The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1904. UNDERGROUND DRAINAGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12476, 13 September 1904, Page 2

The Timaru Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1904. UNDERGROUND DRAINAGE.

Tlie members of the Timnru Borough Council will only have themselves to blame it they find their actions over the underground drainage, scheme viewed with acunl favour l>y the ratepayers of the boyough. We believe that the inhabitants of Timnru would be very favourably disposed towards a good scheme if it wan fairly and clearly put before them, so that they could appreciate the benefits it would confer, and ] weigh them against the expenditure involved in introducing the system. But unless w? are very much mistaken, the Borough Council is going to work the right Wiiy. lo frighten people off underground f'rainag#, Ratepayers are not going to bo hustled into sanctioning o loan of £25,000 until they know what they are voting for, and the Star Chamber methods of tli« Inst fortnight are quite sufficient to antagonise a good number of burgesses who 'might otherwise be ready to lend a sympathetic cm- to the proposals of tire V' omoters of the scheme. Wfc are at a loss to understand the actions <»f the Borough Caancil over the business, wr.d we must F-,„y frankly that the members of that tody cannot afford to carry on as they have been doing if tli-cy really wish the residents of "the town to accord tliem their support in the costly undertaking which is to be laid .before the public some weeks hence. If the 'Councillors, in the past, had proved their claim to be entrusted with the unreserved confidence of the ratepayers, they might, with some reason, have arrived at Inst night's decision to 'incur the expenditure of preparing a Bill to be put through Parliament in anticipation of, a favourable poll. But unless they thought that the burgesses regarded them with that implicit faith which one man sTiown in another by giving him a signed cheque without the amount- filled id for prosecuting some enterprise, then W® Bay the Council exceeded its duties to the step it took last night. Can the Councillors conscientiously say that they have earned the right to assume the acquiescence of the ratepayers in this drainage scheme! Was their conduct of the last important piece of business they earned through for the town such as to justify the people in sanctioning a big loan without first scrutinising most carefully the objects for which it is to bo raised, and the arrangements that are pioposed for spending it? Can th; burgesses of Tiinaru, with the recollection of the abattoirs fresh in their minds, look oil the members of the Borough Council as a set) of heaven-born financial geniuses! Wc need only briefly recapitulate the salient feature-'? of the abattoirs loan, to show how recessaiy it is for those who arc responsible for the interest charges on borrowed morey. to watch carefully where they arc being led by the borrowing enthusiasts now in the Council Chambers. The Council, it will bo remembered, had £3OOO available for the erection of abattoirs, and called for competition de-signs for a building to cost that sum. The lowest tender for the accepted design (which was the only ore submitted for the approval of tho Chief Government Veterinarian) was over £4200, and even that amount had to be increased later by a rebflte f. r water charges, a proceeding which led to a spirited protest by an unsuccessful tenderer, whose" offer, minus the water charges, would have been lower than that of the actual contractors.. The Mayor then proposed an extra loan to cover the discrepancy between the estimate on which the designs were framed, and the sum at which practical builders were willing to undertake the work. As a matter of fact, the final cost of the abattoirs (omitting the manager's house, which from, last night's estimate is to account for another £4OO at least) was about doublo the sum with which the Council set out. What guarantee have we got that a similar miscalculation would not be made in the underground drainage scheme? Yesterday we published a communicated report of the committee meeting on Friday, when the Council estimated til© cost at £21,500. If they induce the ratepayers to launch out on an undertaking wftich proves to have been underestimated by one half, as was the case with the abattoirs, it will be a pretty serious business for tho people that have to find the interest. Then we are told that an additional sum of £3500 is to be borrowed in order to assist ratepayers in making their private connections with the Council's sewers. We should like to know how that amount is arrived at. Are connections to be compulsory, or are people to be allowed to follow their own sweet wills-in making use of the system, or leaving jt severely alone? If it is to be compulsory, have the Council any reliable estimate of the number of ratepayers who will require, or who will apply for, financial assistance in connecting with the sewers? These, and any number of other questions want careful consideration by the public, find yet all tlie Council's discussion takes place ;it unreported meetings or in committee. Are Ihe iatepayers to be blamed if they withhold a favourable verdict on a scheme which is being pushed through with such unseemly haste. Councillors last night fell back on the excase that time was .'.hort, and that the precipitation they are showing is necessary if a Bill is to be got through Parliament this session. Why did they not launch their scheme earlier in the year, so that spine decency could have been shown in ascertaining tho wishes of the ratepayers before this wild rush to" Wellington with a Bill was commenced? It is always a dangerous course for a public tody to anticipate tho verdict of '» popular vote, and tho Council need not be ! surprised if they get a slap in tlie fa oc over their action. A similar case is on record where the Christchurch City Council went to the length of importing pipes for a water scheme which they anticipated would l>e agreed to V>y the ratepayers. That scheme, despite the fullest publicity and advocacy by the Mayor, was hopelessly dofeatcd. The cause of underground drainage in Timnru ii not likely to fare any better through being treated in th# present secretive fashion by its promoters.