The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1885. A WATER SUPPLY

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2151, 21 November 1885, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1885. A WATER SUPPLY

Tiie question of providing a proper water supply for the town is to be brought prominently before the ratepayers at an early date, the Mayor, Mr Oaselberg, having tabled a notice of motion on the subject in tho Borough Council,' There are, of course, two sides to the question, and it seems perfectly clear that opposition will-be offered to the proposals to obtain a high pressure supply, not only in the Council, but also at the poll that will have to be taken on the subject, supposing the motion be adopted by the Council, for Councillor Pehry at the last meeting when the proposal to adjourn the motion was before the Council, took occasion to say that he had no objection to the adjournment; in fact, he should not object to the question being adjourned altogether. There are, no doubt, others in the town who are of the same opinion. They will not believe that it is detrimental to health to drink water drawn from a well close to a cesspool or a uibbish heap, and even if illness arises in their families from this cause, they adhere to their opinion and attribute it to. accident. Long experience has. shown over and over again that the soil in a thickly populated town becomes poisoned and that' the water under it is converted into a very hotbed of disease. It is bad enough to have it there, but it is a thousand times worse to drink.it, or to use it for other domestic purposes. Disease works in a slow and obscure manner, but with none the less certainty. Those who will not heed the warniug of experts only too often pay the penalty without knowing it, and then complain o£ their bad luck. It is different with fire, When a row of buildings is all ablaze nine people out of ten may be heard to exclaim " Oh, if we only had a proper water supply, that would be put out at once," In this case they know the exact source of the danger, because they have both tho cause and'tlio effect before them, and they can appreciate the advantages of having proper means to prevent or to conquer, In the other they see only the effect, and the majority is therefore inclined to deny the existence • of the enemy. Masterton has been a severe sufferer l\v lires of late, and we believe also that il the vital statistics of the town were carefully prepared, it would not be found among the healthiest in the colony. We venture to say that there is not a town of similar size in the whole of the North Island that has not a proper water supply. We havo here one great difficulty tg overcome, namely, lhat while the great majority of the town proper would be in favor of borrowing money for obtaining a supply, tho occnpyers of farms, which ought never to have been included within the -boundaries of the borough at all, will object to it on the ground that they do not wish to be rated for anything that does not benefit tliem, We may point out that it would not be necessary to rate the whole borough, and that, also, as is the case in Wellington, there would be a prospect of a handsomeincomebeing dorived from the use of water motors. The red uction of Insurance premiums is another very important factor in the matter. So long as a sufficient income were derived to cover interest and sinking fund there would be no necessity to levy a rate on the whole of the Borough, We trust that in the interests of their own health and that of the members of their households, as well as the safety of their properties, the members the Borough Council and the burgesses generally will approve of the proposal to raise a loan for the purpose of obtaining a water supply,