PROPOSED NEW BYE-LAWS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3494, 18 September 1882, Page 2

PROPOSED NEW BYE-LAWS.

[To tho Editor of the Daily Telegraph] Sir, —In your paper of Wednesday (13th), you gave the public official notice of certain proposed bye-laws to be considered by the Municipal Council on Wednesday next the 20th inst. I have been waiting patiently to see if any of my fellow-burgesses would remark in your columns on any one of them ; and, as no one has yet done so, I will, with your permission, just call the attention of "the Mayor Councillors and Burgesses of the Borough of Napier," to at least one of those proposed Bye-laws ; namely, that one—" as to lighting Jires in the open air"; here it is.—

" Every person who wilfully sets fire to any inflammable material whatever in the open air, or who wilfully lights a fire for any purpose whatsoever in the open air, unless within a properly constructed fireplace or without tho written permission of the Council to do so, shall be guilty o£ an

offence." This subject ia far too serious a one to afford fun or a joke, otherwise I might be inclined "to go" for this precious sentence—its logical meaning and its grammatical construction, —and so mercilessly dis3ect this one-sen-tence-bye-law! but, while I waive that, I cannot help offering a few observations, just to put my fellow-townsmen and visitors on their guard.

1. —" Every person who wilfully sets fire to any inflammable material whatsoever in the open air":—that is, who lights a match for his pipe,—or who lights a cigar, being composed of inflammable material,—or, who, in the non-mocnlight nights, owing to the wretched glim of the public far-apart gas-lamps, strikes a match against a post to find out bis whereabouts in his journeying homewards ! —

2.—'* Or who wilfully lights a fire for any purpose whatsoever in the open air unless within a properly constructed fireplace" .-—that is, who lights his pipe in the streets, (unless our lawyers would be prepared to prove not merely to cmUnd— for they would contend ia Court for anything, on being sure of costs !) to prove, I say, tbe pipe to be " a properly constructed fire-place." [I should like to hear this well and learnedly handled and argued in Court, between the Municipal Solicitor and two of our legal gentlemen whom I could name] But I proceed and read on,— 3.—" Or without the written permission of the Council to do so." Ah !ah ! what have we here? Does this really mean, — especially when taken in connection with the foregoing clauses, — that the Corporation getting impecunious (or, in common terms, hard up for cash !) intends to issue street-smoking Licenses ? I am not a smoker myself, and therefore have no foolish fears ; but look out, all you streetsmokers in this wooden town of narrow streets, with dry weather and high westerly spring winds at hand ! look-out a-bead, a bit!

However, it was not to warn our public street smokers of this new law about to be "ordained," (yes, that's the proper term, see Dailt Teleghaph,) that I took up my pen. For, possibly, whether I am right or wrong in my suspicions, something of this kind may yet become law—through the rapid advance of high civilization—and that before very long ; so that street-smoking on narrow curbs shall be classed with perambulators, hurdy-gurdys, bicycles, wheelbarrows, big sun-shades, sweeping dust-raising raggletail dresses, and all. other like street nuisances; which, though bad enough already, are sure to increase here among us, and so fiad work for the " bobbies."

My sole intention was, and is, to call attention to the unsuitableness of such a Bye-law for the uhole of the Borough of Napier. No doubt that, or something similar, ia required for the town proper (so to speak) on the flat land below; where the houses actually adjoin each other, and where the dangers from fire are consequently very great. But such a Bye-law is most unsuitable for the hills (Scinde Island proper), it would there become a very great hardship in many places, and cannot be enforced and carried out. Of course, I more particularly mean those parts of the hills which are fenced in and used as grazing paddocks,—where the few

scattered houses are many chains apart, I —where sor even 10 acre fields intervene, —and where large vegetable and other gardens and shrubberies exist. For much of the extensive refuse in those fields and gardens (arising from the Blue Gum and other like trees), can only be got rid of by burning, as it will not readily rot, which burning also serves to destroy thousands of our insect pests, in their various stages of growth and development. Therefore I trust the Municipal Council will give this subject full and fair consideration in all its bearings; for here in this, as in many other instances (both paßt and present,) it will be found, that what may be, and is, a highly suitable Bye-law for the rich and denselypacked town below, is not at all advantageous nor fitting for the thinly-occu-pied hills above. Indeed, it would be well for the Municipal Council always to bear this in mind; and so make the fair and equitable distinctions required between the small and thickly-peopled town and the large and all but empty suburban allotments ; that is, until such time as the latter become gradually cut up and built on, and so really made one with the town or borough. For it is of little use for our Council merely to look over or to read the Bye-laws which have been made by i older Boroughs in New Zealand ; or to placidly resolve, that Mr Town-Clerk do write to such a Borough to enquire as to any particular Bye-law and its working there; and that for this simple fact, —that there is no Borough, City, or Township in all this Colony so situated as we are here in Napier,—with our rough broken hilly suburban lands, without proper roads or means of access, all in the very midst of the Borough] Suburban lands being, in all the others, truly suburban and outside of the town or borough. Our Municipal Council is yet young, and is also mostly composed of young men,—men of no very great experience in law-making, or, of what is of far more superior importance, the serious consideration of the bearing of laws ; and it may permit an old man (who is not altogether ignorant of laws and their requirements, and who has bad a little to do in past years for Napier both in legal Councils and Assemblies,) to make this remark, — one gathered from his elders and proved by his own experience,—that, the less all laws, whether general or bye, interfere with the liberty and common-sense of the people the better. In conclusion, I would further observe, (in order to anticipate any adverse remark, such as, Why did I not write officially to tbe Town-Clerk on this subject, that my letter might be brought before the Council ?)—that the amount of snubbing and contumely my late letters to the Municipal Council received, have led me to conclude, not to apply again to that quarter; not, at all events, Y-until it has shown evident signs of amendment. —I am, &c, William Colenso. Napier, September 16, 1882.