CITY COUNCIL AND SUBURBAN DISTRICTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6116, 24 June 1881, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL AND SUBURBAN DISTRICTS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Iu your sub-leader of yesterday, in dealing with the question of city boundaries, you have evidently been led into a mistake in representing the matter in a light far more favourable to the suburban districts than they, by joining the city, are ever likely to realize. I refer more particularly" to the paragraph which reads as follows: —"By union with the city the local rates of those districts would be supplemented by a share of the income from the city endowments." Now, I think if you had, before making the above statement, carefully examined the municipal accounts, taking away the special amounts now at the command of the Council, which are not likely to be again, such as premium on sale of debentures and the accumulated sinking fund of the £20,000 loan, which has been relieved by the new consolidated loan, you will find that if the Council take the whole of the rates, license fees, and endowment reuts, that they will have barely sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of the city. It should not be forgotten thatduringthe last few years the Council have had the spending of the greater portion of the £50,000 loan, besides the very large sum paid by the General Government as pound for pound subsidy. In a very short time the surplus money now at the command of the Council will be expended, and then the city will have all it can do to provide, for ordinary wear and tear, so that in placing the matter as you have done, you lay yourself open to a charge of attempting to mislead, wliioh I feel satisfied was not your intention to do.— 1 am, &c, Faik Plat.