THE HOME OF THE FREE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 145, 28 September 1910, Page 4

THE HOME OF THE FREE.

Ten thousand cottage women of England have appealed 'to the Queen to use her influence to prevent the destruction of their children by motor cars. It is'indicative of the long-suffering nature of English, peasants that they make such an appeal and do not act themselves. Motor carfe in England last year killed numbers of children, moat of whom were playing on the roads. The English, law gives prior right of the road to the foot passenger, but in almost every case where a rich motori&t Mils a poor person "nobody is to blame." The detestable feeling that persons of (wealth have prior right to everything .made for man is nowhere better exemplified than in the domination of the roads 'by motor cares. It is at least gratifying to know thait occasionally an arrant motor J hiqg himself gets slain, and read that in other countries than Britain the people take thie matter in their own hand®. "Wle are only poor people and the majority using motor cars consider us of no account." That is the appeal of the mothers to the Queen. There is no record of poor people in England ever having punished motor-hogs for murdering children, although all continental countries have records of swift and sudden punishment. The police of America are empowered to shoot scorching .motorists who will not "hold up," and perhaps some day the English peasants "of no account"—that is to .say, the people who have mad® England and all tthat is ibe&t worth having in it—may rise to the occasion with the old-time pitchforks, and settle the matter of the motor-hog one® and for all. New Zealand has already produced more than its fair share of men wiho regard highways as their special property, and even New Plymouth is not .without its citizens who regard home-going school children as unnecessary ibralces to their progress of forty malss an hour. The curious point about the New Zealand motor hog is that .his father or grandfather used to consider he was dbing rather well if he punched 'his bullocks fifteen milea a day to do some useful work. The successor likes to do fifteen miles in fifteen minutes in order to get somemhiere to <to nothing. The hurry to do nothing is one of the reasons w% .the motor drones of England regard useful peasants as "of ao nmuV ■