THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1901.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11936, 9 January 1901, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1901.

The Hon. J. G. Ward's proposals to bring the chief tourist resorts of New Zealand into greater prominence by providing better facilities for visiting places of interest will find a hearty response with most of the people of the colony. New Zealand is pre-eminently a land of beautiful and varied scenery, with alternations of cloud-piercing mountains and broad, smiling plains, beautiful rivers and placid lakes, dark, sombre forest; and glancing, snowy peaks. In sunshine and shadow the eye never wearies and the mind never tires of drinking in the varied beauty of the landscape while making the tour of the colony. Such is the general aspect of New Zealand scenery, but if one desires to see Nature in her wildest mood he must pay a visit to one or other of the many favourite tourist resorts. The West Coast Sounds in their sombre grandeur blend sea and landscape in a harmonious whole which constitutes an artist's dream, the beauty and magnificence of which neither artist's brush nor poet's pen can describe.' The Cold Lakes, nestling in the bosom of the Southern Alps, fringed with forest and illuminated by lofty peaks, lit up by- eternal snows, impress the mind with emotions which language fails to interpret. Then,. without going so far •afield, we' find scenes of sylvan beauty which charm away by their quiet solitude the cares and worry of life's pressing business, and soon restore to their normal fibre shattered nerves and over-wrought brain. So diversified and so widely distributed are the colony's tourist resorts that visitors may well be at a loss to make a . choice. When the chief places of interest- are supplied with , means el. acoess and suitable

accommodation New Zealand maj well become the playground of the Pacific and the principal health resort for Australasia. Given a fast lino of steamers between the Commonwealth and New Zealan'd,' and thousands will visit this coloiiy to recruit from the exhausting summer heat and to. have their nerves braced by the invigorating mountain air. With a view to bringing the most ■ favoured resorts into prominence it is proposed to place Rotorua, Hanmer, Mount Cook, and other health lcsorts and sanatoriums in the colony under control of the Minister of Railways. In the course of an interview on this subject Mr Ward is reported to have said: " I propose to utilise the complete organisation of the railway service throughout the colony, and in places to which the railway has not yet extended to "bring into requisition 1 the services of other officers of the Government in order to work up a better and More widely-organised tourist department than has hitherto been possible." Mr Ward further indicated that probably one of the district traffic managers would take charge of the new department in Wellington, to work from there as a centre. We are in full accord with Mr Ward when he says he belieyes that every pound judiciously spent in catering for the comfort of visitors to the colony, and also for the comfort and pleasure, of the people who reside amongst us; will.be recouped indirectly over and over again. The experience of other countries at least proves that, The tourist traffic is the mainstay of Switzerland, and Fnjnce and Germany derive considerable revenue ! from their health resorts. In addition to affording greater facilities on the railways, Mr Ward proposes to put an up-to-date steamer, capable of carrying 1000 passengers and steaming 16 knots, on Lake tipu. In connection with this matter he said: "It ought to be placed within reach of people of moderate means to travel- from Christchurch to Queenstown and on to the |lead of the Lake, and spend a day or two' there for very little more than the present rate which is charged by steamers alone." We fear Mr Ward is scarcely accurate iii the comparison he makes, and think his iddas in this connection are rather too big. Private enterprise may, we think, be trusted to provide for the requirements of the travelling public on the southern lakes, and no doubt the Wakatipu *Steam Navigation Company will put on a larger and faster steamer to meet increased railway facilities for travelling. The large steamer Mr Ward proposes would prove a losing concern during the greater part of the year, and the short time it would be patronised would hardly justify the enormous expense. Then we see no reason why an exception should be made in the case of Lake Wakatipu. Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau are even' more beautiful—if Manapouri is not, indeed, the prettiest lake in the colony,—and both have claims at least equal to those of Lake Wakatipu. The only difference is that the latter is served by a railway, while the two former lakes have not even a passable coach road to connect with the railway at MosSburn. ' Yet no easier route for tlie construction of a railway exists than that along the great plain which almost cuts the country in two from the mouth of the Mataura River to th| great cold lakes Te Anau and Manapouri. Were there even a passable coach road it would not be so bad, but in the meantime vehicular traffic is across the plain and i l iver flats of the Western district wherever a practicable route can be found. The Government have done something in the way of encouraging a tourist traffic to tliese lakes by subsidising ' accommodation houses and cutting tracks at the head of Lake Te Anau, but the country from MossWn to the lakes is unfit for travel excepting during the finest of the sunimer months. A light railway is required to supply, the deficiency, wheti a steady stream of tourists would visit these lcively lakers, which would become the most favoured health resorts in Australasia. The clear mountain air imparts a vigour that is not experienced at the seaside, and a brief sojourn at the lakes soon convinces the visitor that there at least balm may be found for tiie wearied body or tired mind. It is the duty of the Government to increase the facilities for visiting these places by rail, but private enterprise may be entrusted with the supply of steamer service and suitable accommodation. It is gratifying to learn that Mr Ward appraises our tourist and health resorts at their true value, and when he takes an enterprise of colonial importance in hand he generally carries it through.