The Daily News. MONDAY JULY 9. STREET LIGHTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8152, 9 July 1906, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY JULY 9. STREET LIGHTING.

llt is almjst two mouths since we ~ urged on the Borough Council the ( urgency of initiating all-night street ) ( lighting, without so far as yet apparent, 13 any tangible result. The matter, however, has in a measure been unavoidably a; delayed owing to the Council having R just at that time decided to meet once s ' a month, instead of fortnightly. Conse- * queutly the motions standing on the minutes limiting the .lighting to mid- tl night, had first of all to be disposed of a before the rules of prosedure would p permit of the subject being effectively ' dealt with. Admitting this difficulty, r however, we consider the question is r one of a sufficient importance to have i warranted a special meeting some time ' ago. It is expected that the Electric Light Committee will present a report on e the proposal to the Council to-night. We ' trust that the report will be a favorable one. Should it be otherwise, we can ' e only hope the Council will refuse to i { view the question through the com- I mittee's spectacles. The financial side ' li of the question has been treated by us previously, and it has been clearly : demonstrated, that this otherwise very , important consideration is so miscroscopical iu its magnitude as to he of is practically no moment. In no other » I town that we know of nave the local '8 j authorities shown such a lamentable want of appreciation of the necessity of making provision for the safoty for ratepayers' property as has been demonstrated in New Plymouth since the Council inaugurated its o.vn lighting system. If the Council has not been offering a premium on burglary during the past few months, we are at a loss how other to describe the almost criminal inadequacy of the street lighting arrangements. The New Zealand "Bill Sykes" is evidently a much less enterprising mdivi" dual than he generally gets credit for, or otherwise we should have had allnight lighting long ere this. The convenience of the public out of the question altogether, it is imperative in the interests of property owners that the Council should take a reasonable busi-ness-like view of this question. Lest they forget, it is as well to issue a reminder.