The Ensign. GORE: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23. MUNICIPAL MATTERS.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 857, 23 February 1901, Page 2

The Ensign. GORE: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23. MUNICIPAL MATTERS.

The occasion is fast approaching upon which the present Mayor and all the Councillors will retire from office by eilluxion of lime as fixed by the new Act. Such a clean sweep is so far unprecedented, and it must not be regarded altogether as a disadvantage. The machinery of municipal government has been remodelled in many respects, and it i; right that the opportunity should bo given to those who provide lubrication for the wheels to make a fresh start on a definite basis. So far as Gore municipal matters are concerned, no time should be lost in formulating a policy upon which the coming elections may be fought. The town has reached the turning point in its career; it is at that critical stage where a false step one way or another may result in the great dtlay of progress; therefore the whole situation requires the most delicate and deep-lliougbt handling. The chief plank in the platform for the immediate future appears to us to be borrowing. The days of a shilling rate are numbered, and those who will now advocate this amount of taxation may be deemed to have lost their grip on the demands of the times. The great question to be faced will be in regard to the amount to be borrowed, and on this, we predict, the municipal ehctions will be fought. Accustomed as we have been for so long to the attempt to make bricks without straw—to create two pounds' worth of improvements out of one pound of revenue- no promise by the Council to undertake new works necessary [or the well-being of the town is taken seriously. A polite system of shelving has crept in, and the people have at last become impressed with the hopeless impossibility of carrying on the affairs of the town in a reasonably decent manner on the present rate. Abattoirs were promised to be in course of erection by this time, but the matter has dropped out of sight altogether. The Council was to have decided upon a scheme for draining and supplying water for the whole town a month ago, but that question too has apparently disappeared into the oblivion which is already comfortably filled with abortive municipal undertakings from Gore. Why all this should be so is no mystery. The fact is plain enough: the Council.has no more than sufficient funds to scrape the rubbish from the streets and to spread gravel in the ruts. More money is absolutely necessary, and the sooner ratepayers reconcile themselves to the situation the better, the Council has done the best with the means at its disposal in the past; but a continuance in the present situation is impossible. We would suggest, therefore, that energetic steps be taken without delay by the citizens to secure us candidates for the offices of Mayor and Councillors, men whoso interest in the progress of the town is sufficiently strong to induce them to advocate a borrowing scheme within reasonable limits, but of sufficient extent to obtain within a stated period the inestimable boom of good drainage and water supply. The power to raise money for abattoirs is vested in the Council, and no poll of the ratepayers is requisite. Judicious organisation instituted now will result in the elections being fought out on well-de-fined lines, and a plan of campaign being laid down well beforehand will enable an intelligent vote of the whole community to be cast. The result of the indiscriminate voting for mui.iciial candidates i.i the past has ocgd reflected by the conflicting parlies in the various Councils. What is wanted now is a sol'd, united, progressive party at the bead of affairs, to raise up those common necessaries of existence, such as drainage and water supply, which would have been available long ago h -.d it not been for the ab=urd demand for economy and keeping down the rates to the level of those demanded in a thnd-rate village. The people thpmselves are largely to blame for the wretched mistake? of the pnst, and it depends upon their decision now whether or not any progress is to be made in the immediate future.