BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 August 1920, Page 5

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

THE CEMENT SUPPLY. EFFECT OF EXTREME SHORTAGE. The New Plymouth Borough Council met last evening,. Present: The Mayor (Mr. Jas. Clarke), Crs. J. W, Hayd'en, V. Griffiths, P. J. Hill, A. E. Sykes, W. P. Short, R. L. Parkin, W. A. Collis, and A. S..Brooker. It -was decided to forward letters to the Prime Minister and to the Board of Trade again pointing out the great inconvenience and loss being cause:! to local bodies and residents generally and throughout, the provincial district of Taranaki through the extreme shortage of cement and the serious detrimental effect which such shortage is having upon the progress of the district. Roth the Prime Minister and the Board of Trade are to be urged to endeavour to arrange that Taranaki shall receive more equitable treatment, in the allocation of supplies, and to arrange for the necessary shipping to bring to Taranaki at more frequent intervals supplies so al-' located.

• Mr. S. 0. Smith, M.P.. will also be asked to co-operato with the Council and with the Taranaki Cement Distributing Committee in their efforts to overcome the shortage.

ELECTRICITY FOR THE PROVINCE. It was decided that upon the Government's chief electric engineer definitely fixing a date for his visit to Taranaki, arrangements be made with other local bodies interested for a combined deputation to wait upon him and to place before him the great advantage which would accrue to the district if the Government as part of its large • electrical scheme can be induced to erect transmission lines from Inglewood to Eltham. THE TROLLEY SYSTEM. With reference tp the railless trolley system, the TJnder-Secretavy of the Public Works Department wrote stating that the matter had been considered by the Crown Law office, and his Department had been advised that a Tramway Order under the Tramways Act would not be required, where a straight-out railless electric traction system was adopted,, as for instance iii' suburban areas, where a track is not laid down, and the only permanent erection will be the overhead trolley wires. All that necessary in this case. was the license authorising the erection of the wires. THE RATE OF INTEREST, The Eltham Borough Council wrote seeking support for a. resolution directing the attention of the Government to the fact that the associated banks had raised the rate on advances to local authorities of six per cent., and asking that provision be made in the Municipal Amendment Act now'before Parliament tor all funds being placed in a district fund, thus ensuring interest being paid only on the actual money owing to the banks. It was pointed out that the present system of separate accounts means that: a local authority paid interest to the bank on the district fund for their own money lying to credit in separate accounts. The Council decided that whild it could not support a resolution on the foregoing terms, it would favor legislation compelling the banks to set- up credits in the separate accounts against the debit in the district fund account.

GENERAL. It was decided to arrange a conference with the carriers in regard to their proposed new scale of charges. The borough engineer reported having received advice that the disc crusher machine for making stoue chips had been shipped direct to New Plymouth, and he presumed it was on the s.s. Mamari, which left England a week ago. The borough engineer reported that he had received advice that the price of Restar, all grades, had been increased by Id per gallon. Based on the same amount as that used last year, this means an increase of between £250 to £3OO.

A circular letter was received from the Department of Industries and Commerce stating that it was intended to hold, in the Royal Albert Hall, London, in December next, a bazaar in honor of the jubilee of tje opening of Dr. Barnado's Homes. On the invitation of H.R.H., the Princess Alice, a stall was to be provided for the sale of New Zealand products. Lady Allen would be in charge of the stall and it was hoped that a representative supply of New Zealand pre--Bucts would be available for sale. The Government invited the assistance of the Council and intimated that any expense in connection with the transport of thp goods from the district, and subsequently to England, would be borne by thi Ctovwmaeak ' t