The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1909. A RIDICULOUS BY-LAW.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 14003, 11 September 1909, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1909. A RIDICULOUS BY-LAW.

There is 0110. luattur in connection with the lending department of. the Timaru .Public Library which is'calculated to ! cause individual resentment and result I in widespread unpopularity. The Borough Council have passed a by-law j which appears to provide, an abundance —wo do not suggest a super- J abundance—of .prohibitions. . Users of ) the library in any of its departments ■ must not do this and must not do that —in most cases things that self-! 'respecting people would 'ript do evtn ' thoughtlessly. These, however, can do no harm. They have no, application except to the person who himself makes them applicable. There is one provision, however, requiring, many possible and hoped-for users to do-certain tilings the doing of which must go against the grain in the ease of many people. All possible .-users are. divided into classes, thoso who aro entitled to obtain books from the hient free; and those who* .not-being so entitled must pay a subscription. The lirst class is subdivided into two subclasses, ratepayers and owners of rateable property, and those whoso names aro to bo found on the Borough JSlec-toi-s' roll, under the " residential -qualification." .in both eases husband, and | wife possess equal privileges. 1 livery person .desiring to avail himself of the lending department is'.■■required' to sign an application form, and get his signa-. turc witnessed. The witnessing: may seem to be -a superfluity, but/ it- is a trifle. ' All others than thoso entitled to the lreedoni of the lending depart-', niont as ratepayers or owners of rateable proiK-'rty have a good deal more ; .to do. They must sign- the application l iOr 111, and.get the signature witnessed:; and in addition to this must .find two , ratepayers of the Borough who are wilhrTg to sign a " guarantee," by the terms of which they jointly and severally undertake, to make good any wrong the applicant may .do* if. theapplicant fails to make it good, and to •observe all tho regulations, and pay all moneys when due by -the applicant, if he fails to do so. And the. guarantors, or the applicant,. must secure a witness to the - signatures of tho guarantois. 'Phis is a ridiculous amount, (jl red-tape in connection with a privi- | lege that is valued by. the Council at '2os !i year: It requires respected and well-known people who do not happen to possess electoral qualifications in the Borough, to ask two persons to bA:ome their guarantors for an unascertained liability, and it is not easy to. imagine, a self-respecting person preferring a , request for such an undertaking to two ratepayers. Thero must. be .many old j subscribers to the defunct Mechanics | Institute, probably scores of tliein, and | e\-eommittcomcn some of them may j be, who will, lia-vc to face .this iiulig- | nity—for. indignity it is in their case at any rate —or debar themselves f.uoin the privileges of the lending department.- AVe have reason to know that already this absurd provision has been | protested against in -tlio practical; way of a determination not to. attempt to comply with it. There were alternatives that should have been .sufficient, to satis I y the Borough Council oi the bona lidos and respectability of applicants,,sucli as a recommendation from a ratepayer or ratepayers, , or .other a pproved persons ; with-or without the ; addition of a. deposit in the ease of non-rrsidents and other real strangers. The Borough Council .were not thinking tho people of ■Timaru as human beings and ■■owners of the Library, when they passed this distasteful section. of the Library by-law.