Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1889. A WEIGHBRIDGE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 281, 11 October 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1889. A WEIGHBRIDGE.

* ■■.I At the last meetingof the Borough ' Council a letter was read from a ratepayer asb'iug 'the -Council to take step" to secure the erection of a weighbridge ; iri the town, and s" gge^tingjihat the public might s'ubscrib'o ono third of "its cost, if the Council would agree to find the two thirds. The question as to the poorer of the Council to entertain thi? ■proposal is. undoubted^ as the Muriic'ipii*r '.Corporations Act eni' powers the Council to provide onej .either for a- market or elsewhere, and' to fix the charges i for the use of it. The advantages of a weigh,, tridge to the pub ie are also very obvious, .as purchasers of goods sold by-weight could then make it part of the c ntract to | purchase, that every load would be paid for according^ the weight -niefritioned on the ticket -provided by the person in charge cf the nx 'chine. A check on this pub i<? functionary is found in the act which provides a penalty of twenty, pounds if he refuses to weigh any vehicle, or load, or weighs the ; sanie .unfairly.,, or gives a ticket containing a false statement, or assists or connives at any fraud as to the weight of any vehicle or the load there f. Thus thY public buying coals, potatoes or 6tlfer bitlky and heavy goods, would Tje sure of having their, full weight, as stated on the ticket, and there may be instances at present where a doubt reasonably exists that a ton ■ f produce hardly weighs two thousand

two hundred aud forty .:poullds, ' ■ So ' far. we have shown tUb advaiitages tlittt.a' weighbridge would be to t;hose Avho deal ill lria'g-D quantities, but we are bduiirl to consider •wliother the expenditiiro of a. large sum of money on the. erectidn *of Piich a corive'nidnee ii 3 justitialile at ■^..pi'WSßt.tjmo," and if thd iird^idf* tion of assistance proposed is reasonable. Lobkiug at the question, as it should Ito viowed, as a Borough business^, Aye say at 0,1100, that we cannot see sufficient causo to justify the tiSpeiittitlti'o, tts \\-e ddubt with t'ho exceptioiv of the storekeeper^ that thero is one ratepayer who is. ' interested in many heavy loads. Therefore the amount asked iurfi'om tHe BcH'otlglt arrears too large. We believe that if the proposal was reversod it would find im mediate attention at the hands df the council, not on account of its inlividual ratopayors, bufr s mj)ly as being a public bonofit, and an assistance to tlxo general trade of the town, Those who, are primarily interested aro undoubtedly the' honip millers, whose large consumption of coal, the accuracy of which weights would bo a large. item in tho course of the ' yc'ar, are tho parties iron: wlioiu the Ho:olig ; h does .not receivo a f avflung of rates from. " If a public body is justified in securing ac'ourai'ym 'rade transaction it woukl only seem a fair proposal tliat the other rate /'receiving public bodies should boiaslied'tp co-operate with the Borough,, and we think that, the llail^ay $,agart)heut should also help If tht^!;vie\v was takou -by the suppor?ei ? s of the proposal wo fjiink a woighbri'lge. might soon be an' accomplished f c , ->.s it would, contain' tho elemouts of unity and fairness, otherwise the task would fall too heavily on the Borough alouoi . ,