Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1920. OVERLAND COMMUNICATIONS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15221, 20 May 1920, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1920. OVERLAND COMMUNICATIONS.

The, Chamber of Commerce and th< Development • League would be doing good service if they took up with, great earnestness the subject of Gisborne's overland communications, a valuable 'report on which has been drawm up by the, Vigilance Committee of the Chamberj and is published in another column, A twenty-four hour .service to Auckland is the desideratum to be aimed at, and this, the committee has been informed, is easily attainable for at least fhree days a week with a little adjustment of present communications. "When people are enabled to get from Auckland to Gisborne via Taurariga, 'and .vice .versa, with twenty-four hours 'of comfortable trayel as compared with . the journey by sea, there' will develop a very considerable overland traffio, and this East Coast district will be relieved to a very considerable extent of its present isolation. x lt is a fair thing to suggest, as th^ committee , has. done- that the Government should substantially subsidise the mail services from Motu to Tauranga to enable the journey to be expeditiously 'performed and to ensure a 'reduction of fares to reasonable limits that will encourage travel. The Government draws a "tremendous revenue from this district by way of taxation, and what 'does it give in return? Tlie postal revenue, we ' feel sure, compare's more than favorably with that of any other district containing similar population in the Dominion, and there is no district that has poorer facilities for its postal communications with the outside world. Gisborne has grown too large to be content with mails once a week from north and south, and the people must kick, and kick hard, until the Government, in return for the revenue it exacts, gives something better. Tlio solution., we feel sure, lies in development of the overland communications. The situation of this district is very.- analagous' to that of the West Coast "of the South Island. Westport and Grey mOuth, if 'they were dependent upon sea services, would be just as badly off as we are for postal facilities. But for many years past the Government, by heavy subsidy to coaches, lias maintained a daily mail and passenger - service through the Otira Gorge, and the link has been, of inestimable benefit to' the communities on the West Coast. , Is there anv earthly reason why .the Government should not similarly , subsidise the carriage , of mails and passengers through the Motu-Opotiki Gorge,, which, compares quite favorably with the Otira, not aloiw* for tho grandeur, of its scenery and the volume of tourist traffic that 'will bo developed, but ,as a. link in, a chain of business' communications between some of the richest districts in the Dominion and the/ northern metronob's? The local bodies .'.of this (district have only to. solicit the support pf similar organisations in the Bsy of Plenty and at Auckland to receive sympathetic support,

and we feel certain that the weight 'Of their united' representations v must influence the Government to take the. matter in hand and establish tlie necessary connections. It is not too much to risk for an overland daily mail. Opotiki, get* '"! such a service from Auckland, and it is only a step further from Opotiki . to Motu to connect with the .train 'for • Gisborne. Tlie plea of the Department may be that the. mails are too Heavy- to •carry Jjy this route, but that; so far from , being a valid argument against tlie proposal, really supports it. for it shows the volume oL.mail traffic and the need - for better facilities than-Ave have at present. If the quantity of mail matter/-' was too great for .motor- cars the'; .D^paftment i would be amply justified inlempfbyijig '..motor, trucks. The subject->is,;pne," tpat . must be 'pursued; very vigorously .^liJjtH the Department gives this jextensWe Jahd populous district at least ; the saWle' opportunities to carry on its .eorresppiitfehjJe with the outside world as-other ; dret*(cis possess. The Vigilance Committee' d^als in a practical manner with /the aspfefet ?{ advertising the attractiveness '•'"<s' the Motu-Oipotiki roil to for tourists, atyd we , feel that a great amount of -good- would result Trom an, extensive 7 campaign vhj , this » direction, but meantime onr 'most pressing, and urgent need is better' -nliul services to put us iii. tohch with' the rest pf the Dominion. It is ihtol.erable>'a ? 4:), , that in cases where i. people .aire '.'required ,to ,travel urgently, n s frequently occurs, they are put to enormous Ceipeijse' to engage special .taxis to travel to papier or to Rotorua, because there is probably no steamer for a iveek and the. Government have made no provision for feasor* ' able /overland, communications. TLet '. «9* get to work, and, with all the influence we possess, endeavor to remove this great disability of the diairicfr (