THE DISTRICT.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15120, 5 January 1922, Page 4

THE DISTRICT.

There is one great essential, if any marked progress is to be made this year, and that is that the problems should be approached in the right way. The district point-of view must be maintained and if that is done then many of the cross-currents that tend to hinder will be kept within proper channels and lend weight to each and every movement. A lesson that can be learned by a brief of affairs abroad should be applied here. Prosperity cannot be kept *within any fixed bounds. Britain is suffering because of the economic wrecking of continental states. In order to improve the position at Home the experts are now advancing a scheme for re-establishing the countries of Europe economically. If they go down then we suffer. If they can be brought back to a normal state then the re-

ity cannot be confined to a section o£ the community. The slump in the prices of produce has hit very many people who are not farmers. There is an inter-dependency of industry and industry, town and country, state and state.

If any proposition is advanced and judged solely because of the benefit it might confer on:one corner of a district then! nothing is more sure than that 'there will always be a majority who feel that, as they may not benefit directly to a similar extent, the proposal must be defeated. If, say, the boundaries of local bodies are to be made the limits of any concerted effort then nothing in the way of general progress need be expected. Public needs, public facilities, take no notice of such arbitrafy boundaries and they should not weigh when proposals of general importance are under consideration. Development does not come from isolation but from ready and sufficient means of access. Any growth derived from hampering the freedom of trade and commerce is dearly bought in the long run. We are all of one district and our interests cannot be divided into watertight compartments. Certain things are vital to us all. Good roads, cheap transit, ready access are not ■the affairs merely of local bodies. They concern the whole district, and to a certain extent, the whole Dominion. They should be studied in the light of district needs, and settled by close co-operation between all the local bodies concerned. In the last resort the proposals depend upon the individual and it is very necessary that he should take the broad view. A united district can use an influence beyond the power of any section, and, if real progress is to be made this year, then there must be concentration on district needs. The test, as to urgency, has been expressed simply. Whatever will benefit the greatest number of people is probably the most urgent district need.