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BOROUGH ELECTIONS.

TO THE EDITOR. " 111 fares the land to hastening ills a prey, Where folly misspends what labour must repay.*' —Goldsmith, slightly altkkkd. Sir, —The importance of the coming election of three councillors to fill the places of those who annually retire, and the exigencies of the borough at this time, must be my apology for troubling you on matters political. That the coming elections are important goes without saying, as anything that effects the welfare of the place in which we live must be, to a greater or less extent, of moment to those who have the pleasure of paying their quota towards its maintenance, and to have these funds judiciously spent, it is of the highest import that we get the best men in the borough to come forward and seek election ; men who are not bound to any clique or party, who are not merely time-servers, but who, with a determination to do what is right, will fearlessly perform the duties of Councillors in a manner creditable to themselves and beneficial to those whom they represent. That there are plenty of good men, and to spare, in the borough needs no Affirmation on my part; but, unfortunately, such is our position, financially, that men such as these shrink from coming forward, knowing that long weary years must elapse before they can, by a system of rigid retrenchment, hope to retrieve their position. Three years ago our whole indebtedness was something under £900, to-day it is £3000; and a review of our income and expenditure will show at a glance the present financial situation of the borough. INCOME. Boiough valuation, £6000, at Is in the £ s. d £, 5-Oths of which is collectable ... 275 0 0 Rent of endowments GO 0 0 Rent of domain lands 160 0 0 Licenses 17a 0 0 Government subsidy OS 0 0 £723 0 0 EXPENDITURE. £ S. d Interest on loan, £2000, 5 per cent. .. 110 0 0 Interest on overdraft, £1000, 9 per cent 90 0 0 Clerk's salary 11)2 0 0 Foreman of Works ' ... 109 0 0 Surfaceman IS 0 0 Lass on £4000 invested at 1 per cent. 40 0 0 Printing and advertising 50 0 0 Retaining fees, (solicitors) 10 0 0 Engineering expenses 50 0 0 Lighting 45 0 0 Stationary and incidentals 80 0 0

£m o o The above figures (although approximate, are fairly reliable) show a loss at present of £4(i yearly, lint, Sir, the bur gesaes must remember that this does not take into account gravelling, which in itself ia a serious item, and absolutely necessary, nor yet any other works which may from time to time be required, which, from past experience, we mjiy assume to cost another £240, and which, to do justice to the Borough, ought to be the least sum spent, and it is not too much to expect, that a third of our revenue should bo spent upon improvements. Assuming, therefore, that this Bum of £240 is spent, we have an outlay annually of over £1000, and an income herewith tc pay it of £728, leaving a deficiency of £282! for which, as surely as night follows day, the extra tax of 9Jd in tho £, already struck, will have to be collected. The noticeable feature in this. Sir, is, that instead of one-third of our rates doing yearly to actual improvements they are all swallowed up, together with other revenue, (and even then fall short) in paying interest and salaries, and for this state of things to continue simply means blue ruin to us as a community, for even allowing a Is DAd rate to make all things work smoothly "again, it does not take much philosophy to prove the very deterrent effect it would have in preventing settlement amongst us; for what sano man would invest in property in a place where such a prohibitive tax was imposed ? During these depressed times there has been a great outcry for retrenchment in general as well as local politics, and in the council I noticed that a majority had the courage to " take the bull by the horns "

and endeavoured to pass a measure, reducing all salaries, but the effort was strangled in its inception. The division on the question being, for, Messrs Coates, Bell, Jones, and Wood, against, Messrs Knox, Sandes, Salmon, MisS'en, and von Sturmer. I give the above division, on the principle, that as a straw indicates the current, so the burgesses might see who are the councillors, who would, if they could, carry out the principles of retrenchment. The aboi-e was carried, I am informed, in face of the fact, that the officers of the council were quite willing to have their salaries reduced, and 60 help to bear their share of the burden, under which we are how labouring, and for which burden a majority of the present council are responsible, for, Sir, what with baths, canals, wharves, saleyards, and other utterly unproductive works (for none of these pay as much as one-half per cent, on outlay), their measuro of iniquity, in this direction, is full to overflowing. That the greatest necessity exists for strict ecouony in the finances of the borough in future is, I submit, apparent to all who will for one moment reflect on our present position, and if we intend, Sir, to try and overcotno the difficulties in which wo are placed by past aaismanagenient we shall have to see to it that we change the personnel of our council and return in the next election none

but rigid economists. Apologising for taking up so much of your space.—l am, yours truly, A. Scott.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18880828.2.13

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2517, 28 August 1888, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
944

BOROUGH ELECTIONS. Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2517, 28 August 1888, Page 2

BOROUGH ELECTIONS. Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2517, 28 August 1888, Page 2

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