TOLL GATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1917, Page 2

TOLL GATES.

SHOULD THJiY BE AU'JUSUED? At tlio I'ltrmers' ( uinu Conference at Stratford InfiL wet*!;, tii c executive brought ilmvn the following remit: That till) time has arrived when tollKates should be abolished in this country.

The president said he thought tlio time had come when tolll-gates qhould be abolished. A comity in Taramiki which did nut' need a toll-gate to derive its revenue had got as good roads as those of neighboring counties which derived revenue from toll-gates. It seemed that when toll-gates were erected in Taranaki a retrograde step had been taken. Toll-gates might have been necessary in the early days when county councils were not us ric-h as they were to-day, but since they had become better off he thought the time had -passed for obtaining revenue by tlio payment of toll fees. He understood llr. Wilkinson, M.P., bad a .Bill which he would like to get through Parliament, and he intended to support the member in this direction as far as he possibly could. jfr. Jlodge seconded. He came from a co-'jty which did not have toll-gates to ci/iiect revenue for tho maintenance of its roads, and ho ventured to rem,'.-' that his comity bad as good roads as the counties with toll-gates. Tho collecting of revenue by toll was quite unfair, as many were penalised who ought not to bo penalised. He mentioned that be had that morning passed over two portions of a road which wero situated in a county with toll-gates, and they were the worst) pieces of road lie had ever been on.

Mr,. Perry; said ho would continue to Support toll-gates, as lie knew from local knowledge that it had beeil the best tiling fqr tha Eltham County Council. Ho did not know where they would bo had it not been for the establishment of tho toll-gates to deal with the heavy >notor traffic.

>lr. Washer endorsed Mr. Perry's remarks. He was in favor of the tollgates, wliich, however, could be avoided if tliu Government took over the maintenance of the main arterial roads. The pieces of road mentioned by' Mr. Hodge ivcro not so had, and one was under the jurisdiction ojf a town board. Mr. Hodge: I am quite surprised to hear Mr. Washer make that statement, because when I went over those two portions in tho car this morning it fairly took my breath away. (Laughter). Mr. Lambie said lie believed that why the toll-gates had been erected was because the counties had no outlet to the railway, and no satisfactory arrangement could be arrived at between them [is to what would be an equitable contribution for the upkeep of the roads. Tf im amicable arrangement was arrived at In this respect between the county councils interested, there would be no necessity for toll-gates. Ho was sure that motor car owners would raflier pay a toll for motoring over a good road than no toll for a bad road. Mr. McGuinncss related at some length the -trouble which the Eltham County Council had had in keeping the roads in good repair, especially in the Mangatolu riding, because of the increased motor traffic necessitating tho 1 expenditure of largo sums of money. He justified the existence of the toll-gate bo far as his council was concerned. Personally he would like to see the county councils readjusted so ai to make them contiguous to the railwav line. Until this was accomplished it.would he take to d> away with the toll-gates. Mr. Pierce: Could thers not be embodied in the remit a pnposal asking the Government to tako over the main nrterial roads, because for years the main roads in New South Wales have been maintained.,by the (ic.vevnmeni.. The president: I don't think so. Mr. Pierce: It will need a special resolution then? The president: Yes. Mr. McK. Morrison opposed the remit. Ho referred to the usefulness of the Waipuku gate. | tn repl, T to Mr. McGuinness, the .president said that if toll-gates were abolished legislation ought to 1 e introduce)! to deal with any extraordinary Heavy traffic over the roads. The remit was lost.—Star. >