Northland's Roading Needs

Northern Advocate, 28 February 1939, Page 6

Northland's Roading Needs

THIS tour .which the Minister of Public Works, the Hon, R. Semple, has just made through Northland, will have been well worth while if it produces the improvement of roads and'bridges which the Minister realises is urgently needed. Mr Semple has made an exhaustive investigation of the whole of the public works requirements of Northland, and, as a consequence, he should be well qualified to tell the House of Representatives just what is required to promote the more rapid development of what is undoubtedly one the most important territories of New Zealand. It is to be feared that the Minister’s proneness to rhetorical exuberance may inadvertently have done Northland a disservice, for the statements Mr Semple has made, and which have been broadcasted, would lead readers in other parts of the Dominion to believe that Northland is still the “Roadless North”—a territory only in the primitive state. That, of course, is not a true picture of Northland, and we feel sure that Mr 'Semple will make that fact clear.

•It is unquestionable that highways and reading facilities in Northland have undergone a great transformation during the past 10 years, with consequent growth of settlement and increase in productivity. But, as all who have travelled through the North know, the potentialities for further development are very great indeed. The territory is awaiting the reading facilities required to assist settlers, and when these are in existence, and electricity is available in every part of the different counties, Northland will become what its admirers already claim for it: the most favoured portion of the Dominion of New Zealand. Northland is under a debt of gratitude to Mr Semple for the very thorough and earnest manner in wheih he has endeavoured to make himself fully acquainted with the requirements of the territory, and this indebtedness will be deepened if, as we confidently hope, the Minister puts his promises into practice.