The Manawatu Standard, (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la Verite. TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1883. THE BOROUGH LOAN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 153, 7 June 1883, Page 2

Manawatu Standard, (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la Verite. TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1883. THE BOROUGH LOAN.

Thbre was rather a comnjotion m the Borough Council last night wheri it 1 was discovered that the LIO,OOO Loan ;had been virtually exhausted. _ Constjern« c%i-ipj>t!;-V^ "m '^he dounjenw ances. of jseveral of .thie members when they realized the fa'dt that for aHinie at least Borough experiditare^pn new works musl; cease. They seemd scarcely able : ,tb junderstand i how < that' having eaten thtir cake, they did not ,have it to eat 6 7^' ! >gam;- ii ; j The''.; t piitioa of jthV Borough Loan concisely put is: as follows,] Ordinal jes^piate :— Streets •rind' fdqtpaths/say L4OOO. Roadsj on bush sections, say L1,50q. . Botanical Garden Reserve, say L 500.' rMunic'ipal Buildings, say LSOO. Draiuage, say L 3,000. Total, LIO.OOO. The above was the approximate allocation when the Loan Was first proposed. The first item of L 4,000 for streets and footways has all been expended,with' the exception of L 74 5: the second; of Ll,ooo for roads on bush sections has all been spent, as also have the items of LSOO for Botanical dßoad Keserve, and LSOO foi Municipal Buildings ;'and when the money io hand has been < ex^ pended, the original; estimate of L 3,000 for drainage will have been reached, with the exception of L6lO which is still owing to that fund. Of the Loan 1 L7sohas be6n devoted j to Sinking Fund, L 35 0! ;to; half yearns interest, L2OO to Fitzherbert' Bridge/ And these amounts wiiibave to be ro-im--bursed to tfie Loan Account by and bjfe. During the current year, maintenance, salaries, wages, and contingent expenses will have to be provided, as well as interest and sinking fund on Loan; so that we may just as well' realize the>re fact which now stares m the face, that ; the } JBorough \Loan is virtually at an end, or ai> Cr Linton put it last night, » It w n't go round again". He also pointed out that LIOO had been spent on the Hall, L2OO o a^ h f B«dg6,^n| L7OO on the Square, which was expenditure not considered when the Loan was first allocated. He maintained that good value had been received, as proved by the fact that ! m 1877 the l rateable val ue of property \in the Borough was L9,2so—that was when the Loan was raised j and now, rrjgix years afterwards, it^ad doubled itself and was set down at L 18,500.. sounded the key note or a future^ and larger loan, say L 15.000, which jho maintained the Borough was m a better' pbsieioir'tb 4 tiriderMke now than £5000 six years ago. There are many points m the new proposal that we must consider seriatim but further reference to which we must defer to a subsfquent • opportunity. Ibis just as well for the njtepayets to realize the, fact that the Loan is virtually at an end j that our . Ba jJ a( ? c drainage!: sctieine .fa hardly- initi- | ated; that many streets urgently inquire formation; and that.interest and sinking fund will require to be provided forjpear ajter year. ( lnterest alone represents four-fifths of the Borough Annual Bate,and £600jwill berequired this year for sinking . fund. . This, is the po ition, arid it is' just as well that the ratepayers as a body eh; uld reflect seriously on the question of a future ani larger loan at an early period ; and m the mean time give the whole matter of the present financial position of the Borough their most -earnest and careful attention.