The Star. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1929. THE COUNCIL AND THE SQUARE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18769, 27 May 1929, Page 8

The Star. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1929. THE COUNCIL AND THE SQUARE.

THE SUPREME COURT judgment on Cathedral Square will be discussed by the City Council to-night, and judging by recent utterances of the Mayor and some of the councillors, we fear that an attempt will be made to cloud the issues. It may he opportune, therefore, to state that the Court was asked to say whether the tramway shelter was a trespasser, and whether the City Council had power to erect further lavatories in Cathedral Square. The Court replied that the tramway shelter was a trespasser, and that the council had no shadow of right to proceed with the plans for an enlarged shelter, with lavatories and tramway offices. If the injunction were enforced immediately, it would go no further than moving the tramway shelter, although it is also clear from the judgment that if any other group of citizens sought an injunction to remove the present lavatories, and curtail the tramway hoard’s shunting activities, they could obtain an injunction against these trespassers as well. As we have said before, the injunction provides an entirely new and legal starting point for the consideration of any scheme of Cathedral Square improvement or alteration, and any heat and indignation that may be engendered by the Court’s decision can only he regarded as a querulous or hysterical pose for party purposes. The interpretation of the law has been sought, and in a law-abiding community the man who professes to be highly indignant at the state of the law must be regarded merely as a humbug. If the community wish it, the law can be altered by constitutional means, but not by tub thumping. It is probable, indeed, that those who have been defeated in their attempt to build bigger and better lavatories in Cathedral Square will realise that the only way to carry their point will be by the promotion of legislation legalising the trespass and breach of trust which they have so strenuously endeavoured to carry through. In that connection it is important to remember that Parliament is very reluctant to alter the terms of a public trust, especially in the case of reserves, because the principle of utility or selfinterest is often opposed to the right, and irreparable damage may be done by a temporary appeal to expediency. Victoria Square provides a notable instance of the attempt to raid reserves in Christchurch. Years ago the City Council of the day was almost unanimously of opinion that the whole of the plot on which Queen Victoria’s statue now stands should be cut up and sold for building sites; and even in recent times, the City Council prepared plans for a town hall on the main grass plot of Victoria Square. It is interesting to remember, too, that both of these plots were once used as a public pound and a rubbish dump. Nobody to-day would dream of alienating these reserves, but City Councils of past years were quite earnest in their belief that they should be alienated, and it was only the force of public opinion that saved them. We do not think that the City Council, as at present constituted, will go the length of seeking legislative sanction for what would otherwise be a breach of trust, but we do think that the attempt will be made, and that the citizens will have to be on their guard against plausible but unsound arguments regarding the desecration of Cathedral Square.

THE SCARCITY OF RADIUM. AS FURTHER KNOWLEDGE is obtained of the possibilities of radium-surgery in replacing the use of the knife for the treatment of cancer, there comes the realisaation, unfortunately, that radium is in short supply, and is quite inadequate to-day even to cope with the most pressing needs. In Britain the Government has just agreed to a £ for £ subsidy up to £IOO,OOO for the purchase of twenty grammes of radium by the end of 1930 for immediate needs. It has been agreed, too, to appoint National Radium Trustees, whose duty it will be to hold the funds provided by Parliament or otherwise, and to purchase and hold radium for use by a body called the radium commission. Until new sources of supply, at present unproved or unknown, are discovered, the only source from which additional supplies of radium for medical purposes is obtainable in any quantity is the Belgian Congo. The probability is that the largest centres of population will demand more and more radium, which has now been proved to effect as successful a local removal of cancer of the neck or womb as could be obtained by an operation, and the problem for the smaller centres, like New Zealand, therefore becomes one of some anxiety.

THE DANGERS OF PIONEERING. HOPES FOR THE RESCUE of Moir and Owen, the two Australian airmen who were missing over the Timor Sea, have happily been realised, but again the question arises as to whether flights of this particular description are necessary for the development of aviation. The answer is to be found in some very striking replies by FlightLieutenant Ulm to questions at the inquiry into the Southern Cross mishap. “If aviation departments assume control of all pioneering,” he said, “ then pioneering ceases. A few years ago many people thought we were lunatics to fly the Pacific. ... If it is in the interests of aviation to give up longdistance flying, Kingsford-Smith and I will give it up.” This is the spirit that has actuated Moir and Owen. They were not, strictly speaking, pioneering a route, but they were trying out a freight-carrying machine under conditions which might be expected to exist in the commercial development of flying. At the same time, Kingsford-Smith’s dictum holds good that for flying over considerable stretches of water multiple-engined machines, preferably sea-boats, are necessary, and wireless equipment is essential. Efforts like that which has ended so fortunately may not greatly help the commercial development of flying. One can admire the enterprise and pluck of the men who set out in a singleengined machine to fly over so hazardous a course, but every detail of equipment and every safety device should now be part of every long-distance flight, especially as the world’s widest stretches of ocean have been successfully spanned.