VOLUNTEERS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 96, 23 April 1921, Page 4

VOLUNTEERS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Economy is not so much a matter of ceasing to spend a* of oefMsipg to spend ■wastefully. If the apparent " tightness " of the Public Works Fund, and the treasury shortage of tlys City Council pending receipt of rates in August and September,, pausq a stoppage of leaks, the result will be beneficial; but the fact that work is being badly and expensively done ia no reason for suddenly deciding that no work shall be done. To apply the pruning knife with discretion is a task requiring practical judgment, and member" possessed of that quality are what the new City Council particularly needs. In tramway finance they will find plenty of scope, for though the figures for the complete financial year may not confirm the gloomy estimates entertained up to Christmas, the margin is still, as Councillor Forsyth contends, too Binall; and, a» he and Councillor Dale point out, 'the searcher far leakages may ■well give some attention to itbe loss arising from tramway concessions to workers. , C/onSeiUor M'Kenzie's proposals for municipal transport economy are alao in the right direction. The attention' that these and some other candidates are giving to economical administration ia encouraging; so also is Councillor Dale's protest against the introduction of political partyism into municipal affairs, and Mr. Parton> advocacy pf better comimuiicatioce for a city whose outlets by railway, road, and sea are all / capable of needed improvement. When » long list of positions has to be filled from a, much, larger list of candjr dates, a well-informed' electorate is essential ; and, in order to assist the elector, we publish in thi* issue some biographical notes on the ladies and gentlemen now volunteering for public service.

' A correspondent reminds The Post that to-day is the third anniversary of an event which will go down in history afi one of the! most brilliant naval achievements of the war —the British raid on Zeebrußee and Ottend on the 23rd April, 1918. That operation earned the King» praise in terms which vyiU «tand aa * lasting record : "The splendid gallantry displayed under exceptionally h^Bardous circuijuitancei fills one with pride and admiration." The story of the raid and the deeds of gallantry are w«H known, biit it is fitting on; the anniversary to recall the fact that a number of New Zealandere took part in the undertaking with distinction. . AraonK' Wellington men engaged were the following: Lieutenaafc W. A. R. Jones, M.L. 272, Lieutenant T. Turnbull, M.I/. 556, Lieutenant H. Le Pine, M.L. 16, and Ohief Motor Mechanic H. Fox, D.C.M., Croix de Guerre, M.L. 282. These men, with one other Wellinstonian, who earned the D.C.M., were attached to the motorlaunches whose duty it was to provide smoke-screens, three pf the launches being allotted the task of rescuing the creyvs of the block-ships. All through thg operations they were subjected to heavy fire, in some cases within a hundred yards of the piers, No less gallant, was the work of another section of the motor-boate, on one of which Ghief Motor Mechanic Dougjas Pulsford. of Wellington, performed with such distinction as to earn the D.C.M. Several V.C.'s were awarded in connection with the raid. All the participants jn the raid received invjtations to be present at a commemorativp dinner to be held in London to-night. A re-unioo of the local men concerned is to be held here this eveni*"*-