TO-DAY'S LOANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 November 1921, Page 3

TO-DAY'S LOANS.

FIVE SEPARATE ISSUES. important matters involved. public support wanted. To-day a poll of ratepayers of New Plymouth will be taken on several issues in connection with borough loa’ns, and at a public meeting held last night at the Soldiers’ Club it was decided to recommend all the proposals to the ratepayers. They are:— (1) Loan of £142,000, to repay loans falling due on October 1, 1922. (2) To approve of the council paying interest on the above loan at a rate to be determined by the council. (3) Loan of £lO,OOO for additions and extensions of borough water mains. (4) Proposal to borrow £9OOO for extensions of electric light and power works, including enlargement of No. 2 tunnel. (5) Proposal to approve of the council paying interest on the above loan at such a rate as it shall determine. Polling hours are between 9 a.m, and 7 p.m. REPAYING LOANS. At last night’s meeting, convened, by the Mayor, there was an attendance of ; about seventy. In opening proceedings, Mr. Wilson explained the reasons for not holding the meeting earlier, he having been requested to do so at a late hour on Monday night. The most important proposal was that to borrow £!42,000. This was necessitated by the tact that loans aggregating £142,000 were falling due, and had to be repaid in October of next year. Owing to the circumstances existing in the money world, and which seemed likely to exist for at least twelve months, the possi-' bility of raising the money in New Zealand was very remote. They would have to depend probably on the English market for the raising of this large amount. The limit in respect to the amount of interest which the council could pay was 54 per cent., and the poll was being taken on this condition, but in conjunction with this the council was asking the approval of the ratepay era to pay a higher rate of interest. They could be assured, of course, that the council would not pay more than

was necessary. Although the rate of interest would be higher than when the original loan was raised, it would be a mistake not to carry a sinking fund, and the costs oi the loan would be about 7 per cent, interest and one per cent, sinking fund. The money had be raised, however, as it would never do for the borough of New Plymouth to make a default.

It would be noticed that the security for the loan was stated as a rate of 3d in the £. This was calculated on the assumption that none of the loan was revenue producing, but actually a large amount of it produced income, and on the old valuations the rate struck for the loan would be. about 1. 3-sd.

I Replying to Mr. Carter, the Mavor said that if the loan was not carried the council, by special order, coma proceed to raise the loan, and a poll would not he necessary. It would be carried on the old borough district in the event of it not being sanctioned by the poll. THE £lO,OOO LOAN.

There being no further questions, ths Mayor proceeded to deal with the second loan —for £lO,OOO. He said this was fortunately on a very much better position than the first loan. Provisional arrangements had been made with the State Advances Office., whereby the sum of £lO,OOO would be available, subject to* the ratepayers’ approval, fdr the extension of the waterworks. The rate of interest would be 54 per cent. There was certain work necessary other than by extending the mains to the euburbsi Some few years ago, when the gravitation scheme was instituted, the mains were laid with steel pipes. These bad not proved as satisfactory or a» tasting as the older type, which had now come into use again. Unfortunately the council would have to renew portions of the mains where these pipes i were worn out. # Though the council 1 had not yet definitely allocated the loan i there would be a considerable sum I available for the extensions of the i mains, a work which was self-support-j ing, and which was much needed in [ certain o\itlying portions of the bor- ' ough. There were many cases where I the water service, for fire-fighting purj poses, or for domestic supply was entirely insufficient. Therefore, said Mr. i Wilson, while the council expected the

! suburbs to vote to assume liability of I portion of the £142,000 loan, they hop ed that the inner area would support the loan for the extension of water to these outer areas. In reply to a question, the Mayor saW the pipes had been in use since 1905 They bad not been the success expected, and eventually the whole of them would have to be replaced. H Y'J)RO-ELECTRIO POWER. Of the other two loan proposals, he' thought ratepayer.- already knew a. good j deal; one was for the raising of £9OOO ■ (in connection with the enlargement of No. 2 tunnel and the taking of a sur- i vey), and the second was a proposal rci g irding an increase in interest similar jto the £142.00(1 loan. The matters had I • been thoroughly discussed, and if rateI pavers did not understand it now he .did not think anything he could say 1 would help l horn for or against it. The i idea of holding a poll was a twofold jone: The council —and, he thought, the I public—were divided on the question to J some ox t ent, and it was felt that as the other polls were being taken, they could, with very little additional ex- ( pensc. secure an expression of opinion from the ratepayers on the suggestions ]

made for further expenditure on the hydro-electric works. Whatever their opinions on the subject might be, all were agreed on the desire to see New Plymouth forge ahead and to carry on the works to the best advantage. While some were anxious to secure an increase in power, others feared that the completion of the works might be hindered at the eleventh hour through funds becoming depleted. The council had raised Some money and were vigorously prosecuting the works. To the minds of , some this was the important part, and others argued that while the chance was available provision should be made for future extension. In reply to a question asked by Mr. Davies, the. Mayor said the council had never been asked to give Summerson and Sons the right to use Bell’s Falls to generate power for ironsand. works. They were quite prepared to give this firm every facility outside of interfering with the present works. The questioner had apparently assumed that the council had declined to give the right to use Bell’s Falls. There were other sources, including the Waitara river. Mr. J. McLeod asked if the,council

