The Dominion TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1920. THE CITY LOAN

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 301, 14 September 1920, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1920. THE CITY LOAN

To-iioitiiow city ratepayers will be called upon to vote for or against loan proposals which rank as perhaps the most important ever put forward by a local authority in the Dominion. The total amount in question, £1,705,906, is very large, and if the whole of the proposals arc approved the city's present indebtedness ultimately will be almost doubled. It is proposed, however, to spread the expenditure of the loan over a period of five years; and this, pf course, means that tho. total liability under the loan will be approached by stages, and at each stage—given good planning and sound administration — will bo offset by improvements and new works which will confer material benefits upon the city's, present inhabitants and 'provide for the needs of an increasing population. Tho one essential question for ratepayers to determine is whether tho loan proposals are, as the Mayor has described them, sound and necessary. Those who acccpt the Mayor's view and prefer progress to stagnation are' bound logically to support and vote for the loan proposals. Although some of the less important items in the schedule are evidently open to criticism, ratepayers, in our opinion, will study their own interests and those of the city if they vote at least for tho major portion of the loan proposals. A. very large proportion of the total sum involved is to bo spent .on absolutely necessary works, some of which arc long overdue. An adcquata < water supply, for instance, is indisputably necessary, and this item alone accounts for a proposed expenditure, over several years, of close on £562,000. The proposed expenditure on street works, also, is easily justified. The present deplorable condition of many of the city streets not only occasions discomfort and inconvenience, but is inconsistent with sound economy. Well planned expenditure on tho streets, besides bringing immediate and obvious benefits, will pay for itself within a, comparatively short' period of years in lessened upkeep, and will make more and more labour available for the extension of suburban improvements and in other directions. The weight of expert opinion favouring the construction of a new power station at Evans Bay, and the manifest necessity of tho several duplications and extensions enumerated under the principal tramways item (£064,887) make it

difficult to voto against this section of tho schedule. Objections wcr? at first raised that expenditure on a modern power station whs unnecessary in view of the prospective supply of hydro-electric energy from Mangahao. These objections arc met, however, by the explana-

tion that the Kvana Bay station, besides serving permanently an a standby, will be needed as a source of supply supplementary to Mangahao until power is -available also from Waikaremoana. Tho works so far mentioned are on the face of it necessary and urgent, and under the proposals these works are allocated nearly four-fifths of the total loan. 'Most of the remaining items are in every way desirable, and the only questions open concern their order of importance and the period at which they ought to be put in hand. It is not in doubt, for instance, that sooner or lalx/V another tunnel must be pierced through Mount Victoria, and it is to be regretted that the suburban residents particularly concorned and the city authorities have not been able to arrive at a clearer understanding on the subject than is yet apparent. There are, of course, some items on the schedule to which exception is likely to be taken. Many ratepayers probably will feel disinclined to vote for the proposed new tramway to Karori by way of Raroa Road, while the main problem of providing a short and convenient arterial route to that suburb remains untouched. Again it is certainly not right that ratepayers should be asked, in authorising expenditure 011 public conveniences and other necessary works, to sanction further outlay on the extension of,the Oriental Bay sea wall. This last is a work which might very well stand over until inany of a much more useful and .(l'Rent character have been completed. The whole of the undertakings outlined in the schedule no

ikmbt will be, and ought to be, carried out in the course of time, but as the schedule, is drawn ratepayers arc placed at a disadvantage in that Uicy are given no opportunity of indicating the order in which they are of opinion the works ought to be carried out. Apart, however, from the proposed expenditure on ' one or two items, of which the Oriental Bay sea wall is the most conspicuous example, and the reasonable exception that may bo taken to the route selected for a new tramway to Karori, the whole nf tin; money it is proposed to raise can be expended with great advantage to the city. Probably the best tiling for ratepayers to do is to vole aI, least for the greater pnrt of Iho loan, and trust to the City Council expending the money to the lmsl, advantage over the next four or five years. If we were asked to fie,l. works in their order of importance as far as the grouping of I,lm schedule permits, wo should leave them much as they stand, o.xcepl, that iteriis number 4 (Raron, Road tramway) and 6 (general improvements) might well go to the bottom. The necessary works in the lnsU mentioned group are such as numt bo provided for in any case—out of revenue necessary. Whatever their individual opinion may be, ratepayers owe it to themselves and to the city to register their votes.