ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 17, 8 June 1914, Page 2

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

! TOLL-OAT Ito AMJ MUTOK-CAiW. CLIi'TUN (JOUNTV lili \-iiN'UK A.\D KOAUs. ■JXOK'KA.sm) 'TOLLS OliJEl-j'ED TO. llecentiy tile Ciii'Lou Utility Conned appointed a committee 'to revise the BCii-lo "f warjis ;ii wiu Haiui tu.i-gaic, these 'being considered, particularly in regard I\j motoa'-cars, tuo h>;». ''.l-hi, coiiiniitteo piou-uccd a higher tariff, ■which j-ai.vou. a .storm ni indication throughout the district, and toll* lornica the principal topic ol tlie Council's disi ousiions on K.uiay, Uie subject being j introduced by letters in the morning ana |'by deputation in the aftenioo. 1 Mr P. BLuiidell, o£ New Plymouth, I .wrote that both he and Mr. E. Nops . had intended interviewing the Couueil on the matter, .but were unable to do so. He suggested tliat tlie ratepayers m the Clifton County should be exempt from toll charges, Lf the financial position of the Council would permit of this; It not, ratepayers paying rates of £4O and over should certainly have a freo pass for themselves', veJhieles, stock, etc. They lived on me New Plymouth side of the gate, and found it rather mi expensive matter, having to pay toll every time they used' ai road that they helped to keep in repair. Messrs. George and Johnston wrote > pw>te.'<t(in|g ngaiinst the eiharrjjc of 5s placed on trailers drawn by iears in addition to the 5s on the ears. A trailer loaded was not as heavy as a car, and, mot being driven by an engine, uid not do half the damage of the ( cars. Moreover, a's the Council could only give "them twenty miles of metalled I 'road, it meant paying fid per mile toll, which' seemed out of all reason. The balance of tho road they had to travel in the Clifton County, "viz., five miles to the foot of Mt. Messenger, was up to the axle in amid, and was the worst piece between Waitara 'and Awakino. They asked the Council to reduce tho toil charges on the traitor, otherwise tliey would have to raise the fares along the route, which would make it harder on the backblocks settlers using tlie mail eoachos. Messrs. J. W. Foreman, EC. J. R. Brookman, and C. H. Johnston waited' on the Council, as a deputation from the re- ■' cemtly-formcd Motor Association Mr * Foreman acted a* spokesman, and pointed out the unfairness 'of charging on a horse-nower basis, and remarked that the original charge was* high enough t considering 'the short length .of metal , that Ihe curs had to travel after paym* . toll. Tn the past, he said, the Council had very little to complain of j n the way of evasion of tolls, but no one mumbled! at havinsr to pay 2s fid but he thought if the charge was doubled it would be an incentive to ova-won in drv 1 {7 e „ or W who would «o ■ , fui'tlbcr round on tlie immetalled hi--1 ■ roads. There were anomalies in t'i•» , charges, too, as he instanced that 2i bit »m charged for cars .under -20 h p ■and _ Sa for oars over 20 h.p., but I nothing was said regarding 20 h p cars The charge* were already higher then in any other county, except Taraiiak! As cx-chairninn of the Council, he recognised the difficulties of the Council in regard to maintenance of roads, bul . he did not think a, solution would be L arrived at by penalising one class of tra-flic. The Council should e,htarn- e com . moas.urately with the damage done.' Tie J admitted that in dry weather the cars raised the binding of the roads, but not more than a gale of wind did. If th • .roads were good the car* would no! • damage them, as no one over heard o>" motor-ears breaking the .metal. Tim chairman admitted that the tariff ( that the Council was- raising the tariff, was a bit stiff in, Pome ca.-;e.<, but said \ so as to got money to put down good [ roads. " A general conversation ensued on t.l.' ' J horsi.>-]>o,wer question, it pointed out 'that a 12 h.p. English car waheavier than a 20 h.p. American car owing to tthie difference in rating. ehaimnan admitted' that the Council had based the tariff on Ib,, idea, which was now -ilJown to be cr i wneous, that the croater the horsepower the heavier the car. The question-of charging heavier tariff on hire «ir s mas ako discussed, at ; length, it being pointed out Iby members of the deputation that it was a direct tax on users of the cars. Mr. Dowsctt explained at length the p necessity for raising funds (o keep the roads in order. The Coun'.il could. ])erhaps overcome the difficulty by j„f-. . ducing .heavy traffic by-laws .-uid stop- ■ ping heavy traffic in tlie winter, but ' if t'lw roads were to be kept in order for car traffic, money must be raised. The Council also' promised to consider the question of rcd'uciii* the (■liarge on the mail traih*r from \ i 0 2s fld. Messrs. Kirton and O. Minkor waited on the Council as representatives of the Uruti settlers. They submitted a resolution passed at a roprop.wita.tive meeting of Uruti settlers asking that the tolls be not increased as suggested'. In support, Mr Kirton contended that the l)ig!j'«t proportion of titif.fic tn the backblocks was being carried by motor or •'.teain traction. The toll revenue had nearly doubled itself in t.h« past, six yi-ars wirMmit a.ny further charge, which would nit the se..ners liurd, fur jhev v.-ouhl be unable tn ?et in .fheiV nianiivos. The charge? woeld l )e alni'e.d prohibitive, find tlie inerifis:' v.-ouhl \v punishiii'_' a traffic necessary ' ■•) the .-l. : .drict. Seme Councillor- wi-,■:■ i,f opinion thai the only other solution was „irikimt an o.ildlHioiral rate over tlu three ridiirj■affeeted, and n.o d'oing a.w.iv wUli tintolls altogether. Air. 0. Miifvker said that I'he L'll gale elnrires would fall verv .hc-.ivilc on'"|.li.]>rople in his locality. 'M.'.ter birrv and traction ensrine servic.' l w.i; abs-i!ul(d>-o'sential if they-were to get Ih-.i:- 1m ,,.i. 'in. It way. unjust to <h;;v>.v (.'■.• !•.. creased toll and In wi,iild li'„. In mmpublic opinion set its-lf . n r„. ,!:.-,■..i i„„ iff doing awav wHih [h" toll -i.il sni, stituting some other seh'.-.m"'. The tolls he sa.id. were only p'it |.||-. iY . lo eal.i-tr-.if-fie not paying rale:. 1' ,•-;.,: ]',.,j.,i to differentiate, ' but he v.aT ufeah' that what was! not .payim* rales wn ■ coating more to collref than if ~■•!-• .worth'.. Toll jyaies p-i: ,]i-,..l ~. „«-+;„„ to keep up the nwin mad.,, and Uie toll p, te mil(lo y u , .]i <tl | (> „,. . poverty stricken. Tiatepivei- <•: jM now | stand a.n extra rate. : Mr. Kirton did not think that w-i■-, lb • general view of the baekbl. ,'■!;., l-.l j'w I ■Mrtar*. A. VV. and K. \ .T'-.'i',-< ~i | ask-d that the toll f ,„ .Iraetion f,.->i„„s 'and trailers, saould b,k re In •,.,! • IT-. I pointed (hint this had ffeen .-.,;.eil from Os to 355. Their en 2 ine wei....!,„ r mW 4 ton IScwt., and was not lil<-> . t ,] 1( .,.. v engine of 12 or 14 tons. The inciw. would come pantieulai-ly hnrd on them as they had Contracted In driver inn I tons of shirr, wbiehl fh,,y ~v,„i,] v , n i ,] n j now except at a 10-s. They were expecting a motor lorry (~ r, ~lace the traction encine. ] Members of the Council expressed its ' sympathv and pro-mined to 'reconsider the matter. ■ ~ • ■■i" l

