THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1919.

Otaki Mail, 6 January 1919, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1919.

' /: EDITORIAL NOTES. / ji’o-morrow’s ~ ! Town Board Election. J Considerable interest is .being taken ■Ln 10-tuorrow’s extraordinary election, for the return of a commissioner of the Otaki Town Board to fill .the vacancy caused by the death of .the late -Mr F. H. Bright. ' There are two candidates — [ Messrs- E. M. D’Ath and C. Kilsby. Mr ' D’Ath is one of our best known local ! residents, having ..resided here all his j life. He has considerable interest in j the town and district, and should make j a good representative. "However, he j has, as yet, had no experience in local | body- matters. Mr Kilsbv. on the other j hand, has served for some time as a ( member of the. Board, and has proved himself to be a capable, energetic ;tnd progressive commissioner. He took considerable pains in connection with the Board's proposed electric lighting scheme, and has been to great trouble ' in preliminary investigations re proposed water supply for Otaki. Mr Kilsby has always expressed himself as strongly in favour of the installation of a high-presstrre. water. supply for the town, and, though ■the "war prevented any- definite scheme being. adopted by the Board, the matter has iiot been lost sight of, and must, in the near future, engage the attention of local residents, as a good water supply- is an absolute necessity in every decent, well-ordered town. For this.reason alone Mr Kilsby should command the votes, of a great many of the town’s well-wishers. With all due, respect 'to Mr I) ’Ath—and we have nothing' whatever to say against .•that gentleman, and his laudable efforts to serve his town—we hope to see Mr Kilsby returned at to-morrow’s poll, Otaki has comparatively few public men of ability and energy, and. Mr Kilsby is pne of those whom it can: ill afford to lose. His election would considerably strengthen the Board,, and byvoting for Mr Kilsby the townspeople will be supporting a policy- of progress and enterprise, which the town so badly needs to be applied. Maintenance of Main Arterial Roads. The question of the maintenance of main arterial roads is continually rer cur ring. For some years past, whenever the matter has cropped up. the Government has shelved the question by saying that it will receive attention ‘'when the war is over.” Now that that happy consummation has been reached, it is pleasing to know that Sir William Fraser (Minister for Public Works) is willing to accept the responsibility of tackling this problem. Replying to a deputation that waited on hint at Christchurch last week. Sir \Villiam said the whole question would have to bo taken up by •Parliament and put on a proper basis. ‘ ‘ You cannot. ” the Minister continued, ‘‘make a uniform rule in respect of maintenance of that kind: if you do, it is bound to be inequitable. It will have to be tackled, and tackled in the netv Government Bill that the Parliament, now that the waits practically over, will have to take up with other, important questions that have been hung up owing to the war.” Government should certainly- assume the responsibility of maintaining 6 nr main arterial roads; The present, system of making these a eh urge on the county council is a gross injustice. Take our own district as an instance. The Horowhcnua County Council has to maintain a lengthy stretch of about fifty miles of main road—although the greater part of the damage to the road is caused, by through traffic, by people who never contribute a penny towards its .upkeep. This county is particularly unfortunate in this respect, we having an .extremely lengthy main road, and owing to our geographical position, 'on the. main line between such important centres as Wellington and Palmerston North, our roads carry a tremendous. amount of outside traffic. Other counties not so situated have little Of this kind of traffic, and it is grossly unfuir that we. owing to our j peculiar position, should be saddled | with this hc-avv cost. Local bodies have frequently made representations to the j Government o« this matter, and it i- ■ to be hoped that Sir William * rarer » 1 promise of early attention to the que=tion will be carried into effect.