The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1919. TOLL GATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1919. TOLL GATES.

The proposal of the Taranaki County Council to substitute tollgates for the wheel taxi-a which that body is empowered to levy, is one that will need very serious consideration on the part of the New Plymouth-Borough Council. The county chairman, Mr J. S. Connett, when interviewing the Borough Council on this matter, suited that many of the e.-unly ratepayers favored toll-gates in preference to a wheel tax, on the ground that it was a fairer means of raising revenue, 'out li-> admitted that the wheel tax proposal

was launched to call general attention to, and as a protest against, the present position in regard to the maintenance of lr.aia roads, which have to carry a large amount of foreign traffic for which it gets no compensation. With this protest there should be universal approval, but ive can not say the same for sUiter of the schemes put forward by the county for raising revenue for road work. The proposed wheel tax has been condemned moss emphatically by all the public bodies in Taranaki. The statement that toll-gates are a fairer way of raising money than a wheel tax is open to argument, but there is no question that they tend to create constant irritation; they are a relic of a resourceless age, an intolerable hindrance to users of the roads and costly in working; whereas a tax, just or unjust, when once paid does not recur for twelve months. But that tax must be general, and not local. The crux of the county's ease would appear to be found in the success or failure of the proposed loan for tar-sealing the main county roads, and in order to pave the way for the carrying of the loan the council desires to get some guarantee that the revenue for the upkeep of the roads, or the payment of interest on the loan will be forthcoming. The main question therefore is whether such a guarantee is possible. Apparently not, unless the county takes advantage of powers it should never, have possessed, and will assuredly be revoked by Parliament at the earliest opportunity. It stands to reason, however, that Parliament could not deprive the county of its present j power to impose a wheel tax unless another source of revenue was provided, and the settlement of this matter cannot be delayed much longer. The legislature should be forced by local bodies to deal with the question. Admitting that time presses, it is only right to point out that even if the Borough Council consented to tollgates being erected, the sanction of the Government would be necessary, and in view of the fact that a large majority of members of the House are on principle opposed to toll-gates it is very doubtful if any further permit for these obstructions to traffic would be given, What course then can the Taranaki County take that will meet the requirements of the case without bringing matters to a crisis which will gravely prejudice the best interests of the district? The ratepayers can carry the loan as a matter of necessity, knowing that it will provide roads that will be enduring and thus save heavy rates in the future for maintenance, while being justly confident that Parliamentary action will be taken in the direction of relieving the position of those councils that are called upon to provide for undue national traffic. It might be urged that adjoining local bodies which possess toll-gates should contribute part of the revenue towards cost of upkeep of Taranaki's main road, but it is hardly likely they would do so voluntarily, however just may be the Taranaki County's claim. It is most unfortunate that both the proposals of the Taranaki County are such as cannot fail to raise antagonism, not from any selfish point of view, but on the sound principle of being unjust in their incidence, contrary to public opinion, calculated to create friction that should be avoided, and opposed to the progressive spirit of the times. The Taranaki County, by the exercise of resourcefulness, should be able to tide over the crisis until relief comes from the Government. No doubt the position has been becoming worse of late years, but that probably is the fault of the council in not facing the question | of laying down permanent roads years ago in the same way as the neighboring councils.