The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1910. COUNCIL AND INVENTOR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIII, Issue 14349, 15 November 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1910. COUNCIL AND INVENTOR.

It seems , to us that those members of" the Borouprh Council wlio Toted last night that a contribution should be given from the Council's funds to assist Mr Mart Saunders in his . experiments for harnessing- the sea, shoved good instincts but bad judgment. "While it is quite conceivable that the enormous power of the ocean waves will some day he harnessed for man's extensive use, if not by Mr Saunders, by those who may succeed him, we think that the Borough Council should require a much more definite proof of its return than Mr Saunders can afford, before it de-c-idea to oast the ratepayers' money upon the waters. The members of the Borough. Council are elected to direct and supervise very practical and specific services for the benefit of the citizens whose rates they hold in trust, and they should no more invest public moneys in a purely experimental—and to that extent. speculative —project like that of Mr Saunders, than they should send it to Tail ei-sall's on a similar off-chance of obtaining an immense return. While we have the greatest respect for the ingenuity and persistence shown by Mr Saunders in an. attempt to increase human resources which may some day be achieved upon the lines of his or other methods, we are afraid that a great deal of money might be spent before he is likely, as a Councillor suggested, to . harness the ocean and supply the town with electric light and power." If Mr Saunders's appliances contain the nractical beffinaias: pi an. in-

volition which would revolutionise Hie industries of the world, a;i ordinary engineer whom tlie Council might call in to give an ''expert opinion ' 011 tliem could hardly be expected to do tliem justice. . It is satisfactory to note tliat the Deputy-Mayor showed a correct appreciation of the Council's responsibility to the ratepayers in this matter, and cast his deciding- vote against the grant. Those •who admire the perseverance and the inventive skill displayed by Mr Saunders, are quite free, as members of the public., to assist him financially if they wish, and a number of the Councillors ex-, pressed their intention to take advantage of this general opportunity. I£ assistance lad been granted out of public funds, a very bad precedent would have been established, which might have led to mucli embarrassment in the future. Unsuspected inventors might come forward, and the prospects, and even the credentials of inventors cannot be assessed as Teadily as tie merits of cement. Mr Saunders was not entitled to expect financial help from the Borough Council, and if he tliinks that liis inventive efforts have-had too little general encouragement, he can take comfort from the thought that some of the inventors to whom the world owes most were without appreciation in their day.