MT. EDEN BOROUGH FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8, 9 January 1917, Page 6

MT. EDEN BOROUGH FINANCE.

I (To the Editor). '• c-.-j- i n a letter appearing in your • 'column-, not long ago, I adduced certain facts showing that during a period scarcely exceeding a year, the Mt. Eden Borou"- Council had expended somewhat more than £50,000; that it had' been plunging the ratepayers into debt at the rate of about £40,000 per annum; j that it was approaching tho Government 'with a request for permission to borrow a further £10,000; and that it was proposing a new- drainage scheme, which .foreshadowed another heavy loan of. ! probably not less than £20,000. Coun- - icillor E. H. Potter, in a letter published iin last Saturday's Star, has not had the to question my statements to the above effect, but he denies my further assertion that the Council is piling up another overdraft. This contradiction by Mr. Potter involves a startling conflict between his assertion and the carefully prepared accounts submitted by the town clerk to ! the last meeting of the Council, held ' early in December, upon which my statement was based. Those accounts show : that on December 6 there was an over- ! draft amounting to £1172 6/8. If the j Auditor-General sticks to his guns with I respect to a "tag" which he has attached !to last year's balance sheet, the actual I amount "should be still larger. Even had there been no overdraft at aU, but a subi stantial credit 'balance, a modest silence on the matter would have been more incoming on Mr. Potter's part, for the simple reason that had *such a happy state existed, it would only have been a temporary and wholly illusory inflation of credit, created, not by careful finance, but caused by the raising of the special loan of £11,900, without the consent of the ratepayers, who had been robbed of their statutory rights by the notorious Mt. Eden Washing-up Clause. Mr. Potter wishes to persuade the ratepayers that the proposed hydroelectric scheme would be carried out wholly at the cost of a bctnevolent Government. I believe the carrying out of such a scheme would involve each, local body affected in very heavy expense. Which belief is the more reason- . able ratepayers may judge for themselvea. Mr. Porter declares that ,1 "always was a doubter." Once more he is incorrect. I have believed many things. At one time I even believed in Mr. Potter —and voted for him. At the present time, concerning the Mt. Eden Borough Council, I still believe many things. Can't help it! The evidence is too strong! Permit mc to close with A WARNING. Mr. Potter charges mc with making innuendoes. Probably he refers to my suggestion that in connection with the proposed surface drainage scheme, anpther Washing-up outrage is in contemplation. That is exactly what there is .reasonable ground for suspecting. In '■ this matter the ratepayers of Mt. Albert i are as much concerned as we of Mt. _ Eden. I warn • them to be on their , .guard. A washing-np clause, or a device | of a similar nature, whereby the inevitable loan is to be raised -without con- | suiting the ratepayers of either borough, has already been suggested, and, possibly may be- -even: 'now in course ofV promo--1 anisette., "'jnofy/no-J hvix [ WILLIAM COOPER. . Tui Street, M*. Eden. " '"''