The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1909. ONE AND SEVENPENCE IN THE £.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2689, 20 December 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1909. ONE AND SEVENPENCE IN THE £.

If the ratepayers sanction the loan to-<lay they will at the same time pledge the .property of the borough to the extent of Is 7d in the £ additional rating.- This may be an unpleasant way of putting things, but it i s the bald fact. Our genial friend the .Mayor becomes angry because we refuse to gloss over this phase of the question, but our contention is that in voting the ratepayers should do so with their eyes open. It is all very well to state that this pledge of Is 7d in the £ is only a matter of form; how many men who in their private capacities have been induced to place their names on the backs of bills and other legal documents “merely as a matter of form,” have lived to find the remote contingency a most awkward, painful reality. We do not oppose these municipal works, but we feel it our duty to point out just those things which Hi s Worship chooses to ignore, or, attempts to gloss over. If the ratepayers authorise the borrowing of £175,000 to-day, they will at the same time pledge their properties to the extent stated in the official advertisement of the poll. Of course, His Worship states that no part of this Is 7d will be needed; indeed, he assures us that if £175,000 is borrowed, existing rates will be reduced. He invites us to believe that the town can get a complete sewerage system, a drainage system for storm water, new roads throughout the borough, electric tramways, electric light, recreation grounds, waterworks, reservoir, Waimata bridge, and at the same time obtain a reduction of existing rates. If to-day’s voters really believe this sanguine estimate they will naturally vote straightout for the proposals. If they do not accept the Mayor’s figures, they will fix their attention closely to the Is 7d rate, and bear it in mind when the ballot papers are in their hands.