THE TOLL-GATES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 109, 8 June 1909, Page 4

THE TOLL-GATES.

&/MIOTEST FROM THE RATEPAYER '■- ".•■'• . • -- - . w A COMPROMISE SUMliSl'liD. ' §|o: The County Council s-pcn' - afternoon yesterday, and • ' ( K-' Wits the toll-gate problem. ST-/ luncheon adjournment the cham™ » • t''. Bested to councillors that a= t» el 1 S to he a host of deputations anl &: some petitions, which would occupy t k attentioa of the Council perhaps all the N : "' afternoon it would 'be well to lia\c a. r SSUding 'before the jteyu tation* came. From.what he had lui« Si-'understood that the councillors u«uuu.---were not tied to toll-gates. lu. S" «iis not. He would do without them .1 i in-could. Tlie alternative was a etrpavate i*«, and- that rate must be siu-n a» 'V .to bring in JEBUO or SIOOO per anuuin. -i a -It was - • - "ALL BUNKUJI" • to talk about a farthing rate. Cr. Carter said the Council would be '&= the tatter prepared, to meet the depui. ' taOoms and ■petitions if they had an inindication of the feeling of the Omata ridMngnreabers. .fe Cr; Andrews said that a petition hail ■ . been in circulation in the riding, and hac . been .largely signed in the belief that t separate rate of a.farthing would suffice w'.l'oriii* part, lie wjis not influenced, am feC would stick by the toll-gptcs. H< & quoted a conversation with two carrier: ' who estimated that with the toll-gate! ■ V they would contribute £-5 each pe: w l ' month to the: county revenue. He \va: gt confident that the toll-gates would real itvJse fully £IOOO a year. §k.;:':'Cr. Carpenter, asked for his opinion lisfsaid the petitioners said the farlhin; !&<rate would, be sufficient. "The stain pH l'tn going to take is a halfpenny rate 0 toll-gates. It can't be done' under 1 KilnJl-jenny." -Cr. Andrews added that toli-gsite §&' had helped the county out of one ditfi gfpiitulty, and there was no reason why the; "should not again.' Cr. Hop son asked what the Onifit lljpb'' councillors thought about diiU-.oiitia B||i';rating.' He pointed out that the yalua it "tion was very much higher at tl.is em § of the riding. Cr. Andrews: But at this' end tli I 'V.people don't pay £1 a ton freight 01 K'goodi. * 'Cr. Carter suggested a compromise b; , striking a rate of %d over the who'.i riding-and erecting a toll-gate on th< - 5 v southern boundary. This rate, In 'thought, would help the Council out 0 a --the difficulty, producing £B3B. The gati '" should bring in £216, less the cost 0 •£• collection, and it would catch the Eg rL trout county traffic which was wearinj .* fint-tke roads. Cr. Andrews said 9 uch a course wouh bring in a still ibigger deputation at ncx y meeting ( Cr Carter: We must put this' matte hj: to-day 'beyond the reach of deputations S» . Cr. Andrews said the Council shouli to toll-gates .or rates, not a hi of each. He couldn't see the fairacs ffispr'- nf dumping a toll-gate at one end 0 ' -the district and not at the other. . „ Cr, Carter: You told us last meetin; IKf-' that it wouldn't affect your people. Ig'i'-: The chairman submitted figures, whic. §P vftere afterwards read to a large depu §s» tation of ratepayers, and appear below j|3 Cr. Stevens' said it w:as abundantl BEn clear that the Council must raise exir jEs, :• revenuei in the riding. The Council ha' H" decided that the two riding member Spir- should meet the ratepayers and get a Is/ expression of their opinion. Puoli *o' - meetings had all decided in favor (: ' 'toll-gates, Now came a lot of deputa jjs3 tions and petitions against toll-gate: "at- evidently from people who should hav . been at the meetings to oppose the resc JPi*-' lutions passed. Someone had mentione £jf' , that it Was' unfair to specially tax tli Egmont' county traffic. It would b \'ir s till worse to isolate that district b. ("■ not keeping a good main road open. \ 1 The chairman nlentioned that the cos % ol erecting toll-gates was going to b fi-J. . less than the Council had reekonec r *£m- estimate had been obtained, ira- ' the gate and house at each site woul Est,' •' cost about £3O. - mj.:, THE DEPUTATIONS. Bp A deputation of five ratepayers wait on the Council. Mr. Bairett'Honeyfield was the firs - speaker, and he said the deputatio: ifc wished to, strongly oppose the erectioi K. of a toll-bar at the Bariett road. H pointed out that the ratepayers ther already'paid a district rate of %d i: the £ in addition to the county rate By this toll-gate imposition the rate ££-, > payers there had either to pay toll Hme^they'ciiine into town, 0 ■; else put into good order another-outlet jgljfi; .He supposed. .that when-the St. Aubyi township was formed they -would hav Sp' higher road rates.still. ... SE"/' Mr, D. McAllum followed. He statei that the Council proposed putting a toil PfiV'gatc on the Main South road, and an other one a- hundred yards awav, spe E® ■ <;ially to catch the unfortunate Barret • road people, who would now be unabli to go either to Xjew Plymouth or ti Okato without paying tolls. AlreaJ; -these settlers were -heavily rated, anc could use only aibout a mile of tin j county road, to which they contributei . largely by rates. He pointed out thai s" it was possible'for main road tralßc t< S. • evade the tolls by means of "the llurford ' -Phehcy and Upper Barrett roads, am [pi A- - thus it'would seem that a large amouni of traffic Was going to be forced unfairh Jix ' on to the Barrett road district, the traf , fic coming into town by the Wairckt road. At Crmnpton 's corner was tin £i, only effective site for a toll, for thi Main South road traffic could not dodgt «,! that. Surely the Barrett road settlers '» should have the privilege of using al . "least one yard of county road without i paying toll. Under the proposed sysj, tern of toll-gates they would not. Mr " McAllum advanced the argument that

