The Christchurch Star. TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1929. HUGE RATE INCREASES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18830, 6 August 1929, Page 8

The Christchurch Star. TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1929. HUGE RATE INCREASES.

VERY UNPLEASANT SURPRISES are in store for ratepayers when their rate notices go out this year, because the recent revaluation of the city prepared the ground for heavy increases in the aggregate rate. This year, for instance, the City Council has reduced the general rate from 3.375 d to 2.9328 d, but even on this reduced figure it is going to raise £22,457 more than was raised last year on the general rate alone, and the aggregate increase will be double that amount, without considering hospital and drainage increases that will follow on the increased valuations. The fact of the matter seems to be that the council has abandoned hope of reducing the rates, and is not even able to keep its departmental expenses within reasonable limits. There are many directions, of course, in which an expanding city must spend more money, but the position in Christchurch gives ground for some anxiety. Staff salaries, for instance, have been increasing at the rate of £2OOO a year for the past five years, and the City Engineer’s Department in particular, with infinitely more money to spend than it has ever had before, does not appear to be “ delivering the goods.” This is to be noted in connection with road maintenance. As the Mayor justly remarked last night, Christchurch has the worst city roads in the Dominion. It is probable that the policy of doing so much work by day labour, with the constant necessity for City Council supervision, has increased the cost of the Engineer’s Department, and this is a bad thing in itself, because excellent results are being obtained in all parts of the country by the letting of tenders for road making. Indeed, the rapidity with which modern roads can be laid by contract is in very striking contrast to the leisurely business of laying them by any other means. The stage is certainly set in this direction for a vigorous policy of economy and retrenchment, if councillors had the time to apply themselves to the task, because modern road construction ought to reduce maintenance costs to a minimum, and the city should be reaping the benefits of such economy. But the growing volume of expenditure in all directions calls for the very closest supervision, not only by councillors, but also by heads of departments, and the latest rate increases give point to the fact.

DO WE TALK TOO MUCH? it TALK TOO MUCH and act too little,” said Coun- » ▼ cillor P. W. Sharpe last night, and his remark fairly diagnosed a trouble that has kept Christchurch back in many directions for many years. To take a humble instance, the City Council has just authorised expenditure on a weir in the Avon, after talking about the matter for twenty years and more. Indeed, if one were to judge by past experience one could have no assurance, even now, that a weir is really to be erected, because over fifteen years ago material for a weir was actually deposited on the river bank, and the work was talked out by its opponents. It is just this talking process—the fear of lions in the way—that one finds in so many directions in Christchurch, whether it be in regard to a town hall, an art gallery site, road access to the wharves at Lyttelton, a canal or tunnel road scheme, or the mere widening of the Bank Corner. It is to be feared that the tendency to “ talk things out ” has delayed many an urgent reform. BICYCLES AND TRAFFIC CONTROL. r I 'HE REGISTRATION of bicycles was one of the traffic control proposals that the City Council did well to turn down. The cost of a registration department would be out of all proportion to the fees received, and an isolated system for the city of Christchurch would fail to achieve the laudable enough objects that the supporters of registration have in view. The other recommendations of the Special Traffic Committee were in the right direction. The covering of side channels, for instance, is necessary not only to provide wider traffic lanes in the city streets, but also to preserve a sense of civic dignity regarding the appearance of the city. A tenminute parking rule in Colombo Street North is a perfectly reasonable compromise from the point of view of retail shopkeepers and their customers, although the time must come, with the growth of the city, when stricter limits will have to be imposed. It is reasonable to call upon trams travelling on the wrong side of the road to carry a distinguishing light, but we are hopeful Parliament will take a hand one of these days to prohibit any vehicle from travelling on its wrong side. Generally speaking the proposals are commendable, and if the Traffic Inspector’s Department will now insist on a closer observance of existing by-laws a very great improvement will soon be manifest in city traffic control. COMPULSORY TRAINING AND EDUCATION. AN ASPECT of the Defence system that merits the careful study of Parliament, whatever views M.P.’s may hold about compulsion, occurs in connection with the higher education of the youth of New Zealand. Attention has been drawn to the case of a young man who was drafted into the Christchurch Hospital for military medical training, and missed lectures at Canterbury College in consequence. It ought to be possible, of course, to avoid any overlapping of this nature, but in practice it seems to be impossible, because a great deal of interference with studies as well as set lectures is constantly occurring, especially during the annual encampments in the early part of the year. It is not suggested that there is any open hostility or rivalry between the Defence Department and the Education Department, but there is certainly a great lack of sympathy when University studies can be seriously interfered with. Interference doubtless occurs in various other directions, and its influence must be all to the bad. If Parliament is not in the mood to repeal compulsory training altogether, it ought to insist that the claims of education should be paramount. The most ardent militarist, if he considered the matter carefully, would agree with this view, because the greatest good is achieved by compulsory training, not among the student classes, but among those who have a much more aimless attitude towards life.