COUNTY ELECTIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 306, 16 May 1941, Page 5

COUNTY ELECTIONS

Sir, —In a recent issue of the Beacon, Mr McCracken of Rangitaiki. wishes to instruct ratepayers, of Nukuhou Riding as to who they are to select to represent them on the 'County Council. If Nukuhou ratepayers sent delegates to Rangitaiki to influence farmers in their selection of a member for that riding Mr McCracken would no doubt consider it an act of unparalleled cheek and tell them to mind their own and he would be quite justified in doing so. With regard to the County Chairman's statement that the Council • had reduced the general rate for election year by %d, the ratepayers can get the facts by taking down their file of County rate demands, "where they will find just four years back,; in 1937, that the rate* watf 3d in the £. The following year the County Chairman, who professed to be in favour of lower rates before he entered the Council, was the main mover in raising the general ■ rate to 3%d in tclaims credit for reducing during election year. ' Al few months, back, while the ' Council was quietly deciding to commit the ratepayers to another j ratei to raise a £50,000 loan to assistj "the Government in a building J - scheme, the Chairman said lie could say that the Nukuhou ratepayers were unanimous in favour of the loan and extra;.rate. In a recent tour of the whole riding we utterly failed to find one ratepayer who 'favoured giving the Council 1 right to strike another %d rate. Now that the law allows County f Councils to pledge in secret without ' limit, the farmers' equity in their ' land without a loan poll, it is ur- j ■ gently necessary to return members who are loyal enough to keep their promises to protect farmers' inter!ests. At one time the farmer could j 'rely ori his Land Transfer or other title* but now his only titla in owTn- • ersihip,. remains in a Councillor's verbal promise not to penalise and hand over his equity to carry out -Government building or other •schemes. As far as possible, the Nukuhou ratepayers have protected, their interests by issuing a policy in writing, which the«r candidate, Mr Savage. will carry out when elected ,ftnd they are determined to stick tn "the.ir guns, despite the action of tOther ridings! tiying to obtain another member to help make fine roads in the. western, parts 1 of the 'County, while the ratepayers of Nukuhou flounder along narrow oneway tracks such as are found from 'Wainui and through to Waimana. The fact that ridings in the west~ern part of the County approved of the Council's policy of the past, by returning the old members, should j not influence Nukuhou ratepayers to vote for farsealed roads! for the -western part of thei County whilst 'being ignored themselves, except at election time. The fact that the Council's machinery and . records are being used to such am extent to return a mem-' heir more useful to other parts of the County than to Nukuhou ratepayers, should not blind electors as to the preserving of their own rights to get the same roading faci'lities as other parts of the County. Yours etc., ROBT. BLACK.