THE FUTURE REQUIREMENTS OF TAIHAPE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 199, 1 May 1915, Page 4

TH E FUTURE REQUIREMENTS OF TAIHAPE.

(To the Editor). Sir, —Ir must be apparent iu most residents of Tains pc tluit se ne improvement is necessary in our eiggjj trk-ul service, even ii UK re <• no intern iou of extending the present service beyond the present lig|iuing area, but as all householders in the present area are not yet connected, and others arc not fully connect cu, and as there is general desire for light and water on th e western sice of the railway, it would be. the height of foolishness. tor the Council not to formulate same proposal promptly, for the extension of the electric light, water and drainage, as our electrie light department, is paying so well it would require wry little additional expense in supplying, say, another half or one-third additional units, then again as water and drainage arc so closely connectsd with, tlie health of the community it would be criminal folly not to consider and to consider .promptly, the extension ol these two into cur thickly populated suburbs. Some time ago in one cl our weekly papers, a well known writer stated with our beautiful reserves, and our high altitude that Taijhape had & future as a country health resort; when we remember that the record club swinging and piano playing was won in Tailyape we must admit that there is something Invigorating in th* climate of Taihape to enable a person to maintain such a strenuous task. While nature ha s blessed us with an invigorating climate, and the liberal government were kind to us in the early days by .giving us such splendid

reserves, these two valuable assets, would be of little use to ns as a means of attracting these in searejh ol health or a holiday, if bad sanitary arrangements prevailed in the Borough. It is a question of how many the epidemic of Diptheria last summe* stepped from coming to Tainans, as well as the number who left fir fear of catching it. Now, what would any private individual do who was running the Borough as a commercial concern, or running the electric light,water and drainage as a commercial concern,and received an application from the ratepayers on the western side of the railway for drainage, lig|at and water? In all probability he would ask for a guarantee from each ratepayer that h« would connect his property with I bos* three things as soon as facilities wer* provided; some would in all probability demur on the ground of not being able to finance the thing at the time, to those he would reply that he wa» prepared to put their connections in for them, and they could repay on deferred payment system, plus interest. Now,that i s the position I think the Borough Council should take up, get a guarantee from these who want thos e three things, as a first step, a loan could then be raised for th* amount of drainage, light and wateit including cost of connections. The advantage of having the connections

made promptly would b e that the Borough wocld get the revenue from th* light and water much sccner than they otherwise would, and the householders would get the benefit of th 3 light,

water and drainage much sooner than they otherwise would. The Council should also go into the questk.n of asphalting our footpaths in the main streets; the fact of a number having already asphalted their footpaths, shows that they are willing to be rated for such improvements.. Then again before raising a lean an opportunity should be given to those in the present. drainage area who have not installed p.w.c, to have them installed on the deferred paymnek system, or b» compelled to put them in at their own expense. A loan could then be raised to cover the lot; we would then have a clean, health:/, model borough. This deferred payment system is nothing new, it is a great success wherever It ha s been tried, and thousands- of people have comforts in the way of pianos,, furniture, etc., which they never would have had without it. —I am, etc., W. J. H. McCORMICK. P.S. —I presume some of our city fathers will be looking for pitfalls in i|his letter. Let them remember that there is such a thing as not Saving enough energy to make a pit to fail into.