HAMILTON BOROUGH LOAN.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1018, 2 January 1879, Page 2

HAMILTON BOROUGH LOAN.

Tiie polling of the burgesses of Hamilton, to decide upon the advisability of raising a special' loair of £7,000,; for the pmpQse of .con-, structing thp traffic bridge at Hamilton, upon the .security of- u special rate and the refits, tolls", and profits of the said' bridge, will take place to morrow, at the Botough Council Chambers. ..•••; This procedure is rendered necessary fi'orn the fact that the poll previously taken, did not iu'clude. among the securities oftered, that of a special rate. It has since, as we recently* pointed out, been necessary to include a special rate .among^the ,surities provided, inasmuch, as the parties willing to take up the debentures urge thutas the Borough Coun- ; oil can* at any day make the bridge a' •fr'oe one, the security of the rents, tolls, and profits, "may be swept

I iiwr»y by a vote of Lho Council. This is no more Hum .a reasonable business objection, and kmwuig that th^ do^ij^'jiitencl to make the >bric7g~e a'fretvo^oTtill it has cleared its li:ilyi'lftiofl,: : the burg-esses mny a" ' .well gtve^hfi'^dditioiial security <f the rate,^feelih^ that they will" .npver be upon to pay it. Pot* the benefit of tho.^e, however ,who' did not.real our remirks of. the 2 tMi ult.""wo reprint such portion of i them a-* fairly explains the whole j nl -iU.t? r at issue :— The facts of the case arc simply these*: — Tho Government gives a subsidy of £3,000 towards the cost of the bridge, the "Boroughnnding«the balance. This would leave some • 3,000 to be raised by. debentures ; but there are the approaches, the cost of whioh will be considerable, and it is therefore thought wiser to .make.jbhe. borrowing power £7,000.' instead of £0,p00, ' so as to cover any possible extra expenditure on . that account.' And this is rendered all the more necessary ■ as; whether the sum to be raised by debentures be £5,000 or £7,000, tho whole of the securities the Borough can give will 'be required, so that if the smaller sum only were provided for, and it was afterwards found necessary to raise another £1,0 ! 0 or £2,000, the Borough could not obtain it, for there would be no security left to offer. The special rate — the power to strike which is now asked for — is not, however, likely to be mdre than a mere fiecurity m reserve. Id will never be struck, for the simple reason that the tolls of the bridge will .cover interest and 'sinking fund on ' the debentures', even uhOtild those debentures — -which have been very favorably negotiated at 6 pcr 1 cent, to be*fully taken up. Those who advance money on the Borough's 1 debentures very naturally ask for the collateral security of a special rat«. They do not doubt that the tolls of the bridge will ba amply sufficient to meet interest "and sinking fund, but it so happens that the Borough Council has the power to make the bridge a- free one at any moment, and should they do this where would be tho security of the debenture-holders for their money ? This is why, as trust-holders of the .money for others, they da, not unnaturally and very prudently as business men, ask for the additional security of a special rate. It will then clearly .rest with the Bcrough whether the special rate is ever required or not. Ag"ain, as to the amount to be borrowed — the sum is now fixed at £7,000;. Why, we have already stated. We should, however, go further, and explain that, because power to borrow £7,000 is given, isdoesnotnesessarily follow that £7,0i)0 will be borrowed. Each debenture will represent a certain sum, say £50 or £100. The debantures will only be floated as they are required, and only to the extent that they" are required, and only for the purpose for which they are authorised. . It was argued the other "night that, when the bridge superseded the punt, and the tolls were absorbed m its' construction, the Borough, having lo.st the ferry revenue, would need to use the money o tamed by the special rate for ordinary purposes.. But this is simply an impossibility.. The Council could not use the bridge, loan debentures for any other purpose than the bridge, or strike the rate and use it for ordinary purposes. They wou'd be aimply rendering themselves guilty of misappVop -iation of public funds if they did sj>, and to public prosecution for sodoiug. As to the question of whether the bridge is or is not a colonial concern, we a-e pa<t that now. W,e have actually entere lon the work. Besides this, the 'whole policy of the public administration is agiinst auch a system, and the Legislature has r ally gone out of its way iv meeting us with the £3000 subsidy. As we have said, the special rate will never be wanted. Who is there doub'a that the net receipt of the toll will ever fall short of the annual sum required ? Why the special rate must be strucSs, we have shown. We will now show that even though struck,' it need nob necessarily be collected. As if to meet such a contingency, the Il3bh clause of the Act pro mle* that, after such special rate has been, struok, "The Coincil may, from from time to time, amend a special rate, by increasing or diminiahi-ig the sirae, if necessary, s<> that the annual produce (hereof shall suffice to provide the interest and sinking fund on account of the loan s< cursd thereon." Si that, if the interest and sinking fund on the di b tntares are mot by the bridge tolls ilia C mocil may, from time to tim\ diminish the rate to actually nothing at al, which is just what m th s eve it wouM do. We cannot see how the burgesses c;m do otherwise than give full sanction to the loan. They have set their hands to the plough and cannot look back. As we have said, the work of the bridge is actually commenced — the borough has entered into a contract for its completion, and to refuse to uphol 1 the borough m its engagements would be so suicidally foolish that we can scarcely imaging anyone having the interests of the place at heart silly or wicked enough to do so.