THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1909. A SUCCESSFUL YEAR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3157, 7 April 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1909. A SUCCESSFUL YEAR.

The statement submitted by the Mayor sjt the meeting of the Works Committee of the Masterton Borough Council, last evening, renders it eminently clear that the operations of the Council during the past year have been of a successful character. One of the several outstanding features of the year's work that ratepayers will approve of is the reduction of Che overdraft from £5,530 12s 4d to £3,491 17s 9d, a decrease of no less than £2,038 14s 7d. In addition the year's operations are seen to better advantage when it is recollected that capital works to the extent of £1,313 have been effected out qf revenue. The position really is that the Mayor virtually claims that over £3,000 has been saved to the Borough in comparison with the expenditure of the previous year.. This contention may be admitted, or denied, according to whether one considers certain items should be included or rejected, under their respective headings, but without discussing the statement in detail we think it must be generally admitted that that work, so long looked forward to by the ratepayers, has at last been accomplished by the Council, viz., a substantial reduction in the working expenses of the Borough has been effected. That,wc take it, is the casa for the "Government," and in the ensuing elections they should be able to make it clear what their policy has been, and what effect their administration will exercise upon the welfare of the town in the future. Now, we may inquire upon what ground the "Opposition" will adversely criticise the "Government's" figures and statements. They will undoubtedly point to the large expenditure of loan money, and it is beyond dispute that a sum of approximately. £B,OOO, a portion of the £25,000 loan, has been spent I during the year. That it has been spent with the result that there is a decided reduction in the overdraft of the general account is not a "blot" on the administration of the Council, but decided evidence of the wisdom of the policy pursued. One of the chief objects of raising the £25,000 loan was to extinguish the overdraft j and how, may we ask? By placing

the streets, footpaths and other works that have to be maintained at an annual cost, in such a state of good and lasting repair that there would be a large decrease in comparison with the cost of maintenance previously prevailing—a sum so large in fact as to be much in excess of the interest on the £25,000 loan. That such a policy has been successfully pursued during the past year, and that it is an absolutely sound one, the substantial reduction in the overdraft ia a solid inkling. Take Queen street as an example, the excellent work done there will save the ratepayers hundreds, it would, perhaps, not be going too far to say thousands, of pounds in the matter of mainteni ance,'.while they enjoy in their principal thoroughfare one of the most up-to-date streets iki j Why? Because the [work has been thoroughly well done on the latest scientific basis—no notions of false economy were imported into the°doing of the work —and the citizens of Masterton now have a street that will last for many [years, and with proper care and attention will cost but a few pounds annually to maintain. Is not L this successful work? Undoubtedly it is, and it would be wrong on our part to withhold from the Mayor and Council that measure of praise which we deem it our duty to bestow.