THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY. MAY 26, 1880.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1951, 26 May 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY. MAY 26, 1880.

The public inconvenience and interruption to the traffic caused by the passing place of the tramway in Colombo street, opposite Messrs. Montgomery and Co.’s warehouse, has been brought under the notice of the City Council by a letter. This is the part of the line, it will be remembered, in connection with which Mr. Mellish recently delivered a decision. It is plainly to be seen that such passing places coming close into the curb are nuisances and detrimental to the business of the houses over against which they are made, and it would seem as if the Council ought to take some steps in the matter. Singularly enough the same evening on which the letter referred to was read one was received from the solicitors to the Council relative to the line through Cathedral square, but which has a very important bearing on this passing-place question, as we shall show. It appears that in the deed of concession, and the accompanying plans for the Cathedral square line, the tramway was shown as taking the side of the street. But the Governor’s Order in Council—which the solicitors advise, over-rides everything else—makes it compulsory on the Tramway Company to keep the centre of the street as nearly as may bo. This being so, the question arises whether the company have not exceeded the powers given them by the Order in Council which has been so triumphantly flaunted in the faces of remonstrating councillors by the chairman of the company. They have, as is well known, constructed a line along the side of the street in front of the railway station, so as to enable them to land their passengers on the footpath. They have also, in the case of the passing place under consideration, deviated from the centre of the road as laid down in the Order in Council. That it is not necessary in its present shape has been demonstrated by the fact that the other loops have been made in what we may term an egg-shape, and are thus confined to the centre of the road. As the company have presumably exceeded their powers, in deviating from the centre, the City Council, we take it, have the power to call upon them to remove the objectionable passing place at Montgomery’s and to convert it into a passing place of the same shape as the others proposed, so as not to inconvenience the public. As it now is, it will, at no distant date, become not only an ordinary nuisance, but a dangerous one.

The Mayor has carried his proposal to establish a soup kitchen ia Christchurch to a practical conclusion. Last night in the City Council it was agreed to place the old Post-office at the disposal of any committee which might be elected to take charge of it for the purpose of a soupkitchen. While hoping sincerely that the distress likely to prevail during the next few months has been over-rated, it is only wise to be prepared for emergencies. It is far better that steps should be taken before the pressure absolutely arrives, than to wait until we are forced into it by the magnitude of the distress around us. In the one case the plan upon which the kitchen can be worked, the method of distribution, and all other details can be arranged without hurry or confusion, whilst in the other this would scarcely be possible. Therefore, we feel sure that the public will agree that the step taken by the Mayor and Council is a wise one. So much having been done, a very delicate question yet remains. In carrying out the objects of such an institution, it is imperatively necessary that the greatest care should be exercised in distributing its benefits. The experience gained by the Charitable Aid Board will justify this precaution being taken. They have found numbers of people better off than the majority of the public, upon whom they were living, drawing both money and rations from the Charitable Aid Department. Now it is more than probable that whoever have the management of this institution will find that there are a number of this class of person endeavouring to foist themselves on to the public generosity, whilst possessing means enough of their own to live without aid of this character, The fact of it is that the almost indiscriminate way in which charitable aid was distributed in Canterbury in the old times has to a certain extent demoralised a small section of the people. They have come to regard Government aid not as a last resource, but rather as a comfortable method of being provided for without much trouble on their own part. It is against this class that the committee of management have to guard. The institution is projected to aid the really destitute—those who from a variety of circumstances are unable to help themselves in any way —and not to enable those who can earn their own living, or have families who are doing so for them, to live upon the public without any justification. To this end the committee will have to be carefully selected, and most certainly the Charitable Aid Board should be freely consulted, as they are best fitted from their experience of the class to which wo have referred to see that the bounty of the public does not fall into undeserving hands.