THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1937 ADVANCE, AUCKLAND!

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22836, 17 September 1937, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1937 ADVANCE, AUCKLAND!

Auckland has been placed at the crossroads of the South Pacific and has only to realise and exploit this paramount advantage in order to fulfil her manifest destiny. Other centres are envious of her natural .heritage and will trench on it if they can. They cannot succeed against geography, however, if Auckland shows reasonable initiative and energy in developing her rare endowment. Acting for the Harbour Board, Mr. Bloodworth has shown the way in the favourable terms offered to Pan American Airways to make the Waitemata the terminal of its Pacific service. It requires vision to appreciate what this service will mean to Auckland, bringing mails and passengers within four days of San Francisco, five of New York and, shortly, within six days of London. Mr. Bloodworth and the board have shown they possessed the vision. They have recognised the pioneering nature as well as the greatness of the venture, made appropriate terms and clinched the bargain for Auckland. The board can regard this as a long-term investment, and a sound one. By bringing the American flying boats to the Waitemata, it has practically ensured that Auckland will also be the terminal for the Imperial Airways line from London via Egypt, India, Singapore and Australia. So Auckland should shortly become, not only the terminal for two great trunk lines, but also the junction of a round-the-world route. If the Government does its part with equal vision and energy, a magnificent prospect should become an actual fact early in the new year. What this consummation should mean to Auckland and New Zealand, when tourists and business men from world centres of wealth and trade can reach the Dominion in a matter of days instead of weeks, can well be imagined.

I For those with more leisure, or less means, the sea routes will remain open and it is satisfactory to learn from the Prime Minister that the arrangements for building and subsidising two fast, modern British liners are well forward. This project has already tarried too long and should be pressed to fruition without further delay. Mr. Savage should ask himself how long it will be before 50 odd nations will agree at Geneva when four British Governments—four partners in the Empire, of one blood and one language—take so long to settle a simple business proposition. It is the worst sort -of advertisement for collective action. Meanwhile, British maritime trade and prestige in the Pacific continue to suffer while the negotiations drag ohi When the new liners are in commission, the Harbour Board" must be prepared once • again to offer every facility to the new traffic the ships will bring. Actually the board is preparing to do so by seeking authority to provjde a passenger wharf when the work is justified. Nevertheless, neither the board nor the public can afford ,to rest in the assumption that the new linlrs will continue to make Auckland their port of call. Wellington- is actively organising to have them diverted to Port Nicholson and is seeking to win interested support from the whole of the South Island. She has lost the" old San Francisco service and is trying to recoup herself at Auckland's expense. If Auckland is going to uphold her geographical claim and natural right to be New Zealand's front door, th 6 national port of arrival and departure, she will have to place herself in closer touch with the rest of the Dominion. Road and rail organisation is good, but the connection by air is broken and incomplete.' The South Island quite fairly complains at the time occupied in transporting passengers and mails landing at Auckland. The answer is a national trunk air service connecting with Christchurch and Dunedin daily. Auckland must insist on this trunk connection. It is essential if she is to hold her position against Wellington's special pleading. But in insisting, she should do her part. The city must construct an adequate airport. One other essential point —it is. high time Auckland was able to offer overseas visitors the firstclass hotel accommodation they demand. The overseas air services and the new modern liners are going to bring Auckland a new and rich crop of tourists. They must be encouraged to come, and to stay longer, by better catering. Even as it is, the available accommodation is overtaxed by the smallest pressure. Little advance has been made in the last 30 years. In this matter Auckland comes out badly by comparison with Wellington. The trade which enjoys so lucrative a monopoly should use it with more discretion and distinction. The public, seeing Auckland suffer, is becoming impatient and has a right to demand that the trade discharge its responsibilities to the travelling public in a proper manner. The same remarks apply equally to Rotorua. Neither the thermal centre nor Auckland can provide adequately for any rush of guests above the normal and business is constantly being turned away. Those in a privileged position, taking so much from the public, should be prepared to do their part by the public and so help to swell an important source of national revenue. And in general, Aucklanders should rouse themselves to use the opportunities that new transport media are offering to them. Wellington is alive to the upturn of overseas traffic and is preparing a challenge to Auckland's primacy. She cannot defeat geography plus enterprise, but she can triumph over geography hampered by inertia. Let Auckland return to the practical spirit, the confidence and the vision that marked her history and accelerated her progress between 1906 and 1926, and there < need be no doubt of the result. , i • . t *