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Hokitika Guardian, 22 April 1921, Page 2

| Tub call for attention to citizen duties 1 in regard to municipal and local bodies j affairs affecting the town has met with j a very fair response. There is the proJ in iso of a healthy spirit of competition ! for the. seats on the Council. J For the Mayoralty the town is j again to he served by Mr Perry, who I through a long period of successive | terms has performed useful work. Mr j Perry may best be described as a ■ “safe” Mayor. It cannot be said that ' he moves always as fast as many of iis I woidd wish, but he moves always cir- , cumspectly. Mr Perry can address himself very explicitly to all subjects coming before him,, and invariably weighs his actions deliberately. If he is surrounded by an active and progressive Council, as we hope he will be, Mr Perry will be a very able and useful president of the deliberations to assist in all questions being carefully considered and weighed well from the ratepayers’ point of view. His “safety” in that respect is a considerable asset to the town, and his service In the Mayoral plinlr far flip fil'd'mg Km cnit

be a very valuable one. As regards the selection of a Council, the ratepayers have a good choice. TKp Candidates are wcdl-knowa pterSohally, But it would be very helpful to some of the candidates if they were to take the platform and expound their views on municipal affairs. We are quite satisfied from what is to he heard oil all sides that the ratepayers would be prepared tb sanction a progressivte-pdliey ift ,r%TF<i to municipal works, if brought forward in «, Wmsnftabte way. There are many blotters about the town requiring attention, not in themselves costly, but in the aggregate perhaps beyond the revenue in sight. Several of these necessary works are of a permtuient character, and they cbuld b'6 lihahet'd out of a, small Mail whip}), it IS possible for tim Cbmlcii, We helbfve,, to raise under very reasonable conditions. This procedure need not add to the burden of the ratepayers, because some of the works now being done out of revenue, would be a fair charge against a loan, and the revenue account would he relieved accordingly. However, that is a dc.tail for subsequent consideration when the new council is in operation and sets about its work lit a, businesslike way as is justified by the prtoSpects of the trtwh Mid tlite summhdiiig district-. Meantime it is satisfactory to know thb electors may make a choice as regards the new council on Wednesday next.

PuonAiiLY the attenfciV'W Mainly turned to morn ’direct and civic affairs caused the matter of filling the Borough scats on the Charitable Aid Board to be of less interest in regard to the number of nndidates. Yet, seeing that the Borough Council has to contribute about £1,10(1 of the ratepayers’ money towards the cost of running the hospitals for the distinct aliil maintaining the expensive. System of charftabl'e aid, it might have been expected it wider interest would be takep in this particular qont.est. .The total amount required Viy the Board is very large. Last year the Board in question spent over £I7,(NX) so that it will be seen it is a body of considerable importance. We would not like to suggest that because a large proportion of this expenditure reverts to the town, that tlio ratepayers as a whole view the matter with some complacency. But there is an indifference in the matter which is quite marked. The expenditure to maintain the Board iii its work has befcii inouhtthg unduly high of late years, and w& are not altogether satisfied that the members have done their whole duty in carefully watching that expenditure. The members have been prone to follow tho line of least resistance, and expenses have gone up . unduly . The heart more than the mjnd of members has been .touched by the appeals, and so fie find the material increase, with the consequent heavy burden for the ratepayers to shoulder in the end. The Board is in a different position to the average run of local bodies in raising revenue. The latter have to find their ways and means by rates and taxes collected piecemeal from the people, where as tho Board levies direct on the local bodies, which have to pay in the aggregate moneys they are impelled to raise from the people. If Boards had a more direct responsibility to the people through a separate rating channel, it is believed that greater economies would he affected. The Board would be forced to cut its doth according to the estimate on which it struck its rate, and not as at present assent to practically every request it receives, knowing that the local bodies will in the end more or less complacently find the money. This is the easy condition affairs have drifted in, and the ratepayers are being unduly mulcted accordingly. But at a time like the present they rather miss the chance of endeavouring to right matters with members bent Oil financial reform.