McAllum advanced the argument that a farthing rate over this district would , foe fairer than tliia toll-gate, and would bring m the revenue required. .■■.A deputation of about twentv rate.payers then invaded the .Council* Chamber,•'and wjien they had disposed them selves ou-hastily improvised stools, the chairman asked them to limit their speakers and their speeches. Mr. Wm. Gray, of Okato, presented a petition signed by 140 ratepayers in the Omata riding, asking the Council not to establish toll-gates but to strike a separate rate of a .farthing in the £,' which they considered would be sufli\cient. This they requested to be done • for a year to find out how the finances stood then. The petitioners and the latepavers generally recognised the need of the Council for money, and thevwere prepared to find it. Hut they objected to tolls, and would endeavor to pay the rate willinglv. . . Mr. W. Speaking as a freeholder in the Omata riding." entered i : protest against any possibiltv of toli\gatcs. Such a move would would be DEI RFMKN'TAL TO THE DISTRICT. , as it would deter people from coining In ''to ft ettie It appeared to him that this shortage of fundi; had (been sprung like a .min? oh the Council and also on the ratepayers, but the ratepayers wore quite willing to make up the defieiencv in the eountv's finance. . -Mr. I). McAllum argued that the to" 1 -gates and houses would cast £l3O each at.a very modest estimate, and this! had to come out of the first year's re- j venue. By his reasoning it would takr the Omata riding, with the gates, two years before it could catch up' to its position with a farthing rate. Mr. F. J. Morris, speaking as one of the largest ratepayers in the riding, s-aid he had not-signed the petition. Th* signature were mainly those of people; Jiving on the'town side of the tollgates. It would be very hard on any -of the big ratepayers to have to pay a . rate of a halfpenny in the £. A<*ain, fio rate, however hard <& the ratepay' ...envwould catch those auctioneers, doc- i J'tors, cattle-dealers, and so forth- -who |

