The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1891. CURRENT TOPICS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume X, Issue 2388, 23 May 1891, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1891. CURRENT TOPICS.

At the last meeting of. the Borough Council the'question of a water supply came op. 3 c was with regret that wo noticed that the scarcity of water m .the Uorough was regarded with something very like levity. One councillor remarked that it was not an unmixed evil, as it would force householders to sink to the lower strata for pure water, instead of taking polluted water from the first stratum. It is all very well for councillors to talk thus. They have thoir deeply Mink wel's, with the latest appliances m pumps and windmills, but they do not consider that there are many who are now without water who cannot afford • to obtain it at such a, cost. In the north-east part of the town scarcely a well of the ordinary type js supplying water, and the residents are obliged to cjo long distances for what they require for domestic use. ■•Many of them are , not m a position to incur the cost of driving wells and fitting pumps to obtain water from the lower strata, and it is a question for the serious consideration of the Council what'steps to take m the ease. It seems to us that the Council might well consider tlie adyisableness of sinking a well to such a depth as to afford a permanent supply m those parts of the town which are m need, The water would be available for fire prevention, street watering and other purposes, and m times of drought the poorer householders would have a pure supply and much inconvenience and sickness would be obviated.

There has been a prohibition case at Home. The license of a public house m the North of England was refused renewal on the ground that the house was not required. It was proved that the house though not much used m the winter months was a resort of tourists m the summer. The licensees of the house {carried their case through bthe ; various courts to the House of Lords, but, the decision m e,very case upheld the- action of the licensing bench-^----that is to say it was held that the license was only granted for one year from the licensing day, and at the end of one year from its baing granted it altogether expired, and it became thekluty of the Jiench to say whether or riot the house was required and the license should be renewed. This decision does not, according to eminent authorities, justify a bench m refusing to grant all licenses. On the contrary it rjeatiirins the principle that where a licensed house is proved to be required the bench must grant the license. The decision is a triiupli for the Temperance f tarty i" so far that the hands of the lGejnsing authorities are sti'emjtliqnod m 'refusing renewals :of HGjppfe ,'to, houses that are-tttiftiees^avy oi? tjiiat are badly conducted. No licensing bench is by this decision empowered to close any house without considering whether it is required m the district and is well-conducted. I'he compensation question does not arisa at m\. If on the grounds stated the license is refused, that is an end of the matter : compensation there is none.

Co.il m South Australia and Victoria may not seem anything to be alarmed about, but really it is a most important matter for New Zealand. The most extensive trade m coal products between this colony and Australia-—and a not insignificant part of the Colony's whole expoit trade—is that between Greyniouth and FortPirio, 8, Australia, m coke for smelting the ores from the Broken Hill mines. The news that coal equal" to that of New Zealand has been discovered on the railway line leading from Adelaide to those mines consequently comes 'jwith a shock. The loss of the trade with Victoria through the coal discoveries at Gippsland is as nothing compared with the loss of the New South (tw Port Pine) customer, This is, however, not the first time by many that similar discoveries have been heralded, and yet seme colleries are kept open and Anstralia still draws upon us for firing. Without wishing our neighbours any harm we may bo permitted to hope that the discoveries of which we have just heart) may do much good to the districts m which tbey ate situated, without doing New Zealand any