THE CHATHAM ISLANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18537, 23 October 1923, Page 6

THE CHATHAM ISLANDS.

The Chatham Islands, isolated outposts of. New Zealand, rarely receive public attention or consideration. Their representation in Parliament is secured by their attachment to the Lyttelton electorate, but their distance and inaccessibility do not permit the member for such a constituency to keep very closely .in touch with them. A Vice-Regal visit some time ago brought them momentarily into notice; they have been remembered once ,or twice when school children have been brought to Christchurch for a brief visit. Usually, however, they are placidly forgotten by most of the Dominion. A Canterbury visitor has returned impressed with the possibilities of development, given better shipping services. He is not alone in having testified to this. The only continuous communication with New Zealand is by wireless. Steamers go there when a cargo—fish from the freezers, or at certain seasons livestock — removal. Wharfage accommodation is to all intents and purposes, non-existent. There is no anchorage which is safe in all weathers. '■ Surf-boats ply between ship and shore. On land, travel facilities are primitive, for formed roads are unknown, and in bad weather negotiation of some of the tracks is a test of horsemanship. A fisheries expert has declared the fish caught on the Chathams grounds, particularly the blue-cod, to be far superior to those taken in New Zealand waters. The prospects for profitably canning the swarming crayfish have been described as excellent: With the stock-breeding possibilities also counted, it appears as if the Chatham Islands form an asset capable of much greater development than that at present in progress. .; '