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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 177, 25 January 1912, Page 4

WHAT THE PAPER SAID.

,We have respect for Mr. P»rowne, the Mayor of New Plymouth. We believe that, according to his lights, he does his best for the borough. It is our business, on behalf of the citizens, without whom this paper could not exist, to jay the things which in our opinion need saying in their interests. We consider it in the interests of the, health of this community that the water supplied to the citizens should be, as free from dirt, either mineral or vegetable, as 'possible. We have already said so, and shall, if necessary, say so again. The'"one-man opinion" argument, mentioned at last night's Council, meeting, is not tenable. It is ridiculous to assume that'only one man in New Plymouth can see dirt in the drinking water, the suggestion being that some seven thousand odd people are blind. The Mayor, in his reference to this paper which we welcome remarked that we were not going to help New Plymouth by condemning the water supply. We do not condemn the water supply. We merely say the water, is dirty. We do not intend to "help New Plymouth" by telling untruths. It would give us the keenest pleasure to see this town throw off its slovenly ways, its out-of-date methods, its dirtiness, and to attract people to it, for, apart from these matters, it is very beautiful. No paper and no person is going to help this town by condoning its sloveliness; nobody will aid in its rejuvenation by saying "Hush!" The advocacy of assistance to backblock settlers—on whom every man, woman' and child in New Plymouth depends—has nothing whatever to do with dirty water, lack of sanitary conveniences, deposits of rubbish, deplorable buildings, leaking verandahs, unkempt reserves, impassable footpaths, unsafe bridge fences, and so on. If any councillor is reactionary enough to believe that these are the opinions of one man, he, too, must plump for "taihoa." Two Councillors supported our perfectly justifiable assertion that the water supplied through the borough pipes is dirty, and we have to thank Councillors Morey and Clark for refusing to say that everything in the garden is lovely, when it is not. We do not suggest that sand in solution is particularly deleterious to healthy human animals, and it is impossible to obtain (except by great trouble) water without vegetable, mineral and animal matter in solution. We claim, however, perfect justification in voicing the many complaints that reach us, when we know they are well founded, and also that it is impossible to effect reform unless the people and their civic leaders are stirred more deeply than at present is the case.