They occur in very large numbers in the railway systems of other countries. To eliminate them entirely would involve an expense that would necessitate a heavy increase in all the charges that are made for railway transport. And it would be an expense that would, as the Minister of Railways pointed out in a statement published in our issue of yesterday, be incurred entirely for the benefit of those who are using the roads over which the level crossings are constructed. There are very sound grounds of objection to the existence of level crossings within urban areas, but the argument that there should be an entire elimination of them throughout the railway system of the country is not one that can be reasonably supported. All that can be fairly demanded from the Railways Department is that, in addition to the erection of warning signals, the approaches to the crossings shall be freed from all obstructions which may prevent the user of the road from obtaining a clear view of the railway track on both sides of the crossing.
The onus must be generally accepted by the driver of the vehicle which collides with the train. The proportion of cases in which accidents at crossings are due wholly to the recklessness or negligence of the user of the road is exceedingly high.
It is especially incumbent on the user of the road to apply the principle. He is not running to a timetable; he is not confined to a single track; he is able to stop his machine quickly; he is bound to fare the more seriously in the event of a collision. — editorial
Very superstitious
Superstition dies hard, and it would appear that that heritage handed down to us by pagan forefathers has not yet died in the modern mind. It appears in many forms in everyday life, and perhaps more especially in the lives of the weaker sex, one of whom made a display of her fears in Dowling street yesterday when she was confronted by a linesman’s ladder stretching right across the footpath. There was scarcely walking room between the foot of the ladder and the gutter, but the superstitious young woman balanced herself skilfully on a few inches of kerbing and thus negotiated the danger zone. As she continued along the footwalk her progress was watched by amused masculine glances and sympathetic feminine smiles.
Race relations
‘‘If Jesus Christ were born again in the self-same way He would be debarred from Australia, and if He came to New Zealand we should have to take up a retiring collection to pay His poll tax.’’ The Rev Stanley Morrison, of Mount Eden, made this arresting assertion last evening during the course of a dissertation on the clash of colour, in the Beresford Street Congregational Church. The Christian Church had come by a sad misfortune if it had not got the message definite and clear with regard to the colour problem. The coloured races had raised the question: is the white civilisation really the higher civilisation? And their answer was ‘‘No’’. The answer to the colour problem was more perfect understanding. The world would have to look to Christ if things were to be put right, and the simplest thing to do was to do our job by the coloured races in the name of Jesus. — ODT, 17.3.1026
