LOANS AND AUTHORITIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 226, 23 September 1936, Page 6

LOANS AND AUTHORITIES.

There may have been ample justification, as was claimed by the Mayor, for the lengthy list of works undertaken by city from loan and without poll. The checks he mentioned, the approval of the Treasury and of the Local Government Loans Board, were applied in each case, but the fact remains that the principle is wrong, and that only in cases of emergency should loan works be undertaken without the authority of the ratepayers. It is unfortunately true, as stated by Miss Melville, that the ratepayers are remarkably apathetic about all loan proposals, but this apathy does not justify the Council in carrying out important financial operations without asking the consent of those who have to pay. The Council consulted the ratepayers before launching its big programme of works recently, and the endorsement then given was substantial so far as voters who went to the poll were concerned. That vote was an evidence of confidence which the Council should jealously guard by asking the consent of the people when loans are required for special purposes.