The Bruce Herald MILTON, THUR., JULY 11th, 1918.

Bruce Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 52, 11 July 1918, Page 2

The Bruce Herald MILTON, THUR., JULY 11th, 1918.

From an advertisement appearing in" this issue, convenihg a meeting of those interested sn opposing the pro* jected formation of a Toko. River Board, there appears to be a small section of the community shorts sighted enough to obstruct any movement for the welfare and advancement of the district. Thtough a lack of interest, or conservatism, that unfortunately characterises all move* ments for the betterment of conditions under which we live, the necessity for 1 doing something to clear the obstructions from the Toko. River has been allowed to remain in abeyance too long, and it is to be regretted that now this much*needed relief is within measurable distance of accomplishment that any section of the ra'epayers, however small, should be formed that is prepared to prostitute principle for the gratification of some ob* scure private purpose. The necessity for adopting means to regu ate the vagaries of a watercourse that affecs so drtrimemally the valu ition of the land and the health of the district has, we should think, been sufficiently ventilated to convince the jj'eat rm<j >rity of ra'epsyers that, hough thrir particular holding may not suffer to the same extent as others, nevertheless any circumstance which contributes to the reduction of the valuation of neighboring properties most assuredly reacts upon their own. The inability of those opposing the movement to secure the much-needed relief to view the proposal in the broader aspect of the general welfare of the district is to be deplored, espes cirtlly when the only arguments against the proposal so far adduced by thenrare the alleged unlimited power vested in the Board, and the, to them, logical argument that the man responsible for planting the willows should be made to clear them. Up to a certain point this latter contention may appear incontrovertible to those whose mental development has become cons tracted. or in any way impaired by the stagnation and parochialism they do so much to encourage, but the fact has still to be faced that if the County Council served notice upon the delinquent holders of riparian rights to remove their willows little imorovement would result. It must be remembered that though willow roots have, during the past forty years, become possibly the chief agent in silting up the river bed some six or seven feet by acting as precipitators of the silt liberated by dredging operations, neither of these causes could have brought about the present state of affairs without the agency of water collected on the neighbouring catchment area,

As to the professed alarm at entrusting any body of-local gentlemen with the powers conferred by a River Board, it is unnecessary to do more than point to our two local Councils, the innate conservatism of whose personnel is at all times bounded by their ratepayers' opinions, and which at -times amounts :to an obsession. No ! little reliance n°ed be placed upon the arguments against this much-needed measure of reform, and it is to be trusted that ratepayers will view the project from the broad, standpoint of the future-, and decline to remain en-, tangled in the petty jealousies of the i past.