Te Kuiti Loan.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 81, 8 May 1908, Page 3

Te Kuiti Loan.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I note in your last issue a letter from Mr J. Boddie, wherein he takes exception to the manner in which a meeting was called to consider the proposal to borrow £2,000 for draining and reading the Te Kuiti township. Nothing is easier than to find fault, and consequently it is a favourite pastime with many ; but when criticising public bodies, or men, through the press, it is desirable that the critic should first ascertain the facts of the matter about which complaint is made. In this case your correspondent evidently did not take | the trouble to do so before he rushed into print. The meeting was duly advertised in two issues of a newspaper circulating widelj r in the district, and, moreover, was further notified by posters stuck all over the township of Te Kuiti. If the meeting so " called" can be considered a " hole and corner " one, then it must be difficult to assemble a public one. As to the important matter for which that meeting was duly called, I am glad that even an uncalled-for " growl" should help to draw attention to the urgent need for prompt and merited action on the part of Te Kuiti residents. If they do not vote for the proposed loan, their rising township will soon be a disgrace to the district, and they will deserve to be left stuck in the mud. —I am, etc., D. H. LUSK.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I am somewhat doubtful as to the real purport of Mr J. Boddie's letter, which appeared in your last issue re the above loan. If he understands loan procedure, and had been following the usual notices appearing in your columns for the past six or seven weeks, he should know that the meeting he calls " informal " could be no other than the statutory meeting of ratepayers, as provided by Section 9 of " The Local Bodies' Loans Act, 1901." By raising unnecessary doubts in the minds of the ratepayer, of the proposed special rating district, as to the validity of the proceedings in connection with the loan proposal, I cannot see that he is embarrassing the chances of the loan being carried. When he goes on to state, "It is clearly the duty of the Council," &c., one begins to doubt whether his apparent desire to see the loan proposal carried, has not been entirely overcome by a still stronger desire to have a " slap " at the Council, and pose as an oracle in local Government matters. Time does not permit me to write at length on the present occasion, but I accept all responsibility in connection with this matter, and I assure the ratepayers that, so far, I am not aware of any blunder in connection with the proceedings. If there is any desire among the resident ratepayers to have a further discussion re the loan, in a public meeting, I am willing to give all the information I possess, and in any other way to give effect to their wishes. —I am, etc., JER. ORMSBY.