The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1903. THE COUNTY LOAN PROPOSALS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2103, 31 January 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1903. THE COUNTY LOAN PROPOSALS.

At a special meeting yesterd ly, the Cook County Council took the only course it- 'reasonably could take, and .rejected tho proposal put forward by Councillor \V. -I). .Lysnar, that the ratepayers should be invited to sanction a loan of £200,000. As w.e pointed out when the scheme was first brought forward, its provisions were crude in the -extreme, and tlie uncompromising manner in which the mover endeavored to thrust it, willy nilly, down the throats of his fellow-councillors, was calculated to kill the prospects of a much more meritorious proposal. Tho incident is instructive as throwing an important sidelight -upon one who occupies a prominent place in the public affairs "of the town and country. The energy of Mr. \V. 1). Lysnar is selfevident, and bis persistence might well iferve as an object lesson to many of the sleepy, unimaginative Councillors whom a misguided people have entrusted with the care of the district’s affairs, but these qualities are unfortunately allied with others that completely nullify their effect. Thus, in the present instance, Cr. Lysnar seized the idea — not- a new one by any means —that the proper thing for tho -County to do was to -borrow, in order to find the necessary money to improve the roads. Tho more he pondered over it, the simpler did -the scheme appear, tho only question being how much to borrow. In such matters it is -useless sticking at trillesj-'so this energetic Councillor fixed upon £200,000 as a sum that could well he associated with- tho idea that hud--tak-en possession of him. Even to Cr. bysnar’s sanguine temperament, there was the contingency to he provider! against, that the more coldblooded of his fellow-councillors might want some particulars as to how the money was to be. spent, so ho framed a schedule, on a rule of thumb basis, by which the different ridings wore to receive allocations according to their rateable value, Then lie hustled along to the Council meeting, ami literally hurled his scheme a-t his colleagues. He advanced his views in a vigorous •speech, ami, with the air of one who had in his hands the salvation of the district, pleaded in plausible tones for their acceptance. Unfortunately for the scheme, some of the Councillors wanted fo know more about it. They wanted to know, for instance, on what evidence Cr. Lysnar based his estimates of expense, and they were naturally keen to ascertain where the interests of thenrespective ridings were to come in. To many of these questions the mover simply .responded by wild assertions that could not he substantiated fur a moment, whilst others were conveniently -ignored, and thc,._fur-_ tlier the inquiry went -the more palpablo did it become that Or. Lysnar had, as -usual, blundered, and was on hand with a proposal that was a slur upon -the intelligence of his fel-low-councillors. and also upon .Mile ratepayers. Many meetings were held—in- fact-, the greatest- latitude was given- to- Cr. Lysnar by his fel-low-councillors —but in the end there was no option but to -reject the proposal. As a- matter of -fact, it is evident, even to a layman, that in

rushing blandly into this subject, the mover started at tlio wrong olid. Instead of inducing the Council fo obtain from its Engineer a detailed account of tlio necessities of each- riding in the. County, together with the probable cost of every work, and subsequent maintenance, and the share of the loan to bo paid by each, lie virtually fixed upon the loan first and looked upon the various allocations as matters of detail that could be settled or, at any rate, amended subsequently. There is no question that a scheme will have to be devised for borrowing a fairly large sum to place the County roads in decent condition, • but before the ratepayers will sanction any proposal of tlio kiml, full details of the very things Cr. Lysnar chose to ignore, will have to be supplied. On the face of tilings it would appear that Cr. Lysnar has simply been beating -the air in trying to rush his ,impracticable proposals through the Council, but lie may yet deserve the thanks of the community if his agitation results in his colleagues going fully into the matter, and devising a scheme that will have the merit of being sound linaiieially, and just to the different sections of ratepayers.