The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1908

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2113, 12 February 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1908

THE .SEWERAGE PROPOSAL'S. It was probably a fortunate-circum-stance (that- Councillor Bright arrived at last night’s meeting of the Borough Council .when lie did, for in another, few minutes the Council would in all probability' have .been definitely pledged to a scheme of (sewerage that appears to be distinctly in advance of itlio -town’s financial (position. Councillors had discussed the scheme at a meeting from 'which the press was excluded, and had conic prepared to rush through in tone .sitting, proposals committing the ratepayers to vote on a £90,000 loan. A brief formal statement was amide ,bv Cr. Williams, but -the matter having already been -threshed out in committee, there was little dismission. Cr. Wiiinray alone raised a (warning voice, but bis methods 'u opposition are not effective, and it (was not until Cr. Bright- entered the ii'oo-m and took part in the discussion that -there was any disposition to move cautiously. A scheme for sewerage is, of course, -a very fine tthiug, but it is something in .tlio nature of a luxury for a town situated ias ’Gisborne is. Unless the whole area of town -and suburbs is included (in the proposals—and this -would cost in the neighborhood of £150,000 —we .would still have to employ the present pan system to serve those localities that were not -included. It must he remembered, moreover, that oven the expenditure of that large sum would leave us in much the same

.position as wo arc now in regard to storm and surface water. In other .words, Mr. M ©stayer's scheme deals .only with tlm disposition of nightisoil, and does not include drainage in the ordinary sense of the term. To iour mind, tho urgent need for this ,town is to make provision for tho ihousowifo, who at present has no option -but to -throw the dish-slops out itlio hack door, or possibly into a pes--1 .tiloiilii.il cesspool in tho yard. Albinos! ov-ery home is faced with this no,rious problem, .and it is this aspect of .yaiiit-ation which should first engage • .tho attention of the Council. With tho numerous falls that aro available, bit should not bo a very difficult .mattor .to anrango to carry away from I every house in tho 'borough the -stormiwator and household waste. Ali ready ,a largo nuiniber of private rcsidents liavo effected this very noces--1 ti;i,ry work for themselves, at their ■own expense, and their ox.porionco suggests that an effective scheme covering tho whole of the town would mot prove unduly expensive. It is the puddles and damp spots arising from these sources, which constitute the chief menace to the health of tho ! .community. They provide an ideal .breeding ground for fever germs, and for flies and other insects, which modern science has proved to ho tho chief disseminators of disease. This .aspect of tho town’s sanitary condition should be investigated at once, and somo scheme dovised to deal with it, and the -sewerage system will follow later on. As things are now, it would ho ,tho height of absurdity to invest a hugo sum in a sewerage .schemo and then discover that our surface drainage was still -unpiovided for. 'Considering the sewerage scheme alono on its merits, distinct from tho greater necessity for surface drainage, wo are quite in accord with •the view that tho only proposals 'worthy of serious consideration are thoso .which provide for a system that will he capable of -expansion to an almost ,indefinite extent. As for tho rating area, it seems quite unreason able that- those portions of the borough .which arc not to be served by sewers within .a reasonable .period should be asked to pay for it, and il the matter is put to tho ratepayers, we .fancy 'they will insist upon tho cost being borne by those localities that are to be directly benefited. However, the chief point still remains, ns .put by Or. -Bright: “Are our shoulders broad enough to bear -the financial burden?” Wo believe the investigations of -the Finance Committee. provided its order ot reference is wide enough to t-ake into consideration all possible contingencies, iwill furnish a negative reply, but in any case -the report supplied by Mr. Me-staycr will constitute very valuable information for the Council to .utilise, when .the proper time comes.