The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1926. OPEN ROADS AND FIELDS

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 54, 27 November 1926, Page 8

The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1926. OPEN ROADS AND FIELDS

By the calendar, if not the weather, summer is at hand. It is the season of the trippers and the picnickers. The occasion serves for a little homily. In England lafet summer there was a good deal of newspaper discussion on the subject of picnic vandals, people who break fences, trees and shrubs, and leave behind them a litter of bottles, tins, and fruit peelings for others to clear away. . The advent of the motor-car has brought within reach of picnic parties faraway fields formerly inaccessible for reasons of time and distance. To travel very far from the city is to leave behind most of the outing places reserved for the recreation of the public. The picnicker, therefore, must choose between a sheltered nook by the roadside or a more delectable spot on private property. Herein the courtesies of life demand • from them the performance of certain obligations. One of the first things which a new-comer to this country notices is the rarity of the placarded warning, “Trespassers will be prosecuted.”' It is a frequent sight in the Old Country, where the warning is occasionally emphasised by the. addition of the terrifying words, "with the utmost rigour of the law.” In New Zealand our propertyowners, as a rule, are more indulgent, but there are signs of a growing resentment against vandalism and litter. It would be a pity if this resentment were eventually to be expressed in a large crop of trespass notices. In such an event the picnickers would have themselves, to blame. 'Even now, some property-owners have definitely closed their gates to outing parties. ■ In our public parks and reserves receptacles are provided for the disposal of picnic litter. That they are not used so freely as they ought to be is demonstrated by the amount of clearing up which has to be done by the custodians the following day. It may be that in some cases these receptacles are not so visible or convenient as might be desired. That is a matter for the authorities concerned. If it is necessary for the public to be educated in the habit of being tidy out of doors, the training must be systematic. People who throw their litter about should be remonstrated with, and if necessary ordered off the place. On private property the picnicker can only be regulated by his own conscience and self-interest. The call of the open road, the fields, and the woods is drawing an increasing number of people away from the cities at week-ends and holidays. We have left behind the spacious freedom of the old colonial days, and with it the easygoing indulgence of the old-time property-owner. People cannot now wander at will over the country-side. If permission is asked it is seldom refused, but the hospitality extended lays certain obligations upon the recipients of the favour. They should refrain from vandalism and either destroy or remove their litter. The automobile associations are at present endeavouring, to map out pleasant little journeys’ ends for their members, but in some cases they have encountered the after-effects of picnic vandalism. The associations can do much to discipline their own members, but these form but a small part of the outing public. What is wanted is a general recognition of the courtesies due. to the property-owner. Otherwise, though the road may be still open, the fields and the woods will be closed.