CURRENT TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 220, 18 January 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

ENFORCED RETIREMENT. J The alteration in the municipal law is t causing the retirement of a number of I public men throughout the Dominion. 1 Councillors Bellringer and Uockrill, two i of our foremost public men, have had to ' resign, and it may be that still another 1 will have to follow suit. Tile Municipal I Corporations Act of 1(108 made it illegal i for any person to be elected to or to ( hold the office of mayor or councillor if. 1 he were concerned or participated "iu ' any contract with or work to be done or i the supply of goods for the Council, if ' the payment of such contract or work or 1 supply exceeds £5 for any one contract { or work or supply, or £lO altogether in I any one year if more than one contract : or work or supply." The same act also i provided that (1) "if any person, while i holding office as councillor or mayor, be- .: comes incapable 'under the last preceding section, his office shall be thereby vacated, and such vacancy shall be deemed an extraordinary vacancy; (2) if any person does any act as a councillor or mayor, being incapacitated under the last preceding section, or before ho has made and subscribed the declaration hereinafter mentioned, he is liable to a fine not exceeding £SO for every such offence." This provision was, however, qualified by the specific exemption of persons who were ''shareholders in any incorporated company, or in an association or partnership consisting of more than twenty persons." The Legislature has seen fit to modify the latter provision to the extent of excluding from it any person who is either a director or the general manager of an incorporated company. So that if , a director is a party to the passing of

an account one penny in excess of the £lO limit, he renders himself ineligible to continue in office and make himself liable for the heavy penalty provided for "voting or taking part in the discussion of a matter before the Council or in committee in which he had a pecuniary interest." It seems unreasonable that .the community should be deprived of the ser- , vices of some of its most experienced and able men because they may be only nominally interested in business transacted ' with the local body with which they may ■ be connected. But the law had to be j

made drastic to become effective. It aims at purifying municipal life, and that it needed purification was shown by the disclosures of the last year or two. The Chief Justice was moved not long ago to remark that ''the municipal life of New Zealand is at a lower standard than that of any of the Australian States," and though we would be sorry to go to this extent, we have no hesitation in saying that it was time men were prevented from acting on a public body and at the same time doing business with it, personally or under cover of another's name; that, in short, they should not be allowed to act in the dual and irreconcili-

able positions of employer and employee. This sort of thing will not be possible in the future, unless men will be so foolish as to bring themselves within the scope of the criminal law. That the country will be the losers by the enforced retirement of a number of able and conscientious men is true, but it is no easy matter to draw the line, and in the end, we are disposed to think, the new law will justify itself. Of course, we regret

f that such able and experienced men as Councillors Dockrill and Bellringer are * affected by the new law. Both have f splendid records of public service, uns grudgingly and conscientiously given, and tneir loss will be severely felt by the borough.

JUDGE AND PRESS. Recently, in discussing the British Divorce Commission, we tried to show that in New Zealand the Press generally exercised a benevolent discretion in reporting cases of various kinds. It is evident almost daily that leading papers, really to their own, disadvantage, excise details of proceedings on the ground that the public is not benefited by reading certain kinds of evidence. New Zealand judges, without exception, are arrayed on the side, of the Press, acknowledging time after time its impartiality and fairness. In a recent case in divorce, the circumstances were most distressing, and in consideration of this, it was taken in camera. But in a eas'e. arising out of the divorce suit, in which one of the parties was charged with contempt of court, counsel asked that the proceedings be heard in camera. The defendant, wiio was without counsel, also objected very strenuously. Counsel said he only desired to prevent publication of any suggestion that might be made villifyiug any individual or individuals. There was, of course, a suggestion in this that newspapers were not as discreet as some counsel thought proper. And so Judge Edwards' reply is of interest: "The Press of NeAv Zealand, and of Wellington in particular, lias always shown a very proper reticence in publishing details of such matters." The Judge then directed the Press not to report any part of the proIceedings which relleeted upon the morality of either party, but he mentioned also that lie thought it perfectly unnecessary to give the direction. A curious point about the case was that the defendant showed that he objected to any of the proceedings—in divorce or subsequently —being heard in camera, and that publicity or privacy may depend upon the Judge is shown by the fact that the Judge who heard the divorce suit directed that the subsequent contempt of court be also heard in camera. The- substitution of Mr. Justice Edwards, therefore, for another learned Judge obviously prevented in camera proceedings which resulted in a man being sent to gaol very much against the desire of his Honor. The point of interest is that a most careful and able Judge is of opinion that the Press may be trusted, although, as has been recently shown, some public officials aire not quite sure about it. If Mr. Justice Edwards apologises for directing the Press to be discreet, there is prima facie evidence that it is discreet, so that when county councils, road boards and other official bodies turn pale at the sight of a reporter and decide that publication of news is bad for county councils, road boards, and so on, they might remember that one Judge at least is assured of the discretion of reporters.

v LOCAL MOTORISTS. At the risk of boring the public with an oft-told tale, we again turn to the subject of high motor speeds on Taranaki roads. No doubt the people who rushed to Waitara from New Plymouth in 13 minutes claim the admiration of all foot passengers. We would mention that some obscure engineer in Britain, France or elsewhere ma.dc it possible for a motor car to travel the distance at the speed, and there is no honor, glory or anything but sheer blatant, aggressive and dangerous foolishness in achieving such a result as far as the mere driving is concerned. Tnc Taranaki bodies have not as yet seriously tried to control the gentlemen wlho race through the country at high speeds. The mad motorist who races his car because he loves racing it has a perfect right to dash himself to pieces if he wants to, but in using public highways he is much less likely to become a victim than to make one, and it is this pnase that should interest public bodies. New Plymouth itself knows the scorching motorist. Necessarily medical men use cars, much to the advantage and convenience of patients and doctors, but, happily, most of the local medical men are not lookintr for self-induced surgical cases. There is one car-driving judical man in

this town, however, who is possibly unaware that lie is a daily danger to the public. Nobody has as yet disputed his right to make the public dance to the tune of bis motor horn, and it is probable that it would be difficult to convince a bench of magistrates that he took a corner at even thirty-ifive miles an hour. The fact that a car between New Plymouth and Waitara put up a speed which no New Zealand railroad engine achieved will be a good basis of comparison when somebody makes up his mind to ask the flying doctor to slow down once in a while. The doctor's car lately whisked round a corner which a foot passenger was using. He was a young man and active, so he jumped. If the foot passenger had been a child or an aged person a fatality could not have been averted. As it is, the citizen is thankful for his whole skin. In dealing with cases of excessiv* speed, the authorities and the police are .much handicapped. But in other countries the police have devised means for keeping some of the foot passengers alive by setting traps. If combined action by local bodies in Taranaki made even one furious motorist slacken his break-neck speed the public would be glad. Motoring is almost the sole business or pleasure inwhich there is a disposition to attain furious speed, and as long as public bodies "wink the other eye," so long will the high roads remain racing tracks for the bihoof of petrol fiends.