THOUGHTS FOR THE TIMES.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 August 1923, Page 2

THOUGHTS FOR THE TIMES.

Local Bodies’ Loans. The statistical report on Local Government in 1 1 to Dominion of New Zealand for the financial year ended March 31, 1922, compiled in the Census and Statistical Office. Wellington, though belated, is a document that should be studied bv every ratepayer in the Dominion. Local bodies have developed a remarkable penchant for raising loans on the flimsiest of excuses, and not always for public utilities, and if some curb is not placed upon these irresponsible councillors New Zealand will be m 'very so ions trouble In the not very distant future. In the 22 years under teview the gross debt rose from £8.119.272 to £37,205.539, an increase of £29,050,207, and the annual loan charge rose from £453.180 to £2,13,,734. and the or capita rate increased from 11s lid. to £1 14s 2d. In the last- two years the increase in the gross debt was by far the greatest in any two years, find in the year 1921-22 the debt increased by £4.740.491, which was by far the greatest increase in any single year. The reason for this phenomenal addition to local indebtedness is almost entirely due to the activities of electric power hoards, and, as the Statistician remarks, “it is quite feasible that the next decade will witness further large additions to the local debt on this account.”—Mercantile Gazette.