PASSING FANCIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 57, 11 March 1907, Page 2

PASSING FANCIES.

Uy '"Quii!." ... i I,C r W ' !i „ 11 lmu iU1(1 el '. v about a soel> lor trcvention of Cruelly to AliiI, J-J'® Wijwrs are full 0 f it. So , vt, „ "'-'I of two or Ulrul! »'ho liold c.Uionie ideas on either sid<s. The 1Ul ), 1 f S t0 bu "fe'itatca' on the t LU V 1 ■ ll, l e public iLsJuep. Lulled Kst by tlie knowledge that a in-cat ulll , c,UII <' '»«« of police to "losecutethose people who ill-use their i.M*. \\ ere there any cruelly going oil l.id» in navy blue and silver-tinned hi.iUos would soon haul the oilender Wore the court. It i 6 my fortune to mo\e about a good dull amongst -loclvoivners lind settlers. 1 have done »» lor ninny years. And 1 have come i<> lie conclusion tiiat Taranaki. and - eiv i'lyinoiidi in particular, is po>i- *' uf examples of intentional '■ "cvy to animals! 1„ „„ other part ol he colony have J noticed such .'cure jl brutal,ly , 0 the brute creature*. , 01 and other animals h i bu i'" l '« "«J»od. ' Would the ''""l.vo HK-lft.v be salislicd: then! , I ' l w,) y «'iU this troubler W'liv -ill tills waste of ink'; Why worrv the ulilois mill your lon- and uninler-e-.ting screeds, and why force your seni:jXTSOiial tirades on a long-sull'ering |iublie.' When is 'ill w Society "nin" to be formed'■ Why is it not'starled hi Hint we may be pul out of „ ur <V"I Who's going lo bell the eat? 1 lvl| os going to be the inspeclor'

w>; Mil kum it's absolute irona-nse. .11'; Ihnn-y •..■iiU.mww w j o ,l ;u lv deliver., lln. >l;,ir of life to the people 11 ls J" s t rubbish. Tlie <, t . n tl,;uiun m I'l'H'-iioi tlic upevelie,l I'll tO)) Oi till' IjUt.-h, „.:n u ,|| U ,, is 11 lot of n,t - • >•<■:> <'ui|iiir<' h'om the man on the » ur t j,c driver on a cub you 11 he tuU mi . iiece->ary. 'Jne co;ichdri\er who rallies along Ins team of iivt; hor.vcs j,| ;1 heavy coach is evideatly of the same ! option. At feist, they a!! thai j way. won't find one of them who agrees with the borough autharitie.s '.hat the Poiyderham street bridge is (msal'e lor trallic Notwithstanding I that tlio decking planks rat lie and (lane,- and jump when these vehicies iross. aml that there are notices at each end t hren (enng all sorts of pains <tnvi penalties on people who drive over | (he creaking, aged structure at other than a walking pace, who bel eves il? Nobody, The horses in the cabs and the carls, expresses and coaches, trot gaily over it. and shake i! alniust to its foundations. Who cares?

The man who growls the hardest rtbnnl. the minimum wage business is the employer. He can lie heard at all tunes grumbling because he has to pay to an indifferent employee Ihe same wages as he pays to his reliable men—and the minimum wage is just a comiorlable one for ihe? good men. So, when a man is spending his own money in the payment "of wages ho prnmbles—-nmctmes he swears-about the eompu]>urv minimum wage. |jp considers that the court should fix I he maximum rate! of) pay and M him' work downwards to Ihe amount to be paid to the poorer or less eompetent workmen. Thai's what he does when he has to foot the wages bill himself. But when he's in a public posit : o» he's open-handed, generous*, fixes a rate of pay and gives it to alt and sundry, i Eight shillings «v day to borough cqiui- ;

cil employees. Private employers should pay the same. Just let.s see how the men buckle to in earning that extra pay. Winch way shall we go? the drainage works ought to be a goo,l plaee. Here we are—there they are, tlie shilling an hour men. One of them is busy. tie's taking mutter from the wheel-barrow on the footpath to the centre of the road. It is wanted down m the bottom of the ireneli by the man who is laving the pipes. Note the met hod. ilu i s in the centre oi tlie load, takes up liis shovel, and walks over to tlie burrow, l'icks up a little morlar on tlie point, of his shovel, balances it carefully, and then carries it back to the middle of the road, where it is placed in the bucket. Then another trip, another shovelful put into the bucket, and then it is lowered into the trench. An ordinary employee of an ordinary private employer would have taken the 1 bucket to tlie barrow, or brought the barrow (o ilie bucket. Morai: pay on ' merit and abl ty. Jf a man is worth i 15/ a day pay him it: if he is only • worth 5/ pay him live shillings. Of ■ course tlie law is against this sort of [ thing, but then the law as Artenius ■' Ward used to say is a "hass."

The New Plymouth Borough Council as a beautifying association. Yju may think it's a hit out of their lati tude, hut it'ti not. The councillors are within their rights in doing anything that will tend to the advancement of the town and the best interests of residents. 80 that when an opportunity came along for beautifying the approach ! to the municipal baths, the Council grabbed at that chance like a drowning man at a lifebuoy. The work was inexpensive, but effective. Added to the beauty of the pile erected alougside the building is the interest of antiquiLy. There's a history attached to that venerable pile, Unfortuuately a copy of the history is not placed 011 the ruins. There are some, of course, who fail to recognise the value of the ell'orts of the Council or the beneficial result. There are some who would dare to remove that pile of ancient, storied timber. There are others, fortunately, who llnijve an aye for the beautiful, and one of them sends me the following, which 110 hopes ; will be placed :on the latest ornament to one of the most frequented portions of our beau I Uul foreshore: "Krj ected in the memory of the New Ply- . mouth Borough Council of l!ll)(i-7, who I puiled down an ugly eyesore in a scI questcrcd portion of a scarcely-used I park and brought this unsightly stack , of old wood aud. iron to further disglace tho I own of New Plymouth. Mll.t.l'. (Uesgn if possible)."