The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. THE TRAMWAYS SCHEME.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 137, 19 September 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. THE TRAMWAYS SCHEME.

There are but few ratepayers of the borough and suburban districts affected, we hope, who have not by now made themselves more or less conversant with the consulting engineer's report on the proposed tramways and electric lighting extension schemes. We have not yet come in contact with anyone who views with disfavor the tramways proposal, considered as a public convenience and a desirable branch of municipal enterprise, provided the cost is not one that, instead of advancing, might tend to retard the town's advancement. The financial consideration is therefore the one on which the ratepayers require the fullest enlightenment before the scheme can be tested on its merits. We do not propose at this juncture to traverse the report in detail, even if that were possible, but will content ourselves with a more or less general preface to the details of the scheme which we propose presenting while the matter is under consideration. In the first place it might not be out of place . to draw attention to the similarity of the conclusions arrived at by the citizens' committee which considered the proposal at the outset, and the expert whose report is now under review. It is due to the oommittee to mention the fact as an 'acknowledgment of the thoroughness with, wliioh they carried out their investigations and applied the experience gained by other towns where installations were working to the conditions obtaining locally. While we are of those who regard optimistically the immediate fujture of New Plymouth, and look for a hxate of development that has never heretofore been approached, at the same time we are pleased to notice such considerations have not been taken into account by Mr. Black in framing) his estimates, except in so far as they provide for a plant easy to augment as circumstances warrant. Provided estimates are framed on a conservative basis, the probability of disillusionment later on is very remote, and the figures in the report should therefore be submitted to the! closest scrutiny. For a town already loaded, though not burdened, with a public debt amounting to over £ 100,000, further borrowing policy involving an amount in the vicinity of £52,000 is not to be lightly considered. Provided, however, the investment is a reasonably safe one financially, and' at the same time materially adds to the comfort and convenience of the citizens, improves the value of property and increases the volume of business transacted—material advantageous assets that cannot be estimated in money and placed to the credit of the investment—it is one that, even involving, as it does, a large sum of money, can be recommended with confidence. As we have urged before, no more opportune time could have been availed of to consider the question of tramways for New Plymouth. Owing to the exceptional popularity of the municipal electric lighting undertaking, and the lever increasing demand for the product of the works, the Council is now compelled, long before it was anticipated four years ago would be the case, to very largely increase the capacity of the generators and accessory plant. We cannot' deal with this portion of Mr. Black's report in this, article, but, as ratepayers will have noticed, he is impressed with the urgency of the requirements of the lighting department, which will involve a further borrowing, policy, involving an expenditure of nearly £12,000. In the case of the. lighting, the estimating and experimental stages are passed, and the business is on a sound profit-earning basis, a position that must be maintained by. keeping the plant ahead of requirements and abreast of the times. New Plymouth is peculiarly situated with respect to the installation of tramways, in this respect, that the greater portion of the cost that would be entailed at the outset has already been provided, is in actual operation, and is, moreover, not costing! the ratepayers one penny by way of rate. In other words, probably more than half the cost of a tramway scheme has already been found iby the ratepayers. The time-having arrived when these works must be further largely extended, and it having been agreed 'by all the experts consulted that there is more than sufficient water-power available to supply all the motive power required both for lighting and tramways, and that practically all the urgent expenditure necessary for ithe lighting works will provide for the dual purposes, certainly brings within the region of practical possibility a tramway scheme which could otherwise not be entertained iby this town within the next decade at least. We do not think any reasonableminded person will , question the wisdom of the expert in recommending, at the outset, only a through line from Fitzroy to the Breakwater. It is the only one , that could be commercially considered, and, as we have said, the commercial consideration must be the one on which the project must stand or fall. Given that the development we hope to 6ee in the town eventuates within a reasonable period, the extension of the lines would • Ibe quickly determined by the ratepayers themselves. Mr. Black estimates in round figures that the capital cost of the tramways—exclusive, that is, of the cost of providing the power—at £40,000, and the annual cost at £7407. Basing) his estimate on revenue on what we believe to be a very conservative basis, viz., 17s per head of the population, producing £7012, a deficiency of £395 is shown lion the first full year's running of the service. If Mr.. Black's estiE mates are reasonably correct, and err » not' on the side of optimism, there is certainly nothing to alarm the poorest ratepayer in the proposed tramway -scheme, An estimated loss of £4Oll at

;he outset is scarcely likely to disturb the municipal finances, and there are 1 few who will not say that tramways would be cheap at the price. When the figures are carefully analysed, however, we have no doubt it will be demonstrated that this- estimated loss, if it cannot be entirely wiped out, will at least be shown to be a loss in name only. In one respect alone—that of maintaining the portion of roadway catrying the tram line—the borough finances would be relieved of a very large annual outlay, as much, at any rate, as the estimated deficiency in the tram receipts. In short, there is apparently very reasonable prospects of an up-to-date and serviceable tramway service being installed in New Plymouth as a self-sup-porting undertaking almost from the outset. Unless it can be shown that the estimates wherefrom this conclusion has been derived are erroneous, the scheme should not be in any danger of rejection when the ratepayers' views upon it are asked. The question of the system to be adopted, the number of cars necessary, the location of substation and sheds, and the price at which the lighting. department will be able to sell motive power to the trams, are important items of detail that we will. de«d with in turn. None of them, however, can affect to any extent the main conclusion. There is one other important point which arises in connection with the scheme, however, and that is the question of a Greater New Plymouth, regarding which considerable discussion and negotiation took place a month or two 'back, and has since been to some extent sub judice. While the borough could no doubt very well finance and conduct the undertaking, it is obvious that the suburban districts—particularly St. Aubyn and Fitzroy—have equally as much, if not more, to gain from the establishment of tramways, than the residents of the borough. As we have pointed out on numerous occasions, these districts have everything to gain, and we have not yet heard of anything they can possibly lose by throwing in their lot with the borough. Their liability, as compared with that of the borough area, for a tramway scheme would be almost infinitesimal, and we should not say it would be an unreasonable requirement of the borough ratepayers that, before providing a costly tramway scheme for the suburbs, they insisted that the suburban ratepayers should share the liability as well as the advantages. I