The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1909. THE BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2408, 25 January 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1909. THE BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS

The weakness of the borough loan proposals is not so much that it is proposed to borrow a large sum of money, but that there is no reasonable guarantee that the money will be economically expended. Everyone is satisfied that Gisborne is badly in need of roads, and few will question the wisdom of raising a loan, for the construction of permanent works, but this does not necessarily justify the proposals that are to be considered tonight. Before the ratepayers consent to borrow so large a sum of money as £42,000, it is necessary to know (1) that they can afford to pay interest and sinking fund on the Joan, (2) that circumstances will permit the money to be spent to good advantage, and (3) that the works to be constructed are legitimate subjects for borrowing. Taking the points in order ol reference, it may be admitted that the amount necessary to pay for the loan, Gd, added to present rates, can be paid if necessary by the ratepayers, but at the same time it would press very severely on some, particularly if it should be accompanied by other additional burdens for drainage works. The existing valuations of properties in, Gisborne are so abnormally high that the present rates, aggregating about 3s in the £, seem stiff enough, and they cannot be raised substantially without the pinch being felt in some quarters. Of course we have the Mayoris assurance that it will never be necessary to collect the Gd rate that would have to he struck to secure the loan. His Worship contends that the rates to bo Collected during tlio next five years will not only pay interest on the loan and maintain the roads and streets, but will also show a margin to help pay for the drainage. Wc should like to think with the Mayor on this point,

but common-seme forbids. „ar, as a financial' expert, has lonfe • ’ ,m | ( , i„> anything more than since ceased to no .ui.rimu a joke in Gisborne, and were L not fol the fact that he bolds the office-«t Mayor 1 his views would not be woi of publicity much less of However, it slibnhl only bo necessary to point out that in tins, as in othc public matters, he has simply made bis figures suit the results be js endeavoring to show. His estimate ol j’ovcniio is based upon future valuations that neither himself nor anyone else can reasonably guarantee, t s a matter of fact, valuations are ntpresenl so exceptionally, high, in ,lS borne that it is extremely _ unlikely they will increase K> o material exten for’ mai'iy- years to come. In the second place, bis estimate of probable expenditure is so far astray as not be worthy of serious consideration. The cost- of upkeep of streets, alter they had been constructed in the manner proposed,., would in all probability be at least double the amount that is allowed for bv Mr. Lysnar, n fact which can be testified to by any practical road engineer. Coming to the second point, it has not been shown that the money, if borrowed, can be expended in an cco nomical manner. It would never pay the'community to spend large sums of money in carting Patutahi or any other* metal to town at an exorbitant rate, and we have not yet been informed that if the loan is authorised the Council will be able to obtain good metal in the large quantities that would be required and at a reasonable price.’- In the past, even at a price which cost the Council from 15s to 16s per yard to put Patutahi stone on the road, it lias not been possible to get as much as the local body was prepared to pay for out -of races. Ratepayers will naturally want to have some guarantee, before sanctioning a loan, that the material with which it is proposed to commence the road-making of the town will be available. There is a scheme on foot for bringing metal from Patutahi by tramway, but the project fathered by the Cook County Council is still so far in the future as not to come into the question at the present stage. Of course if* the roads are to be made from river shingle the position is altered, but surely this is not seriously contemplated. Another important point raised by a correspondent is the method of road construction to be adopted, but here again we are met with such a paucity of information that it is difficult to give the proposals serious consideration.

Coming to the third point, we have no hesitation in saying that the works in question are not as a whole legitimate subjects for borrowing. Mr. Lyenar’s specific in all public matters is to “let posterity pay ” but this principle can easily be carried to a quite unjustifiable stage. Thus it is entirely proper that the formation of Gladstone Road and other of the chief business thorough! ares should be formed in such a manner that the work can reasonably be described as permanent, and in that sense the cost might very, rightly be distributed over a term of 20 or 30 years, but it is manifestly unfair to present those ratepayers who may be paying taxes in Gisborne in 1929 with a bill for roads that were worn out and had to be replaced many years before they were called upon to pay. Yet this is precisely what is proposed. The money that is allocated for the various works is not sufficient to do more than a patch-work job in most of the roads outside the main thoroughfares. They will not last more than a few years at the outside, and almost from the year of inception they will require very heavy expenditure for maintenance.', and it will not be Jong before they will have to be completely renewed. It is pure nonsense for the Mayor or anyone else to suggest that works in any sense permanent can be constructed for the paltry little sums that are doled out to one by-street and another, and to make the money thus spent a charge upon posterity is both foolish and immoral. The proper tiling to our mind is for the Council to first of all make definite arrangements for a sufficient supply of metal at a reasonable rate, and then come to the ratepayers with, a proposal to spend £20,000 to £30,000 upon works of a thoroughly permanent nature in the chief parts of the town, leaving the task of rendering the suburban roads fit for traffic to be paid for out of revenue.