the road regularly and -paid nothing towarila its upkeep. , t Cr Andrews asked if the deputation was of opinion that a farthing laU would suffice to get the ndiag out of its linancial difficulty. .Mr. McAlluui: Yes. . Cr Wrcws: And is it their opinion that' the toll-gates are not going to brill-' in more revenue than they did some years ago': I myself believe that the revenue will i>e fully it third more. Mr. W. dray said he was' convinced that there was'not now the same travelling public as there had been theii. The fanners didn't use the roads so mu.ih iio.v, for they didn't each eart produce, for dibpOi-al, and didn't have to come in for stores. The traffic was now concentrated on the carriers' waggous. tiesides, there wasn't the .Maori traffic that there used to be. Cr. Andrews informed Mr. McAllum of the £3l) estimates for gates. Mr. McAllum: Pooh! Absolutely roti ten!

Another of the deputation: Ought to | be locked up. Cr. Carter suggested that people who had voted for toll-gates at the public meetings were now opposing them. It was explained that at the meeting* the ratepayers were given a choice between a halfpenny rate qnd toll-gates. Now they were told of a farthing rate. Mr. Gray said that the deputation wished the Council to accede to the request of the petition. The chairman explained to the deputation that the feeling of the Council was that it was

QUITE HOPELESS to ask for for a farthing rate. More money than that was needed. He suggested the deputation might retire for half an hour and return with some fresh proposals. Cr. Andrews objected to this deputation settling the matter for the whole of the ratepayers. •Mr. Morris joined issue with him. The deputation was mostly composed of people belonging to the north end of the district.

Cr. Tate thought the ratepayers would I be wise to accept a differential rate and ! go without tolls for a year. He thought j the Council had a good case to put he- I fore the Government for a special grant I for the maintenance of the road. Mr. B. Honey-field considered it would j be a wis'e move to erect a toll-gate at | the Puniho end. Tie (Tairy factories h:.'-; .yo.nd that were going in for cheese, and the traffic on t.he road must largely increase as a result. j The Rev. Allanson, who was asked io state his views., opposed toll-gates on the grounds that they would have the effect of preventing people of means from selecting New Plymouth as, a' place of tesidencv- The toll-gates would be cheaper than a rate for him, but they ;were inconvenient, ami he 'would not reside in a district where they were. He was aware of some people of his typemen with private means—who were thinking of settling here, but toll-gate* would keep them away. lie had searched Xew Zealand and had come to the conclusion that there was 110 place in the Dominion for men of private means to settle that could equal Xew Plymouth. Tllrf CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH.

The chairman, referring to .Press and newspaper correspondents' views, said he would be sorry to think the councillors were as' incompetent as they were made out to be. Personally, he was not going to be influenced one whit-by newspapers or correspondents' letters. It had been said that he had not fairly placed the position of affairs before the meetings of ratepayers down the coast,

