The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 8. THE WHEEL-TAX PROPOSAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 8. THE WHEEL-TAX PROPOSAL.

Our province has not always pulled together and shown a united front, but the proposal of the Taranaki County Council to impose a wheel-tax on practically all traffic over its roads has brought about unity, so far as the rest of the province is concerned, Nn a remarkable degree, if one may judge from the nature of the proceedings at\yesterday's conference, and the subsequent de. putation to the council. There tjC* entire unanimity as to the unfairness, unreasonableness and inaddisability of the proposal; also,.be it said, a unanimous desire to assist the council in finding a solution for the financial troubles with which it is faced. The resolutions that were passed showed this, as did the subsequent speeches to the council, the members of which could not but be impressed by the sincerity and the logic, as well as the representative character, of the deputation. The case they submitted for delaying action was overwhelmingly strong, and it is to the credit of the council that it resolved to suspend the operation of the by-law until such time as the local bodies arrive at decisions that will be helpful to the council, thence to present them to the subsequent counties' conference, and later to obtain legislative sanction to them. One could have hoped that the council would have even rejected altogether a by-law that in unanimously condemned by, and is an affront to, the rest of the province, if for no other reason than to preserve the goodwill and confidence of its neighbors, wliohp assistance must be available if the | lot of counties situated as is Taranaki—carrying a great deal of outside li'iifuc—is to be eased. Still, the first step towards its nullily has been secured, and that is rnmethiug to be grateful for. The next step rests with the other Taranaki local bodies. The chairman of the Taranaki County put the financial position of the county clearly beforti the deputation, and stsPwetUbfrneefl for gaining sariy.

relief. The position of the county is serious, it must be admitted, but has it not been brought about by past policy and misjudgment? Many years ago Eltham, Waimate and Hawera, noting the change in the nature of the traffic from slow vehicles to fast motors, realised that in a moist climate like we have they must adapt their roadmaking methods to the altered conditions, and accordingly loaded themselves with huge loans to carry out, the work, with the result that to-day these counties have roads, carrying heavier loads than, perhaps, any other rural roads in New Zealand, which are accepted as apatternfortherest of the Dominion, and, moreover, they cost no more to maintain than ordinary macadam. Their material and labor were comparatively cheap, but both have since greatly increased. Taranaki County, for some reason or other, would not fall into line, and to-day it finds itself in a position that cannot be | described as enviable. The present ■council, of course, is not to blame, lit is confronted with a situation caused by the too conservative and unenlightened policy of the past. As time goes on the problem becomes more difficult, for motor traffic is increasing at a considerable rate, and the wear and tear on the macadam roads is increasingly severe, whereas it is proved that in the case of tarsealed roads the motors do them more good than ham. Stratford County, by its delay in changing its methods, found itself not so long ago in the same position as Taranaki does to-day, and it sought relief by establishing a toll-gate, a substantial proportion of the revenue from which should fairly go to Taranaki, which is maintaining twenty odd miles of the road that carries the whole of the thrbugh traffic. It is a bad feature of toil-gates that the revenue is not equitably divided amongst the local bodies whose roads suffer the most from through traffic. In this respect Taranaki bounty is the worst off part of the province to-day, and is entitled to some measure of outside help. Just what form that help should take is the question to be considered, but that it can be satisfactorily met without the Taranaki County Council having to resort to the inequitable means it has proposed there can be no question, for the adoption of such means can only result in evoking reprisals that Will cause bad feeling and make the Taranaki highways a bar instead of a help to the progress I that we all wish to see brought about.