The Ohinemuri Gazette. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1911. THE BRIDGE LOAN.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXII, Issue 2795, 26 May 1911, Page 2

The Ohinemuri Gazette. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1911. THE BRIDGE LOAN.

The fact of the proposal to raise a loan for the erection of a bridge at the Puke being carried by a large majority is a matter tor congratulation, showing as it does that the ratepayers are alive to the fact that the way to make the town progress is to attract to it the trade from outside districts. Now that the ratepayers have shown their approval of the loan, it is to be hoped that the local body will lose no time in pushing ahead the work, so that the bridge will be ready for use at the earliest possible date. The decision of the ratepayers has been a wise one, and we feel sure that they will have

no cause to regret their action in authorising the loan. The poll, like most polls on loan proposals, was a comparatively small one, but we consider it safe to estimate that almost all of those who refrained from voting were in favour of the proposal. As a rule, nearly all the votes against a proposal of this nature are registered, while many of those who but mildly sympathise with the proposal do not take the trouble to record their votes. The burden ot the slight additional taxation that will be necessary to pay interest and sinking fund on the loan will not press heavily on anybody, and the increased value of their property —and, we trust, the increased business —will more than compensate land owners for the small amount they vvilS be required to contribute annually.

The question has been raised during the last tew weeks of the desirability of erecting another bridge across the Upper Waihoti River, somewhere below Tirohia. That a bridge in this locality will be required in a year or two we have no doubt, but at the present time it is a matter of small importance compared with the bridge at the Puke that the ratepayers have just authorised. When a bridge over the Upper Waihou is required it will doubtless be erected, and it will give means of communication with the road leading to the upper portion of the Hauraki Plains.

In the meantime, the ratepayers have done well by giving their consent to the loan for the bridge that will give better

means of communication between Paeroa and Netherton, and that it will be for the benefit of both districts is the hope of all who desire to see the place pro-

gress and prosper