THE TRAMWAY POLL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 8

THE TRAMWAY POLL

The City Council's tramway loan proposal has been rejected by a majority that is decisive, though not overwhelming. The vote was a heavy one as these polls go, and, though supporters of the loan rallied in good numbers, those who thought differently were sufficiently strong to carry the day. The only place where endorsement of it was significantly emphatic was Point Chevalier. The feeling there is natural and easily understood. It was one extension that interested Point Chevalier, but any chance the voters there had of making their weight effectively felt was lost because all the proposals were combined in one for voting purposes. For the rest, though it is not easy to trace motives, rejection of the loan can with fair safety be attributed to a feeling that this was not the time for extensive transport ventures involving heavy expenditure, not to disbelief in the future of Auckland or necessarily in the future of tramways. The City Council's cue is easily seen. Its policy now should be to concentrate on the problem of management. When it has been shown that the losses on omnibus services have been eliminated, and the tramways have been restored to a profit-making basis by being relieved of this burden, no doubt the ratepayers will be prepared to reconsider the whole question. It appears that the days of careless, ready endorsement of loans are over. The citizens require proof that the objective is a good investment. If results can show that further tramway extensions are in that category then the prospect of having them approved will be much brighter. At the present time transport conditions are so much in a state of flux that there is no general feeling of confidence in the immediate future. Once the council has grappled seriously with the task of minimising or eliminating the omnibus losses, and produced a balancesheet showing* that the transport enterprise is in a healthy financial condition, it will be able to expect a different reception for projects involving further capital outlay.