The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1919. URGENT PROBLEMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 October 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1919. URGENT PROBLEMS.

The tenor of tlie discussion on the Public "Works Estimates was just what might be expected on the eve of a general election. There was a certain amount of criticism and a fairly general condemnation of the present system, but a total absence of attempts to formulate solutions of the urgent problems of the time. We are being continually reminded that greater production is necessary, but so far no step has been taken to organise with that end in view. The time has arrived when the vital questions of labor and development must be systematically co-ordinated on stand business lines. No scheme of development can be effective without an adequate supply of labor, and to obtain the latter a satisfactory policy of immigration is essential. Labor is, therefore, the dominant factor in public works, development, and greater production. Obviously, the first duty of the Government is to devote serious consideration to the framing of a scheme of immigration that will attract the best class of labor—men who would give good value for their wages and could look forward to becoming prosperous settlers, part of the inducement offered to them being the certainty, after a given period, of becoming landholders. Such a proposal would in no way interfere with the Government's pledge to place returned soldiers on the land, a process that should be ' completed long before the imported labor people have finished the work that is now so urgently required. Few people realise how seriously the lack of labor is affecting the community. Even Taranaki, which is regarded as a well settled province, is not producing a tithe of what it might if the land could be thoroughly cleared and brought into full cultivation and close settlement. This can only be done by an influx of workers who have an incentive to giving of their best. Land and public works are suffering far more than is generally realised from the lack of labor. Never was there a time when vigorous action was so essential to the welfare of the Dominion as at present. Considering the large sums of money expended on public works in normal times, it is clear there is an imperative need for the policy of the Department being framed on common-sense, business lines, so that some intelligent and effective system should be in force in order to carry out the works in their natural sequence. "What appears to be wanted is the recognition of the proper starting points of the essential means to develop the country. For instance, as a producing commuunity the key points are the ocean ports. and all main"roads and railways should be constructed to link up the back country with these ports. It must also be recognised that railways cannot fulfil their purpose unless they can be fed by good roads, so that the first problem to solve is the roading, 'egßesMUx &eU*metaUed iusteriafe

roads. This is really the most important factor in development and production, and urgently needs prompt and vigorous prosecution throughout the Dominion. The subsidiary roads are only second in urgency, and they, too, should be provided in such a way as to carry the traffic at all seasons of the year. Railway construction requires to be systematically carried out on sane, business lines, the most urgent being constructed as speedily as possible. There will, of course, be diversity of opinion as to urgency, and that is one potent reason why political influence should be eliminated. Possibly it would be politic to constitute the Commissioners of Crown Lands into a Public Works Board for the purpose of allocating expenditure and deciding on the order in which .the works should be carried out. These Commissioners have the requisite knowledge that would fit them for the task, and they are outside the pale of political or local influence. ■. The first requisite, however, is labor, and unless the Government acts promptly in evolving a satisfactory immigration scheme, it will be failing in its duty to the country. Wages are high, but it would seem that the greater the increase ' in pay the less is the service rendered, and this is bound to continue until it.is adjusted by the law of supply and demand.