THE COLONIST. Published Daily-Morning. Nelson, Wednesday, March 22, 1905. THE PREMIER AND THE NORTH.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11287, 22 March 1905, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily-Morning. Nelson, Wednesday, March 22, 1905. THE PREMIER AND THE NORTH.

The Volunteers. —It is expected that nearly one hundred hor_.es will be require!! for the Easter manoeuvres, in addition to the horses used by the piounted battalion. The manoeuvres promise to be highly successful and useful work should be carried out by the troops. Sports }on Easter Monday. — A meeting <* of the Manieroa .Sports Committee was held in the. ,. Tadihor Hall onfeaturda? evMing, Mr James Cusack presiding. It wa_ decided to hold spirts for Ideal .'<_6rn£etitor& oft Easter Monday, and ft w>,s. Suggested that in (future 'tftfc spbrts should be open. .<?. Ul-cdx-ers. It was found Impracticable to make the events open to all-comers on this occasion, as trains do not yet run to Manterda. It was > resolved tjo b.carge one shil- | ling for admission, and Mr C. Whs tested as Secretary pro tern. _£& Gbkenwood, dentist, New Surgery opposite M, M. Webster, Trafalgar- street Collingwood. March 28, 29, 30 ; Motueka, April 11, 12, 13. \ VICTORY BUTTER.— Be sure and ask your Grocer or Vi.tory Batter.- UPB 6n_ da'.fcious Th. ttefcort dl. &c Com-iission on tne Dog&ar Bank outrage is considered most ftnsa'tisfaoto_y ahd disappointing, and the Stress throughout the Empire .will 9»ake Btrong comment's regarding i .... But we are pleased to sa^ $»».« kh-_- who buy furniture and fuini.hlbgß at Leek's have satisfaction guaranteed as regards quality and price, and they are decided in the opinion that i Look's is the cheapast and best place to buy furniture, go carts, ranges, curtaing, rugs, linoloum3 4 crookery, cutlery, and the wonderful Atias sewing machines. Lock has the largest ana best display of up-to- , date goods, and oan.domplß'efy furnish out •» happy horn, in a Jew hnurs, for c-tsn or on easy term., feio td LokV3 1- - nouechold wbrd; Th_ i_^_-B_4t_BE.— At three .nolook this ididrnihg the thermometer outside this offioe registered 48 degrees On Friday next, at 2 p.m, Messrs Bisley Biob. & Co. will conduct a clearing sale of pigs on account of Miss Oldham, at the farmstead, Back Road, Stoke.

The meeting which Mr Seddoft ! recently addressed in Auckland was evidently Sreptesentative of the district* and amougst those present wertt many supporters, and not a few who are greedy for public expenditure, 'The cry of a roadless North has been so persistently ireported by the Opposition .Press in Auckland that *t i_ 'accepted by the thoughtless as an expression of unfair tfeglect, but in reality tnft people of the North _re v'Gry much better oft than &re the settlers in this part 'of the Colony, though as regards roads there is a difficutly that no Government is responsible for. Owing to the nature of the country there are many places where it is impossible to obtain good road metal, arid in districts where the revenue from rates must be considerably greater than in the Waimea Oounty the _oads will not compare with the roads in tnis part of the Oolony. Scoria is not an ideal material for road-making, and it becomes pounded into chocolate colored dust, but it is better than much of the material of which roads have to be made in the North. In Bummer the whereabouts of a coach being driven along these'roads may be located five or six miles away by the clouds of dust which envelope it, and in winter this dust becomes mud, and then the roads are worse than ever. But the disadvantage, as we have _aid, is due to the nature of the country, and the people of the North might *as reasonably complain against the Government because in places they dare not plough the land unless they £wish to have the soil blown or washed away. Unfortunately a petty provincial spirit predominates a section of the Auckland people, and though they have railway, coach, and steamer communication such as we should rejoice to possess, their cry is for more expenditure of public money. They have a capital daily steam service between Auckland and the Thames, and they also have a train service to the same place, and tnough the steamer makes tbe run in less than half the time the train takes, their desire is to have railway comunication with other places already served by steamers, and they care not a jot that settlers io this part of the Colony are unable to make the best use of their land, because, wanting such means of communication as exist in the North, they lacK the opportunity of marketing their produce. In the course of his Auckland address, the Premier stated that since April 1893 the expenditure on railways in the North Island had been £1,639,000 as against £1,370,000 in the South, or £268,000 more. The North Island trunk line has been accepted by the people of this Island as a necessary colonial undertaking, but the South Island trunk line to connect Nelson with the remainder of this Island is equally necessary, indeed we maintain more necessary and more likely to be advantageous to the Colony. Its construction then should now take precedence and be pushed on to rapid completion.