"A TRAGEDY"

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 68, 17 September 1927, Page 10

"A TRAGEDY"

■THURSDAY'S POLL

WHAT WERE THE REASONS?

COUNCILLOKS' VIEWS

'■ •■''■; ' The turning down of the loan ■'•■" proposals on Thursday undoubtedly : came, as a great surprise to city ' '• councillors, or the majority of them : At any Tate, but again—so the general ' opinion among them appears - to be—it was largely a case of objectors making sure of their votes. . land supporters being too tired to go ''along to the nearest polling-place. Councillor E. Sem'ple takes the view that had the motorists not endeavoured to block the proposed highways exteneion by protesting against the fee increase quite a different story would have been told, though other factors jcamp into the matter as ■well. ."I. must say that I regard the decision of a handful of the ratepayers as nothing short of tragedy," he said to a "Post" reporter to-day. • "In my opinion there were two reasons for the defeat of the proposals: the selfish and narrow attitude of the motorists towards the Hutt road fee increase and jthe same old indifference aiid apathy "jof the great body of ratepayers. -, "I heard more :than one man ih the fetreet remark that if the motorists were imwilling to put their hands in their pockets to.provide roads for themselves [then the ratepayers should certainly not fworry over motor roads. There has fceeh no end of talk of the benefit that jthe whole community derives from good roads, and there is not the slightjest question that the whole community ■'docs benefit, but who gains most? The anan.who uses the road constantly and eaves constantly by running upon perfect roads or the ratepayer who has no •uch direct saving to make? - i . SHIRKING. A DUTY. *'The Taxation Bill introduced by [tie Government wa.s no do abt. another leontributing factor," continued Mr. Sample; "but the third and worst feature was the general apathy displayed T>y ratepayers; of nearly 29,000 whose inames were on the roll only 5000 could ■trouble themselves to vote. That is not mere tiredness—it is a definite chirking of a civic duty and a failure . *q appreciate what is each man's birthlight, the right to have a say; Councillors have spent months on those loan .proposals, giving nights of their private time in the'endeavour to bring down the proposals in their most useful form, and then ratepayers are too indifferent to give five minutes of their $ime to say yes or no. Eeal civic progress is impossible' while such indifference continues. Why, even if only |those who have waited upon council leommittees ■ and the council with endless complaints about roads and footbaths ■ and the disgraceful state of city (Conveniences had voted we would have ijiad a bigger poll than that! MORE UNEMPLOYMENT. ?'Stagnation will certainly follow tipon this decision, and a good deal more jthan ■ stagnation, for the 250 men who ■' would havo been fully engaged all jhrough the coming summer and autumn ihad the poll been carried. All relief works, with the exception of tho Glenmore street job, will wind up at the end of next month, and between 500 and (too men will then have to look about for other,work, and tho looking promises to be long and disheartening. In addition to "those men the groator part of tho personnel of tho paving crows will be out. The council cannot five them work without money to pay or it. "To them this will be a serious matter, but it will be serious to the city es well, for it must mean that these grained crews will be broken up,and scattered,, and it must bo a long time tho high efficiency of the organisation can bo worked up again. Plant and lorrieH. worth! many thousands of pounds will stand idle, and tho city's coads will continue to deteriorate quicker than old-time maintenance Jnethods can make good. It will little avail citizens to complain of their footpaths either; they had their opportunity and pasesd it over." ' THAT INCREASED TEE. If the motorists, through the Autofeiobile Club, persisted it 'their opposition to the BUI now before the House, continued Mr. Semple, the position must he still more difficult. "I cannot understand the attitude of those who oppose the Bill,"he said. " There is not a motorist in the Wellington district who will deny that he has been saved pounds each year for his thirty-shilling outgoing in fees, but there are motorists ■who object blindly to saving themselves Wore pounds in tires, in repairs, and in fuel bills by. paying out another ten shillings per year. That, the owners of heavier vehicles should protest is to me absolutely incomprehensible, for they, above all people, havo most to gain. That is not theory; I know what has happened in my own business." Those motorists who realised the real position, said Mr. Semplo, would no doubt decide upon what action/was to be. taken by way of placing counter evidence to the Automobilo Club's before the Local Bills Committee when *hoy, the motorists, met in the Concert Chamber on Tuesday evening. "If the objecipjg motorists have not by now Been, what damage they have done to She i city and to their own pockets by engendering hostility to themselves pmong ratepayers then they probably ynll never see'it. It's up to them to jeapitulato." KSore words to the motorist. v"I am-most disappointed, not only Jhat a reverse vote should be recorded, but that the decision is made by a small proportion of our ratepayers. The votSng displays! an unjustifiable apathy by the people on a very big issue," said .Councillor Mitchell. Where the vote .for a loan is taken involving a general irate there is always a tendency for those wno have good roads and footpaths to vote against similar works for 'Other.-people. The works specified in the loan schedule were all most urgent, tut by the vote of the people the roads must remain as they are except with Buch surfacing as we can give them out of revenue; the footpaths likewise. And Citizens must pur, up with one decent convenience in : the centre of, the city and a disgraceful show at Courtenay place. Beyond these two, residents must seek tho nearest public house, and the city must . J-emam under the stigma that it now .Carries for lack of theso conveniences. . > There is a general feeling that as the motor has made the modern smooth surfaced road a necessity, and roads are almost entirely for the benefit of motor traffic, the motor owner should pay a fair share towards the cost of these roads. ; As a motorist I entirely agree With the Mayor in this view, and the time has arrived-when local bodies must aak for statutory authority to levy a .enarge on motorists for at least a part ; °p£ the benefits they derive' from' good proads. i:lt is an acknowledged fact that bitumen roads, save to motorists in . £ires, "petrol, and upkeep much more jthan they are asked to pay to provide feueh roads, let alone the pleasure of priving on them. :'■■ "A iiumbcr of times I have been askfed.this question, 'Why should I vote jto be taxed for a loan to provide smooth purfaced • ioads for motorists' when I feS5-B2 Motor andt am never likely to

be able to buy one?' That the saving where bitumen roads arc provided is very great is proved by a stretch of half a mile along the Evans Bay road. On account of some widening not being completed, this stretch was left unsealed. It has cost £900 to- maintain it for a year, and to-day it remains a real spring-breaker." Another serious aspect was that of employment, continued Councillor Mitchell. During the winter months the I Corporation had been able to keep together its expert gangs in readiness for the summer paving. Must these men now be added to the number of unemployed? The city could not provide work for them without mon(?y, besides which there was over £30,000 worth of plant lying idle and eating its head .off. .

A correspondent calls attention to what he maintains is the particularly bad and dangerous state of Chilka street, which was, he stated, dug up twelve months ago, and has not yet been even rolled. -