The Daily News THURSDAY, APRIL 8. BOROUGH MATTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 63, 8 April 1909, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, APRIL 8. BOROUGH MATTERS.

I > We do not intend at this juncture t j deal at any length with the workin / management of the affairs u. Hi borough, which recent events have show to be not over-harmonious, a conditio that does not make for the best result; Without going into details, we are o opinion that the time is ripe for th borough to decide on a deli/iite polio | of works, and a system of carrvin them out, It seems to us thai there i too much " tinkering" at uic |in-sen moment. There are 100 many works i progress at one and the same' time, wit the obvious result that supervision i reduced to a minimum, and such as ha to Ik.' resulted to does not tend I. workmen giving of their uest. He be lieve that tile supervising precaution taken by the engineer were nccessar; under the circumstances, but the sysLeii that has rendered such methods neces sary i-- certainly not in the best inter ests of economy. Whether the enginee: or the council has been responsible fo; the " tinkering " methods of working ii the borough we are not quite prepare! to say. At present we believe eacn ha; been to some extent at fault, and ; considerable share of the blum,-. ta n i>< laid at the door of the councillors, tin I sole aim and object of some of wlion would appear to be to have certain work; hi their vicinity completed. There lias been too much pulling of east against west; also too many compromise* resulting in the authorisation of multi tudinous small works, which Uie engineei has endeavoured to carry out at the same time. We cannot absolve the engineer from blame, however, in allowing such a system to grow, for while lie is a servant of the council he suoiud also be its advisor, with opinions of his own. The engineer's fault, to our mind, lies in his utterly hopeless endeavour to please everybody (on the council). The result of the system that has lately been allowed to get a hold is incll'iciency, a condition of affairs that urgently I calls for remedy. In merely touching tin! fringe of this important subject at the moment, our object is to arouse ratepayers and householders to the importance of taking a more wholesome interest in the forthcoming municipal election, It is unlikely that the mayoralty will be contested, nor do we think there is any necessity for a contest. We believe Air. Tisch, with the knowledge he has gained during the past year, will be able to bring down a constructive policy Wis year that will be satisfactory to the ratepayers. Councillors are wanted who will take a livelier and broader interest in the management of the borough. We say this without reflecting in the slightest on the retiring council, but with the object solely of emphasising that the time has arrived for the inauguration of new methods. The abolishing of the ward, system would tend a materially to improvement,, but that be- » ing impossible this year, we hope ratef payers will use their iulliience to i:i----i dine men of business acumen In offer » themselves for the council. .Many inif portant works have to lie undertaken • in the near future, and it is essential J that the small margin of revenue availk able for the maintenance of the streets J ami public services should be adminisJ tercd with the greatest care.