AN IMPORTANT PROPOSAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1934, Page 6

AN IMPORTANT PROPOSAL.

To-morrow the ratepayers of the Tikorangi, Motunui, Onaero and Urenui districts of the Clifton County will decide whether a loan for the supply of electric current to their districts by the Taranaki Electric Power Board shall be raised. The implications of the proposal so far as the costs to the ratepayers and to the users of current are concerned have been placed before them in a series of public meetings, and the Power Board has dope its best to ensure that the proposition is thoroughly understood by all concerned. Fortunately the ratepayers have the experience of other districts to which they can refer if they desire to leam at first hand the advantages of a supply of electric current. In the homes of the settlers it can add to the comfort and lessen the drudgery of the occupants. But what may appeal at the present time with even greater force is that the use of electricity on the farm can increase efficiency. Better lighting, supplies of hot water, and more convenient forms of power for machinery are all aids to the improvements on the farm, and the districts now reticulated are the first to bear testimony to the usefulness and the economy of electricity for farm and milking operations. It is quite certain that a higher standard of milk and cream at the farm will be insisted upon in the future, and raw material that falls short of that standard will receive a decidedly lower price at the factory. It is for the settlers concerned to consider how best the necessary improvements in quality and condition can be brought about. Some users maintain that electricity has proved the most valuable aid to better and cheaper production, and that supplies of current have eliminated much of the drudgery as well. These are matters that the settlers in the Clifton County have doubtless considered in all their bearings. It is for them to decide at to-morrow’s poll whether the advantages of a supply of current are those of which any progressive district should avail itself.