THE TRAMWAY QUESTION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 16 April 1908, Page 4

THE TRAMWAY QUESTION.

Jt ii? encouraging to sec the interest displayed at the meeting of Waimuto Boad Board, on tho subject ol the tram. The discussion showed tihafc members appreciate' th.c> position wliich, undoubtedly prefects itetlf to acycnfii who' looks carefully into tbe> m.i#C2\ Thd cutstandinff factor in the* problem that awaits gettkinnot at the hands of tjhe ratepayers is that the traffic on the main South road is probably hcovi&r and moire eontinwr ous than tha.t on a»ny other similaa' length cf road in. the Dominion. Annually the road is literally wallowing an enormous amount cf money,, and experience shows tha<t to sooner is the rofld made passable andi good than signs of serious wearing begin to reappear. Members -of the Rood Baud give) instances of thi* by showing that psrte .of the road practically ret-madei witliih th© past yaar or two arei breaking up. Left anyone go along thci r<od and he cannot but be impressed with the force of thei criticism. ' A .vury large sum has bean spent durittg the past few months, and where work is completed it apf ears to> be most admirable, but mem of experience who know the character of the material used, the best available though it he. and die nature of the daily traffic, hfa,ve veay littla eo<n£i-

dencet that it will 'wear for anything like the life of the loan incurred for thei work of r&-making. If the heavy traffic could he put on rails the relief would be enormous. It cannot be d&rued that the tramway propositic-n is a stiff one. The capital expenditure would be very large. But thcore is the problem awaiting solution: That of the mo&t economical way of carrying the traffic, and when we find practical men with large interests aih stake to> whom the liability would be serious, declaring that the tramway is the only solution, tihedr opinion, is enr titled to very" great weight. It is net a nudttar which affects pjclusdvely, perhaps hot even principally, the settlers whose lands abut on the road. It affects in varying, degrees the whole of the residents \uthin the county, and it must considered' by them stricily as a' matter of business.