COUNTY LOAN PROPOSALS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 August 1919, Page 5

COUNTY LOAN PROPOSALS.

EXPLAINED BY COUNTY CHAHtIUS. MEETING AT BELL BLOCK. At Bell Block last atoning, Mr, J. S. Conned, chairman of tho Taraankl County ConnI'll, addressed n well attended meetlnj <* f*tepayers on the subject of the County loan proposals. All were fairly familiar with the subject, lie said, particularly as It had been discussed In connection with llio wheel-tax propoeels. Tho flrnt reason for going In for the lota *»» , the heavy cost of maintenance of roadf by • !he present means, the cost In the Olotto rid- • lug being nearly £3oii per mile. Theae were ] bic figures, und he was satisfied considerable <saving would result from tar-scaling. The Council had considered li'f question of concrete, tar inuendani, tar-groutlng and tarsenJliie, and, after going carefully Into tor matter from all Its aspects, had pinned their faith In tar-F.euling. Two yearn ago they hud laid down nn expetlmental length at Spotswood, tar-grouttd, and one at th» Walwakulho, tar-scaled. That was tar-spTtyed two months after the metal was cuuaotldatcd. Whllo he admitted that the tar-grouted section had l« carry wove traffic than tho tar-tealcd section, It was m >rc expensive, and the Council were ho satisfied with the success of the tar-seeled road at Walwakalho, that they had decided to adopt that »ys,tom for all their main roads. Thlsi ayotcm hnd been proved In Waltnatc, and with a plant of their own could be iiut down for two-thirds of the cost of the experimental section. He felt that ratepayers, after having experienced the advantages of the tor-sealed road, would U« more likely to vote for the loan proposals that were being submitted this weak. He felt that the Council should endeavpur to get the' main roads completed first, though he had fhcen told that the loan should hare Included the by-roads. This, however, he did not think possible, pointing out that the present loan of £40,01)0 would taiie four years to expend, and, whon It was extended, they would take Into consideration the question of the by-ron Us. Possibly by that time more might be' known of other read construction methods. He remarked that tho Taranakl dairy factory representatives when In America intended to mako exhaustive enquiries Into road , construction, as carried out in America and Caneda. Meanwhile, he felt they could not do better than follow tin methods that had/proved so successful in South Taranakl.

In the Wuilara riding. It was proposed t* raise a loan of £11.250 for tar-seal&i«\ imd £OSO for their proportion of plant, which included tar-sprayer, crasher for fin* metal, also shed for accommodation of lorries, stabling, etc. The total mileage In the rlo> Ing was 15 miles. It would be necessary to strike a rate of Kl-2M to cover the cost, bfl» os tho loan would bo raised orer foitr yean, only one-fourth of the rate would be necassarr the second year, and none tho first. & soon as n portion of the road was tar-sealed, he hoped the saving of upkeep weald ensblt the general rales to to decreased, so tut the present rate would suffice to par both general and special rato on the loan. Ha felt--and the other councillors agreed with him—that there would be sufficient savMl In the maintenance of the main Toad to enable more attention to be given to the by-roads, which up to the present had beta neglected to keep up the main toads. Fot that reason, therefore, he asked ratepayers oa the by-roads to vote for the loan.

It was proposed to put any refemfr derived from the wheel-tax against the speclsl rkte for tar-sealing, That, however, would only provide temporary relief, as far as the Council was concerned, unci when the Dominion scheme that had been talked about was Intro* duced (ho revenue from tint wouid be put against the special tarring rate, and ihe Council's scliemu would ceaae to exist. The conference of local bodies had, he said, decided to get a Dominion ncheme put Into force, and had carried a resolution asking that the subsidy be Increased to 10s In the £ on all rates collected, Instead of, as at present, Gs in the £ on a %d rate with a maximum of £2500. If they received 10s in the £ on the rate in the WaUara riding It would h'o a long way .to help them out of their difficult Hi, which hart been brought about by Increased wages, etc. They found that the Council's finances had been going back until this ynar, when the rate and been Increased, and Improved the position. What mad* the position seen worso was that tlwy had purchased their lurries out of ordinary revenue. They were, however, not In as bad a position as some of their opponents wished to believe They hud not yet become absolutely bankrupt, nor had they to sicn a joint and several, and they were no worse oft than some of the neighbouring counties They, however, heaid more about Tartnakl, because Tnrannkt was In a position to bring: in the wheel-tax to raise revenue, and the others made a noise against them. There were many who considered to!JKfttes fairer, hut the Council know that there was no chance of erci'ting these-, as they would be opposed by the New Plymouth Borough. There was, therefore, only two alternatives—either let the County ratepayers provide all the rale, or else put on n wheoMax and ask the motorists who usod the roads ;o contribute towards their cost. He was quite confident that the mofori.it would willingly p:ty the tax, as no ono would "henctit more by the good roads, which meant less v:ear and tear. If there were auy unfairness, it was perhaps' only right that tho motorist should bear a little of the unfairness now, as tho taxpayer had borne tho whole burden in the past. In conclusion, ho said that tho Council had recently metalled a portion of the Toad in anticipation of tho loan being carried, whew It would bo tarred. The intention was to do an equal length in each riding nch year, probably four miles, though owing to the delay in obtaining tho plant It would not be possible to do that much tho first year They were making the roads now J1 feet wide, no that vehicles could pass. He said that the Council considered tlu* scheme n atep in tho right direction, and ono that would assist In keeping the district in tho forefront. Ail had assisted In carrying the iurbor ban, and Taranakl was on the evo of cre.\t things. As'far as tho roads were concerned, ho recognised that other counties were ahead of them, aud it was fit that they mutt keep abreast of the times. In reply to questions. Mr. Cotinott said that If the loan was carried In one rldtog tho scheme would go on in that riding. If thp loan were carried it would not be possible to take the ejtra general rate off next year. This should have boon put on the previous year. On the motion of Messrs. A. W. Ogle and C. Colson, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Connett for the manner in which ho had place® the proposals before ratepayers.