration for, the scenery along the rood from Ross to AYailio. True it is that Air Grande urges that our hotels should lie handed over to Swiss people, but 1 think that Air Grande would be well advised to hear the lecture given by Mr Cyril Bevim. Hospitality Secretary to the Overseas Club, who is also iu tlic Dominion at the present time on a lecturing tour, on the Tmperialstic theme of migration within the Empire. I had the good fortune to hear Air Bevan the ether day in Dunedin, and I feel quite sure that wo can obtain from the Old Country migrants of a. type and of occupations that we require in the Dominion, without going outside the Empire, and importing neutral Swiss people, even to run our hotels.

"Air Grande says nothing in regard to the scenic lieauties close to tho town of Greyinouth, and leads olio to the conclusion that his visit was a verv short one. AYere Air Grande to have visited I’unakaiki by way of the most beautiful motor roatl in the Dominion, were he to have visited Lake Afoann hy mad from Croymouth, he would have had a vo'.v different impression of the town. A isitol’S Irmn Home and from other parts of the Dominion, who have visited Hokitika and Gieymoutli. and with whom T have had the opportunity of conversing, have a very different impression of these towns. It is hard to unde;slant! how anyone could make these assertions, and when the Arthur's Bass Tunnel is opened, the visitors from the East: Coast will bo able to .see in an easy way the districts that have been maligned, and I feel sure that they will gain an impression different from what Air Grande has gained. They will no doubt wonder how it was that the opinions of even a ’birti oi passage like AH* Grande should receive so much publicity.”