The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. FITZROY AND THE BOROUGH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 147, 30 September 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. FITZROY AND THE BOROUGH.

Those' who are broad-minded enough to sink petty interests and view broadly the ultimate advantages that must accrue to all residing within the boundaries of a Greater New Plymouth have no reason to feel discouraged at the result of Wednesday night's meeting at Fitzroy.' Convened for the purpose of explaining the position the residents of Fitzroy would l find themselves in as ratepayers l of the borough in the event of their dejciding to throw in- their lot with the older body, it must be conceded by everyone who carefully reads the report of *he meeting that the Mayor had no difficulty in proving the advantages of the proposal from the financial standpoint at least. We do not propose at this juncture to delve into figures; sufficient it is to affirm that an all-round saving in rates of 50 per cent, would he made by (Fitzroy ratepayers on the present respective rating) basis. The absolute correctness of this statement, which we regard as the vital essential of the proposal, remains' unchallenged by the opponents of the scheme. It is a matter

for regret that a public question of such importance could not have been debated t on its (merits and without recourse to | misrepresentation, pettiness and odious J personalities. If the abjections of a secj tion of the Fitzroy ratepayers to amalgamate with New Plymouth are based on nothing sounder than abuse,.the probability of Fitzroy remaining a.town district is an unlikely one. On this question the ratepayers look to,their repre- , sentatives for guidance founded on sound reasoning. If, "therefore, the chairman .and clerk of the. Town Board have the t interests of the ratepayers at heart and 'conscientiously believe that it would be against Fitzroy to amalgamate,.let them , prove—not by a species of appeal that ! savors of selfishness and personal inter? , est, but by actuarial comparison—that the view taken by the advocates of the proposal is wrong. On the attitude adopted by the majority of Fitzroy and St. Aubyn ratepayers regarding this question undoubtedly depends the construction of tramways in New Plymouth within the near future. The attitude of the borough ratepayers on the question is a perfectly reasonable one—that they j fail to see wihy they should shoulder the whole responsibility of providing a pubic service that would principally benefit those who refused, to take any of the risk attendant on .tthe undertaking. Mr. Steele at Wednesday's meeting" statedFitzroy's willingness to share' the. losses provided they got their share of the profits. That is exactly What amalgamation would l ensure. That the opinion of Fitzroy is almost unanimously one in favor of tramways we are convinced; we are mot so sure, however, that the .large majority, despite Wednesday night's meeting, are not prepared to shoulder their small proportional share of the cost. The position is this in a nutshell: there is, and rightly so, but a very remote possibility of .the borough alone carrying a tramway loan. If Fitzroy desires the trams, the prospect of accomplishing the object would! be almost a certainty after amalgamation with the borough. But as was dearly shown at the meeting, this is but one of the advantages the suburban district would gain. The saving in rates on both general and special services is a most important factor, one of itself sufficient to commend the scheme. 1 from a. business standpoint. It is to be hoped that the residents of Fitzroy will carefully .consider the figures and arguments that Jiave been put forward by the Mayor and others showing their respective positions under the Town Board and' under a Greater New Plymouth. The fact that one or two positions may be rendered vacant as a, result of amalgamation should surely not be a deciding fac- . tor in a question of such importance.