The Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATEA-RANGTIKEII ADVERTISER, "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1889.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 11552, 4 December 1889, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATEA-RANGTIKEI I ADVERTISER, "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1889.

It would be a pity if, through paragraphs that have recently appeared, any general misapprehension were caused as to the financial position of' the Public Library; The Library is an institution of which the people of Wanganui should be proud. The building is sufficiently commodious for the purposes for which it it was designed, and with the recent improvements that, have been effected by the directors, should' serve all the purposes of the Library without requiring any additional expenditure upon it for years to come. For the. town and district which. it serves, the shelves and tables of the institution may be said to be well stocked and supplied with books, magazines, and papers. The institution — that is, the building and what it contains—is practically free of debt. True, there are current liabilities, but they are almost covered by current subscriptions. What, then, it may be asked, is all the fuss about P Well, a great deal more has been made of a little difficulty than there was any occasion for. The abolition of the Government subsidy and the threatened stoppage of the Borough Council vote have necessitated a consideration of "ways and means" by the directors. They \ find that, with certain sources of revenue cut off, or threatened, others must be found —or, their expenditure for next year must be proportionately decreased. It is a simple matter of " cutting their coat according to their cloth," and the directors have wisely deteimined not to keep the expenditure up to the old rate merely on the chance of something, turning up.. The difficulty, as we have said, is not at all a serious •no. It merely means that, during next year, the expenditure on'papers and periodicals will be reduced by between ten and fifteen pounds, and this, pan bedone without noticeably curtailing the privileges of either subscribers or. the general public who use the free reading-room. The Library vote, tdp, will have to be reduced; but we do not think that subscribers will have much to complain about because''only some forty instead of eighty pounds'worth of new books may be ordered next year-^provided that such books-are-procured in good time for winter's reading. We ought to mention that two or three of the directors have become responsible at the bank for the library's working overdraft, and remembering this fact, neither their fellow directors', the subscribers, nor the pnblic should enco&rage any expenditure that would increase 'tho liability which the gentlemen in question" .have voluntarily undertaken out of their goodwill tor the institution.

Whatever barriers our. distriot local bodies may erect between ono another, it must be obvious that the interests of all -r-town and country alike—are in a large measure identical; and consequently, that, as far as practicable, each and all should, join together for the public good in the endeavour to promote the development of theArade of the district. An instance was brought under the notice.of the Wanganui County Council yesterday of ono of its by-laws pressing unduly _on the inhabitants of the adjoining counties, and also to the prejudice of the revenue of the Harbour. Board. The by-law in question was originally passed to prevent the district roads being cut up by heavilyladen firewood drays, and it prohibits the carrying of more T;han twenty-five hun» redweight on narrow-tired • carts, or double that quantity on narrow-tired waggons; and the result is that wool from the Turakina district is carted to the nearest railway station, and either sent direct to Wellington by rail or shipped at Foxton —in either case with increased cost to the producer and the proportionate loss to. the shipping trade of this port. Wo are gl»<i i° aote that tho council agreed not to press the by-law during the summer months. The roads arohard now and quite capable of bearing the little extra traffic without damage.