WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 December 1920, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

CHRISTMAS TRADE. COUNTING THE SHILLINGS. (Our Special Correspondent). ! . WELLINGTON, December 22. I Assisted by exceptionally good weather, for Wellington, the retailers liavo been doing a fairly good Christmas trade during the past week. 'Sales, so far, have not been equal to what they : were at this time last year, when the soldiers' gratuities were being either ' spent or anticipated, but they have not declined to the extent that was predict- ' ed. Purchasers are counting their shillings more carefully than they did twelve months ago and spending them rather on articles of use than on mere playthings and ornamonts. Retailers had prepared to some extent for this 1 change in the demands of their clisto- ( mers and as far as possible are cater- , ing for their requirements and necessities. It is certain, however, that largo stocks of Christmas wares will be carried over and that the importaj tions of this class of goods next year will be materially reduced. EXPLOITING.THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.

Tlie Minister of Education is much perturbed by the ever-mounting cost of . school buildings and apparently, with I good Reason. One of the Education i Boards recently obtained from the De- | pnrtment, a grant of £1,300 for a. new school, its application for the money having been based upon the Board’s estimate of the cost. AVhen tenders for ■the work came to he called there was only one response, a tender from a bulilder who wanted £2,900 for tlie work. In. another case the Board’s architect estimated the cost of a building at £3,200 and the lower of the two tenders received was £5,000. In a third ease the architect’s estimate of £4,000 was £I,BOO below tho only tender received. There have been numbers of eases of a similar kind and in most of them the Department has paid the additional money rather than have the works indefinitely postponed. THE LAST STRAW. Now, however, the Hon. C. J. Parr has taken a stannd. He has good reason to believe that the prices demanded by the contractors have not been fair and reasonable, and lie has decided to' confer with the representatives of the Board’s next month with n view to devising some more efficient and economical system of building. The outcome of this movement may' be the establishment of a State building department. Already one or two of the Boards are doing their own work, employing an architect and paying the award wages, with results which are snjd to be entirely satisfactory. Local builders questioned on the subject declare that their profits so far from being excessively high are actually lower than they were before the great increase in the cost of materials. TRAM FARES.

Tlie City Council’s celebration of Christmas includes a further increase in tram fares, and a large section of the public consisting mainly of people compelled to make daily use of the trams to reach their work in the city, is talking loudly of inefficient and waste ful management. The motion to increase the fares was carried by only a narrow majority in tlie City Council the Labour members in particular strongly opposing tlie additional tax upon the workers, and it is now being re-argued that the property owners benefited bv the service, the ratepayers that is, should shoulder the burden. The logic of this does not appeal to the financial experts, who contend that the people who use tho trams should pay for them, and there is little prospect of the question being reopened. An independent investigation of the management, however, still is among the possibilities of tho future. •