The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1912

Horowhenua Chronicle, 25 October 1912, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1912

POLLUTION OK WATKIJ MILL. A bill now before Parliament, and ;i lull rc(|iiii ing careful watehin , -. i> iln'- Pollution of Water Hill. Tin.-. hill h,ad its origin in tho injuiu-i ion granted liy the Chief Justice certain Ilaxinillers of Oroua Comity or thei eaboiits who were polluti'ig the river then- liy draining iviii.m' into il. After till' injunction v, a> granted t.alk and [imitation tnok place, and an impression wa.s created that the injunction meant ruin to the flax industry and those connected therewith, and all thoo busiiic.ss people who heiielifed :n----dii'cetly. Tlumi followed deputations to tho Premier, and at last fame tho Pollution oi' Water Hill. This measure confers too threat a privilege upon millers and oiliers. Suction I?, notably. Thus section declaivs tli.at lit :;inv action relatinp; to pollution of water Tiy wa.sto piodncts the plaintiff's remedy shall he in damages, and he shall not. he entitled to an injunction unless he shall prove to the satisfaction of the Court that such pollution has caused, or is causing to him or to Ins property such "actual and irI'opni'rahh ,,, los.s and damage acannot he tho subject of compensation by fliamau.es. The principle above .set up i> exacting in its requirement-;. To ask a plaintiff to establish "actual and irreparable loss' , is to restrict too much his ordinary leiral rights as a member of tin , liedv politic. are especial sufferers hy thi! drainage from mil!-. iaiid it is not proper that they should be restricted in this manner from their ordinary le.iral rights. Tlio flaxmill industry is a useful one ami a. profitable one to this district, and to the whole of \"ew Zealand lor that niiatter, but (lie fhixmillers , interesfs should not lie exalted :>vor those of all othor sections of the ci)ininunity. The bill now before Parliament should be a-niended so as to make it obligatory on the miller to .show conclusively the impossibility of preventing pollution before he could secure from any court an exemption fro in injunction. As matters are now, in some districts. I here are .streams so polluted with decaying refuse that the wafer in them i-i (|iiito unlit for stock to drink, and "in consequence wide nrea.s of land lie idle which in other circumstances could be used profitably. And the pity of it all is that the outer coat of the green ILax, when properly distributed over sandy lands or other light soils, givey them a body and si, richness that ensures profitable fertility. The present disposal of flax refuse, in short, is one more instance of what The Hoi'owheniia Chronicle referred to last month, when it regretted the waste of millions of pounds sterling that occurs annually in New Zealand through failure to utilise hy-oro-ducts.