Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1899. Loan for Roads.

Manawatu Herald, 23 May 1899, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1899. Loan for Roads.

«. On Friday night the Mayor invites the Burgesses to meet him at the Public Hall to discuss the question as to whether a loan should be raised for metalling the roads in the Borough, or not. It will be an important meeting and should be well attended, for without the permission of the Burgesses no loan can be obtained. We would ask our readers to consider the matter most seriously, as if the movement is upset at the start, possibly no attempt will again be made to test the wishes of the ratepayers for some years to come. If the roads are metalled we know that we shall all enjoy an easier and cheaper means of moving about our town, but we may have to pay, for the first year or two, a slightly increased rate. By care in raising a loan and economy in spending it, possibly no extra rate would be required, but the small increase would not be objected to by those who would receive the advantage and convenience from the new work. The objections, if any, will come from those who have already got the roads to their land metalled. A good road means much to an occupier of land as it places his property practically closer to the centre of the

township, and all cartage to and from his property becomes reduced in cost. Whether the owner employs carts or does his own carting he gains, as the larger loads he can take with the same horse power, and the lessened wear and tear to his dray and harness, and horses, means a saving to which a trifling increase in the rates would be but a name. Loans have to be paid for by all property owners whether they be present or absent, and the actual residents secure the immediate benefit. All must know that though our town has the reputation for healthfulness, and is likewise admired as being pretty, clean, and dry, yet the state of the roads has made it a byeword from Wellington to Auckland. For this we are not blaming the past City Fathers or their predecessors, the members of the Town Board, as Foxton has been built on a site in which gravel is not procurable locally, and, until lately, the railway charges were prohibitive from obtaining it elsewhere. Owing to the wisely amended railway tariff, the cost of the best road metal has been reduced to a price at which it is well worth buying, and at which price it will pay to make our roads, so that the argument for remaining as we were is now swept away, and a loan will only be lost by the apathy of the residents, and by the opposition of absentees and, perhaps, one or two selfish ratepayers. The Burgesses have undertaken a fair share of the burden of the cost of erecting the Wirokino Bridge, under the idea that it will be a means of inducing people to visit our town, and if this should prove correct it appears bad policy to have the town in such an unfinished state that they cannot fairly drive around it. At the meeting on Friday we would recommend the Burgesses to pay particular attention not only to what is said but also as to how it is said, for many words can be used in setting out facts, which whilst true in themselves yet may be used more for the purpose of discouraging assent than to gain it. The mere estimating the cost of the work needed will be open to much criticism, as if the prices which would be likely to rule now for carting were used as a basis, the cost would be very much increased to what the work might cost in six months or twelve months' time. Again the immediate expenditure of the whole loan would have a tendency to upset the labour market as well as the carting, and as we should desire to see the outlay judiciously expended amongst our own population some time period over which the loan should be spent should be arranged. What we would like to see would be a rough estimate for the work on the streets the. Councillors may name, and the order in which the work would be done, and then an authority given to them to raise the amount in yearly instalments, as needed* A plan something of this nature would minimise the cost of carrying out the work, and would form a security of certain employment to much labour for a term. We have heard a good deal about loans, for some years, but the movers appear to vanish when the crucial time arrives for testing the ratepayers, and thus we cannot help fearing that our Councillors are not wholly in favour of the proposal. On Friday night they will have the opportunity of meeting their constituents, and should they hold opinions contrary to the loan this will be the time, as well as it will be }heir duty to put the contrary view before the meeting. Let us hope all are really in favour of the scheme, as then with good management the loan can be carried, and the success would be in keeping with the success achieved in securing the Wirokino Bridge.