MASS PROTEST

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 760, 5 September 1929, Page 18

MASS PROTEST

WITHDRAWAL OF GRANT TO HIGHWAYS BOARD MEETING OF LOCAL BODIES To voice a mass protest against the interference with the revenue of the Main Highways Board by the Prime Minister, a meeting of local bodies will be held in Auckland on Friday, September 13. The Auckland Automobile Association is convening the meeting. The Prime Minister’s proposals have been met with widespread objection. Discontent still prevailed when the announcement was made that £200,000, previously threatened, would still be available to the Highways Board, as the money would not be a free grant as In previous years. According to Mr. H. C. Jones, president of the North Island Motor Union, it was Intended by the union to issue an official statement Immediately and the position which was threatened would be interpreted. There was some misunderstanding regarding the Prime Minister’s intention. In the past a grant of £200,000 has been made to the Highways Board from the Public Works fund, and this money was granted free of interest. The Prime Minister’s latest statement, however, is taken as a promise to provide a similar sum out of loan money for which the Highways Board will be called upon to pay interest and sinking fund. It is expected that such a move will seriously upset the Highways Board’s calculations and it would mean that there would be a reduction in substitutes to local bodies.