CURRENT TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 244, 21 February 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

TO-DAY'S POLL. Flsewherc in tliis issue His Worship (lie flavor nnlilislics a replv to our remarks oiiiicpniimi tin- proposals upon which a unil of ratcpavrs is to 1"' taken In-nV'. We arc please,! to hear his >i'V of the case. In regard to separatiny the issues, we admitted (lie dillicultv as the works were -chedttlod, and staled the proposals had to he considered as they stool. Kviileiitlv the .\!avor has overlooked the iiiialifieaiion. If it is desirahle to extend the drains in one direction, is il not equally desirahle lo exica.l the draina?". to Te Tlenni. even IhmHi it iiK'nns the provision of an independent senile tank? flrftcr hav one ■•.>:>■- prohensivo scheme tlni'i split it' up---oil., nr.vlhn („ he done oirMi\vi<h. en.! tl,. 'vc;n:iind<.r post |i,m"d iiS'lcH ni trl ■,". and !.e wi'l |:;i». no •■ ••■:■•■>• Hv .:• '- than til" News. We uiv i.".il.f. Ji>xa.<v of (lie spivia! .vorks done •>;■' t>" unliirirv vi'veni"'. fn! i:< o;;r eiita-i-p; Inc. always given ti.e Mayor credit .for them.

more, indeed, than he had previously claimed. The Mayor admits that in doing these works the streets and footpaths have Buffered, which admission is self-condemnatory, because it shows that the work that matters most—the maintenance in good order and condition of the streets and footpaths—has been sacrificed to works of a special nature that may have and may not have been necessary. In effect, the Mayor says: "Ratepayers, we have spent £4200 m special works. To do this we have let the streets and footpaths suffer, and now we want you to authorise a loan to do other special works, as it will take all the money we can command from ordinary sources to make up leeway and adequately maintain the roads and footpaths." Now, let us take the Mayor on his own figures. Special works have cost £4200 in three years. For the sake of argument, we will say that the works were necessary. We have previously shown that the borough had gone back during the last three years by £5017, basing the estimate on an overdraft by March next of £ll6B. We have now j reason to believe the overdraft will be near £2OOO. We therefore have a total of £5849. Now, we would ask, what has become of the difference between the amount spent on special works and this total? What has the Council to show for it? The Mayor tells us "that previous to 1908 most of the streets were metalled out of loan money, including Devon street . . . and consequently all street metalling since then has been done out of ordinary revenue." This is rather a serious reflection on previous management, and we would like to hear the explanations of the previous Mayors in regard to it. But assuming that the statement is quite true, the present position is in no wise helped; on the contrary, it is shown in a worse light. In the years 1900-7 and 1907-8 the total cost of labor and metal was £4038. During the last two years the cost had grown to £5751. Where did this extra £1713 go? In 1906-7 and 1907-8 the metal laid down amounted to approximately 5000 yards. But in 1908-9 and 1903-10 the amount laid down was only 3750 yards approximately. In other words, the cost of street maintenance (as distinct from the special works) in the years 1906-7 and 1907-8 was thirty per cent, less than during 1908-9 and 1909-10, while the metal laid down during the same period was 25 per cent, more than in 1908-9 and 1909-10. The position will take some explaining away. It has also to be borne in mind that in 1906-7 and 1907-8 special works, costing £1472, were undertaken, and that since then there has been a marked increase in the gen- ; eral revenue account of the borough. These facts lead us to believe that the borough has not received fair value for its heavy expenditure of the last three years, and that with sound and careful management special streets works like those to be voted upon to-day might be undertaken without increasing the borough's public debt, which should not be further loaded unless there exist particular reasons for doing so. We Ivlvve in progress, and have always advocated progressive measures, municipal and otherwise, but the present proposals, we regret to say, do not in their present form and at the present time appeal to us as either progressive or desirable. When the Council lias put its house in order (and that they are becoming alive to the necessity is shown by the proposed appointment of a foreman) and demonstrated beyond all question of doubt that it is impossible to do these works out of revenue, then, we say, the Council can approach the ratepayers with confidence, as they can with a. comprehensive drainage extension wheme at any time.

A CHEERING ITEM. If one is to believe cablegrams from China ] at the present time tho authorities at Harbin (where the plague is raging) think it wrong to waste the whole of a dead Chinese, so tho hair of plaguekilled folk is being carefully removed and will later form parts of the head adornments of British and German ladies. The idea of a lender of society—a duchess, for instance—charming her admirers by displaying the hair of a defunct coolie who had no further use for it is peculiarly offensive. Mr. John Burns, President of the Board of Trade, it is said, will take no steps to prevent duchesses wearing hair taken from plagued Harbin coolies, and it seems likely, therefore, that plague is not transmissible in this way. Germany will not permit the importation of hair taken from dead heads, but it would seem to be a matter of some difficulty both to regulate the trade at the Chinese end and to decide whetner potential chignons were reaped from the living or the defunct. It is reassuring to know that British women who are not blessed with a normal "fall of hair" have generally depended for au augmented supply on mere peasant people in Europe, but naturally now there are so many dead heads well clothed lying about in China, it is likely that the London hairmarket will be livelier and that the prevailing color will be black. Stray locks, of course, arrive in New Zealand from the world's hair depot—London—and the average man who admires a "woman's crowning glory" should at present evince even a greater interest in hair fashions seeing that individual triumphs of hairdressing art may have been assisted by the decease of a Chinese or so from plague.

THE IRON INDUSTRY. A good (leal has been heard during the past two years about the falling-ofT in the iron-founding industry, and ironmasters throughout New Zealand, who have baeji badly bit by the dearth of orders, very naturally have gone to the Government desiring some help. Indeed, there are iron-founders in both Houses of Parliament who have been the moving spirits in an endeavor to obtain by the institution of a protective tariff a more prosperous time for the business. It was pointed out a while ago that the imposition of a high (or practically prohibitive) tariff on imported goods in this class would not seriously affect the buyer, but this is open to doubt. The fact that the iron-founder imports his raw material, cannot afford great and expensive plants, and has to pay higher wages than his competitors, are among the reasons why he desires high protection. The point for the Government is not the protection of any single industry but the protection of the people. If hv a prohibitive tariff against imports the public does not sirfl'er in having to pay hugely increased prices, such a tariff might be reasonable enough. If on the other hand a prohibitive tariff robbed the bulk of the people at the expense of a single industry, such a tariff would be highly unpopular, except in the ironfounding and engineering trades. The Minister of Customs promised at the time the ironfounders complained of slackness of trade to have an enquiry made into the business and allied industries, mid so Mr. G. P. Cameron has been commissioned to thoroughly examine the iron trade throughout New Zcahmd. This gentleman will, it is presumed, complete his researches by March and make his report. Possibly 'he may find that (lie industry is languishing because I "! outside competition, which is bad for' \i w- />'l:md ironfounders and engineers, i ' ■■'■ ":-■■:■' ''iir_\'ew Zea landers ge'nerallv. I !v : : '"- I!- impo-dtion „f ; , prohibitive (■ir,;i' e.-V, ;> would put (lie best somls I 1'" w.'i-h! •uipnlics out; of court would spur New Zealand founders to exertions'

ensuring as good and as cheap a supplyas is now obtainable. At any rate, it is to be hoped so. Unless the mining of iron and the treatment of ore and sand became a part of the scheme of development, the ironfounder would still be dependent on outside supplies of the said material. The winning of the raw material is, in fact, the most important phase of the whole question, and one we are very glad to notice is likely to occupy enterprising folk locally. The Government in any scheme for assisting au enterprise is morally bound to consider the people.