MOUNT EDEN LOAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15825, 23 January 1915, Page 9

MOUNT EDEN LOAN.

Sir, The Mount Eden Borough Council is again to the fore with a' borrowing programme, under which they will shortly ask the authority of the ratepayers to commit the district to a further indebtedness of £145,000, involving an a>_wiion of Is sid, in the £ to the present rates, which, I believe, are already heavier than those of any other Auckland suburb. This, added to the present rate of 2s Ojd in the £, makes practically 3s considerably heavier than the city rates. Before the 'lime arrives for the ratepayers to record -heir votes on the proposals, I would urge :hem to give serious consideration to the questions : (1) Whether the present is an opportune time to commit the district to this increased heavy burden; (2) whether the present council and its officials have, by their past administration, demonstrated their fitness to handle this new loan; and (3) whether the proposed works are of urgent necessity. As to No. 1, 1 may point out that the war has already made the necessaries of life dearer, caused unemployment among all classes, and depre* ciated the rent value of property, and these conditions are not likely to be relieved during the next two or three years, but rather to become worse. With regard to No. 2, my opinion of the modus operandi of the council and its officials, formed from personal observation, is that they disclose a deplorable lark of foresight, system, and economy that would not be tolerated in any private business. The park appears to me quite unnecessary, but, if required, may, with the other projects, well stand over -until the present strain, financially and otherwise, relaxes. I have resided in the district over 30 years and watched its much-vaunted progress, and I look back with regret to the old days, when, in spite of bad roads and other drawbacks, it was a good place for the small man to reside in. The present administration seems bent on driving out the man of small means, for their policy is tending to make it possible as a residential district only for the well-to-do.

Resident.