liut lie maintained the contrary. The Council had gone into the whole mutter, and decided to offer the ratepayers the choice of toll-gates or a halfpenny rate, finding a farthing would he insufficient. These instructions he had carried out. He then referred to the finances' of the riding. The maintenance metal of the Main South road from November to Xo.veniber of the undermentioned years was as follows:—1905-0, 2339yd5; 1900-7, 2107 yds; 1807-8, 4730 yds; 1908-0, 4902 vtk; metal and labor, ,01283 8s Id. £1323 !>s Oil. £2218 15s 10.1, and £2157 3s <kl respectively, hi 1007-8 the metalling of the Tapuae was included, and the figures for 1008-0 were exclusive of metalling Oakura deviation. No (provision had been made in the above for the following expenditure:—Culverts and drain pipes (a very big item), repairs to bridge.-; and timber for same (another heavy expellee), royalty ( £IBO a year or thereabouts), rents of crusher depots, sundry fencing roads, fillings, etc., repairs aud purchase of tools, supplies and utensils. Mr. Okey had suggested that this Council hail been extravagant in granting the foremen too much metal this year. The Omatii riding was granted 4002 yards', ur about 2% yards to maintain eaclr chain of the road for the year. The _Moa and Waitara riding, were granted 3600 yards, or considerably less than a yard to the chain for main tenance purposes for the year. This did not appear to coincide with the opinion expressed that the Council had been "X----travagant in metal supplies for the current year. Further, Mr. Okey (who wis cited us au authority by a' portion cf the l'ress and some of the ratepayers; stated that a farthing 'separate rate would be eijual to the amount receivable from tolls, and would return sufficient to maitnain the roads and pay off th' l indebtedness of the riding. In*the first place, in arriving at his estimate he had unfortunately omitted to allow for the severance of a portion of the Omata riding, namely, the proposed town district of St. Aubvn, which would assuredly take place next year if not this. Secondly, Mr. Okey estimated the metal at 7s per yard. The average price of metal per yard in the Omata riding tipped on the road for 1905-lj was 5s 7d per yard; 1006-7, as 6d per yard; 1907-8, 6s 2*d per yard; 1008-0, as' 8d per yard. To this must be added cost of crushing (lid per yard), royalty (average of livepenee per yard), labor, picking up, spreading and repairing throughout the year (about one shilling per yard. Thus the metal on this basis would cost the Council in 1908-9, Ss per yard, or in the cheapest year, 1900-7. 7s lOd per yard. Thus, 1o Mr. (.(key's estimate o'f 31)00 yards (which would allow about 1% yards to the chain for maintenance purposes) mus't be added a .further £125 for cost of metal, and £350 loss of revenue consequent <JU the constitution of tile proposed town district, making a total of £475, which left only £225 per annum on. Mr. Okey's figures' to pay oil' the riding balance, which would take about Ri/ 2 years to accomplish. Lastly. Mr. Okey stated that at the Omata meeting the chairman itioned certain expenditure as chargeable to the riding, whereas it was paid out of the administration account. What had been, said was that the given to the meeting made no provision for riding account overIrawu; uistial labor; crushing* charges, .ncluding driver, steerer, coal, etc.; sundry carting; uml miscellaneous ridiii" 'expenditure. Ami he would again as" sure the ratepayers that not one farthing of this -was charged to administration. Assuming that the Omata riding would take 40110 yards for lnaintenanee purposes per annum, which was HiO yards to the mile, or two yards to the chain, this would cost, tipped on the road, based on prices ruling this Year. I l"'i' ya:'d—Metal, £1133 lii 8,1; '■ru-hing. £lB3 (is yd: foremen'- waget md visual labor. £521 1-ls Id; (oral, UU'.iS 7s oil. 'I in- estimated amount 1 of revenue available for t]| f . current year 'would lie CISSX. To this add the 'sus;nested separate rate of one farthimr ' £559!. aud the total revenue would i>e £2117. liut upon thi,. the,- must make 'provision for a lo.s of revenue of C 350 throng,i the proposed severance of portion of the riding, leaving a uett amount available o| £1767. "on t||j* basis there would lie a deficiency of £7l. I'wyiua nothing for the reduction of the riding balance. ' Referring to separate rates, (here were two ways'when by | lie-" could lie levied, either by an cijiial raie over the whole riding, or a dill'erenli;tl rat,—say one farthing over the llan■■■'l and Omata road districts ,imi a liaif peniiv over the whole of the rest of ih riding. The Omnia and liarl'etl road district* 'would produce £2ip K;< :: | ; and the five other road district* fcii" ' Oil; or C 897 Ids lOd in all. Or if ' levied, say, %d on the Uncivil ;'i. Omata road district it would return a further £]«!), making ClflOO in all. Thiwould seem reasonable, seeing th'h Barrett would be out of the area next year. 'The higher values oir land in this end of the riding deserved consideration for on this basis', of %d versus a rate, this end would be contributim more on au acreage basis than 111southern eu-1. .The dill'erenlial rate wa|jcrinissi!ile under the Act. These people

would then not lie paying more rates ill,in other parts of the county, us their road board rate was so low. Thus Okato had one farthing road board rate, with county at one penny farthing, which was equal to one penny halfpenny, or just equal to an ordinary road hoard rate of three-fai'things and county rate of three-farthings'. Cr. Carter pointed out that owing to the loss of the Hurworth rilling the Oniata people had now to provide .tIOIU more than formerly before they could reduce by one penny their overdralt as at 31st March.

