DAY BY DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15864, 8 December 1923, Page 6

DAY BY DAY.

The request of the Hamilton Borough, Council that the early

Reasonable and Desirable.

train recently put on between Waikato and Auckland should start

from Hamilton instead of Frankton is a reasonable one and it is hoped that the Department will be able to accede thereto. The train has been put on in the way of an experiment for a certain period, but if it is found that the amount of traffic justifies it, it is to be permanent. The large majority of passengers who travel by ot from this end will no doubt be from the Hamilton area, and it will be a great convenience to these if they are able to book at their home station, as thus they would save both money and time. The business people have for long urged the inauguration of such a service as that now running, arguing that it would prove a profitable venture for the Department, as well as a boon for the general public. Iteration and reiteration finally induced the Department to tremblingly agree to launch out as an experiment. Having gone so far the small concession now asked by the Borough Council in order to assist to popularise the train and thereby materially assist to I make it the success anticipated, should he granted without undue hesitation, j Wc, therefore, hope the Department j will he able to fa\ourably consider the J request, and that the desit\d alteration j in the starting point of the train will i be made. ■ :

The case heard by Mr H. A. Young, S.M., ai lig.mil.ton

Conserving the Public Health.

yesierday, ia which a person was charged with using- a

' public vehicle for j the conveyance ol' a patient suffering ! from an infectious disease, will serve j a good purpose in drawing pointed ali tention to a very important clause in | the Public Health Act. In the case i under notice, the defendant apparently ! erred in ignorance and the Department had no desire to exact a salutary penalty. Future defendants, however, will not be able to advance the same plea, and upon conviction can rest assured that the penalty will he more to fit the crime. Matters that affect public health are rightly considered of paramount importance, and too .stringent steps cannot be taken to guard against the spread of infectious diseases in the community. A few' mouths ago the fact that smallpox was prevalent in an English Midland town was deliberately suppressed in order that the attendance at a public fixture shouid not suffer, the result being that the dread disease was disseminated over a wide area. The persons who were responsible for suppressing I lie information' were widely condemned for their callous conduct and held up to odium because they deliberately placed dollars before the public welfare. The incident shows how necessary it is for the Health authorities to be evc-r on the alert in the exercise of their functions and also how essential it is that they receive the hearty co-operation of the public, in whose interest they are working. The case at Hamilton emphasises the fact that the provisions of the Public Health Act are far reaching, and it is the duty of the public to make themselves acquainted therewith. Ignorance of the law is not always considered a ground for leniency. j