King Country Chronicle Tuesday, December 4, 1923. TE KUITI’S PROGRESS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1896, 4 December 1923, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Tuesday, December 4, 1923. TE KUITI’S PROGRESS.

Anyone who has followed the fortunes of Te Kuiti and its district during the last 15 years cannot but marvel at the progress made during that comparatively short period. There have been set-backs from time to time, but this has only been of a temporary nature. The town and district are still advancing—not so rapidly as in former years, but enough to prove that there is a large section of the community who have faith in the further development of the district. If there has been depression, it has to be realised that this has been shared by every district in the Dominion, and has been world-wide in its influence. So far as New Zealand is concerned, the prospects for the next 12 months at least are very reassuring. The wool sales held up to the present have far exceeded the expectations of the growers; butter-fat is l-ealising a good price, while mutton and lamb have very good prospects, especially in view of the fact that there is likely to be an abnormal demand in Britain for these commodities during the Empire Exhibition, which opens in May, when 25,000,000 visitors are expected to Britain from all parts of the world. The spirit of pessimism

is giving way to a more healthy optimistic feeling, and now is the time for all to put forward the best efforts within their power to make the most of the resources of the district in which they live. If a town or district is to advance, the residents must have faith in the future of that town or district. Most business people must realise that this district has vast undeveloped resources, and it is only a matter of time before Te Kuiti will take its place as one of the most important provincial towns of the North Island. How far off that time is depends on what efforts are made to develop the resources of both town and district; There are still vast areas in this part of the King Country which are suitable for close settlement. Populating these areas is going to be a slow process, for at present very little new land is being taken up for development, and no material progress will be made in this direction for some years. There is no doubt, however, that the agricultural potentialities of the King Country will be realised as they become better known.

In the meantime, Ta'Kuiti has at its doors a means by which the town and district can be advertised, as well as bringing business to the town —by fostering the tourist traffic and making Te Kuiti the centre of the Waitomo Caves traffic. The scheme which it is proposed to submit to the public to-night in this connection has already been explained in these columns, and it is unnecessary to go' into details again. What is required, however, in the interests of the movement and the progress of the town, is that all business people should make themselves conversant with the details of same. The tourist traffic of the Dominion is going to be a much bigger thing in the future than it has been in the past. It is all ready money, and, as an authority on this matter stated some time ago, if properly handled, would be one of the Dominion’s main sources of wealth. Te Kuiti derives a certain amount of business from the Waitomo Caves traffic, but by its geographical position it should be the main centre for this, and citizens have now the opportunity of making it so. The splendid response made at the last Chamber of Commerce meeting to raise funds for the preliminary expenses towards the new route is a good augury of the spirit prevailing in the town, but there is still much to do, and it is only by the whole-hearted co-operation of all business people of the town can there be any hope of fulfilment of the scheme. For this reason it is the duty of all to attend the meeting to-night and hear the proposal from all points of view. The more roads there are converging in Te Kuiti, the greater must be the business. This new route to the Caves taps some fine dairying country, all of which can be cut up into small farms. In addition, it is going to bring the Waitomo and Kawhia districts in closer touch with this town, which means that the business of these districts will be concentrated here. The proposition is a sound one. It means inci’eased business to the people of the town, is going to popularise the Caves, and make Te Kuiti the centre of a much wider farming area.