PENALTIES OF PROGRESS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 September 1926, Page 4

PENALTIES OF PROGRESS

• (Sydney paper.) : The inexorable march of progress

; .often involves the disappearance ol ,i ancient monuments, the loss of which •one cannot hut regret, even if olio recognises the necessity. Sentiment is a powerful if imponderable force, and the efforts of town-planners have not infrequently been hampered by public •opinion. When Napoleon 111 beautified Paris by razing to tlic ground an unsavoury warren on the right bank ol the Seine, and forming tiro -great new streets, the line de Kitoli, and the Rue de la Paix and the Boulevards, ::[ ;e encountered a great deal of opposition at the outset, although the Parisians were soon reconciled to the satriJices. and applauded the undertaking. Another Emperor who embarked upon ;iv somewhat similar enterprise bad a less pleasant experience. Nero, who, in the light of modern ' research, is .considered not to have been nearly as black as be is painted by tradition, decided to wipe out the crowded slums in ; the older quarter of Rome. Elaborate ! .arrangements were made for me accommodation of the persons evicted. Barracks were built to house them. . of food were concentrated.

And then, when the preparations were -complete, the torch was applied. But Nero’s reforming zeal has met with a poor reward. A legend, sedulously -fostered by later Caesars, who sought

•to discredit the Julian line, represents liim as a callous and irresponsible incendiary. Moreover, to aggravate bis •offence, did lie not, with inexcusable frivolity, play the fiddle while Borne

'■ burned! The last .insinuation is uujf lair. Would we censure a musicallyjv inclined Minister of Public Works who, ji'-while resumed property was being deli -intdishedt diverted himself with a ' gramophone ? jl Compared with Koine or Paris Sydt ney is a mere parvenu. Act. short as •i -is our history, the transforming hand

of time lias loft its impress upon Sydji ney, tori. In less than a generation | .-’the face of t’l’.o city has entirely altered. !j -Quite* apart from .the new buildings li which tower everywhere, tliere lias II been a general clenning-up. I One cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs, nor can we effect

necessary improvements without dc-

i stroyiti" much that we would otherwise ;-fain preserve. This truth lias been i forcibly brought borne to the people of London. Recently- the House of Lords passed a measure providing for the “disposal” of nineteen city churches. 1 Xino of these were erected before the

Great Fire which devastated London in 1(5(53, but were more fortunate than the 88 which, were then ( burncd, and escaped. Others were built by Christopher Wren. Many of them possess rare architectural and historical value. Naturally the proposal has excited keen hostility. 'l'he Londoner is deeply attached to his monuments, as wit-.

uos*,s the outcry aroused by Hie scheme \t do away with Waterloo Bridge, and the magnificent response to the, appeal for a fund to repair St. Paul’s Cathedral. Londoners in the farthest cornel's of the world contributed. Between the general public and the traffic expert or tlio engineer who insists that .London must keep abreast with- the

times, there exists a perpetual feud. ’I lie attack upon these churches is regarded by the Londoner as downright sacrilege. Are not the chimes of .some ol those threatened churches embodied in that nursery rhyme, “ Oranges and Lemons.” which every London child learns in its cradle! The Londoner will not he deprived of these memorials if lie can prevent it. It is true that these churches are unique natiom memorials. It- is equally true that several of them have practically ceased to serve as places of worship. They had congregations while people lived in the- confines of tliq city, but now, as a result of the drift to the suburbs, theii pews arc empty. Also, some ol them are very serious obstructions to traffic. St. (.'lenient Danes, for example, is in the very middle of the Strand, and forces the stream of swiftly -moving vehicles into two narrow, congested 'channels. -- remains to ho seen whether the claims of sentiment o. utility will prevail.