CORRESPONDENCE

Southland Times, Issue 19515, 15 May 1922, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

THE TE ANAU STEAMER. To the Editor. Sir, —Every right-minded citiaeu will heartily agree with the stand you have taken in support of the Southland League’s protest against the Tourist Department’s leasing privately the Te Anau steamer without consulting the Southland League. It seems difficult to believe that the Hon. the Minister could have failed to consult the League. It, shows clearly, on the part of the responsible head, a want of grip of the department which he is entrusted by the State to administer. The apparent placing of Te Anau in Otago merely adds to the general ignorance which one is justified in ascribing to those who commit blunders of this kind. The Minister must know that the very foundation of British government is local interest and control subordinated in some respect and by common consent to the common weal. It would be difficult for the Minister to explain how the ignoring and confusion of local interests by a central department can in this instance, be construed into a subordination to the common good! In dealing with matters that affect any locality, the central department, to be thoroughly effective, must, according to British tradition, consult and in general, make proper use of the advice received from those who are responsible for the conserving of local interest in that locality. Has the Minister done this with regard to Te Anau? Clearly, on this issue, his policy stands condemned. As to the leasing of the steamer to the hotelkeeper, Mr Govan, there are certain questions to which the public has the right to demand an answer. The Cold Lakes, though in general more or less calm, are, owing to the peculiar topography of the surrounding country, perhaps more subject to the vagaries of wind and wave than the open sea. Consequently, if the interests of public safety are properly to be con served, it is necessary that the qualifications of the appointee to the Lake To Anau steamer be of the highest.. It is not sufficient that a. man be able to sail a boat on a calm lake and under ordinary conditions. It is the case of emergency that brings into relief a man’s qualifications or otherwise. It is the case of immergency that often tells its tale. The person in. charge must be of such experience and resource that he can meet, with skill and power, any unusual conditions that may arise. If he sails for his own pleasure, he may do so at his own risk and without experience. If he is entrusted with the lives of others, he must be trained for his job, and must first have a considerable reserve of practical experience from which to draw. Mr Govan may have such, experience, but, in the interests of public safety, we have a right to demand an assurance that an analysis of his qualifications will reveal a thoroughly practical training in, as well as a theoretical knowledge of all that pertains to the working of a craft upon such a lake as Te Anau. Another point of weakness in the department’s action is its self confession of past inefficiency. It explains that the new arrangement will “make the Lake more easily accessible to tourists and make possible more cruises up the fiords and bays on the days the steamer is not required for the Milford track visitors.” This is saying in effect that, in the past, the steamer has not been available on these days. The Tourist Department then has been paying its Te Anau staff for not being available on certain days. Surely the new control will give no more possibilities of extra tripe than the old, unless it is, as the department really implies that the new management will be able to use the staff to better advantage than-could the department. At best, the reason given is very thin. It is at bottom a confession on the part of the Minister of inability to manage the affaire of Lake Te Anau in the past. Why were the men paid by the State of they were not available to work for the State? To sum up, from at least three points of view, it is to be earnestly desired that the Southland League will leave no stone unturned to make its voice heard in this matter. These points are, the protection and conserving of local interest, the matter of public safety and the apparent inability of the Tourist Department satisfactorily to manage its affaire. The public will heartily agree with you, sir, and your emphatic protest I am, etc , TROCEDURE.’