THE TRAM TENDERS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 71, 8 March 1912, Page 4

THE TRAM TENDERS.

Thejje will be a good deal of surprise expressed in Napier at the action of the Borough Council in opening the trainway tenders in committee. In the first place the Council has, or should have, nothing to hide from the public, and secondly it is the' standing rule that all tenders shall be dealt with in open council. This is a wise provision, because it removes all suspicion from the minds of the people and gives public explanation of the Council’s actions. Yesterday, however, at the instigation of the Mayor, tenders were dealt with behind closed doors, and some time must elapse before the public receive the information which is their due. In fact councillors themselves do not know the position, as all tenders have been referred to the engineer for classification. Cr. Niven was apparently the only one at the table to protest against this course, and he is to be congratulated upon his opposition to a policy of secrecy. It may readily be acknowledged that it would have been impossible to go through the tenders yesterday and make a selection. Naturally the engineer must go through the offers and make his report to the and this work is likely to occupy sonic days. But it would unquestionably have been wise for the Council to place the fullest possible information in the hands of the people. A course of full publicity is all the more advisable in view of the strong opinions held by the ratepayers that a cheaper and more mobile system should be adopted. While some councillors are inclined to look favourably upon the suggested change, others are staunch in their adherence to the trams, and the public require assurance that there will be no slipping through the acceptance of a tender before the people have had an opportunity of expressing an opinion. This is hardly likely to occur for two reasons. The Council would not overlook its duty to the people in the first place, and secondly it is more than probable the prices pu* in will largely exceed the loan money authorised. It is not safe to prophesy, but we know of one tender that turns the scale at £62,000. In the event of our conjecture proving correct and the engineer’s estimates being exceeded, the Council will be forced to consider the adoption of a cheaper scheme, otherwise the town will require a good big “washing up loan” to square up the deficits upon the original proposals. There need be no loss of dignity on the part of the Council, no question of breaking faith with the ratepayers if a £lO,OOO scheme is adopted in preference to the £50,000 one, and the electric lighting and sewerage systems need not necessarily suffer. The “Telegraph’s reasoning over the burden which would be placed upon the electric light if the tramways were dropped is so ludicrous that it hardly requires notice. How consumers of electric light are to derive benefit from the piling up of a yearly deficit in the tramway account we cannot see. If the borough can save interest on say £20,000, plus the. amount of the annual loss which is inevitable upon running the trams, how is it going to put up the price of electric light or prove disadvantageous to the town ? Only by adopting the reasoning of our contemporary can we give a reply. The “Telegraph” is afraid that somebody it does not like will make something out of the sale of ’buses, therefore it writes twaddle to deceive the people.