COUNCIL MATTERS.

Shannon News, 22 August 1924, Page 3

COUNCIL MATTERS.

(To. the Editor.) Sir,—l read with some interest a few uays ago in our little .oi-weokiy paper oi the doings and proposals oi our wortny councillors, inow I am. not one oi tnose who will do notnmg myseii, anu condemn every thing uich unyoke' else does, and I am not

willing this to condemn our councnI lore qr Mayor. On the other iiiand, i think they have done very well; 'no one can deny that Shannon is much Unproved suice the Borough has been lormed, and the lorming oi' a Borough, like the pioneering stages ©tail other tasks, is niost dimeuit. Still l do think our present and past councillors have been-inclined to concentrate their attention too much oh-the business centre of the town to the detriment of the outskirts,- loa-getiing perhaps that the business centre depends to a great extent on the whole town, for its existence. This misdirection of ra|e-payers' money is possibly due to the fact that we have, and always have had, principally business men on the Council, and naturally they all

like tO' see the streets, etc.,, round their own places of business looking nice,, but this,' Mr Editor, is not fan' to the ratepayers in the back streets. We, here in Clapham and adjacent streets have been paying very substantial rates since the Borough has been "formed, and what have we had for our money? A load of boulders occasionally at our front gates. If some- of our worthy councillors had to push perambulators over these' "roads" to the business centre, where all the money is spent, I think they would try to have something done, and these pram proprietors are all ratepayers, either directly or indirectly, and so will the occupants of the prams be iii the nea,r future. •At the last Council meeting there was a proposal to borrow several thousand pounds for street improvements,; to improve the front streets, as ' usual, I suppose;'also a sugges-

tion to spend immediately £IOO. Th*s I consider is just'•■waste, like spilling a cup. of water in the ocean. What. can be done with a small sum like this? Practically <nothing! I do not favour -temporary- improvemients m

this kind, nor wouild I vote for a loan for street improvemients until ve have a sewerage system. I consider it would be stupid in the extreme to .put down paths and have to dig them all up again in the near future to put down a sewerage system. No, councillors; borrow the money and put down an -up-to-date sewerage system throughout the whole of the borough, now that we shall soon have the electric' power, and if the. expenditure on this power is warranted, New Zealand must become a. manufacturing country, otherwise taxatiori* will become very burdensome on our sparse population. Realising this, why not endeavour to ; get the factories " (some of them) here in Shannon. There is i j o reason why we should not have them, seeing that we have the , largest flax mill in New Zealand right here. Why not make our own wool-bales, sacks, rope, twine, and various other thing;, which are made from flax. Then there is room for a woollen mill and many other industries, which I could mention; Land is plentiful and cheaper here than in the big centres and right at the power house, where they wilt not be held up by 'breakages and other dislocations in the system.

Realising all this, why not start by making Shannon lit lor a manufacturing town, for no one would ihink of starting a factory in a place where there are , no. sanitary arrangements. In fact the Factories Act would rot allow it. 'We already have light and will soon have a. water supply. Ail that is. needed now is the sewerage. Having these we will soon have sufficient population to help us make paths, etc. It seems like a dream tp ine that I heard 'of a Ratepayers' Association being formed in Shannon some time ago. is it dead? If not, why not link up with the Chamber of Commerce and: make a good strong society comprised :Of men and women. At present we have* few "men on the Chamber o£ Commerce .j'ery worthy citizens, no doubt, but we', 'want everyone's opinion not two or three, for the prosperity of the. town is everyone's concern. ' There are thousands across the seas only too anxious to come here, and'we want factories, industries, and people. Let us make the place ready lor them and boost our own home town.—l am, etc., 11. H. MANNING. Shannon, August 16th, 1924.