The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 13. RED FLAG—DANGER!

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 107, 13 August 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 13. RED FLAG—DANGER!

The Hon. R. M«Kenzie has be-, •came alarmed about the oi ohe| people of xSew Piymouui. lie. suggests' that mineral oil is a very -dangerous commodity, and that as there are [ 100,0W) .gallons storea at Motuiua, ..he | position is serious, lie lias jiioouuiy. pictured this town wrapped in oiiy flames and the terror-stricken people racing for the slopes of Mount Jigmunt or Tarawera, or even more distant mountains, seeing that distance is no j object to the Junister. The Minister 1 has not seen the oil bores, and he is | perhaps unaware that, tuey are k wo : miles lroin the town, that they are in I open country, that there are lew bufld-1 l ings in proximity, that people are not ! likely to congregate in the vicinity } and j that there is more danger of the destruction of property (or people) in the vicinity of a kerosene bond than in the vicinity of a hundred underground tanks for crude oil. The Minister was vague. He suggested no methods whereby the lives and property of the people ot New i'lyniouth might be saved from the devastating flames at Moturoa. He did not say where oil should be stored, if not in the safest possible place (underground); he did not mention whether the Government would appoint armed inspectors to see that the public did not deliberately open the lids of the tanks to set fire to the oil, and he forgot to miorm the House what particular countries containing oil he had visited, and wnat precautions oil companies .took to save the lives of people two miles away. It 'seems almost possible that it would be too unofficial to give a promising industry a clear run. In the other countries vaguely referred to by the Minister, the oil industry is easily as important as the gold mining industry or the coal mining businesses. The Minister represents a mining district. His heart is in mining, and while he gives an official kick at the oil business, he does not forget to administer a stimulant to the mining industry. "That there are many mining ventures worthy oi state financial assistance is invariably admitted, and I propose to submit legislation this session to remove the existing legal obstruction," he said on Thursday. It is sincerely hoped that the mines which are to receive financial assistance will be so thoroughly guarded that there will be no danger to the people living two miles away.

MR. HINE'S CHARGES. At present every member of the House of ißepresentatives is under a Dan placed on the whole of that 'body by Mr. Hine, M.P., for Stratford. A lew days ago Mr. Hine mentioned that some members of Parliament had used their positions for obtaining illegal conimissons. The bombshell fell in an astonished House, astonished not so much because it is absolutely impossible for a member to be dishonest, but because no one knew whether the charges were fictional, or (if true) the persons against whom they were levelled. Mr. Hine, heroically stood to his guns, and refused to disclose the (names of the members, although this was the only possible proceeding that any man could take who believed his cause was just and his duty to the country and House clear. Mr. Hine's second statement is certainly a little more definite than his j first, but it is still unsatisfactory. He has referred to the alleged transactions by members, and every member in the House is still under suspicion. If there are dishonest members in ParlwriieiM \ men now out of Parliament who v»>re •there to feather their own nests, they should,in the case of the former, be immediately called on to resign, and in the case of the latter named, so that the country might know who they are. While Mr. Hine refers to them only by numbers, he, in a sense, condones their alleged misdeeds by allowing them to remain unmasked. In the past no one has doubted Mr. Hine's courage. At the moment it is possible to believe that Mr. Hine is afraid. It is as much his duty to name the alleged miscreants as it is for the House to refuse them room when they are named. Mr. Hine's duty is clear, and we hope he will discharge it without further delay.

PRIHE AND POVERTY. An aged widow has just died in Dunedin under distressing circumstances. The story, as published yesterday, is one to make the heart Weed for neglected people who are too proud to beg and too independent to exist by charity. In a country like New Zealand it is especially hard that there should be any deserving poor at all, for the land is rich enough to make poverty Unnecessary. We mention the death of this poor old lady who had 1 for twenty years been too proud to have her wretched pittance augmented by .charity in order to draw a contrast. In all the cities of New Zealand, and in many other centres of population, there is a large number of brazen professional paupers. At each meeting of benevolent trustees the usual army tails in and demands that the ■State shall keep them. In Wellington it is not uncommon for women dressed expensively to apply for relief and to keep on applying for relief week by week. In many cases there is an organised system of managing these affairs, and in most of them there is a loafing ne'er-do-well husband in the background. It is rather remarkable that usually the man has not the courage to face a board, and that the woman has to do the necessary battling. In the case of chronic loafers who approach boards, a system has lately been introduced that has had a useful effect. Men' have been granted relief only if they consent to work under the board's overseers. The fact that the majority-of these loafers do not report themselves for work is the host evidence that they are professional cadgers. The chronic pauper in New Zealand is a distinct type, and, as a rule, does not carry the brand either in appearance or clothing. He frequently complains about ■ the quantity and quality of rations. One ■ woman who had been a protege of a , board for years, absolutely refused to accept a pair of new boots. "I couldn't • wear those heavy things," she said. She : was in the habit of wearing "glace kids." , The disparities of life which produce on the one hand a poor old woman who dies of poverty and pneumonia because she was too proud to beg, and on the other hand the sleek professional pauper who wants kid boots, are very great and very pitiful. Ceaseless struggle is always admirable, and honest pride a noble attribute. And there are many such as that poor old lady of whom charitable organisations hear no word. i 4 iR'IVER SILTING.

The mining industry on the upper Thames has enriched many people in England, and has ruined many people near to the mines. A few more years under existing (conditions will see a wholly ruined country from Waihi to Thames, and l the intervening towns must be swept away by floods. The interven-

ing lands are of more real utility to -New Zealand than the mines of tiie upper Thames, and this necessitates expert enquiry. A commission has sat and its recommendation* must bo carried out if the great stretch of low-lying country is to bn saved. The damage done h ■ tV mining eomr>an ; esj .begins on tl>" h : '' vh'rti arc denuded for mining r"irpo="s. Th'-s causes floods and river i»nv=io'i. \ The fi-eate 1 mullock, containing evnanide ■ vrh'nh noianie ill the fish and the land <,« well—is ™T,t;„d ; n to the rivers. The rivers are fu 1 ! of willow snags, and hnvo hp"ome imna«able to the steamers which "sod to navigate them. The rivers have i bitten into the banks, and the tailing have spread over thousands of neves e l ' country, ruining the settlers, whom fmining countries do not eornnrnsn'" The Commission's recommendations r-c bv wav of making vast repairs of +!m evil, of prohibiting the absolute fro»d"v of the mining companies to ruin the sutlers and the land, to build walls, to compensate settlers, and generally to set | right the incalculable damage done. It is improbable thafbv dredging and snagging and walls floods will be prevented, but the suggestion to reafforest the hills is the best made in this regard. But ■ reafforestation is a slow process, and it will be many years before the trees ore big enough to make life on the flats i safe and comfortaible. The outstanding ■ fact in connection with the ruinous operations of mining companies is that , they have never shown the slightest inclination to quit doing damage, and up to recently no one had made an attempt ■ to restrain them ruining a countryside i which is, in its ordinary state, as fertile ■ and as pleasant as Taranaki.- ■————»^—