MIRAMAR TRAMWAY SCHEMES.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 142, 18 December 1905, Page 2

MIRAMAR TRAMWAY SCHEMES.

!TO THE EDITOR. Sir — Adverting to your article of Friday last, the figures given by the Clerk of the Miramar Borough Council nrc very complicated, and absolutely misleading to ordinary ratepayers. He entirely fails to justify his Council's pro* posal to borrow £23,000, if, as ho says, £17,000 is all that is required. The point that the larger sum includes cars and cablesv the cofet of which, I understand, the City has included in making up the charge for car mileage, is not lucidly put, and exbept for the endorsement of the City Electrical Engineer, his estimate cannot be regarded very seriously. The borough estimate of rev-

enue is over-ridden by the City Electrical Engineer, who looks at it much more favourably, and no holiday traffic has been allowed for at all. The City has thought so much of this that it has asked for the right to run extra car* at a royalty payable to the borough. Increase of revenue through rise of valuation of land for rating purposes has not been considered. Roughly speaking, there are 2400 acres in the "district, 1200 of which are only rated at a valuation of £55 per acie (according to the Mayor), and when it is borne in mind that only the extreme points of the district are more than half a mile distant from the tramway, it is natural to suppose that the rateable value of the whole district will increase considerably. The suggested route.beiiig the only one that could give such a result, has never been taken exception to. The effect of the increase will- be to relieve the sea frontage of a considerable portion of its burden, so that' Seatoun and Karaka Bay, who are now paying about one-third of the fates, will find that they will have to pay something like half that proportion. To Mr. Mabin's contention strong ercep. tion can be taken. First of all, with regard to his remarks about "the Council being largely interested in the syndicates," this is not borne out by facts, ahd as a rule Councillors are interested in the district which they represent, and the whole welfare of the borough must be studied even if the particular interests of that corner in which Mr. Mabin happens to reside appears in danger of being overlooked. His opinion that the loss on running will continue for 21 years might carry some weight if the question had not been set at rest by the opinion expressed by the City Electrical Engineer. . His calculations as to the y annual loss are entirely marred by his failure to grasp the facts of the situation. He must surely know that the city charge is based on its finding cars and cables, but in the face of this he says the borough will have to pay interest on loan money required for this purpose-. It is admittedly hard to estimate the amount of interest payable on the loan required, as the loan mbney will only be called up for progress payments ; but Mr. Mabin seems blind to the fact that} the subsidies are payable on the day the contract for the construction of the line is let, and it is usual to insert a maintenance clause in such contracts whereby the final payments are deferred until the tram has been running say six months. His remarks about the number of passengers to b6 carried savours of Little Pedlington — he quite forgets that probably five Wellington citizens will be carried for every denizen of our" little borough. The official returns of the Island Bay running fully bears this out as given by the Mayor at the statutory meeting. Mr. Crawford's remarks being principally from a landowner's point of view, need not be discussed further than to point out that his interests on this occasion largely coincide with those of the borough, and in the event 6f any serioUs loss accruing he must bear a large, proportion of it. He can well afford to support a scheme which promises to so materially increase the value of his property. Mr. Wardell's remarks are very largely discounted by the fact that he was interested in the attempt to obtain a concession of the right to run tramways in the borough ; he now apparently cries "Sour Grapes, and anticipates all sorts of disaster. The trams and boats are pitted against each other by him, whereas in reality they serve different parts of the borough and will assist each other with excursion traffic. As to fares, he forgets that a reduction is sure to follow an_ increase of traffic. — I am, etc., SEATOUN FLAT. Wellington, 18th December* 1905.