MANAWATU DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1919. AS SEEN CLOSE UP.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 1437, 10 December 1919, Page 4

MANAWATU DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1919. AS SEEN CLOSE UP.

We have just been reading the latest appeal issued by the Reform Party to the electors of New Zealand as to what they are prepared to do for the people of this little country in the wonderful days to come. If ! These bo times of prolific promises indeed. But the Aviso man is he Avho gauges the possibilities of the future from the actualities of the past, and in this test some of this promise talk appears not a trifle flamboyant. It is not so long since so staunch a henchman of the Masscyites as the “New Zealand Herald” Ava's demanding the heads, of the Hon. Mr Kerries and Sir William Eraser on a charger. “Weighed in the balance’and found Avanting” was the verdict of our northern contemporary. The former Avas indicted for his blundering mismanagement of the railways; the latter for the Aveakness and vacillation displayed in his administration of public Avorks. Under the stress of circumstances the “Herald” has again come into line, but the indictment still holds good. An instance is ready at our doors. Despite the most earnest admonitions and protestations from’the business men of the Wellington province, oft emphasised and frequently repeated, that very necessary adjunct to dcAmlopment and production, the Mangahao hydro-electric scheme, is being “prosecuted” Avith such vigour that it is estimated that it will take the best part of eight years to complete instead of the three years that Mr Parry had in, mind. So chagrined and exasperated was that live Avirc expert at the Ministerial dilitoriness that he handed in his resignation. This, one Avould have thought, would have caused a' stirring amongst the dry bones, but no! month after month passes and. the Vigilance Committee Avhieh is keeping watch and ward over this national venture sadly reports to the local bodies concerned that there is no perceptible acceleration of pace, and that the “gosloav” in the mines is precipitancy in excels!s in comparison Avith the speed with which the Mangahao project is being pursued. *#. • •

The Minister says he is short of labour. but there is not, and never has b 1 n, any indication that a serious attompi has been made in the districts concerned at anyrate to induce ablebodied co-operation. On the contrary it is stated by those who have been keenly watching developments that a substantial factor in the delay is a failure on the part of the administration to afford adequate accommodation for fluworkers and to pay them a wage commensurate with the arduous character of the work, and the clisconiforts of this isolated and sterile region. No amount of propaganda can close the eyes of the public to the fact that the deeds of the administration belie tbeir words. The whole bf this part of the country is waiting impatiently for the vital spark which will create new industries and accelerate development. Scarcely any price that can be paid will bo too much for,this inestimable service. The cities are waiting for it, and the country from Wanganui to Wellington and from Palmerston to Danncvirkc and Wairarapa languishes for the great and potent boon of abundant motive power drawn from the strongholds of nature. Private enterprise would surely not have frittered away the summer months so wastefully because at Maugahao the utilisation of each and every summer elay is the essence of the contract. Here is a case in which the party in power lias failed a countryside while announcing to the Dominion that it alone is the party of progress from whom all really great performances arc to be expected!