Mr. Cray, spokesman of the deputation, eoinp.aincd bitterly that the Council had decided 011 a course of action without lirst obtaining expert opinion a a to the actual needs of the Oitrata riding. (.1. Andrews considered the jietitiou \alueless, as it was not all representative. There were onlv nine Okato name* on it. •

Referring to .Mr Cray's last remark, Cr. Carter said the Council's figures and the; foremen's reports were quite sufficient evidence of the requirements. Cr. Hill rejoined: Jt wa s one of Mr. Cray's schemes that placed the riding m its present position. ' The deputations withdrew.

Cr. Andrews urged that the Council should take no notice of the petition, for it« signature:?-were obtained on mi*, representation. .Many hud since t°'d him thev would not have signed except that they were told a far- 1 thing fate would cjiidice. Ci Carter siiid lie had been >tiuck ail along by the unfairness ot the Oinata riding of the I iaranaki county, being compelled to | carry the Egmont county's through trafhe without receiving any paviuent or redress for damage done, lie urged t,he striking of a three-eighth*' of a penny rate and the establishment of a toll-irate beyond Okato.

Cr. Ilopson suitl it was clear tt farlliiii.. rate would not be enough. Cr. II ill bucked up (Jr. Carter's su«gestion.

Cr. Andrews complained of the unfairness of a toll at onlv his.end of the riding.

Ci. tarter then moved that the Coun- I en strike a separate rate of %d over the ! wlmie riding, au ,| Idislt it 1011-rate at the Pnniho end. Cr. Ilopson seconded. He had ur-ed all along that there should be a tollgate to catch the through trallic from the adjoining county. Should the return*; warrant it, the Council could reduce the rate next year. Cr. Stevens pointed out that next year the Council would not be able to rate over St. Aubjn township. Cr. Andrews said the ratepayers in public meetings had by a large majority decided in favor of toil-gates, and he was jiot going back on them, Xo more than five in a hundred people in the Omata riding favored the rat'o in preference to tolls. That petition had been presented to nearly every ratepayer there, and yet there were only 145 names on it. Were the remaining majority to have 110 say V Cr. Carpenter said that the people on Ins road favored tolls in preference to utes. Already- thev paid tlie countv late ot %d in the M, a district rate i>f V 4 (l, and a special rate of 2d, or 2%d iu all. Jf there were any further rating impost the would not be able to hold their land#?. (r. Tate strongly supported the motion.

Cr. Stevens complained that the question seemed to be toll-gates Or rates, but this was neither ''t'other nor which."'

Tlie chairman, in reviewing the meetings held down the coast, explained that the attendance was good at three of I hem, but it would take a charge of dynamite to bring some people out to a meeting at night. Long before the present position arose he had thought of erecting a toll-gate beyond Okato to catch tiie outside trallic. The advocates of toll-gates' as against rating must not think they would get off free with gates. They would hare to -pay something, not only when they pa>sed through the gates, but also in increased freights. It seemed the Council could do without one gate, and lessen the proposed rate, tand he favored that course.

Cr. Andrews threatened a big petition against the proposal if the - Council agreed to it. The motion was carried on a division, the "Ayes'* .being the chairman and Crs, Hop.s'on, Carter, Tate and Hill; and the "Noes," (Vs. Stevens. Andrews and Carpenter. r Jhis decision was announced to the depntsttionMs, with the proviso that should the Council receive a petition from a majority of ratepayers urging t he establishmont of all the toll-gates in preference to a rate, the Council would have to dulv cou-idf-r it.

Cr. Carter then gave notice to ny>ve at next meeting, that the Council rescind its former resolution deciding upon tollvi, with a vi"w of carrying out the object ot the decision arrived at.

i'lr. Crockett thought that after this' decision the Council would hear vcvv little more about the matter.