TARANAKI POWER BOARD.

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

TARANAKI POWER BOARD.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—lt is. quite plain thai, the farmers of the. district can expect little assistance from whatever influence your editorial columns may carry, i»s you ..-ay, you confess to a feeling of disappointment at. the outcome of Tuesday's meeting and according to you barrenness. .of results, 1 must say, that I. in common with many more fanners of the district, feel equally disappointed with *ie similar qualities ( >f your leading article. As to you expecting ihe cYoi!i"ters of the meeting to place some constructive proposals as. to relief i-.-l<ro the meeting, you apparently did ,iut stop to think that cons true live proposals cannot be formed, while ll.c Board persists in concealing its position, n,s without lull knowledge ol (lie Board finance, it is useless to pMi a cure -

It is clear that the writer of the lender did not hoar Air Moss' address because he has missed the whole point of it. If he had listened to the careful summary of the prospects of the Board' in selling its power to other districts, he would not have committed yon in your editorial columns to such ready acceptance of Ratepayer's advice in. regard to making the Board the central supply station for Taranaki "u! s the best advice yet tendered." The Board lias missed its two best opportunities. You state "it has .not yet been conclusively proved to the impartial onlooker that tile members of the Beard are culpably to blame tor gross mismanagement." of counse mot, with all tlie evidence so ca'refully concealed by the Board. So far we can only judge by results', and this being so, the ratepayers can at least say tiiat the results so far point to mismanagement, and that being so the onus is on the Board to produce "the evacuee to clear itself. Is the contract that the Board made with the Hig.ueer giving him 5 per cent, commissi ion with no limit not sufficient to condemn the Board's capacity for the job? As for your remarks, iegardi the "Ratepayers Association, 1 would have thought you would ac least have uttered a. word of encouragement to get together, on this matter. When you say that the peoples representatives on the Board were elected to-administer affairs with whicn they were entirely unfamiliar and that ! they had to gain their experience and ! made costly mistakes, unfortunately at th/3 expense of the ratepayers you just prove the contention so forci ibly put by Mr. Moss that Parliament) should never have instituted such a system of highly technical power schemes. While you profess that the sorely taxed ratepayers are deserving of your sympathy and every practical effort to render their position easier your professions carry little weight, if your leader j s to he judged as a practical demonstration. The hii.t two paragraphs exhibit .ignorance .of the case, when you refer to the ratepayers not to he stampeded into off hand*decisions not to sanction any further loan for final completion,. There is no. such, loan proposal before the ratepayers as the scheme is supposed to be finally complete. The present Joan as explained by Mr. Moss, on Tuesday, is for overdraft purposes to meet annual expenditure audi not for final completion of the scheme. With a display ol such ignorance on such a) .simple point the ratepayers can well judge what weight to give to your leader.

We are well laware, that editorial columns voice the sentiments of controlling interests and it is apparent to me and many other farmers thai in this case the controlling interests have been more concerned with deprecating the effort of Mr. MoJ.s in coming forward alud assisting the rat'ei payers than with dealing with the the subject, in a helpful manner, /in the interests of those suffering from the position to-day. After hearing Mr. Moss' address on TuesdJiy I have no doubt he is able to take care of hinuelf, and also those who heard him will realize the truth of his reina'rks.— 1 am, etc. HARRY A. HUNT. Monmouth Road, Stratford, Keb. 4. (This letter is dealt with in our Editbrild Columns to-dav. Kditor S-E.P.)