TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 36, 11 February 1926, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY

How rarely utility has any aesthetic conscience was well illustrated by Mr. Phillips Turner last evening, at a meeting held at Seatoun. He. described the destruction of pinnacle roeka along Wellington's foreshores as "thoughtless vandalism," referring in particular to a pinnacle on the new road from Breaker Bay to Lysll Bay. This was being quarried, he said, and there did hot appear to be any reason 'why it should be sacrificed in the making of the new road. He was for years Inspector of Government scenic reserves, and could say that there was no more picturesque feature anywhere than these needle-like rocks on Wellington coast roads. Some years ago the protests of residents in the vicinity saved a similar rock from destruction at Karaka Bay. It was being hacked down for road metal with acres of material available almost on the spot It is questionable if there is any city in Australia or New Zealand so richly endowed as Wellington in its eoastwaya. The European exception is the Corniehe, running from France into Italy. Engineers, however, usually take a strictly utilitarian view of these things, and sometimes are compelled to take such views. In the case of these unique features of the seashore of Wellington it Bhould be the policy of the local authority, wherever possible, to preserve them as examples of Nature as sculptor. ■•» * , With a roll of 911 pupils and- accommodation (of a sort) for only 865, the Gorernors of Wellington College have a strong case for the immediate provision of new buildings.- But the ease does not rest upon numbers alone, or even chiefly. Many of the great public schools of England have limited lists of 500, 600, or 700 pupils, and even with these numbers are organised in "schools" or "houses," thus facilitating that dose personal supervision which is advisable for scholastic training and essential for character development. Wellington College has an excellent reputation. Last year's examination record affords proof that, on the scholastic side, thi» is well maintained, and there is no reason for assuming that, character development is not equally high. But with over 900 pupils it •' will be impossible to maintain this standard unless the accommodation is Ruch as to facilitate organisation on the "house" or "school" plan. Such organisation is now carried on with the greatest difficulty in a haphazard assortment of old, new, and temporary buildings. This must discourage the principal and his staff, and it is not fair to the pupils. • ■"'•■* A practical protest against the high price of butchers' meat in London was made by a man who bought a carcase of mutton in v Smithfield and divided it up with his neighbours. For 18i 9d (so the cablegram runs) he bought a frozen Australian sheep weighing 501b. It worked out at 4|d per lb. By economical Cutting up and spoking, two families were furnished with abundant meat at 4)d per lb, as compared with a solitary Sunday joint at 10b. How long the butchering trade will allow this wholesale buying by consumers to go on is problematical, but the incident shows to the New Zealand producer that his market is restricted, or constricted, while high retail price* are current. After all (often a long way after) the consumer has the final word. Dairy farmers' exporting produce to Britain know to their cost that with high prices business is curtailed, and that when prices fall it expands. So it is with meat. This is a matter — the retail distribution of meat—that the Heat Producers' Board of New Zealand will have to pay even greater attention to than it does at present. While, it is true, as the Board has affirmed, "our policy is to obtain the highest net prices for the producer, and to establish a standard of quality that will put our meat in a class by itself," it will help much towards that end if it continue* its efforts to see that the consumer has fair treatment. • • • The local authorities have a duty to defend the transport enterprises of which they are the trustees, but that defence, unfortunately, has been weakened by insistence upon conditions which cannot be justified. Control of fares to prevent senseless cut-throat competition is arguable, hot we can see no ground for compelling private transport services to charge a fare higher than that charged by the public enterprise. Nor can we agree that the 1 local authority should have power to dictate what routes shall be taken merely so as to cut out competition. The public enterprise must be safeguarded, not only because public money ia invested, but because tlio enterprise

- is pubnc and subject to the people's - control. This is a great advantage, , and it must not be lost. In Wellington I we have much development work for b which to thank the tramways. They have t maintained services ahead of settlement, i and assisted to attract people to the open , outer areas away from the crowded city. i Many suburbs have thus had transport - years ahead of the time, or upon a more generous scale than it would have been provided by private enterprise, with its . first concern for profit. At the same - time, now that the motor-buses'have - come they cannot be excluded. The | local authorities are within their rights in refusing to transfer control of street , traffic to an outside body. They are within their rights also in charging f tee L for licenses equal to a fair share of j , road maintenance. Further, they are , entitled to demand that safe routes , shall be followed, that regular time- . tables shall be maintained throughout tramway running hours, aad that the ! profitable services shall not be picked ; out. For example, it is reasonable to . insist that, if a bus service is licensed . to Karon, it shall cover the losing sec- . tion to the Park as well as the payable , section to the Council Chamber. It . would have been better if the local , authorities had limited their demands . in this way. As it is, the Government [ must now act as arbitrator, and arbit tration, however fair and impartial, is leas satisfactory than conciliation.