NO AXE TO GRIND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3043, 1 June 1926, Page 2

NO AXE TO GRIND.

Sir, —Mr. Hunt asks for figures regarding the new Town Hall and states that the £5,000 loan carried some three months ago is not included in the current year’s rates. The Council made it plain that the £5,000 loan referred to is most unlikely to ever mean an increase in the rates, the interest being paid out of the road maintenance account.

His property in Johnston Street comprises 2 acres, his Hataitai property possibly one fifth of this. Hataitai is a suburb of AYellington City, maintained to a great extent by the community interest of the city, and is not, as in any selfcontained country town, burdened with the whole of the capital cost of its public works, and public services. The comparison is not- a fair one, the population per square mile being a very potent factor. It cannot he denied that the rates in Foxton are fairly high, yet they compare favourably with many other country towns. At the same time, and what is more important just now, the ratepayers have never been called upon to pay one penny in rates on the old Town Hall, so that any increase in the rates cannot be attributed to that. Regarding the forthcoming loan proposal of £13,000 for the new Town Hall, a memorandum is now being printed which will convince the ratepayers that the new Hall, given the patronage it has received in the past, will pay its own way. A copy of this memorandum will he posted to each ratepayer before polling day, which, by the way, is on the 23rd instant. Yours etc., AVm. TRUEAIAN.