DRAGGED TO THE POLL.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 282, 28 November 1929, Page 11

DRAGGED TO THE POLL.

POWER BOARD RATEPAYERS. LOAN FOR £100,000 CARRIED. CONFIDENCE IN UNDERTAKING COMMENT BY CHAIRMAN. "We literally had to drag the ratepayers out to vote," said Mr J. W. Hayden, chairman of the Waitemata Electric Power Board this morning in commenting upon the apathy shown in connection with the board's £100,000 loan proposals. Out of 14,061 ratepayers only 1865 took the trouble to exercise their franchise. The proposal, however, received a favourable vote at all booths, 1624 being registered in the aggregate for it, and 231 against. Ten informal papers were returned. A feature of the poll was that the boroughs and town boards, which are reticulated, recorded ten times as many votes for the proposal as against, while the county area, which is only partially served, did not support the scheme as wholeheartedly as anticipated. The final result of the poll was made known by the returning officer, Mr. A. Main by 7.45 o'clock, three-quarters of an hour after the closing of the booths. Poor Voting Deplored. Of the £100,000 which the ratepayers have sanctioned the raising, only £30,000 is required for work in the near future, and it will be used for the provision of new lines in outlying districts.

"The board is naturally very pleased at the great majority which was secured and it is gratifying to know that we have the confidence of the electors," further stated Mr. Hayden. "The poor polling, however, is to be deplored. The cost of the poll will be in the vicinity of £1000, and, when it is considered that half the people who voted were taken to the booths through the agency of the board's transport, the cost per vote was round about £1. In my opinion there should be some extension of the Local Government Loans Board's powers In connection with loans in order to save such tremendous expense as this. Not only is the waste in connection with the taking of polls enormous, but the mere taking of the poll means disorganisation in the offices of local bodies throughout the district concerned. I suggest that the Loans Board's powers should be extended to enable it to take evidence as to the desirability of loans, especially in the case of a body such as the Waitemata Electric Power Board, which has an undertaking that is reproductive. The board should, of course, consist of practical men and not civil servants. If evidence taken by a competent tribunal showed that the financial position of a local body was satisfactory, and more money was essential, no doubt the ratepayers would be satisfied.

Expenditure of Loan Money. Commenting on features of the poll, Mr. Hayden said he was extremely pleased with the Helensville returns. Out of a small number of ratepayers, he was astounded to find that 117 recorded their votes. The position contrasted with the polling at Devonport, which returned only 170 votes out of a population of over 10,000. He added that the money the board had in hand would enable it to carry on till February, when a start would be made to use the £30,000 for further reticulation. Promises of extensions to Whenuapai and Waikoukou Valley had been made, and an exhaustive canvass of the Silverdale area was in progress with a view to carrying on operations there. The consumers in the settled areas were steadily increasing, and this meant additional capital expenditure. He estimated that the latter districts would absorb half of the £30,000 set aside for extensions in the near future.