LOCAL BODIES' LOANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 11

LOCAL BODIES' LOANS.

PROPOSED SPECIAL BOARD. POWER OF VETO CRITICISED. COMMENT BY THE MAYOR. The power of veto which it is proposed to confer on the special board under the Local Government Loans Board Bill is considered bv the Mayor, Mr-. G. Baildon, to be too drastic. "I certainly agree that some check is needed on local body borrowing," Mr. Baildon said yesterday, "but I am of opinion the bill goes a little too far in giving the special board power to decline to givt* its sanction to a proposed loan." He thought there were many good points in the bill, but much would depend on the personnel of the board. Men who could look at the questions submitted to them from a national as well as from a local point, of view were needed. They must not set up a board which would sit m Wellington and be completely out of touch with the rest of the Dominion. For instance, a local body in the North of Auckland might desire to erect a bridge which would provide better access for the settlers. The rest of the Dominion would not be concerned in such a question, although it might be vital to the people interested. The board must be composed of men who could vie\r such a proposal sympathetically. Where the board might be of great value, Mr. Baildon would be in providing a check on the expenditure of huge sums in a multitude of small harbours round the coast, where the natural conditions were against the con' struction of artificial shipping facilities. As far as Auckland City was concerned-, although there had been some substantial loan proposals, no one could say the money had been wasted. Last November the attention of the City Council was drawn to the proposed legislation by the Christchurch City Council, which invited co-operation in opposing the bill, and suggested that some arrangement might be come to by local bodies for funding their loans-. In view of \he absence of definite information regarding the legislation, however* the Auckland City Council did not care to commit itself to an expression of apinion.