392 Rkport S.A.A. Advancement of .Science. 



the municipality Uixes everybody, and as tliat tax includes the piivate 

 trader, if the municipality is engaged in the same class of trade it is 

 entering into competition with its own ratepayers, thus niaking tliem 

 contribute to mmiicipal funds which are being employed to compete 

 against them in their own business, and help to destroy their trade. 



This brings me to another point, which to my mind is one of the 

 strongest. Sir Henry Fowler says : " Tlie true friends of municipal 

 life and institutions are those who desire to see that life devehjped and 

 those institutions strengthened on the broad basis <»f public benefit and 

 of public support. They will not be disposed to sacrifice the rare 

 advantages of the devotion, wise supervision and experiences! manage- 

 ment and administration which are the advantages of the voluntary 

 public service of that large ai-my of citizens who control our local 

 administration, but they will recognise that there are limits to the extent 

 and efficiency of that management — they will see that it must not 

 conflict with the just interests of the ratepayers — the traders, and the 

 public, and they will not weaken the strength and value of municipal 

 administration by extending it beyond those limits." 



Now every one will admit that the country has exery reason to be 

 grateful to those gentlemen who have given their time and services Ui 

 municipal work ; in fact, I do not think the country sufficiently realises 

 the value of their services. At the same time, the counti'y has lost 

 the services of many of those best qualified to direct public aifairs, 

 because so much time has to be devoted to them that their own busi- 

 nesses will not wai-rant their neglecting them for public life. And as 

 the man who has conducted liis own business successfully is the bfst 

 aVjle to manage public afiairs wisely, it is a great pity his seivices 

 should be lost to the country, and <jne of the reasons they aie lost is 

 that many municipalities have so many schemes on their hands that 

 require so much attention that a councillor finds that what with in- 

 numerable meetings and connnittees far too laj-ge a proportion of liis 

 business time is devoted to municipal affairs. The writer can speak 

 with authority on this point, as he was once a member of a munici- 

 pality that started a municipal quarry, and the amount of time spent in 

 discussing that quarry in comparison with the rest of the municipal 

 work was unreasonable, in addition to which the quarry was an enor 

 mous expense, and the stone could liave been bought cheaper from 

 contractors outside the nuinicipality altogether ; just <me of the in- 

 stances where a great deal of time and money was unnecessarily 

 wasted, with the ver}' best intentions. 



The Hon. H. P. Porter, wi-iting on this subject, further states that 

 municipal trading is certain to entirely alter the character of our muni- 

 cipal bodies. "No one will be able to enter any of our town councils 

 who is not prepared to devote his whole time to it, inchuHng 8un<lays, 

 and even then the work cainiot possibly be thoroughly and caiffully 

 considered." This seems to me obvious ; it is with the greatest <Hffi- 

 culty now that we get the class of man we want in South Africa for 

 municipal councils, because we have not the leisured class that exists 

 in England, and if nnmicipalities a)e going to burden themselves witii 



