The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 1915. MUNICIPAL MATTERS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144826, 2 November 1915, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 1915. MUNICIPAL MATTERS.

At the installation of Mr. C. H. Burgess as Mayor of New Plymouth last evening some reference to the financial position of the borough was made by his Worship, who expressed the opinion that it might be necessary to shorten sail a little and keep a tighter rein upon the expenditure. At the same time, he said, there was no cause for the pessimistic view taken by some people; the town has great prospects and with ordinary care in the administration a better state of things will soon bo brought about. It is comforting to hear one who is in a position to speak with authority express such an opinion. Mr. Burgess is a sound man of business, who cannot be charged with taking too rosy a view of matters generally. Indeed his is a cautious temperament, and he is given to carefully counting the cost and calculating the chances of success of any undertaking before embarking upon it. Hence bis opinion carries weight. During the last few years New Plymouth has spent a lot of borrowed money and a further large expenditure will he necessary before the works in hand are completed and the main streets and footpaths are placed in good order and condition. It is easy now to see how many things might have ' been done better and how much money might have been saved, but no good purpose would bo served by raising' these questions now, except as a means of showing wbat should he avoided in future, and we have no doubt that the Mayor and Council can see for themselves where mistakes and waste have occurred and are determined to apply the remedy. Under the late Mayor, reforms were initiated and better methods introduced, and no doubt had Mr. -hcalth jierraiited'-him to

retain office the end of hia term would have seen a greatly improved state of things. However, in Mr. Burgess the town has a very worthy successor to Mr. Wilson, who intends, as we gather from his remarks last night, to devote his attention to completing the undertakings already in hand before embarking upon any new schemes. This is a sound policy. The tramways have to be set going and the streets along the whole route from Fitzroy to the breakwater and from Egmont Street to the Morley Street terminus placed in thoroughly good order; the safety and permanency of the electric power supply has to be assured, the new offices and museum erected, and a destructor provided. When all these works are completed and the streets and footpaths generally are placed in reasonably good condition it will bo time enough to consider the question of a municipal opera house, which is much needed, but must stand over for the time being. For the present the most urgent work is the completion of the tramways and of the main road through the borough. The sooner the large expenditure on the trams begins to earn a revenue the better it will be for the borough finances, and we are hopeful that after the first year or two they will at least pay their way and relieve the rate revenue of a heavy drain At present it is uncertain what it will cost to reconstruct the main road along the tram route and to soltar it throughout, and in the meantime -great care will need to be observed in regard to expenditure upon other streets. There have been frequent complaints of the state of the streets and footpaths during the past winter, but it was inevitable that they would suffer during the tram construction works. In a few weeks wo may expect to have the main road in first-class order, and in the meantime ratepayers and residents must exercise all the forbearance of which they are capable. It is quite impossible that new work can be undertaken all over the borough, and wo hope that the days have passed never to return when patchwork methods were employed. In Mr. Burgess the borough has a Mayor who can be relied upon, we think, to do all that it is possible to do with due regard to the finances, and a council which will give him loyal and efficient assistance. The engineer has not had time yet to prove his worth and naturally much depends upon his ability to so order the work that full value will be obtained for the money spent. In the meantime it remains for the people to be patient, in the hope.that before another winter is upon us the trams will be running satisfactorily and the main streets at least be in good order. If that, is accomplished satisfactorily the turn of the byestreets and suburban residents will come, and these are likely to be far better served if thoroughly permanent work is done in the main streets, since the cost of maintenance will thus be greatly reduced.