The Daily News TUESDAY, AUGUST 24. TO-MORROW'S POLL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 172, 24 August 1909, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, AUGUST 24. TO-MORROW'S POLL.

To-morrow the ratepayers of Xew Ply- , mouth borough are to be asked by the ; Borough Council for authority to raise two special loans aggregating £BOOO lor | new street works. With the respective - proposals the ratepayers should now Ik- ' fully conversant, and it remains for ' them to say whether or not the present ' indebtedness of the town is to lie increased. Street works unfortunately cannot be held up and advocated as offering a commercial investment—for instance, like the electric light works or the abattoirs. Their return, howc.-.-: while not so directly apparent, is nevertheless real, and their provision is of first importance to the community. Under the proposed loan, the ratepayers are asked to sanction the raising of £3OOO to construct a new bridge over the Huatoki stream in Powdcrham street, and £SOOO to lay off a new street between Gill and Brougham etreets. Respecting thte former proposal, the necessity of the bridge is universally admitted. At present, Powderham street, one of the main thoroughfares of the town, is closed to vehicular traffic, and has been for some months, owing to the dangerous condition of the old bridge. Such a condition of afTa.rs cannot, of course, he allowed to continue, and should the ratepayers be short-sighted enough to refuse to sanction the loan, the Council will have to find other means, of raising the money. To build the bridge out of revenue (or overdraft, which amou.'s to the same thing) in the present state of the borough finances would press much moie heavily on the ratepayers than the special rate of throe-farthings under the lo in proposal. We therefore anticipate -io J serious objection will be evidenced at. !the poll to this proposal. With regard to the Gill street extension proposal, i opinions differ somewhat, but so far as 11 the main issue is concerned —the neccs-

sity of providing a new street in ihe vicinity—there can be no two opinions. Here the Council had the choice of three schemes, and decided in favor of that giving a continuation of Gill street into .St. Aubyn street. This scheme wis further supported by the statutory public meeting called to consider the loan proposals. While we expressed our preference for the cheapest scheme, that known as .Mcintosh's, it would be extremely impolitic to imperil the poll by confusing the issue in a renewal of the battle of routes. Everyone is agreed, we think, that the best .scheme of all is that which would be afforded by the straight street from Ariki street into Gill street, but its impracticability on the score of cost was apparent from the outset. Mill had our city fathers with one or two notable exceptions—and the ratepayers as a whole some "e\v years ago had a fuller appreciation of the prospective future of the town, this costly route might have been an accomplished fact for not more than a fifth of the price now asked. And it is this consideration that weighs with us mainly in strongly urging the ratepayers to sanction the proposal to acquire the necessary property now. The Council nobis options over the necessary hind at a price that is only available for a 'ew weeks. If the opportunity of securing it is lost, nothing is more certain than that a greatly enhanced price will have to be paid later on when the necessity of making the hew street can no longer be ignored. We hope, therefore, that both proposals will be carried, and provision made in time for the great increase in traffic that we are certain will be realised within the next three or four years. The steady improvement noticeable in the money market should, we think, enable the Council to raise the money (other than the actual pirchasc price of the land) at an caviy date at probably i% percent., ulthoiigh the loan proposals allow a rate not exceeding 5 per cent, to be paid.