GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 12 June 1939, Page 6

GENERAL ITEMS

Centennially-minded “Evidence is not wanting," said the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Parry, speaking at a meeting of the National Centennial Council in Wellington, “that the people as a whole are becoming centennially minded and that they are awaking to a full appreciation of the significance of the occasion and of the necessity of associating with their celebrations such gatherings as will do honour to the foundation-builders of our nation. When all is said and done, our centennial observances will have no real meaning and thus no effective result unless they recapture the spirit of the past and also hand on to posterity as an inspiration to future endeavour an indelible record of the achievements of our first 100 years of national life." What Is a “Cicycle” ? A certain picturesqueness of speech was revealed in the evidence of a witness in the Dunedin Court. Court officers and counsel alike visibly started and strove to hide their emotions—whatever they were—when, with disarming matter-of-factness, the witness discussed the ownership of a “cicycle.” The same witness, in a sudden burst of confidence, volunteered to tell the magistrate (Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.) “the honest truth.” “I sincerely hope you do!” was his Worship’s dry rejoinder. Expenditure on Highways “The revenue of the Main Highways Board for the ensuing year is expected to be about £2,750,000,” said Mr C. J. Talbot, South Island counties representative on that body at the annual meeting of the No. 15 District Highways Council at Timaru last week. Giving details of the revenue, Mr Talbot said it was anticipated that tyre tax would produce £150,000, registration, etc., £600,000, ancj petrol tax £2,000,000. The expenditure last year was expected to amount to about £5,000,000, but it had been slightly exceeded. A similar amount of expenditure had been budgeted for in the ensuing year. In view of the large amount of work to be done on highways it had been found impossible to meet the whole of the costs out of revenue, consequently recourse had to be made to borrowed money. It might be thought that with so much spent on roads the work of the board would be decreasing, but such was not the case, for all over the Dominion the necessity was still evident for an improvement of roads which were too narrow or required attention otherwise, while a considerable number of bridges demanded replacement. The proportion of highways now sealed was about 20 per cent.