The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1914. MAIN ROADS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 201, 23 February 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1914. MAIN ROADS.

Kor many a long year past tlic lo'-al bodies in various parts of Now Zealand have been exercised to arrive at some equitable! method of providing for the nmintemince of main roads. In numerous cases it will he found that the main arterial roads passing through a county call for expenditure quite out of proportion to the cost of the by-rotuls. Ratepayers find that while their byroads are, perforce, allowed to get into bad repair, the lutes are expended upon the upkeep of the main roads. How to avoid this it is difficult to say, The main roads of n district must be maintained in fair order, but who, when all is said and done, should pay the bill! Should a main road be a direct tax upon the district through whieh it passes, or should it be looked upon as serving a Dominion purpose? The problem has been before the public for many years, and it has not yet been solved, and, apparently, never will be satisfactorily solved until the Government faces the necessity of the times and passes into law a comprehensive Local Government Bill. It is all very well to expect county ratepayers to contribute heavily towards the upkeep of the main roads, but the farmer is frequently faced with the fact that while he pays for the up- ' keep of a main road for "through traffic," the road which leads to his home is in shocking repair. Naturally he asks himself the question: "For whom am I paying rates? Do 1 get the benelit of the expenditure, or am I making a road for motorists and other travellers';" The conviction must come home that the maintenance of main roads is not fairly n charge upon any special district or community, and counties are becoming restive in all parts of the country. The advent of motor traffic has also proved an additional cause for complaint. A motor ear may pass through four or live counties in a single day, using roads maintained solely out of local rates; and knowing this, tho settler wants to know why he should pay for a road for the convenience of the motorist. We must, of course, accept the fact that good main roads are necessary for the proper development of the country and conduct of business, but it is time some consideration was given to the question of cost. Who is to pay the bill? Last week we published two reports hearing upon this subject. One report came from the Auckland district and the other from Stratford. At a conference of local bodies in Auckland it was decided to ask the Government to take over the control and maintenance of main roads, and at Stratford the Comity ( ouneil have endeavored to get over the difficulty by suggesting toll-gates. The ease put forward by the Stratford County Council is a strong one. It is reasonable enough to expect that through traffic should pay some part of the cost of road maintenance, but is the toll-gate the best means of collecting the desired contribution? There can be no disguising the fact that the toll-gate is a constant source of irritation, and in inost parts of tho Dominion it is looked upon as an out-of-date metliod of collecting revenue, but the counties are anxious for a measure of relief, and they may bo pardoned for turning to one of the means which the law provides. Kevenuc must be forthcoming, and the irritation of the toll-gate is only a circumstance connected with the collection of revenue. ft must, however, be apparent to anyone who has studied the local government question that the toll-gate will never solve the difficulty of keeping up the maintenance of main roads. The time has come when the Government should be strongly urged to take action. Reform of local government administration is the only way out. The main roads should be made a direct charge upon the Government, and the county councils left to control purely district works. It would be well for local bodies throughout the Dominion to come to some decision upon the question and make a united representation to the Government.