THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO With which is incorporated "The Kaipara Advertiser & Waitemata Chronicle." Helensville, Thurs'y, March 18, 1915. THE BOROUGH OF HELENSVILLE.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 18 March 1915, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO With which is incorporated "The Kaipara Advertiser & Waitemata Chronicle." Helensville, Thurs'y, March 18, 1915. THE BOROUGH OF HELENSVILLE.

It sounds tony, if nothing else. A number of ratepayers unde>the Helensvillo Town "Boar have been ques'inning the Editor as to why wo sli vuld not h^ve j/Borough as t'm local ?over:~iug body, instead' of a "Town Board? jn some respects this is a bit of a poser, as there are many reasons -Kin >re than those rocorded herein—for and against. But for our part, we think a Borough lends more eclat and tone to a community, and is looked upon as a greater power than a. Town Board, not that it absolutely possesses any, so far as rating, spending or borrowing '■ is concerned. A Town Board has but an

"ordinary" chairman to lookup to as somebody, whereas a Borough must have a Mayor, gowned in a black robe and in time probably wear a 'gilt chain round his neck as an insigna of his high office as chief magistrate of the town concerned. A Borough must also possess a population of at least 1000 souls within an area of three miles. It is asserted by those in the know that there is a population of 1200 in the Helensville Town Board area already. A Borough can be divided into a number of "wards," with so many members for each. This may or may not be an advantage. Anyway, the system works out the same as ridings for a County Council, members of wards working out their own salvation in expenditure, extra rating, borrowing, etc., the ward wanting the most paying the most for its luxuries. These are all the advantages we can pick out at present. But it would be just as well to jog along as at present for a time, and wait until \ the longpromised Local Government Bill has been dangled before our eyes for a number of years without any progress, being made. And when it does become law—next session of Parliament may get to work in earnest over it—when it comes to being dissected, it may be found that to continue as a Town Board would be more advantageous to the ratepayers than a Borough, on account of certain subsidies being granted to the former and not to the latter; therefore, let us bide a wee, and look before we leap.