kad FTer huggssteii cynrrea Bell’s Falls were available. As Summerson and Co. were not in a position to know, he thought the council would be helping matters if they gave this information. It was an unfair way to say that the council had not been asked to give the information. THE ENGLISH FIRM The Mayor: You understand that Mr. Leggatt knows the conditions locally as well as you do. He has an advisory engineer at Wellington, and has also commissioned a local gentleman to supply information. That the council should go out of its way to inform Summerson and Sons is altogether outside the council’s province. As I. have said before, we have absolutely received no request from Summerson ana Sons except the information that they are willing to finance us. . I put the position perfectly fairly. I always do, but you have accused me before of being unfair. Mr. McLeod: I did not charge you with being unfair. I say it is pot quite fair to say that Summerson and Sons should know. If the council believes there is other power available it would not be hurting their dignity, and it might do the district some good, to inform the firm that we have some other sources. The council are more or less trustees for the hydro-electric resources under their license. It would be good business for the council and for everyone of us if further power were developed, but it seems that sympathy and help, which should have been afforded Summerson and Sons, have not been given. No harm could be done by he council suggesting there is power available at Waitara. I think we are aIF agreed that the council cannot supply it from the present scheme. You would be doing the town a very great service by having reports of that kind went on. I think that is the view' most »of us take. The Mayor replied that Mr. McLeod judged the position wrongly. Every statement that was made concerning this position was public, and reports of the council proceedings were, received by Summerson and Sons. He added Jiat the council was not blocking them. WHAT MORE IXIWER MEANS. Mr. T. C. List said he thought the meeting was missing the point. The question was not one of seeking for water supply outside the present scheme, but securing sufficient from their own. They were told by the consulting engineers that there was a big possibility of getting the extra power at an ecoaomical cost. The Government engineer also thought so, and had recommended increasing the size of the tuna?l, to provide for 12,000 h.p. If this could be secured the council would be tu a position to deal with Summerson and Sons. That was the point. Apart altogether from the position as affecting summerson and Sons, however, the people of New Plymouth, as trustees for the whole of Taranaki in the matte” of hydro-electricity, should do everything possible to develop the power. As ratepayers they could not ignore the reports of the experts who had advised that the size of the tunnel should be increased and that a detailed survey of the resources above the present works be made. The council had said this would involve the borough in another £9OOO of expenditure, but he and others were of opinion that £OOOO would cover the cost, and by the expenditure of rhie sum adequate provision could be made for the future. They had been told by Mr. Kissell in his reporf that by increasing the size of the tunnel an extra 144 h.p. could be obtained from the big scheme. It would be foolish of the ratepayers to reject this advice. As to the finance, this ought not to be a very difficult matter. The sum of £6009 was not going to “break” the borough .The money would be found, but he did not think the scheme would cost the sum which had been provided for in the esti- i mates, as already there were signs of a substantial reduction in the cost of the ; work.

Mr. List concluded by moving that the meeting recommend the throe loans to the approval of the ratepayers. The motion was seconded by Mr. C. Carter.

In reply to questions, the Mayor said he. did not think their own engineer (Mr. Cook) could undertake the survey’, as some time was involved; though he could not pledge the council he presum-

ed they would unhesitatingly accept the mandate from the ratepayers if he. loan was carried.

Mr. J. West expressed the opinion that it was a waste of time taking a casual survey first. If a private person was undertaking the work an estimate of the cost would be brought down. He thought waste of money would result through the holding up of the works and deferring the matter of giving the people electric light installations. He. intimated that he desired to move an

amendment “That the ratepayers of this town have every confidence in the Mayor and majority of councillors/’ QUESTION OF DELAY. The Mayor replied that thia was not an amendment, and he proceeded to point out that no delay would bo invoked. The survey was not urgent, i but it was desirable that the council should know as soon as possible whether I the tunnel was to be enlarged or not. Mr. List explained that there was no : | immediate necessity for taking the de- , I tailed survey, and that no one was ad- | vocating delay. It would cost the i ratepayers £3OO a week for every week the work was held up. The advocates for increasing the size of the tunnel felt that provision should be made for extension in the future, for once the tunnel was built, there would be no possibility of increasing the diameter of the tunnel and increasing sLhe size of the works. The size of No. 2 tunnel governed the whole position. The Mayor pointed out that though the sum of £6OOO had been mentioned as the probable cost, the engineer’s estimate 'for the tunnel work was £B5OO, and £5OO had been added to this to cover the cost of the survey. The council preferred to err on the side of safety.

After a little further discussion the motion was put and carried. The Mayor informed the meeting that no organised effort was being made to take ratepayers to the poll, but he would like all those present to use their influence in reminding as many as possible to vote. It was not desirable t?iat any proposal should be carried on a small poll. Mr. List thanked the Mayor for the clear and fair manner in Which he had put the proposals before the meeting. He did so with the greatest pleasure because he with others had had occasion in the past to criticise the attitude of the Mayor and councillors in connection with this matter.

Replying, the Mayor said he quite conceded the right of others to hold their different opinions, “and I do hope we shall always be able to discuss matters in this town without culling one another names,” he concluded.