Public Opinion in the Roaring Twenties: Letters to Editor 1920-1925

In total 887 ‘Letters to the Editor’ were submitted to William Gifford, the owner of The Bay of Plenty Times, between January 1920 and December 1925. By far the largest category was complaint-related and accounted for seventy-three percent of all letters written.

Over the five-year period the most frequent complaints were focused on the backward nature of the town. Many letter writers blamed terrible roads, poor leadership and the negative attitudes of residents. It was a battle between those who wished to spend money to improve the town’s infrastructure and facilities and those who saw nothing wrong with Tauranga and certainly didn’t want to spend their money paying for so called improvements.

Looking towards the disputed land at the bottom of Sixth Avenue, circa 1920s. Many years later it would become Memorial Park
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 99-795

There were numerous flash points, including whether to secure land on the foreshore to create a park at the bottom of Sixth Avenue and the construction of a bridge to Otumoetai. On the matter of the bridge, one disappointed land agent wrote: “I was astounded to see in your issue of the 29th instance that it had been decided to drop the bridge across the Waikareao, and this was strongly supported by several of the ratepayers that would have been considerably benefited. Every move has been tried by the ‘Death to Tauranga Crowd’ to stop this bridge and their tactics in forcing the cost of it up has no doubt done the trick.”

The bridge to Otumoetai was eventually opened in December 1959
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 04-434

Connected to these controversies was debate around rate collection and spending, which included factions both for and against Council borrowing. Few seemed to trust Council to spend money wisely and some even accused the Mayor and Councillors of incompetence, or worse, deliberately withholding information. This was particularly heated around borrowing to develop the town’s electricity supply. As one writer put it: “The Mayor is in the dark, Councillors are in the dark and the unfortunate ratepayers know less than nothing, their business apparently being to foot the bill. The Mayor is a happy individual if he imagines that thinking ratepayers will let vital matters go through in such a slipshod manner, without a protest.”

There were other issues which appeared again and again. Animal welfare and the town’s associated animal regulations caused considerable consternation in the early 1920s. Writing under the heading ‘A Nocturnal Menace’ one resident pleaded: “Will the Borough Council take steps to keep the streets clear of wandering horses at night? Some of these horses are evidently vicious. One that was browsing on the footpath of a street the other night lashed out at a pedestrian. Is this breaking of the borough regulations to continue until someone is killed or maimed?”

Letters that discussed sporting concerns were also common. One long thread debated the establishment of a Rugby League team in Tauranga with livid Rugby fans accusing League promoters of luring players away with promises of payment. In return League supporters claimed that Rugby officials threatened to ban those who switched codes.

Te Puna Rugby team, 1920. No doubt some of these players were tempted to switch codes
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. 08-073

Finally, how the town looked was important to many. Town beautification was viewed as essential and often fell short of expectations. Litter was particularly bad especially on the town’s beaches: “Here again we find more rubbish, broken glass, old tins, crockery, to say nothing of an occasional dead cat.”  Trees were a constant bone of contention with most wanting to see more planted and existing ones better taken care of. However, this pro-tree attitude was not universal. For example, opinions for and against trees being planted along Cameron Road often appeared in the paper. As one ‘Camerodian’ put it, “I fail to see what Mr Murdoch has to boast of in leading the way in planting trees on a public thoroughfare after the ratepayers and residents had recorded their votes against the planting and decided that no planting should be done on the main street. I would point out that if all were allowed to plant trees at their own sweet will in front of their houses, what a nice hodge podge the streets would become.”

This article was originally part of a longer presentation given by Fiona Kean at a Tauranga Historical Society meeting earlier this year.