The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JAN. 14. 1908. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3782, 14 January 1908, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JAN. 14. 1908. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The slow progress being made by the contractors for the erection of the Shannon-Moutoa bridge has been severely and adversely commented upon by the members of the Manawatu County Council and by the members of the local Borough Council at last night’s meeting. No one, so far as we can ascertain, has given any reason for the delay. To have the bridge constructed up to contract time, March next, the contractor will have to shake things up considerably. The Manawatu County Council at first refused to pass the progress payment as a protest against the snail pace being made, but subsequently crawled down believing that severe criticism would have the desired .effect. The local Borough Council last night went a step further and twisted the tail of the contractor to the extent of refusing to pass its proportion of the payment. It may be that the contractor however, is, as the carpenters sometimes say, “stuck for timber,” or can’t secure men. If this is so, the engineer for the work should take the trouble to inform the local authorities of the tact and so make the contractor’s position less acute. Whatever the cause the whole countryside is dissatisfied with the slow progress of construction.

One of the new by-laws adopted by the Council and now in force prohibits persons from lighting fires within the borough without first obtaining the sanction of the Town Clerk. At last night’s Council meeting the Clerk was under the impression that this bylaw was placing rather much responsibility upon his shoulders. We fail to see that there is any cause for the Town Clerk’s appre-

heusions; In any case he would satisfy himself that the element of risk was minimised before, granting a permit. This is.done in other boroughs. But what we particularly object to is the arbitrary, rediculous and conflicting resolution passed by the Council last night instructing the Town Clerk not to permit the lighting of fires in the open, within a ce:tain area set out in another column. Numbers of careful people in the area mentioned are in the habit of boiling .their clothes and burning garden refuse and litter in the open, under careful observation who will be prohibited from doing so in the future. If the Council does not wish to appear ridiculous, it will rescind the resolution, and allow the by-law to remain without this restriction.

At last night’s meeting of the Borough Council, the Feilding Agricultural Society sent along a request, asking that the Council invite the business people to close their premises on the occasion of People’s Day of the Show. Surely this is an ingenious method of advertising the Show at the Council’s expense. Most Foxton people are in ignorance that Feilding is possessed of an Agricultural Society, because of its parsimonious policy. If the Feilding Society desire local patronage, it should spend a little money locally by way of advertising, and not use the Borough Council to “push its cart.” Will the Secretary of that institution kindly paste this hint in his hat, for future reference.