The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1915.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 March 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY LEVIN. FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1915.

LEVIN AlLNlLll'Ab HALE. A municipal Low 11 liull lias been mooted la Lev in from time to time, but the proposal lias received 110 continuing enuorseinent lrom any articulate body ol' tile citizens. (Questions may be inteiripcrscd as to whether the timo be interposed at, to whether the time the sporadic efforts made to secure lor Levin its municipal hall, but to our mind the time present is as suitable as any other may be. Our town is growing in size as well as in importance, ami its social and other needs are inadequately met by tile buildings that aforetime served it well enough. Tile completion of the main trunk railway line from Wellington to Auckland placed this town in dircet contact with tile loutes of the greater theatrical companies. and if our altered conditions have secured for the

theatre-going portion of this community lower visits from prominent companies than some had anticipated, the reason is easily given. When the public halls will not accommodate from live to .six hundred people there is not the margin of profit that will make satisfactory business possible. For the visit of a Uig company such as that which entertained Levin citizens so well last night the occasional dislocations oi' circuit routine are responsible; in the absence of emregeney occurrences our town surely is passed by. and places with equal or even smaller populations placed upon the itinerary. Inglewood is an instance in proof. There a commodious Town Hall "stage gives scope for proper mounting of plays ami operas, and so forth, while a well-designed auditorium allows accommodation for an audience sufficient to make the company's work profitable. Quite apart from the pleas-urc-seeking side of public life there is to be considered the civic side. Times of political excitement sometimes "e----sult in the congregation of comparatively great crowds even in towns such as Levin ; even the many social amenities that ai'e so happy an accompaniment of our workaday existence assume in odd instances importance that aggregates a crowd beyond ordinary degree. For leaser occasions the 'e will remain a demand for the halls already here; and iP the newer and more extensive building meets with only an occasional demand the tariff could bo fixed on a scale commensurate with outlay 011 erection and upkeep. Where the money would come from to meet the initial cost is the inevitable question in all such matters. Sucli a problem falls short of being what "problem" really implies; the cost could be secured by giving the security oi a special rate: by endowing the hall with a portion «,f the £500 per annum derived from the borough leases; by levying on the ratepayers 'i direct tax to make up the necessary £'300Q, or by consulting financial authorities who would grve a lot of information easily obtainable from actuarial tables by tho«e who know where to find them. Whether it woukt j lie profitable to include one or two shop suites in Hie building is a subsidiary side of the question that could bo discussed by the borough council when the timo for decision comes. Meanwhile the matter could be placed on a practical basis by tlie inexpensive process of taking a poll of ratepayers for or against this proposal at the timo and place for the biennial election of the borough councillors.