The Christchurch Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1929. MOTOR-CAR RATIOS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18939, 9 December 1929, Page 8

The Christchurch Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1929. MOTOR-CAR RATIOS IN NEW ZEALAND.

' I 'O MAINTAIN New Zealand’s present ratio of 1 car to 11 persons, an importation of 3000 cars per annum is necessary to provide for growth of population alone, without considering replacements. And as the ratio is constantly increasing, it is diflicult to predict when and where the “ saturation point ” may be reached. Taranaki, thanks to good roads, already has a ratio of 1 to 51, in comparison with Auckland’s 1 to 14, and it is obvious that in a country which has the highest per capita wealth in the world, the ratio for the whole country must alter rapidly as roads are improved and prosperity increases. This fact should he kept in mind in discussions like that which took place on the Transport Bill at Friday’s meeting of the South Island Motor Union. Co-ordination between road and rail traffic is highly desirable, but Mr A. E. Ansell’s idea of penalising motor transport running parallel with railways has manifest injustices. There is no occasion whatever to be “ startled ” at the increased importation of motor vehicles. The figures this year certainly appear to be heavy, the number of vehicles imported for the first ten months of 1929 being 25,253, of a value of £3,640,635, as compared with 13,433, of a value of £2,001,754, in the corresponding months of 1928. This may, indeed, prove to be a peak year in some respects, but it is reliably estimated that New Zealand’s annual requirements will be in the region of 20,000 or 25,000 cars for some years to come, and if people will only realise that the car is a modern necessity and not a luxury they will have no more misgivings on the subject. The absorption of cars, after all, is a clear evidence of the prosperity and buoyancy of the country, and it is a natural consequence, moreover, of the Dominion-wide movement towards good roads. To attempt any restrictive policy in regard to the natural development of road transport, indeed, would be as illogical as to revert to the corduroy roads and bullock tracks of a bygone age. EARTHQUAKE-DAMAGED ROADS. ' I 'HE RESTORATION of earthquake-damaged roads ought not to be a charge on the Highways Fund. The damage was a national liability, and it ought to be met out of the Consolidated Fund or Public Works funds. The normal expenditure that the Highways Board would have incurred on account of roads in the earthquake area ought, of course, to be available for the work of restoration, and if, on top of that, a grant should be requested from motoring revenue, in respect to both Islands, the motorists of the country would probably look at the proposition with a generous eye. One difficulty, at present, is to assess the damage—once estimated at from quarter to half a million. Mr A. D. Dobson has reason to believe that the work of restoration will be comparatively easy, and an early report on this aspect of the matter would be welcome. But, whatever the cost, the work is one of national concern, and ought to be so regarded by Cabinet. CHRISTMAS GIVING. nPHE CHRISTMAS SEASON is a time so fraught with enjoyment in the circle of the home that it makes people already in happy circumstances happiers but it is also a season in which the absence of sentimental or home ties must intensify the loss of those who lack them. It is a season when the basic ideal of Christianity has its strongest appeal, when people in the appreciation of their own good fortune turn their thoughts to the alleviation of the misfortunes of others, and there is no one to whom the great ideal of love has any meaning who will shut his ear to the appeal of children whose only home is an institution. The needs of children in orphanage homes and destitute institutions can never fail to appeal to the better feelings of the well-to-do people of the community at this season of the year. They may be Father Christmas in a sphere extending over wider areas than tlicir own fire-side. Fortunately, New Zealand has in prospect a very happy Christmas. With the prompt relief measures, the distress of unemployment has been averted, and many of the poorer families in the community will be touched by a spirit of good will that might have passed their doors under less happy circumstances. Nevertheless, it is well to remember that amongst the poor there are all too many children—and adults, too—in the institutions and homes of the country, who call in a special legree for large-hearted giving by the good citizen this Christmas. The many appeals at present before the community offer at once the opportunity of discharging an obligation and exercising a privilege—the greatest of all rivileges, the bringing of happiness into the lives of those less happily situated than oneself, and learning, too, the blessedness of giving.