THE CONSERVATION SOCIETY.

Evening Star, Issue 10882, 16 March 1899, Page 4

THE CONSERVATION SOCIETY.

TO THE EDITOR. g IR —The chairman of the Reserves Conservation Society, at their annual meeting, complained of the scanty support given by the public to the society. This is hardly to be wondered at. The work the society have done is good. Trees and flowers are always beautiful, and we can scarcely have too many of them. But I take leave to think that the society do not work in the right way ; hence the lack of support. The reserves belong to the City, and are under the control of the Corporation, which ought to beautify them and keep them in order. When a society undertake the work they simply raise a notion that beauty, and what may be called amenities, are outside Corporation work—a notion which such bodies and their officers are only too ready to entertain, as saving themselves trouble. Even the general public may come to be of the same opinion. The work done by the society should be quite outside of Corporation duties, and be done for the poorer and more neglected streets of the City, where the inhabitants ore unlikely to be able to do anything themselves. The aim should be to raise the low instead of improving what is already at least decent. Consider the tree-planting in Royal terrace, and the shrubs and fencing in Albany street —pretty enough, but could have been done by the residents whose property it improves, and the society have endeavored to improve some poor locality. As to the society working in harmony with the Reserves Committee, to my mind it would have been better for the society to have worked in opposition. Look at our cemeteries; they are, I believe, under the care of that Committee, and are being reduced to mere rows of tombstones, instead of presenting the old beautiful show of trees and shrubs. Every little corner reserved for flowers and shrubs has been sold—most probably, illegally—and the society have made no protest. The want of cemetery accommodation is a scandal, and the society would have the warm support of the public in pushing the Corporation in this matter. Lately numbers of beautiful and perfectly safe trees have been destroyed by order of this same Committee, in obedience to some unreasoning scare, and the society said nothing, but planted trees in Royal terrace.

After all, is it not a mistake to waste energy on such matters as trees and flowers when the town is in such a dirty state? Much better combine to force a drainage scheme on an unwilling City Council, which will not stir a finger in the matter unless under strong public opinion. Our foreshore is a disgrace—the refuse from 20,000 people allowed to ferment in the sun under our very noses. Building land reclaimed with house refuse—all to save a 5d rate.

Preliminary arrangements must take several years ; yet our mayor hopes the Council wilf not be'hurried. “The very first step is to draw up a Drainage District Bill and pass it through Parliament. Is the Council doing this, or has it ever seriously thought of doing so? I fancy not. And until the new franchise kicks out the old members, which time is now happily not far off, I, for one, expect no improvement.— I am, etc., Ratepayer. Dunedin. March 15.