THE LAKE COUNTY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 12 January 1927, Page 2

THE LAKE COUNTY.

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. At the Lake County jubilee celebrations, Avhich were- held at Queenstown, the toast of “The Lake County” was. proposed by tlie Hon. F. J. Rollestcm, Attorney-General. Mr llolleston said it was in 1900 that ho first made acquaintance wi/th tho Lakes district. On behalf of the Government, ho offered tho Council hearty congratulations on attaining its jubilee. It Avas a good thing that in tlie hurly-burly of life there Avero occasions such as these, Avhen one might pause cm reaching a milestone in history. It Avas a good thing to pause and look back 50 years on tlie Avork of tho pioneers Avlio had carved their homes out of tlie wilderness. Local government Avas a A’cry important function of any community. Lake County .must bo regarded as a A’erv solvent county, for it had few burdens or responsibilities. It was remarkable that its debt should bo something less than £7OOO or £BOOO at the close of 50 years. In some of the northern counties very large sums were paid away annually in interest. Lake County was tlie third or fourth largest county in New Zealand, but it was one of the smallest as far as capital A'alue Avas concerned.. Southland had an area of 3852 squaro miles, and Lake County 3712 square miles, thus shoA\ r ing them to be almost equal in size. But there Avere vast differences in the financial resources of the tAvo counties. Southland had 14£ millions of property to come and go on, and their loan indebtredi'iess itas only £14,000, exclusive-’of the .‘hydroelectric undertaking. This slioivctl that i.n the South Island they Averc prepared to pay tlieTf" Avay as they Wont' along instead of piling up responsibilities, for posterity. : - Mr RcJlrston then referred' tci'tho tourist- traffic and the, setback it received when the weekly service between Melbourne and Bluff was cut out. For some reason or oilier the trade had disappeared, and tho passenger traffic was disappearing too. To reinstate the wceklv service Avould cost more than any Government could give. 'The Shipping companies maintained that' the trade was not there, and that tourists preferred to cross to "Wellington; which was a better passage. there-was no reason Avliy the traffic should nob then come south, with n good 'ferry service such as they ha*d. Wakatipii had a great asset itr its magnificent' scenery, and in another ten cr twelva years it should be-much better known The speaker then congratulated the cli a irman on his haA-ing occupied the chairmanship of the Council for over 25 years. It Avas a very fine record, and he was sure "the fact must be accounted for in some A-erv good reason, on the part of the ratepayers. In responding to the toast. the chairman thanked Mr Rolleston for In's personal references. A chairman could, hoAvever, attain little success without the co-operation of his Councillors. Mr Reid then made a brief rcrioAV of. the history of the county, carrying his audience on from 1877, when there was onlv one bridge (Victoria) rv’i the road betAveen CrortiAA'ell and QneenstoAvn.