TO THE EDITOR.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 64, 16 March 1911, Page 8

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—Tho letter of Mr* B. ,Allan '■ looks formidable. The figures are so ' numerous that the letter has all the " appearance of a rich plum-p>u<lding .liberally supplied with fruit. May I leply? (1) "With a public debt of - £27,000 and an annual revenue; of less ' than £4000," as stated by Mr Allan, is one of the assertions symptohiatic of tlie arguments of the opponents of 1 the water and drainage scheme; I think Mr Allah has under-estimated the debt somewhat, but he has also (quite unconsciously, I doubt not) inis-statod the case. Against our debt should' be setj gasworks, abattoir, Town Hall, each of which is a paying concern, and the total value of !■ which would probably equal our total . debt; also should be reckoned the •sundry lands of the borough. Again, ■'■ if Mr Allan reckons the total debt,, he jshould also, reckon the revenue derived from these working concerns, when the revenue would probably approximate to £10,000 or £11,000, which is very different. (2) "Mr' Penny admits that even if Blen- i Jbeim's scheme is carried out. in its entirety there will not be more ihan 4000 connections, and very probably only halt of that number." I never wrote any such thing. (3) "The interest . and sinking-fund on the £65,000 loan -twill amount to £2600, all for the convenience of 1000 Louses." Personally, I should say that at that price the convenience and the sanitary benefit would be cheap, : and think your readers will agree. *• The fact is that the'present unsatisfactory conditions cost £600 to £700 per year, and that the scheme lately propounded for an extension and the making compulsory of the present method all round would cost at least £1200 per year. Surely it would be better to do tho thing thoroughly for £260. Not to labor tho matter, lam convinced,, having seen tho Sydenham systenf that Mr Dobson has carefully estimated for all eventualities for years to come; that the scheme propounded by him is the cheapest, most efficient, and most healthy for our ■ni ail I reiter«te Mr Allan's advice to the ratepayers to give due consideration to the question. I have no ■ toiiJ5 at;<h?,, fguor taeconSerathe £EL °*U pointfi the ™°™ wiH the ratepayers see tho wisdom of adopting a good saaitdr? s Jtem _ E. H. PENNY.

TO THE EDITOiI Sir,-His Worship the Mayor, in

his letter to you on Tueiday, stated that the pumping for the Sydenham drainage and water-supply is worked by electric motors, the power being supplied by steam engine at the destructor, thereby getting their power for almost nothing. I take it that is the: reason for Sydenham's using the electrical system. Then why should Blenheim not follow on the same lines and secure cheap power to do our pumping ? We have a thousand or so horse power running to waste almost at our very doors, and there is not a cheaper power in the world than water-power; requiring little if any more money than the Borough Council propose to expend on. the idea. We could bring in sufficient power by a line wire not only to do our pumping for water and drainage, but also to work the machinery at the gasworks, the abattoirs, street lighting, and also have sufficient to work all the machinery in Blenheim owned privately, from the Express printing works to the church organs. The advantages of this scheme will be that in time it would become selfsupporting and very possibly revenueproducing, whereas the somewhat antiquated scheme proposed by the Borough Council will be a heavy charge on the ratepayers for all time. Then, again—still looking forward—the time will come, perhaps sooner than some of us think, when it will pay the Borough Council or a company to run an electric tram service throughout Blenheim, running perhaps as far as Renwicktown. In the event of Blenheim's progressing as fast for the next ten years as it has done for the last six, it will warrant us going in for a tram system. We can then get sufficient power from the