THE BUS REGULATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19394, 31 July 1926, Page 12

THE BUS REGULATIONS.

POSITION AT TAKAPUNA. FURTHER EVIDENCE HEARD. MR. GOULD'S PREFERENCE. . jr., t - [by telegraph.—press . association.] WELLINGTON. Friday. The position of the Takapuna Borough in relation to the motor omnibus regulations was considered by the Select Committee of the House of Representatives to-day. Evidence on behalf of A. H. Smith, bus proprietor, of Takapuna, was given by Arthur Mason Gould, an Auckland solicitor. Witness said the regulations were particularly oppressive ill Takapuna, as it was not a case of private enterprise against public enterprise, but pri--vate enterprise against private enterprise. His client was running an efficient service to time-table and was running earlier and later than the trams. The Takapuna Borough Council was behind the private company, but he ventured to say the council in this matter did not have the confidence of 75 per, cent, of the ratepayers and electors of the borough. , Normally, said witness, the destiny of the North Shore boroughs should be a common one, but the regulations would have the efiect of driving them apart by preventing communication. He expressed the view that if he- were given the choice between electric trams alone and buses alone, so far as the Takapuna service w'us concerned, he would prefer buses alone, and he felt that he was supported in that view by the majority of the residents of the borough. The committee adjourned until Tuesday. TWO CONFLICTING OPINIONS. ATTITUDE OF RATEPAYERS. Strong exception to the views expressed by the Mayor of Takapuna, Mr. J. D. Morison, on the subject of motor-bus regulation and the purchase for the municipality of the Takapuna tramways has been taken by the Takapuna Progressive Association. Opinion throughout the district* seems somewhat divided, for the Belmont-Bayswater Ratepayers' Association has endorsed the. action of the Mayor. In a telegram sent to-the chairman of the Select Committee of t the House of Representatives, which, is inquiring into the bus regulations, the Takapuna Progressive Association said that Mr. Morison's views on the subject were purely personal and not those of the great majority of the ratepayers of the borough. The association was opposed to the securing of an option over the tramways and wished to dissociate itself from any statement made by the borough representatives. - The Belmont-Bayswater Association has approved of the action of the council in securing the option, and has passed a resolution supporting the purchase of the trams. It also supported the council's action concerning the bus regulations and stated to the committee that the Takapuna* Progressive Association did not speak for the ratepayers generally, but rather for those who condemned the purchase of the trams before expert advice had been obtained.