1008 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 
It must not be forgotten that high authorities are by no means 
at one as to the effectiveness of the so-called fire-proof construction 
of to-day. In the minds and in the writings of those who have 
given the most earnest consideration to the subject, there is 
evidently grave doubt as to the possibility of constructing a really 
fire-proof building. Examples have been frequent of late which 
prove that buildings which in their construction contain no particle 
of inflammable matter, and where iron and steel have been pro- 
tected from the direct action of fire and water, the whole structure 
has crumbled into dust under the fierce heat generated by the com- 
bustion of its contents. 
All this leads us to the conclusion that legislators must keep 
prominently in view the balance which it is imperative to main- 
tain between over much fire-proofing, and our commercial and 
domestic necessities. 
If, within the scope of a Building Act, it were possible to make 
a settlement once and for ever of the vexed question of ‘ Ancient 
Lights,” what a happy consummation would it be. 
The laws affecting “‘ Ancient Lights” in England have their 
origin in remote periods, and in old customs and rights which have 
no parallel in this young country. How far those laws apply to 
the Colony is a problem upon which no two lawyers seem able to 
agree, and property owners and their architects are embarrassed 
by the uncertainty which prevails, and which is so eminently 
desirable to put an end to. 
This is not the place to discuss the ethics of the question ; but 
to the writer it has always appeared most inequitable that because 
a neighbour of mine has enjoyed a privilege for a certain number 
of years—a privilege that it was in my power to deprive him of at 
any moment—that he should acquire a right to go on enjoying it for 
ever to the grievous detriment of my property. 
From a citizen’s point of view, it certainly appears a thousand 
pities that in a young country like this, we should be hampered 
in the building of our cities by laws, which, however they may 
have come into existence in the old country, have here, at least, no 
foundation to rest upon which is based upon justice, on expediency, 
or on common sense. 
