THE TRAMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 August 1916, Page 8

THE TRAMS.

JIOT'LEY STREET EXTF.XSTOX. A deputation of the Westown resi dents waited upon the Council last night with n ferencc to the. Morley Street extension. Mr. Clarke, after apologising for the absence of Mr. Sole, said that there was a good proposition before the Council. They did lint want to wait foi nine months until a new Council enme in Taking the proposed extension on the terms estimated, there would Le a small profit on the proposal, and there would not be much gained by holding oil' for i.'ine mouths on account of the cost of material. The sum of £OOO would pay for all the extras, and there would, be practically no loss. The residents did not want a 40ft road, as had been provided by the engineer; that was too wide. The deputation considered that the cost of reconstruction to Wallace Street could he reduced to £OOO, instead of CISOO odd. Working out the cost by Mr. Bartlcy's figures, on a 5} per cent, basis there would be a savin," of at least. £OOO. Mr. F. S. Johns said that a sound business proposition like this should be gone cn with, and lie was surprised that the 1 Tramways Committee had deferred the matter foi* nine months on account, of financial stringency, which would not be eased in that short time. He thought Mr Hartley's figures had been collected at the worst aspect., and upon consideration he might adjust them. The Council should not defer the matter, especially when it has been adduced that a good saying could lie-effected, and there was little reason why the extension should not be gone on with. Mr. A. E. fioodaere s nid two or three things had apparently been overlooked i by the Council and press. He referred to the growth of the vicinity which the tram traversed: also, was not the Council- only looking at a possible loss on the Morley Street extension. The extension would pay by the increased traffic on other sections. It was recognised that wherever the tramlines ran th» upkeep was charged to that section. We had been used to paying for macadamised roads, hut squeaked when two steel rails were laid down. The Coun--1 eil should not shelve this Morley Street extension, and he considered that the engineer had very much over-estimated the cost. He appealed to the Council not to turn the section down, for by so doing the Council would be potting a burden on some ratepayers that they did not deserve. Mr. Johns asked why the engineer had ' added 50 per cent, to tho total cost of 'lonstruction. His Worship said the Morley Street revenue was based on six days only, 1 whereas the deputation was referring to seven days. Morley Street got no credit between it and Egmont Street, and he ■ certainly thought that unfair, for the , penny sections paid. Put the difference i in cost at one-third, or a little ovei, - that made a loss ( of '£3oo odd. The borough, if they li'ad to put over *£looo . into the construction of the tram, had three years to go almost, and the Council was nothing out of pocket by dc- . feri'ing the project. Regarding the road, the Council did not want to touch it, and ' ; work done on it should 'be charged to ! the trams. Even if prices came back to normal, the Council was not losing , by not making the extension. There , were many things to be considered, and at the present time, the Council had , not the money available to do Morley Street. Councillors were in sympathy, out he (the Mayor) did not think that . there was. any injustice in asking the ■ Westown residents to wait for a few . months. There was not much money . left, and he candidly considered that . there bad been a little too much hurry , in the matter of expenditure of loans. . When he came into office it was with ; the. idea of clearing up mistakes. , A voice from the deputation: That is what we are asking you to do now, sir. ' The speaker: Yes, but we must go j warily, and I don't think we can go ahead with this proposition. Cr. Johnstone said that there, was one , aspect that apparently appealed to the ( deputation, namely, that rigid economy was a principle to be practiced. ' Later on, Cr. Mnnteath (chairman of 4'e Tramways Committee), said that tindeputation appeared ' to think members > had not gone into the matter from a business point of view, but. he differed. 1 The deputation had looked upon the ' whole thing in an optimistic manner. 1 If the line were put. down the Council 3 would have to face a very heavy loss in the cost of material. There would - be at least SO per cent, loss, perhaps SO : per cent., on the rails alone, and this 1 would add 20 or 30 per cent, to the cost i of the' line. The committee bad gone 1 into the matter very carefully, and were t practically unanimous in their decision. I The whole cost for the plant would- be t (estimated) CIS2O, and it was a misi take to '"blister" the rest, of the system . for this section. It decidedly seemed [i unpropitious to go in for the extension : at the present moment. Another of the , impressions held by the deputation that . should be dissipated was contained in the st-;lenient made that there was over ~ two miles of overhead stock in hand, but this was not so. The committee were working under a tremendous-disadvant-n age, and the position was that it would be spending £OOO on the rails to meet ■ a loss of £3OO a year. All the cornmitt.ee were in accord in a desire to help the Westown people, but ill the f pvessii circumstances they were of opine ion-that the line would not pay. Cr. Smith said that he was in accord t with the report; it was no benefit to c attempt to raise, a loan of £OOIIO or d 1701)11 now, and a similar sum later on, i- Better to see what the borough wanted . altogether before moving in that . direction. Cr Watkins asked if lighter rails could ,1 not be used, and Cr Mini tenth said that the point had received consideration. s Cr. Medley said that he did, not sec j. how in nine or twelve months' time rails could be obtained any cheaper than at the present. lie thought that lighter i rails, which were obtainable, in the Dominion, would serve the purpose of the proposed extension for some years. II An extrusion of tramway should be considered before tram shelters and other, perhaps mwvsiry, arrangement*. He a did not think they should hesitate about ' undertaking a loan for the extension, and he thought that the matter should be referred back to the committee, and Ik moved to that effect. Cr. Short seconded the motion. Cr. C'ollis said he thought, that the extension to Morley Street from F.gmont Street iiad not proved a success, and : he could not see that an extension to the top of the hill would be a paying proposition. For one thing, the route ivould pas* thr.",ugh a 1 arge unoccupied area. It would even pay bitter to go further up the hill, but it would be better still to defer the matter. j Cr. Haydcn supported the report, but thought that, it should not be deferred longer than six months. Cr. Wilson said he was the author of the ''nine month-!," lie considered that I it should bo deferred until ever tb'? sum-

moi' months, when a new Council would bo in ofliee, and .they could then have all returns at tneir finger's ends. He was, as was the whole Council, irj, sympathy with the Westown people's requests, hut he was strongly against any borrowing at the present time; the Council should "go slow." Cr. < Iri flit lis said that, it' the work could not be done without borrowing, the Council should take into consideration other Works for which .money was required. He thought that the period of nine months should not be made hard and fast. (r. Gianni?; '.bought that the Council would be well advised to go in for tile extension, and he agreed with the previous speaker in deleting the proposal to defer the matter for nine months. Cr. Hill was in favor of the extension; it would materially add to the prosperity of the town. The amendment that the clause be referred hack to the committee was defeated by ten votes to three. Cr. Hill then moved thai the words "for nine month?" ;n tlm report be de-leted.-.Seconded by Cr. WatkiiiSj and carried, ,