MORE LIGHT AND LESS LIGHT

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 September 1921, Page 3

MORE LIGHT AND LESS LIGHT

A NOTE ON THE WISDOM OF ECONOMY.

(Contributed bj; N.Z. Welfare League

, To a great many people the word > economy" has an ugly sound. They t think of it solely as doing without i . things, n kind of mean way of lining ; or, shall wo say, a kind of genteel ; starvation. Of course that is an en- . tirely wrong viewof economy, whether ,it be personal, civic, or national. As a simple matter of fact, if you will Jive, as the Yankees say, "with your ( eyes skinned," you must soon discover that it is not the people who practice , economy who have to go without the goods; it is, the wasteful people who appear to have plenty and yet really , are always in want. Economy, rightly understood, consists in not going without- things necePsaTy, but in having right ideas of what things are necessary, and making tho best possible me w i afc VVB nav° so as to navo more. \Ye have been Btruck with examples of the waste in our communities which ofton entail needless want. The civic leagues, progress leagues, and our Wel- , tare league might well ent<T upon a campaign against needles* waste. Ah a people, we have been living in a land of plenty and got careless in regard to our wasteful use of many things that mean, in total., heavy costs to secure. J , WATER AND TJGHT. ' New Zealand is highly favoured in these necesities, yet to get water and artificial light tor our cities and towns requires . great expenditure. But, oh, how wo waste water!. Marie you, waste it - foolishly, extravagantly, uselessly. Get 'the statistics from our city engineers ,and you* will learn a tale of gross extravagance,, -Wellington City is probably the worst sinner in ihfe direction. "Wonld' yoa have" us go without our washing, our baths, and our ether services of water J> wilFbe pleaded. By no means. It le tbe pipes left leaking, taps ditto, hose thrown down, with the stream running anywhere—in short, the wast© that serves < nobody; but costs money—that we want i thought expended upon. .Being in Wel- » Jington. we had occasion to visit friends iin the suburbs. To wander along some -of the roads on the high levels, where > there are sufficient street lights to cast j deep shadows and blind you just for a i moment at turnings of the road, makes I you feel that there is need for more ' lights and not quite so far apart. How often, on the other hand, have we seen j the street lights burning away in useless competition with the light of day. I On very many occasrons in many places we are sure that V h our corporation* I and individual cm • mis waste lighting1 tenergy which mijjiit he utilised where J there are no lights and the same are j recjuired. Out civic leagues and socij eties should get right out against all i forms of waste, as they stand for supplying the people's, wants. THE WASTE OF MANHOOD. "Where the great city stands is for ever wherethe healthiest men, women, and children are gathered together in residence. We welcome heartily the J campaign of the health authorities, with Commander DV. Truby King, in the 1 effort to save and upbuild the children of our communities. This makes for the greater cities and country. The-sad picture faces us of the waste of manhood attendant on~pie present slackness of trade and business. At the same time let us not lie down to. the trouble. Look at our cities and yon will find works calling to. be carried through.. On the other hand, ther© are. hundreds/ ready, willing, and anxious to do the work. What strange spell keeps them apart—the work and the workers ? Money? Well, the individual citizens have still a fair amount. This business or .getting the work done and employing those now out is not merely the concern of the unemployed, the Government, and the civic authorities It is yours, ours, and everybody's concern. Ihe waste of works standing idle and men with families going without employment and means affects us all. Get it rights—it hits you. That's the point. It thousands can find money for race .meetings balls, theatres, parties, shows —and they do—let us put some into the works needed and nush ahead That is economy—to get things done. There always time to dispute and wrangle. Ihe present calls for thinking, economy aao-.the ssunt of getting things done! ft will get worse if we lie down: what is wanted is go.