LOCAL LOAN PROPOSALS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 116, 18 May 1914, Page 6

LOCAL LOAN PROPOSALS

However large a country or an Empire may be, the people of any part— in times of peace— are more interested in the small affairs of their own little locality than in any great policy for the nation. There are groups, too, in that locality contending for favours, and so tht' v acheme of self-interest reaches down till it touches individuals. The controversy about the local loan proposals shows how it is human for suburbs to differ about the merits of certain expenditure. Brooklyn folk are pleased. They see on the schedule :— Central Park (facing Brooklyn's front door), £13,000,- new road to Brooklyn, £3500; bath, Brooklyn, £800. Therefore a public meeting has approved the whole schedule ; Brooklyn's goodwill has gone out whole-heartedly to Greater Wellington, but, alas, WadesLown is disturbing the peace. The people there have looked down the list which exceeds £500,000, and they have not found a single pound assigned to their district. The Jlay^r, Mr. J. P. Luke, has said that during the past financial year the sum spent on Wadestown went beyond tho revenue, and he olaims that the sub' urb has been fairly treated all along, bufc the ratepayers, saddened by a Wadestown blankness in the loan proposals, will not bo appeased by such speech. They will not bo consoled for the lack of lamps and footpaths if they are asked to wait till well-fed Lyatl Bay has a bath-house for £3000, and Island Bay has a swimming bath for £3500, and so on for some of the less important items The list does need overhauling and amendment. Th© debate continues to indicate that if the people are asked to vote on the whole-or-nothing basis suggested by the Mayor, the schedule will be rejected ; the luxuries will drag the necessities' down with them. A feature of the correspondence is the failure of some clitics to appreciate the general public importance of a short cut for vehicular and foot traffic through Mount Victoria. It is amazing that after all the revelation df waste of money, time, and power caused by the long circjlitous route from the city to the large areas beyond the hill, the proposed tunnel is regarded by some citizens as a luxury. Yet it is the simple truth that such a "luxury" (a comfortable, convenient road for man and beast) would be a money-saving investment, obviously not " unproductive," as one writer has asserted. It is also unfair and incorrect to allege that the benefit would be restricted to the suburban folk beyond the barrier and to a few within the" city. It is true that the greatest advantage would bo enjoyed by the district directly served, but it is equally true that the whole of Greater Wellington would be a gainer. Undoubtedly the residents of Miram&r would be among the largest beneficiaries, and therefore the Borough Council should bear a fair share of the cost. When this proposal was previously mentioned it was generally taken for granted that Miramar would be a part* ner> and no doubt the City Council expects to arrange for ah equitable cooperation. Suggestions about widening the preseht tuhnel will not be seriously heeded by the experts, because; tha approaches are very Bteep. Formidable grades and sharp curves have to be avoided.