NEW PLYMOUTH'S PROGRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 February 1919, Page 4

NEW PLYMOUTH'S PROGRESS.

'CO-MORROW'S POtL. Ratepayers who are interested in tho welfare and progress of New Plymouth should not fail to vote at to-morrow's poll on the proposals to borrow £IO,OOO for street improvements and £40,000 for electric light extensions. Both are important, the streets not less so than the electric lighting, for the reason thai the council has wisely adopted the policy of making a permanent job of all works it henceforth undertakes. Tar-sealing the roads preserves them, the upkeep being nominal. " The original cost is certainly heavy, and for that reason and v i others the work cannot bo done out of ordinary revenue. The cost must come out of loan if the work is to be done expeditiously and economically. Hcnco the poll to-morrow. The council propose to extend the tar-roads and footpaths as soon as possible. This makes a start. In regard to the electric lighting poll, the proposition put before ratepayers by the council is one of the most attractive any body of ratepayers ever had tho good fortune to consider. Indeed, it looks too good to be true, but behind it V are the names and reputations of Mr. lilair Mason and Mr. Hartley, whose recommendations can be- unhesitatingly followed. The scheme makes it possible to increase the present "net profit of £2103 (net profit means tho amount remaining after all working expenses, interest and depreciation charges are met) to £12,500 in a few years. But this is not all. When the full scheme, of which it forms only a part, is completed, it will be possible to increase tho power from 1800 horse-power to -3-200—almost enough to supply the requirements of tho whole province. And the beauty of electricity is that it costs little more to generate 0200 h.p. than 900 h.p., excepting, of course, the interest and depreciation on the extra capital involved, To-day there are in hand and in sight applications that will go well on towards absorbing the additional power it is now proposed to generate. For ihat reason tho extensions must be done at once, «pd the necessary authority for the wising of the money given. The poll to-morrow should bo unanimously supported. Remember that the enterprise up till now haß not cost the borough a farthing, and it certainly will not in the future. Instead, in the course of a few years it should put New Plymouth in the happiest of financial positions.