Readers Write

Northern Advocate, 26 January 1939, Page 6

Readers Write

In recent issues of the “Advocate” there h'ave been reports of meetings with the Hon. D. G. Sullivan in re-

PORT FOR NORTHLAND.

gard to proposals to make Opua an open' port.. While I ap-<

predate the pro- ■ gressive spirit of the Opua author!-] ties, I maintain that for the general] good of Northland, it would be a mis-] take to concentrate on Opua as the] main port of the province. j Whangarei is the natural centre ofi Northland, and it is here that port] facilities should be developed. In] regard to the creation of a butter-j grading port: in the vicinity ofj Whangarei are three large factories— Whangarei, Hikurangi, and Maungatapere—with Northern Wairoia a mere! hour 'and a-half away, and Maunga-] turoto close by. ]

If the coal industry ever recovers] ro a,ny extent in Northland, Wha-j ngarei will be t<he shipping pqrt. \ Portland does a big trade in cement] 'and, if any of the rumoured new in- j dqstriqs , are established, Whangarei \ is the logical centre. ] Whatever happens, Whangarei must] be a big port some day, and to h'ave another established at Opua would be uneconomic. One port, properly equipped, should be sufficient for Northland. Whangarei’s future is assured and the population must grow. The dairy and stock production of the district will naturally increase and the export centre should be in the centre of this area.

, Produce from north, south and west can be easily brought by road and rail to Whangarei. If Opua is to be the port, I presume Northern Wairoa produce would be. shipped from there and it seems foolish .to have to transport the product many miles north to unload it.

Opua is progressive, but can anyone say that it would be economic to have a port established well away from the centre of the province?— “SHELLBACK. 1 '

While other professions and callings may have their lean times, the bookmaker^—to use »a highly appropriate simile—

EASY OPULENCE,

flourishes likte the green bay

tree. Both his prosperity and the popularity of his 'illicit ''means of gaining rather more than a livelihood are explained by the revelations in a Dunedin court to the effect that in one week at Christmastime a local firm of bookmakers made a profit of, £1470.

Admittedly this period is the busiest in the racing year, and even to those unacquainted with the niceties of bookmaking it is apparent that the firm in question must have enjoyed, during that particular period, what is known in sporting circles as “a good run.”

Still it is strikingly apparent that when profits of this magnitude can be made in a week, the fines levied by indulgent magistrates on bookmakers and their assistants present no very serious hardships to the more prosperous members of the profession. In this particular case the magistrate, adhering strictly to the precedent which ordains that it is unkind to send a bookmaker to gaol, imposed a fine' of £350, which the defendant in question could obviously meet without the slightest inconvenience. In these circumstances it is not surprising that bookmakers operate openly throughout the country, depriving the racing clubs of large amounts of legitimate totalisator revenue, and undeniably bringing the law into contempt and disrepute. But, considering the attitude of the State towards these men, the lof magistrates is perhaps not altogether surprising. The State provides them with the telephones essential to the conduct of their business and its income inspectors examine their books. Moreover, the State itself is now toying with the idea of introducing, a national lottery.

This implied acknowledgment of the respectability of wholesale gambling gives magistrates scant encouragement to frown upon those who illegally provide facilities for its practice. .

A higher scale of fines, however, would seemingly impose no greater hardships on these indispensable ornaments to society.—“SPOßT.”