Neson Evenig Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1900. BY-LAWS AND THEIR SCOPE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIV, Issue 37, 14 February 1900, Page 2

Neson Evenig Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1900. BY-LAWS AND THEIR SCOPE.

C hi; is if li irc ii is at pre.- ent ,ullcring from an epidemic of rigid b\ -law , Like other epidemics, the outbreak h.r, been caused by the culmination of continued neglect, and, also as in the ca-o ol epidemic-, drastic mea-ui's of -iippres.ioii arc now being resorted to. By-laws for the good government ot a coiiiiiiuuitv dwelling within a prescribed area may ho regarded as a conventiru formulated bv the consent of tho majority. They relate almost invariably to actions winch, if confined to a very few, would cause little or uo annoyance ; but which, if practised generally, would be an annoyance a hindrance, or a danger. Thus if one person threw out the sweepin-'s of |,* s shop into tho public street tin- wind would disperse them, aud they would not be noticed. But i! all the dwellers iu the street did likew ise the .vhoh- neighbourhood would be unkempt and a discredit Therefore, it is enacted that no one shall throw out sweepings. This docs not imply that, if by accident or a single instance of carelessness or neglect some shop sweepings from one place find their way into the street, it is incumbent on tho authorities to prosecute and fine. Similarly, there are scores of instances in which by-laws are daily broken without any harm being done or annoyauce caused ; while to notice and punish such breaches except occasionally in order to check the teudency to increase mi"ht seriously hamper business or pleasure " * * # The Christchurch proceedings are of peculiar interest to Nelson because, if the sudden strictness of observance' were imitated here in some of the matters brought under the operation of the bylaws, popular hostility would be aroused. The valuo of a by-law is essentially determined by environment. In Christchurch or Wellington or Dunedin -in Sydney or in Melbourne— certain rules of street traffic must be observed else there would be inconvenience, annoyance, and danger. But the rigid enforcement of those rules in smaller places would merely vex the residents and do no good. It wa, Ige mistakcu notion ot thelocil polio oonin time ago that condition., which were necessaryin the hnger towns should be imposed in Kelson. We joined our protest to that of the public, and virtually gained tho day. Since then a more clastic interpretation of the spirit ot by-laws has been permitted by the police, with the result that while there is no further friction, tho breach of by-laws has not shwa any tendency ty iuwwue

I except perhaps is the matter of footpith riding by cyclists. The practice, however, is mainly due to the condition of 'certain streets, and there is no wanton defiance of essential rules and regulation*. " r- * The ChrUtchiu-ch City Council has been moved to pass certain by-laws relating to bicycle trafie and to revive other by-laws which had fallen into disuse. Home accidents bad occurred f lom co l] isioJls , luo . it is said to cychsts neglecting to ring their hells. As usual, however, the reformers have gone too far and ■• have overdone their baking- , t is now 10( .. 1Uv enacted that the bell shall be mug when cyclists pass each other, turn a corner, or bined to bring the excessivelv rigorous rules into ridicule by llsing :lfl so £ , conditions of no,sy things that can be made to duty tor b(;l fc. uis iuteiK , e(l to prosecute test cases ; but, whatever the I outcome may be, the by-law. being mo.e stringent than necessary, will have to be amended in the direction of common sense and convention. * * -j. Another by-law, essential in a lar"e place like Christchurch, has been tested here, and, by the common-sense rulin" of Mr Robinson, S.M., its provision locally is permitted to remain elastic. We refer to the regulation relating to'the wheeling of bicycles on the footpath. In the City of the Plains the practice became a serious nuisance. A\ omen would congregate out-si-'o of shop windows on crowded footpaths with their bicycles beside t Hem, till traffic was hindered. The Council, therefore, has passed a by-law prohibiting altogether bicycles on footpaths. The by-law refers of course to other wheeled vehicles; but convention will help an elastic interpretation, and the •• blind eye of the law " will probably be presented to invalids . chairs and perambulators. If, when the interpretation of the bv-law was given in Nelson by Mr Robinson, it had been rigid, a perfectly useless rule of the tiotpath would have been enforced here, and niauy invalids and infants would have been deprived of a daily outing, lhe Magistrate's interpretation of the spirit of the law, however, was endorsed •V*: 1 ! 6 °P imoll of the Town Clerk, who said the City Council had never intended that there should be a hard-and-fast rule whien would apply as much to invalid chairs, perambulators, and wheel-barrows on unfrequented footpaths as to bicycles . If „jy an >" chance, however, cyclists, invalids, nmsegirls, and wheelers of barrows abused the elasticity of the bylaw in Nelson, as cyclists seem to have done in Christchurch. then we should bo the first to urge tho making of an example of a few in order to conserve the convenience of the many. The storm in a teacup at Christchurch will subside as suddenly as it has arisen, for, though the Council may insist on the verbal rio-iditv of its by-laws, that useful « blind eye o'f the law " may relieve the tension in time. But cychsts and others should take warning in Nelson, und so comport themselves as to obviate any necessity for the City Council to assert the strict enforcement of its regulations or make new by-laws.