Alter Hie had Hithdi\u»ii, j t'blo Chairman said that there was no doubt tJhere was something in tile contention that the increases reacted on the consumers. Or. Sander thought it absurd to that 5s per ton on merchandise was a severe punisluiiient. t Cr. Kennington moved that the pro-1-orate <bo reicrred ibaek to tilie es-m-Jiottee for consideration, lie thought ■die Council had learnt something fiwm tlie deputation thut day. Or. Sunder Aconded this. The Chairman .-aid that the Council had not considered how the public would take the proposed increase. Now they knew, and tlie public were taking it very badly. He tli'ought they would tai-o a special rate worse. The rsolution was lost. Cr. Elliott was disappointed with the deputation. He thought they v/'ift going to bring forward some scheme, but instead they only blamed the Council for increasing trte toll charges. Or. Sander suggested that the members of the Waibi, Urenui and 'Hokau ridings should call meetings' of their ratepayers, and point out| that the Council could not see its way to reduce the toll charges, unlcM* a special flate was agreed to. The Council then went into the matter of revising the tariff, but soon got in a tanglo. Or. Hk(k.y l()hen moved, sn, nccwr'il:ftnee with notice of motion,' that the committee's> scale of enlarges be adopted. This was seconded by Or. Elliott. Tlie Chairman said that it hit the nail service very lvard. Messrs*. George and 1 .Johnson was doing the district a sorric.9 by running Mile mail some of the way with a motor-car instead of horse 3, rfnd In? instanced the fact <tlhat Clean got its usual mail at 1.30 p.m. instead of 0 p.m., a distinct advantage. He did not want to cripple the service by charging 10s instead of Is sd, the charge for t/h'a horse coach. The tariff as suggested waa adopted, Cr. Kennington voting against it. The alterations are as follows, previous charges in brackets:—Private ca" under 20 h.p.. 2s 6d (2s 6d); Over 20 h.p., 5s (2s- 6d); hire car, any power. 5s (2s fid); T)U--in bicycle, 3d (3d); motof I cycle, 9d (3d), with side jcn.r Is (—) I motor lorry up to S tons, 5s (4s); tracI tion engine up to- 1 ton, fl (4s), up to 8 tons, 15s; trailers, 10s (4s), for motorcars 5s (Is fld); traction engine and threshing plant, fl.