THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1948. AIR SERVICES TO CENTRAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26957, 17 December 1948, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1948. AIR SERVICES TO CENTRAL

The people of Otago, and more especially those members of the Otago Development Council and other town and country organisations which have agitated so strongly in support of the proposal, will have solid grounds for satisfaction at the announcement by the Minister of Civil Aviation that an air service to Central Otago will be inaugurated in the New Year. It would be supererogatory to add that this vservice is long overdue. Its introduction has been urged by the Daily Times for several years, and if any further proof were required of the’ need for air transportation to Central Otago it was evident in the widespread interest that was taken in the recent demonstration flights sponsored by the Otago Development Council. The small sum of money spent on these flights to prove that the service would be both practicable and popular was one of the most profitable investments this city has made, since the Government’s consent to inaugurate the air link between Dunedin and the Central at an early date must be regarded as the outcome of forceful and well-organised agitation. The lesson is one that public bodies in city and country could profitably keep in mind. The promise given by Mr Jones was that a NAC Dominie machine—the type of plane at present employed on the Invercargill service—would commence to operate to Alexandra as soon as the new air strip to be constructed there is ready. From this remark it would appear that the Government intends to implement the proposal, made in the Tymms report, that the State monopoly should provide a trunk service to Alexandra and receive feeder traffic from smaller air services operated by private enterprise. While the intention to supply any sort of air service between Dunedin and the Central must be welcomed, it is doubtful whether this inflexible scheme can be made an economic proposition. The essential requirement of a Central Otago air service is that it should link the' various towns with rapid, cheap transport. Short hauls for aircraft are, admittedly, ' not usually l'egarded as economic, but a service which will disregard the traffic offering between the widely-scattered centres of Central Otago can hardly expect to obtain the fullest patronage. The duplication of services, moreover, involving the employment of different machines, personnel and facilities, must entail added expense to travellers. If the air service to Central Otago is to be a success it must pay its way, and there is little room for doubt that the energy and enthusiasm that will be required to make the service popular and flexible enough to meet the requirements of the public would best be provided by private enterprise.

"CHARLES OF EDINBURGH" The choice of the name Charles for the son who has been born to Princess Elizabeth is another happy example of the Royal Family’s disregard of old and now meaningless prejudices. Because of its association with the Stuart Kings, it has been shunned as the first name for male members of British royalty, but whatever worth there may have been in that prejudice has long since been expended by time, and the Stuart Kings—who were neither better nor worse than others of their day—have become no more than romantic figures in the pageant of history. It is with Scotland that the name Charles is most intimately associated in the annals of royalty, and it is in Scotland that the memory of the last prince of that name, the Young Pretender, is best remembered. In choosing the name for her son, therefore, Princess Elizabeth has paid a graceful compliment to the land of her mother, a compliment which the Scottish people have been quick • to appreciate. Cameron of Lochiel, he whose ancestor raised the flag of the Young Pretender in 1745 and provided the impetus for the march which was to end so disastrously at Gulloden, has already expressed delight at there being once more a “ Bonnie Prince. Charlie.” The association with Scotland is made stronger by the fact that the infant will be known as Prince Charles of Edinburgh. The old city of Edinburgh has vivid recollections, not unmixed with' gratitude, of “Bonny Prince Charlie,” whose Cameron Highlanders forced the Canongate in November, 1745, and enabled him to enter the town. He was unable to reduce Edinburgh Castle, however, and on General Guest’s threatening to lay the city in ruins unless the siege was raised, the Young Pretender withdrew his forces and marched to Carlisle. The Prince never had the wholehearted support of the Scottish clans in his desperate venture, but his name is still affectionately recalled wherever Scots foregather. His young namesake, the Prince who has been christened Charles in Buckingham Palace, is in the direct line of succession to the Throne. Whether—assuming he is one day crowned—he will retain Charles as his kingly name must be a matter of his own choice, but should he decide to do so, he will be the first Charles to sit on the Throne of the United Kingdom for three centuries.