BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 April 1917, Page 4

BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

His Worship the Mayor is possessed of the virtue of frankness, and so, when a I deputation waited. upon him yesterday to ask him to give his services to the ratepayers for another term, he said plainly and unequivocally that he would not enter office if a progressive policy tt'as the order. He was "'not going in svith any progressive ideas in his mind." If that was what the ratepayers wanted, then, he said, "don't put me in." Mr Burgess does nob seek re-election, but has consented to stand, on condition that if his ideas are departed from by the Council he can retire. Mr Burgess has dono such excellent work, sparing himself in no way, that one naturally hesitates to adversely criticise him, and if the reactionary views were expressed by anyone else, that one would not, we are afraid, receive much hearing in the town. Present times, all know, are difficult, and call for prudence and caution on the part of municipalities as with individuals, but surely they do not enforce total cessation, of necessary or urgent improvement works, Take street improvements: we recently showed the towu wag losing over £4OO a year In interest charges alone by the laisscz faire policy that has lately prevailed, whilst the roads and footpaths were rapidly becoming worse and would soon bo ruined. . Because of war times, we do not see what is gained by stopping the expenditure of the loan; but we can see that tho town is losing heavily. Then there is tram extensions. Ratepayers certainly will not consent to an additional loan for extensions unless the material can be procured at a reasonable price, but so far as Morley street extension is concerned, we were under the impression that most, if not all, the material was on hand, taken over from the contractors. If that is so, there is no justification whatever for any further delay in going on with the work. This fact is to Ic faced: materials and labor are going to cost more in the future than they did before the. war. A rise is inevitable, and ft is no use our banking on cost of works going down. We admit that the time is scarcely ripe for putting in hand the other proposed extensions, hut there is no reason why we should not get things in training so that when normal times come round we will be able to lose no time. These things do take time. It took over five years from the time tho tramways scheme was propounded to the day when the cars were running, and though we do nob anticipate, there will be the name delay witli the. proposed extensions, the preliminaries cannot be arranged in a few weeks or a few months. The fact has to be accepted that NewPlymouth is on the move, and everyI thing possible should accordingly be done to facilitate progress; otherwise we will miss opportunities that may never come our way again. The present, as we have said, is a time for caution, bub it is also a time for confidence and hopefulness so far as'the future of New PlyI mbutli is concerned. We regret we cannot agree with Mr Burg?s» on t'nis

point, for none appreciates his unselfish, loyal, and able services more than we, and we only trust that he will get around him such a good Council as will convert him to a different and more optimistic view regarding the immediate work before the 'borough ana the outlook generally. It would seem, however, that the Mayor's avowed intention of blocking progress, just at the time when the town is moving ahead, is a matter for the serious consideration of the ratepayers, for it means that any and every progressive move will either have to be dioppe.l or the Mayor will resign. 'The question naturally arises whether sueh an attitude will eommend itself to the burgesses, and also whether it would not be more politic for Mr Burgess to decline office rather than assume it under sueh a retrograde condition as that which ho lias laid down. For New Plymouth to be stagnant now is unthinkable.