TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 134, 3 December 1926, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

With the money made available by Mr. George Shirtcliffe's handsome gift tho City Council i 3 able to add considerably to the recreation facilities for children. Youngsters in various 'parts of the city will benefit, for the Reserves Committee is wisely proposing several small play areas instead of spending all tho money upon a large ground. As & 2000 is reserved for subsidising funds raised by. s district associations, with a limit of £500, at least soven areas (including those in the Committee's plan) will be provided. Presumably the committee will not insist upon the subsidy being used for equipment, but will allow it to be devoted to the purchase of land where public property is not available. In providing recreation for children shelter and sunlight are of moro importance than swings and other apparatus, .and both the Reserves Committee and district associations which take an interest in this work should do their utmost to find first a suitablo site. This selection of a site appears to have presented difficulty in the Wellington North district smio the committee, has recommended equipment of a play area in the Grant Road Reserve. Grant road, I while sheltered, loses the sun early, and in winter afternoons has littlo sun at i. all. Could some sunnier spot not bo obtained, even at the cost of "purchasing a small area of private laud? • * • Low returns from butter-fat aro bad for the dairy producers and for the whole Dominion, as the national reI venue is reduced; but local consumers of milk products, in consequence, are called upon to pay less for their milk and butter. It has been decided by tho Milk Committee of the City Council that the people shall have the benefit of this lower price, and the municipal charge for milk is accordingly to be reduced by a half-penny per quart. In recommending this ■ reduction, the committee has not been mindful of the consumer alone. It would have been possible to maintain the existing price, and use the extra profits as a reserve for the future. Eventually consumers would have had their money back if this had been. done. But an immefliaite reduction may confer a benefit upon the producer as well by stimulating the consumption of milk and cream. If it does so the producer will be so much the better off, and the consoimer will not lose, for in every city it is possible to increase the amount of milk food with advantage to the health of tho people. • • • To keep abreast of tho growing demand for-playing fields and recreation facilities the City Council obviously must have more funds than it can spare from revenue. The only other means of raising money, failing"' concerted action by.tho sports organisations, is to borrow. Proposals for a loan have been submitted by the Chairman of the Reserves Committee, and will probably be considered by the Council at its next meeting. The amount proposed is £51,000,and,this will provide for fourteen separate works. As the suggested works are well distributed it is probable that the ratepayers wilb sanction the loan. Wo would have preferred a shorter list and. a smaller loan, but the Reserves Committee evidently considers it wise to ask for tho full amount required instead of securing authority for a small loan now and having to come back for more later. In taking this course, however, the Council would be well advised to avoid the difficulty created by tho big works loan. On that occasion, the Council obtained authority to borrow for various works which it was not intended should all bo carried out at once. Later events have caused, tho wisdom of some of these proposals to be questioned; but the Council finds itself in tho awkward position of having to go on with those works (when it can find no further excuse for postponement) or else be accused of a breach of faith.

When tho reserves loan comes-, to bs submitted it should be made perfectly clear that the Council is not bound to undertake all the works at once, and that it may, if «^er developments show this to be desirable, modify or discard any item in tho list.

Negotiations by officers of the Native Affairs Department with Taupo Maoris, and reports by experts of the Interna) Affairs Department, indicate, that the problem of how to make the best of Taupo's wonderful trout, not only in the lake but in the rivers, is not yet solved. - Any settlement of the river rights of Natives that does not protect tho! spawning will be incomplete so far as tho fish are concerned. Side-by-side with the question of protecting the young is that of eliminating the adult unfit. Mr. Zano Grey has written that the "slabs" aro starved fish, and he quotes, apparently with approval, the Government's former netting as a means of reducing the lake fish and bringing them more into lino with food supply. The trout-fishing section of Mr. Grey's book is bound to bring more oversoa anglers to Taupo, and it enhances a reputation that must be carefully upheld. Primarily the onus of evolving the technical side of the policy is on the experts, but Ministers and their heads of Departments must shoulder the responsibility of ■ seeing that experts' findings produce -results, and that a great and growing national asset is not only preserved but promoted.