THE £56,000 LOAN.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7973, 9 February 1905, Page 3

THE £56,000 LOAN.

Ratepayers Protest Against It

Scheme Too Big

There were ten ratepayers present at a meeting in the Princess Hotel last evening, called for the purpose of " forming a committee to oppose the water works loan of £56,000." Mr E. McKenna presided.

Mr E. Edwards was called upon to explain the objects of the meeting. In speaking against the loan, he protested that for such a big proposal as the borrowing of £56.000, far too little publicity had been given to the matter by the Council. Only a few people had been able to get to the public meeting called by the Mayor, at which it had been decided to submit the scheme to the ratepayers; and the speaker asserted that hardly ten people in the town knew now that the poll was to be held to-morrow. The position was a serious one for the town as many people were against the proposal. It was more than strango that the public did not know about tLo poll on Friday. As a bare majority would carry the loan, it meant that it was to the advantage of the promoters to have as little publicity given to the matter as possible, because they were perfectly aware of the fact that if the public were properly apprised of the poll being held it would not be carried. He pointed . out that the scheme was unnecessarily large and Baid it would be sufficient to continue the original intention of extending the 12-inch mains from the intake to the reservoir. The scheme, he continued, •would be all very nice it the town could afford it, but the rates were high enough as they -were. If, however, the Council intended to go in for a big Bcheme, they should take every means to make its details known to the public, no matter what tho cost was. The speaker proceeded to say that he had not heard of one man in the whole town who was going to vote for the loan, and he had made extensive inquiries. All said the scheme was too big, and that it should be left to the new Council. He proposed that the meeting form itself into a committee to take steps to oppose the loan. The motion was seconded by Mr H. Horn and carried. The chairman expressed the opinion that one reason the Council wanted an increased supply of water was because the new sewerage works would be ineffective without it. The Engineer saw the danger to the new sewerage system without a double supply of water and the Council found they would have to carry the proposal.

Another speaker added that this was not the fault of the Engineer, as the sewer scheme did not originate from him. It was then decided to call attention

to the poll on Friday by advertising the fact, and tourge1 ratepayers to roll up and vote against the proposal. Subscriptions were taken up to defray the ost of the advertisements.