ARIA POST OFFICE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 1666, 27 April 1922, Page 5

ARIA POST OFFICE.

OPENING CEREMONY. i THE HON. COATES OFFICIATES. The opening of the new Post Office at Aria took place on Saturday morning, the Postmaster-General, the Hon. J. G. Coates, performing the ceremony. Punctually at 10 a.m. the Ministerial party left for Aria, and although the weather was fine when the party left Te Kuiti, heavy rain was encountered shortly after leaving Pio Pio. A halt was called to inspect the Wairere Falls which, with .the increased volume of water in the river, were an unusually fine sight. At this point the Minister’s car failed to start, owing to battery trouble, and the second cai\ containing Messrs Aickin (private secretary), Miss Hibberd (assistant secretary), Hine, Keller (P.W.D.), and the press representative, went on to Aria, the car returning to pick up the occupants of the Ministerial car.

Gaily Decorated.

On arrival at Aria, the new Post Office was found to be gaily decor-

ated with flags, and a large number of settlers were assembled to welcome the Ministerial party. The building, which is a very handsome one, covers an area of about 3000 square feet, and was built by Mr ;R. L. Birch, of Hamilton, and formerly of Te Kuiti. Besides the three large business compartments, there are four living rooms, with bathroom, hot and cold water, etc., for the use of the staff. A tiled roof gives the building a very substantial and effective appearance. The Aria Settlers’ Association, of which Mr G. King is chairman and Mr G. Petrie the indefatigable secretary, intend making some improvements in the way of. planting shrubs, forming pathways, etc. In this connection, they have been promised £27 10s from the Public Works Department, and 40 yards of metal from the Waitomo County Council. The association has already spent about £4O on improvements to the building. As the Hon. Mr. Coates mounted the Post Office steps, the sun' shone out, and the weather was fine for the, rest of the ceremony. Mr W. T. Jennings briefly introduced the Minister who, after thanking Mr Jennings for the invitation to be present, congratulated the settlers on the progress the district had made since his last visit to Aria.

Unpleasant Task.

Mr Coates then dealt with the business problems of his department, and said that the Government were faced with the unpleasant task of bringing down the cost of administration. In 1913-14 the cost of government had been £11,800,000. Last year, the cost had been over £14,000,000. The increase was due to expenditure arising out of the war, such as interest on war loans, pensions to soldiers and next of kin, bonuses and increased salaries brought about by the high cost of living. The P. and T. Department had shown a loss last year for the first time in history. There had been an increase of £330,000 over .the prewar administration cost of the Post Office. This was partly due to increased salaries and bonuses. The Government was out to assist the back-blocker with a mail service all the time. The policy of the Government was to give the settler every possible chance of a decent mail service. He did not pay much attention to a loss of £4500 on the rural , delivery last year. His experience was that the way-back settler was ready to assist the Government in every possible way in the matter of the rural delivery.

“To go to Blue Ruin.”

No one liked retrenchment. He was “not going to make himself popular by ‘side-stepping’ his plain duty and allowing the country to go to blue-ruin.” There were those that objected to retrenchment. The hard facts were, that if the people were going to create a loss by stoppingretrenchment, well, the taxpayer would have to pay for.it. The Government was having it’s little trouble with the P. and T. Association at present, but he was quite sure that ultimately both sides would sink their differences, and, as a result, a settlement entirely satisfactory to: the public would be reached.

Discipline was necessary in ? all walks of life. -' What was wanted was a little more consideration for the other fellow.: There was far too much talk and not enough work. He wished that those people who were always taking the Government to task-for assisting the back-blocker would; get on a horse, or failing that, get on “their flat feet and go out to Kawhia or Raglan, and see what sort of conditions the settjefis there were struggling against. (Applause.) , (Continued on . Page 6.)