The Sun TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1916. THE TROUBLE AT HANMER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 617, 1 February 1916, Page 6

The Sun TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1916. THE TROUBLE AT HANMER.

As n result of the trouble at the convalescent home at Hannier Springs, reported exclusively in our ! late editions yesterday evening, three returned soldiers who were at 'The Lodge recuperating are now on their way to Trentham, under escort, eight have been removed to the iChrislehurch Hospital, and 17 have been discharged. It appears that, |at the direction of the Defence authorities, to whom it had been represented that the convalescents were j abusing the liberty afforded them at the home, and were drinking more than was good for ailing men, an I order was issued last 'Wednesday, prohibiting the patients from leaving the grounds after 6.30 p.m. Resenting this instruction in their own way, the men promptly took French leave (he following evening, and repaired to the township, as usual. Then the Medical Board was sent up from Christchurch to look into the matter, with the result as slated. An enquiry is to he held, when the rights and wrongs of the men will be fully considered. Meanwhile, we !should like to make one point, without'dwelling on the military aspect of the question. To avoid any possibility of a recurrence of such j trouble at Mr Rutherford's home al j Hannier Springs, we suggest thai the home should he used only by those i returned soldiers who are discharged as until for further service. I Such men woul.il then be out of the .hands of the military, authorities, land could partake of the generosity |of Mr Rutherford as long as he liked Ito keep them. In providing this hospitality, the proprietor of The Lodge would still be doing a very necessary and valuable work. II 'musl be evident to him and to others more immediately concerned that divided control of invalided soldiers jis neither feasible nor desirable. Until they are granted their discharge the returned expeditionaries are subject to military discipline, and the experience al Hannier shows how easily any outside interference,! no matter how well intentioncd, can I j precipitate insubordination. The: mixed types among the soldiers add! |to the difficulties in such a case as I the one under notice. No one wishes to impose or to see pin-pricking restrictions imposed on wounded men jwho arc convalescing in institutions established for the purpose of nursing them back to health, but where those patients arc acting in a manner calculated to interrupt their convalescence, it is obvious that they must be protected against themselves. If a proper and necessary

discipline is resented, Hie authorities have no option but lo assert their powers of control. Il is a pity thai the good intentions of Mr Rutherford have been defeated as they have been. The Lodge, as our readers are aware, is a veritable haven of peace and rest for men whose physical and mental conditions clamour for both these aids lo convalescence. No expense or I rouble has been spared to make the patients happy and contented. Bui in lace of all these advantages there is the trouble referred 10, and to our mind there will always be a likelihood of a recurrence if conditions are not altered. Jf The Lodge is reserved only for the use of discharged soldiers, any such danger will be obviated, and the work accomplished will not be less valuable (ban that for which the home was originally established.

The Canterbury Executive of the Belgium Fund has done exceedingly well in collecting and forwarding -contributions far larger than those collected by any similar organisation in the country, and that much stands to its credit. But it has not always been wise in ils methods, and has frequently hampered the effect of its best intentions by tactlessly insisting on its authority and refusing to meet contributing bodies half way. At last night's meeting of the council, however, a resolution was received from the executive of the fund affirming its willingness to include representatives of groups of local bodies, but inasmuch as the representation proposed would allow of

only one delegate for Chrislchurch and surrounding local bodies, and only four altogether for the whole of Canterbury, while the executive retained its present constitution of eight members, the council did not receive the proposal with entire favour. The council's attitude is quite justifiable, for the local bodiesof Canterbury would be making ;i j combined contribution of something ■ like £876 per month and would yel 'elect only one-third of the memj bership of the executive. Obviously, if there should arise any difference regarding methods the representatives could be out-voted by the original members; and there are difI ferences of principle—there arc members of local bodies who object 6 to the executive having forwarded . large sums of money direct without holding a balance on which the Government subsidy could be col- : looted, and who object to the suggestion that the executive should continue to ignore the Government and its subsidy in consequence of the recent disagreement with the Min--11 ister of Internal Affairs. There certainly are faults in the policy of the -jßelgium Fund Executive, but a little jlacl and commonsense would remove I the long-standing differences with local bodies. The Mayor disagrees with Th€ Sun's criticism of the administration | of the council's water department. | That does not worry The Sun very j much, and it would trouble us less if |Mr Holland would state our objections correctly instead of misreIpresenting them. We never suggested that the council should cnI courage the "free use of its water'' j for gardening purposes. The Sun wants the council lo sell the water, and make a profit out of it. We differ emphatically with the MayOi when he suggests that the council's duty ends with the provision of sufficient water for fire extinguishing purposes, sanitation, and domestic j use. It is the business of the conn. | oil to minister efficiently to the requirements of the community, and jif the people of Chrislchurch consume more water than the citizens lof Dunedin, and are willing to pay 'for it, the council should supply it |instead of prosecuting them. The j Mayor says that the facilities for proj viding a bigger water supply are injadequate. If so, that is merely iproof of the incapacity of the coun'oil lo «leal with the wafer problem. in Wellington and Dunedin water has to be brought many miles in iconduit pipes, open races, etc., at [great expense, but here in Christ|church there is an ideal supply of |the purest water under our feet, !which only requires to be pumped [into the mains to give the people all the water they want for any purpose j whatsoever. Further, the council can get all the power it wants at a minimum cost from the Lake Coleridge electrical scheme. According to Mr Dobson's report, the cost of pumping is lad per 1000 gallons, and there ought to be sufficient margin of profit in retailing it at 1/- per 1000 gallons to pay for the cost of pumping an extra supply. It would appear lhat the council has made serious miscalculations in regard to its water supply, and if it is so short of water now, what will be the position in a few years time when thousands of additional connections will have been made? Further, we did not suggest that the council should instul meters in every case, at a cost of £20,000. It will be suflieientif the council furnishes meters to those persons requiring an exfra supply, and it could then prosecute as often as it pleased those persons who used an extra supply without it passing through a meter. But the meter question is a side issue. Suppose they were available, and people installed them at their own expense,! that, according to Mr Holland, j I would only accentuate the difficulty. Clearly it is the business of the council to sink more j 'wells, and do some more pumping, I instead of dragging inoffensive citizens into the police court for the [heinous crime of keeping their lawns green and their borders gay with flowers. A correspondent whose letter is; published in this issue reinforces an I . i i objection lo our campaign against | ill ode with the enemy by making the j highly debatable statement that, by shutting the Germans and their allies j inside an economic ring fence, there '■ will be created "the most efficient ! fighting machine the world has ever' seen." lie also states that it is an : axiom thai warlike races are poor,' which, if it is an axiom, is at least qualified by the number of exceplions revealed by history. At all events we have had good proof dur- j ing the past year or so that Ger- j many has organised a very efficient i fighting machine, that she was far I from being a poor nation, and that I her warlike spirit had so developed i under a system of intensive Kultur that il challenged Europe in the glad belief that "Dcutschland über Alios" was lo be translated.from an aspiration into a fact in one brief campaign. Our correspondent is wrong—wealth makes great wars possible, and if Britain and the British Dominions alone had adopted towards Germany the fiscal policy which Germany adopted towards the rest of the world, the enemy would never have had the money with which to perfect her efficient war machine.