BOROUGH COUNCIL METHODS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 191, 11 February 1914, Page 6

BOROUGH COUNCIL METHODS.

THE MAYOR IX DEFENCE. PRESS COMMENT? KESENTKD. An article recently appeared in the columns of our local contemporary, in .which the methods of the Xcw'Plymouth ISorough Council regardingstreet works and the trauiw.iv scheme were critivised. This was the subject of a lively discussion at the mot-ting of the Council on Monday night. In the course of discussion tlie methods of the press of Xcw Plymouth, and, indeed, the whole of New Zealand, were ■ hotly commented upon by his Worship the Mayor and Cr. 1 Italy. The Mayor opened the ball by referring to the leading article as. one which went into the matter of the meoinpeleucy of the Mayor; the councillors and the engineer, both past and present. He was sure that the officers of the bur--1 ough would at; all times be willing- to give the editor of the. paper in e,ucstion any information be wanted regarding municipal matters. At the present time the Council bad 11 staff of 110 men, and from C 1:1,01)0 to £15,000. worth of street loan work had been authorised. These men were now spread in all directions carrying oKt tli» works authorised. The nearest work to which be could direct the attention of the writer of the article was that at the Liiiril.it street bridge. lie wished the editor of the paper in question would bear -n mind the fact that the Council's revenue was very little greater than : ! was previous to the completion of thi fircater Xcw Plymouth scheme, whilst

by the inclusion in the borough of the various suburbs the area of streets under th<> Council's control had increased from :U to 70 miles, and that of footpaths to about 70 or 80 miles. Yet j with all this (o look after the Colter! ■ had a very slightly increased revenue. One reason for this was the f:iol: ihat j in bringing in the Greater I\'ew Ply- > I mouth scheme the Council had volim- ] I tnrily cut down its revenue by reducing ' I the water rale charged to suburban ie- I jsidents fi i Is 4d in the £on niiniul | I value to (id in (he £ on the same vi!u J | alion basis. The benefits of this reI duction hail been, he continued, one of tlie arguments used by the paper which was now condemning the! Council in order to get the suburban people io come into the borough. Anot'n argument the paper had used for ihe same end was the tramways scheme. 1 which the Council was now accused of delaying. lie pointed out that t! c engineer and the Council had done all in its power to push on the tramway • scheme, and I he delays which had taken place had lain at the door of the ■■'■■> i vernment departments in Wellington. | llicgarding what the paper, had said I about the Napier trams, he averred th it it was four years after Napier first took j a vote on the tramway scheme before the trams ran there. .lie looked forward to the New Plymouth trams running in less time than that. It would be a good thinjj. lie continued, ii tlf> editors of tlie Now PlvmwUi papers would take a seat on the Council and j share in the work. They would then I get sonuv idea of what the councillors ' had to go through. The leading article in question had accused the Council of a lack of system. The Council had one. They had determined at l.'io outset of tlie loan work to proceed immediately with kerbiiig and ehnmioliliiL' and to do the main street first. This work had been delayed somewhat, pend- ■ ing the arrival of machinery. Jlorc--1 over, the Council had been from time Ito time approached, by deputation* jtiiA otherwise, to do pieces of work in various parts of the borough first, and as these looked reasonable on their mcrils. the work had been done. This W;ts a relic of the evils of the old ward system. Also, he remarked, as a result of the ward system, street work had been begun in various parts of the borough, which it was \]\f intention of the Council to link up. at a aost of some .17000. Furthermore, the Council had adhered religiously to the principle of doing the earthworks first, because if it were left till the winter it would cost ."id or Id a yard more to do than :f done now. The Council had spent a considerable amount of time in working out its policy. All (his had been 'done in the interests of the town. p, was a pity the Xew Plymouth presi did not give the Council a lead, as was lioiu ,' in other parts of the Dominion. It ' would be much better than the present policy of condemning municipal ») ■(.ltoils. There was a Tourist teftgllf' in the town which wa> doing its best for the community, and it was a pitv that the press shuuM kill (|,i s work Y, do'■vying the oft'oris of the Conned' ■!•],, pi-ess should (each loyalty and jutv'.o!isni. , '■ - (V, Tlciily: In mv opinion we shui-l I take no notice of this aflitde. If the press would give us a lead it would be more to the point. I think the press of the Dominion has swelled head. It imagine-, that it controls public opinion, but as a matter of fact it does not. Tlie articles which appear in the press, especially in the New Plymouth press, on local all'airs are misleading and inaccurate. The writer of that article, did not know what he was talking about. As a mailer of fact, I think he wrote it because there was a little, blackberry in his path. They should treat the matter with silent contempt. Cr. -lackson: The editor's footnote i= always the last word.

Cr. Clarke remarked that there was j some truth"' in what the edit, ir '.f the paper, in question had written. The [trouble- was tliat the Council had not enough money. In 1<M)0 the maintenance for streets -had cost £3OOO, and in l!il.'i, with an extra 111 miles of footpaths, it had only increased to £3l!)'J. II was no longer possible to do the street work with this amount of money. He must, however, defend the engineer.who ha.l liceu unjustly treated. Mr. Kendal! had hefore the last loan estimated the expenditure on street maintenance at .Cll.iiimi. After doing 1 the work the present engineer had enough money in hand to lay down an extra mile of sewerage. Also ,C50(I of the estimated expenditure for earthwork had been available for formation. The present engineer was bringing metal into 'he borough for ,'is per yaril less than previous engineers more qualified than lie; A piece of work at the Lemon street bridge hail been estimated at £2l J. and Mr. Skitrop did it for £l7B. This was what counted, lie quoted other similar instances. If the editor of tlmt paper would gather the facts he would not condemn the engineer. He hoped that future estimates for street work would lie larger than in the past. The engineer was continually asked to do e.lOflO worth of work for £3OOO. The Mayor stated that savings had been accomplished in various ways. By the Council's system eight men were kept at work in their respective areas. This was what the article had asked for. The editor should make himself acquainted with the Council's system. Cr. Clarke said the Council wanted more men, There was grass on some of the streets. Cr. C'ollis said the Council must eon-

sider the appointment of an oYorscer to relieve the engineer of detail work. j The Mayor stated that the engineer j was already using foremen on the vari- j oils works. Cr. Clarke: I ask the engineer, h .£3llOO a fair estimate for street maintenance'/ . The engineer replied that it was not.!lie was employing foremen on the. jobs, j The discussion then dropped.. I