Life Without Power

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 406, 3 April 1947, Page 5

Life Without Power

us to discover how dependent we are on electric power; not only materially but mentally too. Although there are some districts in New Zealand in which power still comes in old-fashioned ways, light from oil and heat from wood and coal, nine out of ten of us have moved away from that state of affairs and don’t like even temporary returns to it. We feel that life without electric energy is not life at all but misery, and we are making a rather melancholy fuss over the necessity for a time of being uncomfortable. But the remedy is in our own hands at least in part. There is a story in this issue (page 9) which shows what can be achieved with a little thought and sacrifice, and although complete escape will not come till the centre of the North Island is soaked by rain, it is clear that we are all deeply involved in the sins of selfishness and waste. That is not exactly a discovery, of course, but the consequences of it in the present situation have certainly been a revelation. The question in fact is how soon we are going to be good enough and_ sensible ie has bean a shock to most of

enough to try some self-help. We can’t control the weather, but we can, at least to some extent, control ourselves, Nor is there much risk that we shall carry control too far, or even brace ourselves for an effort that a sudden deluge will make unnecessary. When rain comes it is not likely, to come freely enough to end all anxiety in a day or two. What falls now, with what we save now, can be held indefinitely if it is not immediately used. But we have to make the effort as individuals, and not waste time asking whether everything has been done officially that could have been done, whether each specific economy called for is necessary, whether the supply authorities are alarming us needlessly, and whether anyone at all other than ourselves is doing his full duty. The sun and the winds and the oceans and the temperature are beyond our grasp. Our heat, light, and radio @witches are not.