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South Canterbury Times, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1882.

The provinces have now been long enough abolished to enable us to judge very fairly of the results of abolition, and it seems very doubtful indeed whether the country has reaped any fair proportion of the benefits which abolition was to bring in its train. In the first place provincial individuality remains the same as at first. There appears to prevail no special desire in any part of the colony (or at any rate, in any part of the Middle Island) to overcome the. old provincial distinctions. So far ns the North Island is concerned, the abolition of provinces ami the nationalisation of the land

'funds'were simply a godsend. As for Canterbury, and Otago the consequences ‘to them have not been altogether satisfactory. For in addition to the loss of their land revenue, they have been saddled with the liabilities of the other portions of the colony, and have had to contend against ah enormous amount of political .wire-pulling. These arc the general results of abolition, so far as we in this provincial district at least are concerned ; and it must be confessed they are very far from being satisfactory or encouraging. When we come to examine particular institutions we find no more reason for congratulation. In the matter of education, it is very difficult to discover that any improvement has taken place Upon the systems before in force. A more ambitious and elaborate programme of instruction has, indeed, been brought forward, and a trifle more departmental flavour has been' imparted to the system. But so far, the cause of Education has not been better served. The programme is too heavy, and the Act under which it was instituted seems to work like illadjusted machinery, with creaking and friction in every part. No results, in fact, in any department have achieved that are one whit more satisfactory than those obtained before; under tbe old regime ’'of Provincialism, We Lave, however, gone ao far that to retreat would be worse than to advance. ■We have no desire to revert to Provincialism as it existed before. We are conscious of the absurdity of establishing nine or ten responsible Governments in a country like New Zealand, and also of tbe “ local parliament” farce. But we can conceive that additional powers of local self-government might with advantage be granted—a modified form of provincialism in ; fact and wo trust the subject will be one of the first to engage the attention of the legislature in the forthcoming session. There are not wanting earnest and able men to carry the cause forward. The younger membeis then .will do well to strengthen the hands of the leaders in this effort.

The inspection of. dairies has been taken up in good earnest in Christchurch, and indeed the importance of a strict supervision of our milk supply can scarcely be over-rated. For it is known to nearly everybody nowadays that the germs of disease find no readier,or surer vehicle, than milk; and we fear that a close examination of a great many dairies would show very insufficient regard to cleanliness, either in the premises or the vessels employed. Every year the matter becomes more and more important. It is so recognised by tbe best and highest authorities, who are not slow to bring every effort to bear upon the promotion of the public health and safety. ; The dangers attending a neglect of sanitary arrangements have been thoroughly set forth, so that the great bulk of people—those who but a few years ago were entirely ignorant of the dangers lurking around thern — are now in possession of sufficient knowledge to enable them to act for themselves. It lies with the people now only to exercise common sense and common prudence, and to profit jby the knowledge they have acquired. ;So far as this immediate matter is concerned there need be no difficulty. Consumers of milk should in justice to themselves, their families, and the community, see to.it that the dairy from Which they - obtain their milk is kept clean and wholesome; that the water about the place is kept.free from impurity ; that there are no stagnant pools from which dangerous exhalations may arise ; that the internal arrangements are such as they ought ( to be; that tbe dairy is isolated from the dwelling and devoted solely to the keeping of dairy produce ; that the vessels are kept clean 1 and constantly scoured; that the person of the dairy-keeper is also’ Clean and .wholesome. For failure in any,one of these minutite entails more or less danger to the consumer. It is now generally understood that the germs of fever are actually borne about in the atmosphere until they come to an object capable of retaining them. No substance more readily catches them, or retains them more securely than milk. Tainted meat, placed in a confined space with a vessel containing milk will in a short time impregnate the milk so as to render it unfit for consumption. If, then, there be any impurity (from whatever cause arising) held in suspension in the air in the vicinity of a dairy, it will find its way into tbe milk. This is a matter to which public attention can not be too often or too forcibly directed.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SCANT18820331.2.7

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2814, 31 March 1882, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
879

South Canterbury Times, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1882. South Canterbury Times, Issue 2814, 31 March 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1882. South Canterbury Times, Issue 2814, 31 March 1882, Page 2

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