£40,000 WASTED.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 July 1928, Page 15

£40,000 WASTED.

WHAT THE, RED REvLE/TOR RUjLE 'MEANS.

What o.ikial red-tape can cost the country, without- serving any useful end .vhatsoe.er is vve.l exliihited in the case of clause 4 of regulation 7 of New Zealand’s amazing motor regulations. " This is tli A well-known clause requiring every motor vehicle to carry a red rear reflector of not. less than two square inches in area. mq\ clc reflectors slightly smaller in size than officially prescribed have been procurable at Is 3d each, but until recently no reflectors of the size that suits the Public Works Department's ideas were on the market. Such reflectors are now on sale. Some are p riled at 6s 6d. Others at 4s fid. Nothing below this latter figure has been noticed on sal© by “Spotlight.” AtMarch 31, 1928, there were Lo,615 motor \ eludes on the register. The cost of prodding these vehicles with a red reflector apiece at the lowest price of 4s 6d thus works out at just under £10,030. What is gained by this expenditure of £40,000 it is impossible to see. Politicians run abqut the country at the pub ic expense preaching economy ana this is what ohicial economy amounts to in practice when the bureaucrats take charge.