"STRATFORD EVENING POST" TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1928. POWER BOARD AFFAIRS.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 84, 7 February 1928, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST" TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1928. POWER BOARD AFFAIRS.

It is not usual for newspapers to enter into public controversy, in their leading columns, with readers wfiita do not see eye to eye; with editorial opinion. To embark upon such a practice' would be to use columns, reserved for a consideration of topics of everchanging national and foreign importance, for tho purposes oi debate with anyone who Sdigagjreed with th© editorial viewpoint. We feel con strained, however, to refeir briefly to a correspondent who takes us to task with reference to our recent. leading article on Power Board affairs. A perusal of our article will disclose that the main features were, firstly, disappointment at the results achieved at the recent ratepayers' meeting in the way of constructive/ criticism and useful result, in view of what we were led to expect from previous correspondnce by thel promoters; secondly, that it was at present impossible and premature to fasten blame upon the Board for inexcusable negligence and mismanagement and that, at this stage, it was of little practical importance' to waste much money and effort in attempting to do so 1 ; thirdly, that it was extremely unlikely, in view of the democratic basis of our local government legislation, 'that Parliament would materially alter thei powers given to Board's and to the rate-payer-doctors. In place ofj this wo suggested that their wide powers, including the power of veto, should be exercised by the Local Governmemt Loans Board in all doubtful cases. Fourthly, we expressed strong disapproval of the attitude of! the meeting in refusing to give to the Board's members, who were present, the right to rejply to some of the sweeping remarks levelled at them; finally, we referred to the facts, that the members were, so far as we) know, the only persons offering thir services to (.lie ratepayers and standing! for election, that they wcr© called upon by the electors to administer an undertaking which was entirely new to them and in connection with which neither they, nor anyone else available had any pa s t experince as a guide, that their integrity and honesty of purpose were unquestionable, and that if was extremely improbable that any other representatives would have achieved any different results. These were the main point s touched upon in our leading article We are quite prepared cheerfully to accept* full responsibility for what we said,, though, in pas, s ing, a perusal, of our esteemed morning and evening New Plymouth' contemporaries' leaders on the ratepayers'' meeting, published after our leader was written, disclose that they viewed the whole 1 matter jj| much the saniQ light as ourselves. As they both say, it is easy to he wise after the event. When all is said and done, and to get down to essential facts only, the real and direct cause of levying of tho availability rate is clearly the great cost of the Tariki schom© which, we understand by the way, was approved of by Government experts, far above all estimates given either to the ratepayers or to the Board. As our contemporaries point out, practically every hvdro-elctne scheme, including the various Government schemes, have, for various unforseen causes, cost very much more than estimated. Such an obl-cstabli'liod concern, w'lh a |to wprh]-wicle etyp Q riftncsf.( as Sir Wil-1 liam Armstrong, Whitwdrth fcikßCto-j

panj', has found it impossible to complete the present, Waikato hydro, electric power works in terms oV its original contract, and tliei Government has taken the work over. Our neighbours in New Plymouth unfortunately suffered in the same way. The ratepayers must accept their share of the responsibility in sanctioning the Tariki scheme and it is not fair to attempt to maktj seaipegoats of the members of the lioard.

As we said in our leader, the j Biurd has undoubtedly made costly mistakes, partially through unforseen circumstances in the way of difficulties in the terrain and cogt of headworks and materials, and the resulting taxation is heavy and detrimental toi country and town alike. The capital expenditure lias, however, now practically ceased, and' the success of the future operations of the Board, the only thing that really matters and is worth bothering about, lies wholly in the one word "salesmanship". That is to say, the only substantial relief lie. s in the power and ability of the Boiard to dispose of its current, inside and outside its owji district, on payable termvg. We adivsedly refrain from elaborating detailed suggestions in these directions but it is; obvious that the best interests of the ratepayers will be served by refraining, for the present at a»yrate, from holding public meetings for the purpose of casting reflections upon the scheme and those who have to administer ifc. When the Directors of a trading company are conducting negotiations in the directions indicated it is usually wise for the shareholders to refrain from embafra.ssi.ne; tactics. For this reason we do not intend to take any editorial' notice of further criticism, and though our columns are open! for correspondents, both wise and unwise, we trust that they will exercise a similar discretion in the interests of the district.