The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, January 25, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1098, 25 January 1912, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, January 25, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The necessity for raising the age limit of children who are allowed to t.ravelfree on the railways, from three to seven years,—which we advocated some time ago, —is now receiving attention in other parts of the Dominion, and a number of journals have taken the matter up. Our Feildiug contemporary of yesterday’s issue, in dealing with the subject, says : “ There should be some further concession given to those who travel with young children by increasing the age of exemption to five or six years. It is claimed that hundreds of thousands of pounds have been given to users of the railways in reductions of freight during the last ten years, and it is surely not too much to ask that the very class it is desirable to encourage in a young country like this — those who are training up young families —should share in the benefits so liberally bestowed upon the rest of the community. We are aware that it is not of much use urging reforms in railway matters just now, not that the present Minister of Railways would not be favourable to them, but that there seems to be some stumbling-block centred in hidebound officialism which prevents anything like fair consideration being given to the most desirable proposals. However, it is possible that there may be a new regime in the course of the next few weeks, and there will then be an opportunity to press home demands for a good many alterations of vital importance to the owners and users of the railways.”

To-night the Wellington City Council will re-open the case of tramway inspector Fuller. It will be remembered that the Tramway Union requested the Council to dispense with the services of this officer for certain reasons, and the Council passed a resolution to the effect that Inspector Fuller should be given employment in some other branch of the service. A notice ol motion was tabled to rescind the resolution and the official was kept on and in the meantime the Union formulated a number of charges against him. The Council invited the Union to prove their charges, but they refused to do so, because Fuller was represented by counsel. Fuller denied the charges, which in the main, were trivial. The Union threaten that if Fuller’s services are retained as inspector the men will strike, and tramway locomotion will be at a standstill. It seems preposterous that the Council should be dictated to by the Union on matters of administration. II they give way on this point the Council had better go the whole hog and hand over the 'management of the tramways to the Union’s executive. In conversation with a few of the conductors this week we were informed that they were opposed to a strike, and that Fuller was a very capable officer. One said that the whole affair would have been satisfactorily settled had not the press made such a noise about it. A secret ballot had, however, been takeu and if the Union’s demand for the removal of Fuller as an inspector was not acceded to, the men, not only in the tramways, but in the power house would go out. If this happens it will do more harm than good to the cause of unionism, for public opinion is dead against the Union in their attitude towards the inspector.