Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1908 EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9094, 13 March 1908, Page 4

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1908 EDITORIAL NOTES.

SIR Joseph Ward scouts the idea that Ke.w Zealand has a heavy debt. To talk of the debt as £G7 per head is according to his view a useless method of reasoning because the State has assets in the shape of land it has bought and railways it has built. It would be a serious state

of affairs, if we had nothing to show as a counterpoise to the burden that has been placed on the country. A great deal of the land bought by Government has been disposed of for 999 yearp, so that even if the rents received suffice to pay interest on the money borrowed, the land hardly provides a ready means of paying off the capital sum. Not a shilling said Sir Joseph had been lost out of the moneys advanced to settlers, amounting in all to six millions and yet some people included this sum in the indebtedness of the colony. Here again no doubt the security for >the capital sunk is good, but what are we to say of the large sums expended in buildings, many of them of wood, and of the money used for replacing worn railway rolling stock and lines? Though the prosperity of “the country is undoubted, the present rate of borrowing cannot be continued without ultimately sapping the foundations of our credit. It is clear that Sir Joseph Ward will never call a halt even though the road to ruin stretches clear ahead and it remains for the people of the country to refuse to be led any longer by such a reckless guide.

THE report of Mr Leslie Reynolds on the possibilities of a water supply for Marton, seems definitely to put out of question the Rangitikei river as a source of supply. The estimated cost of such a supply is £17,139, and this would probably mean £30.000 before the work was completed, a sum which would suffice to kill the scheme without the additional annual charge of £3OO for pumping which at per cent is equal to a further capital expenditure of £9,000. There remain two schemes—improvement of the present supply and artesian water. We fully believe that artesian water could be obtained if a boro were put down to a considerable depth, but there is of course a risk attached to such an experiment, and possibly general opinion may favour the retention of the present source with a raised dam and bigger pipes. No town water supply can he considered satisfactory unless it can he used for drinking purposes, and we fail to see why the contamination of the present source should he any worse than that of the Rangitikei river. In both oases cattle arc grazed on the banks of the stream and the Rangitikei in flood time is probably far more muddy than the present reservoir. Protection of tiio catchment area from pollution, and an efficient filter bed, would, we are confident, render the present supply quite suitable for household use, and we consider that the Council should make enquiries as to the cost of a filter bed, and its value for purification. The present supply, with the dam raised, a filter bed and larger pipes, would in all probability meet requirements. A, lire engine would render the fire brigade more capable of dealing with fires, and should be included in the scheme. Should these proposals prove feasible a plentiful supply of good water for drinking aud fire prevention, would probably be obtained for £IO,OOO.

THE opening of the now Technical School at Feildiug marks one more step in the progress of the distriett, aud we have to congratulate the leaders of the movement on the success which has attended their efforts. In matters of this sort a good beginning is however only a small part of the battle and whatever enthusiasm is shown by the few leading spirits is of little avail unless it is backed by a strong popular sentiment. Both Mr Fowlds and Mr Lethbridge in their speeches at the opening ceremony pointed out that the future of the school depended entirely ou the supply of pupils and we trust that parents and children will both realise the necessity of taking advantage of the privileges provided. At first there will doubtless be a large number of pupils comii, g forward but the test will come after the novelty has worn off and it will then be found much more difficult to fill the classes unless belief in the value of the education provided becomes a deeply rooted conviction.