The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, February 16, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 955, 16 February 1911, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, February 16, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tint Thorough Council have decided to order an inspection of all vehicles plying for hire within the Borough in order to ascertain whether the Borough by-laws are being complied with. Unfortunately the by-laws in respect to vehicles are not sufficiently comprehensive. They deal with the width of tyres, lighting and loads. There should be a provision made to safeguard passengers against accident and the license ol any vehicle should be cancelled if the inspector is of opinion that the vehicle is unsound or the harness faulty. We are informed that certain vehicles used for the conveyance of passengers to the beach are in need of inspection. Our informant says that it is nothing short ol miraculous that a serious accident has not been recorded. The Council should therefore order a closer inspection of vehicles before granting licenses for same.

The Feilding Star, referring to the Sanson tramway, says that if the extension were made to Feilding the profits would be increased. The paper continues; “ If our business people could get such a direct connection with the seaboard, housekeepers especially would reap a benefit in a reduction of the cost of living, owing to the cost of bringing goods Irom Wellington by rail.”

Referring to the agitation in favour of extending the tramway to connect with the railway either at Bulls or Marton, our Devin contemporary says: ” Recent developments in political finance, and the pressing needs ot railways in various parts of New Zealand, have caused the Devin-Gratford railway extension movement to fall out of the forefront of public endeavour. None the less, it is desirable that Devin and its neighbouring settlements should strive to keep a lively pulse in this railway extension movement; for though it may be perfectly true that no public money is available for prosecution of this work at present, there is reasonable likelihood of better prospects being

apparent in a very few years from now. The Manawatu Railway purchase proposals were scouted for many years as financially impracticable, but in a comparatively little time the great purchase came about, aud the ease with which the money was found, eventually, was one of the most noteworthy aspects of the whole transaction. A similar condition will be reached by some other railroad proposals before any great period of time elapses, and when the time of change arrives the proposals which will be taken up first assuredly will be those regarding which the most persistent advocacy and agitation has been kept up by the communities more nearly affected. In Levin there has been next to nothing done in the matter ol the Levin-Greatford branch movement since the day—some nine months ago—on which Sir Joseph Ward proved himself so calculatiugly cool to the deputation of Levin citizens which put the case for extension before him.” Our contemporary concludes by stating that the tramway is almost as of vital importance to Levin as to Fox ton.