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Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16311, 11 December 1918, Page 2

It causes us no surprise when wo hear that the British troops have been welcomed in Bagdad or in the towns of Palestine. A cynic might say that after three or four years of combined Turkish and German domination any new ruler would be a welcome change, but this was not why our men were received with smiling faces and general rejoicing. The people of the East know that where the Briton rules there is good order and justice for all and that the pboplo are not robbed, but that everything is paid for in good money in fact if the truth were told it is generally the British who are robbed by being charged exorbitant prices for everything. In the East British rule means prosperity, though it may entail the clearing away of filth which to the Native mind lias a charm which does not appeal to the Briton. While this may he true of the East it is certainly somewhat of a surprise to learn from a correspondent that the British force was almost welcomed in Germany, partly because it would maintain order and save the citizens from the excesses of their own revolutionists and partly because it was thought that Belgian and French troops, whose countries had been desolated by Gorman orders, would be more severe in their treatment of the people of the occupied territories than the British. Yet we too, have suffered enough at the hands of the Hun from air raids, submarine outrages and brutal treatment of, our prisoners. Logically we should bo filled with hatred for and bitterness against the Germans,, but we are not good haters and the Germans are perfectly right in believing that we shall treat them far better than they deserve. It is impossible to conceive of British, soldiers, whether officers or men, destroying and defiling the houses they occupy as German officers of high standing did in France. The French and Belgians can. and will, hate the Germans, and no one will blame them, but there is no reason to suppose that they will commit any of the outrages whicli have made the Germans a by-word. Still the Germans are wise in preferring to have the British as their temporary masters.

At a time when importers are waiting with all the patience they' can command for the arrival of goods from southern ports it is irritating,, to put it mildly, to find that shipping is delayed at this port by irksome and apparently totally unnecessary restriction of the working hours. The Corinna arrived from the South about four o’clock yesterday afternoon, expecting to work until ten o’clock at night and to get away with a cargo of cheese late to-night. But bn arrival it was found that New Plymouth is different from other ports in that the wharf labourers do not work later than five o’clock—elsewhere they work till ten o’clock—and that the working day is seven hours for eight hours’ pay, the extra hour being, supposedly, spent at the expense of shipping, by the men in passing through the inhalation chamber night and morning, on the wharf. The consequence is that the Corinna, instead of getting away late to-night, will probably not bo able to leave till Friday, arriving in Wellington too late on Saturday to discharge her cargo of cheese that day, and consequently being detained there until Monday. The result will he that instead of reaching Dunedin on Monday, as she w'ould have had she been able to leave here to-night, she will not reach the southern port until Wednesday next, thus losing two days aud making her two days later arriving here on her next trip with goods which importers are anxiously awaiting for Christmas trade. We said above that the men are supposed to pass through the inhalation chamber in the time they are paid for over and above the actual working hours. We used the word

“supposedly” advisedly, Because wo have it on excellent authority that on Tuesday afternoon the men working the Rarawa knocked off at 3.30 and were paid up to four o’clock, on the understanding that in the extra halfhour they would pass through the chamber, but that they did not actually pass through it, or at any rate that the inhalation apparatus was not working at that time. Now if that precaution is still necessary it is not a fair thing that the men should accept payment for the time supposed to be thus occupied. We do not know who is responsible for these restrictions of hours, etc., but the matter requires attention.

Mr. J. S. Connett fully deserved the compliment the Taranaki County Council paid him yesterday in re-electing .him to the position of chairman for the ensuing year. During the past year the work on the roads has not been as satisfactory as in preceding years, but that is due to a combination of. circumstances beyond the control of the chairman, the council, or anyone else, and it has had the effect of making the chairman’s duties more onerous and his position more difficult. The shortage of labour and the high cost of material have made it difficult to carry out necessary repairs and new road construction, while the rapid extension of motor traffic has played havoc with tho ordinary macadam roads and emphasised the necessity for large capital expenditure in reconstructing the roads in a more durable form. The continued absence of the county engineer on military service has placed an additional burden on the chairman in the matter of road inspection, which has kept him fairly fully employed in travelling the county from boundary to boundary. During tho coming year the County Council will have to deal, as effectively as is possible under tho still difficult conditions, with the question of road reconstruction. Experience points to concrete roads being tho most permanent and probably the most economical in tho long run, though costly in the first place, and wo hops the council will see its way before long to put in hand a comprehensive scheme for laying down each year at least a few miles in this form. The ratepayers would soon find that they would save more in the cost of transport than the annual charge for the construction and maintenance of the roads. Mr. Connett has convinced himself that concrete roads are the roads of the future, and no doubt be will endeavour to initiate a policy in that direction during the coming year.