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Otago Daily Times, Issue 11937, 10 January 1901, Page 4

The increased facilities for their conveyance to mid from town which the residents in Roslyn and Maori Hill have recently obtainm] llimiif/li the opening of ; two new lines of tramway have not unnaturally created a feeling in the Borough of Mornington that the time nas arrived when it, too, should he provided with greater facilities. As to the character of the service, so far as it goes, which is supplied on the Mornington Tramway Company's line, there is no complaint. The service is undoubtedly a good one, and it is greatly appreciated. Hut the fares are higher than they should be. This is particularly the case in regard to the fares from Mornington to town. Unless the passenger has provided himself with a return ticket, or with.a number of tickets, he obtains no concession in respect of his fare for tho down trip. But even when he has received the concession which the purchase of these tickets'gives him his fare is 50 per cent, greater than the down fare on the Koslyn line. The comparison between the fares on the cable lines to the hill boroughs undoubtedly tells against the Mornington line, and the present demand upon the directors of the company that supplies the latter service for a readjustment of thoir tariff seems, under the circumstances, to be not uncalled for. The Morningt&n Borough Council, which has taken the matter up, asks that the service should be improved, as well as that some concession in regard to the fares should be offered to the residents. What the company is desired to do is to extend its lino through the borough. At present the main line deposits the passengers merely on the confines of the borough. The population that is directly served is comparatively small. Nor does the extension to Maryhill benefit a large proportion of the residents. The population of Mornington, which numbers between 4000 and -5000 persons, chiefly lives beyond the terminus of the tramway system, and in order that the bulk of the householders may be provided with a service that will be of immediate convenience to them an extension of the present main line is positively necessary. The directors of the Mornington Tramway Company, as reasonable men of business, should realise this. If they do not the committee which the Borough. Council has appointed to deal with the matter should be able to convince them, It is out of the question to suppose that the company will refuse to consider the proposals which are to bo made to it for the improvement of its service, and the contingency of the mayor of the borough having to convene a meeting of burgesses to consider the situation is, wo should imagine, distinctly remote. Tho extension will have to be made sooner or later, and it is to be anticipated that the directors of the company, who have not supplied Mornington with a tramway service for nearly twenty years without acquiring an intimate knowledge of the requirements of 1 -the district, will receive the representations of the ratepayers in the spirit that the advantages mutually enjoyed by the company and tho borough will prompt, and agree to whatever concessions the circumstances of the company and the convenience of its patrons suggest that it should reasonably offer.