The Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1895. To-Day.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5211, 19 March 1895, Page 2

The Star. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1895. To-Day.

Ah immediate result of the accident that has happened to Mr F. M. Wallace, our taleuted and popular violinist — one of whose shoulders was fractured whilst playing at lawn tennis on Saturday — is the indefinite postponement of the Lisdertafol'a einoke _concert, whioh was to have taken place on Friday evening. Lovers of music will regret the enforced cancellation, but they will regret infinitely more the cause that has necessitated thi3 step. Mr Wallace may rest assured that the sympathy tf the community is with him in his most unfortunate accident, and that the hope for his speedy recovery is as sincere as it is universal.

Two things are being done by the poiice which ought to be immediately conducive to the comfort of the public. Both have to do with the. regulation of traffic on the footpaths, the more important being the dispersal of the knots of obstructionists who" so frequently make themselves peculiarly objectionable to women and girla. | " A number of informations have been laid against persons for obstructing the footpaths by loitering thereon." Thai is a beginning which ought to have been made long ago, for the abominable nuisance has been referred to times out of number; and now that the crusade has been opened it is to be hoped that its continuance will be systematic and vigorous, It is not of the slightest use to summon a batch of offenders and then calmly assume tbat the evil has been repressed, for habits of this sort are persistent, and there is eveu a tendency fora later state of things to bd worse than the first. If the police, having begun their duty in this direction, continue to discharge it, we may feal perfectly Batwfied-fcbat the magistrates will do all in their power to aid by a judicious periodical increase of the penalty <

The other. offence with which the police are dealing is tbe dangerous practice of riding bicycles on the footpaths. Offenders have been v proceeded against before now, bub action haa beon spasmodic, and the nuisance has consequently become a recurring one. But it is about time that something was done^to regulate the general street traffic as affecting bicycles. Cyclisiß. of courEe, have a perfect right to the use of the roadways, their machines being legally classed as "vehicles," but that right must be subjected to reasonable restrictions. There are some cyclists who seem to be utterly regardless of the general safety, who dash round corners at a dangerous pace, shoot under the very noaos of horses, play the fool by " shaving " trams, and generally conduct themselves in a manner which urgently needs repression. The swift, silent wheels give no warning of approach, and the only marvel is that accidents are not far more frequent.

It has beßn roughly estimated that within a radius of ten miles from Cathedral Square, there are something like fifteen hundred cycles iv constant nae. The number may be considerably overestimated, bub at any rate it is very great. One would like to know what proportion ot these cycles are fitted with bells, and how many are provided with lamps for use when darkness has set in. What we do know is that by comparison the warning bell is rarsly heard, aad that after stmaet the roadways are rendered unGafo because of this cycling without lights. The City Conncil ha?, vary properly, enacted that ordinary vehiclea may not traverse the streets at night without carrying lamps, and the necessity for this provision i 3 certainly not les3 in the case of cycles. We trtiat that our local governing bodies will give the subject, early consideration, and adopt 3 cle&rlv-frainec! by-law compelling all cyclists to aae the very necessary bell and lamp,

Sixty unemployed printers are walking about Wellington in the hops of forty of them being found work three or four months hence ! Tbat is a picture of the state of the labour market, so fcir aa one trade is concerned. But for trade unionism, the wages of compositors would, by the law cf competition, be reduced to the level of those of clerks. But surely it is a reflection on human intelligence that no botter u?e can be found for men of education and trained Bkill than walkiDg about in idleness in order that othera may have a living wage. It ia high time that trade unione, political societies and Parliament itself took steps to increase the volume of employment and to facilitate the distribution of labour.

The " fair wages " movement is an extension of the trade-union principle, and is doing much good in England and here. The London County Council made a rule that " whether the post to be filled be that of an architect or a carpenter, the wages to be paid are fir3t fixed at a rate sufficient to attract the best class of men in the particular occupation. Tlien the most competent candidate ihat can be found is chosen. Competition among the candidates works no less keenly th=m before, but it is a competition tending not to reduce the price, thereby lowering the standard

of life throughout the nation, but to enhance efficienoy and thus really to lessen the coat of production." All thia, however, does not increase the volume of! employment, and, therefore doe B not! touch the unemployed difficulty. Men ! who are maintained in idleness by a com- s munity are paupers, although there may ' be no such thing as poor law relief or ■ charitable aid given to them. Surely the "common sense of moat" will devise Borne means of preventing the wholesale pauperisation of our bone and sinew that is now going on. Shortening the hours of labour ' ia the only feasible method yet suggested, • and that change is hard to effect.