DISHING THE EXPERTS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18232, 18 July 1921, Page 4

DISHING THE EXPERTS.

A committee of the House of Commons which inquired into a Water Power Bill for Lochaber is credited with an experience, unique in its way, which members of the Wanganui Borough Council would probably enjoy. The Commoners “dished” the experts. For several days expert after expert gave evidence that the success of the Spey fisheries depended not only on a regular flow of water in the river, but on those periodical freshets and floods nature so freely provides. In an endeavour to copy nature and satisfy the piscatorial opponents of the Bill, the Committee hit upon the ingenious expedient of giving a flow of 30 million gallons per day (five million gallons more than proposed), with a flood of 100 million gallons on 12 separate days whenever desired. The Committee were entitled to a sense of pride at having thus solved so knotty a problem, and their feelings on being asked the next day to eliminate the floods may well be imagined. The Fishery Board, however, found that the fixing of the twelve days was beset with inconvenience and difficulty, and cncluded that a more desirable arrangement would be to increase the regular flow’ to 40 million gallons. The Committee very naturally asked whether they were justified, after a decision based on expert evidence, in departing from their decision, but after further expert evidence had been forthcoming to ease the Committee’s mind, they concurred in an arrangement which had the special merit of enabling the House of Lords to receive an agreed Bill. If anyone had cause to feel aggrieved it was the experts whose evidence was dished by their owm side.