THE GLOBE. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1881. THE WATER SUPPLY QUESTION.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2382, 21 November 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1881. THE WATER SUPPLY QUESTION.

There is an ancient proverb, “ Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first render mad,” which we think will apply with much force to the opponents of the water supply scheme. They have suffered themselves to he influenced hy the blatant outpourings of a few demagogues who, unfortunately for themselves and the public, have demonstrated most fully tha fact that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Such as these are to ho found in every community, and always on the side of opposition to any scheme which has for its object the welfare of the people. Selecting some popular cry—in the present instance “ more taxation ” without regard to its truth, so that it influences the unthinking as to make them believe that what is really intended for their benefit is quite the reverse these selfstyled patriots do an infinite ameunt of harm in retarding progress which would otherwise be made. Have the majority of the citizens who recorded their votes against the proposal ever thought of the fact that there exists some two-thirds of the city thickly populated, and having a largo amount of valuable property within its radius, but which is yet entirely destitute of the means of fire prevention ? Is it not a fact that wore a fire of any magnitude to break out in one of our suburbs, the brigade would be powerless to check it, and it would simply have to burn itself out, only stopping in its ravaging course because there would be no more material left for it to feed upon? Yet in the face of all this, in spite of the reiterated appeals by the superintendent of the Eire Brigade for more water power, and his statement that practically the fine body of men under him are at times rendered useless for want of it, there are to be found a majority willing to be led away by a parrot cry raised by a few husyhodies without the slightest foundation, and by their votes to postpone indefinitely what is admitted by all to be one of the greatest necessities of tho city. As to the fallacy of tho “ more taxation ” statement, we have shown over and over again that it has absolutely no foundation whatever, in fact, on the contrary, the balance of evidence is decidedly in favor of tho presumption that so far from being a burden on tho rates, tho water scheme would have been a yearly increasing source of income. The day may perhaps como when, whether they like it or not, tho citizens of Christchurch will he forced, under the shadow of a great calamity, to do that which they have now deliberately rejected. It is not by any means beyond the hounds of possibility that a firo involving the destruction of a largo amount of property —aye, and it may be loss of life—might break out at any time, and that those who have taken an active part in tho rejection of a scheme which might have prevented such a calamity, will learn a bitter lesson convoyed in tho words, “ Too late.” The people have chosen, and tho responsibility rests with them therefore. Their representatives in the City Council have done their duty, professional men and the public journals have done theirs, and no blame can attach to them. But a very serious and solemn responsibility does rest upon those persons who for motives of their own have so warped and blinded

the judgment of the great bulk of those voting against the scheme as to cause them to take part in the rejection of a great public benefit. They have done so on false premises, and with a distortion of facta which for the present has proved victorious. But though this is so, the truth is found to prevail, and when the dust which these gentlemen have so industriously thrown into the eyes of the citizens on this question has cleared away, there will be but one feeling, and that of regret, that so much valuable time has been lost in the commencement of so necessary and useful a public work. We can only trust that this awakening may not he precipitated by the occurrence of a calamity such as we have referred to. Should such an one eccur we have the authority of the superintendent of the Fire Brigade—a gentlemen not in the habit of making rash statements —for saying that in certain quarters of the city remote from the present miserably inefficient water supply, his brigade would be practically powerless. This is the state of things as contrasted with the enhanced security to life and property afforded by a fire plug system, which the citizens of Christchurch, on the ipse dixit of a few agitators, the leader of whom by the way is largely interested in insurance shares, have decided shall continue. When this is the case, there is no longer reason for wonder that strangers should remark upon the difference in progress evinced in Christchurch and Dunedin. Had Christchurch, with all its natural advantages, the enterprise and public spirit which animates the citizens of Dunedin, she would ere this have taken the position which by right she should occupy, that of the chief city of the south. But this can never be while we exhibit this miserable spirit of cheeseparing in connection with public affairs, of which this water supply question is a notable example. With everything in our favor, with space and resources almost unlimited, we are content to drift along, falling to the rear when we should be in the van, letting “ wo dare not ” wait upon “ wo would.”