Thames Star. MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1933. RATEPAYERS, WAKE UP!

Thames Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 18759, 20 March 1933, Page 2

Thames Star.

MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1933. RATEPAYERS, WAKE UP!

“With malic* toward* non*; with charity for all; with firmno** in the right, ** God give* u* to th* right.”—Lincoln.

The announcement in our columns on Saturday that the Kuranui Golden Hills, Ltd., the pioneer low-grade mining company, has closed down indefinitely owing to lack of water from the borough race supply, should surely rouse ratepayers from their lethargy to voice a united and emphatic protest in their own interests to the responsible quarters against the absurd delay in augmenting the present temporary supply by pipe line. At the moment, it appears certain that some months will elapse before the lowgrade mining industry will be able to make a start, and this delay would seriously handicap the development of the other extensive lowgrade areas of the Thames goldfield upon which the town is relying largely for its rehabilitation. In spite of urgent representations to the Ministers and Departments concerned, nothing has been heard officially, beyond the reported promise of the Minister for Mines to assist, concerning the proposal to install another 12-inch pipe-line across the recent break in the water-race. The Public Works Department, it is stated, remains silent in the matter of providing the necessary pipes at present lying idle at Paeroa. It would need only a week to have them in place and get the Kuranui plant going with three shifts and about fifty men off the unemployed list. Ratepayers are surely aware of the vital importance of this industry to their own welfare, and to stand by and see operations brought to a complete standstill when the plant is all ready to start and before even a load has been treated, is a tragedy of inaction. We would suggest that a public meeting be called at once and a strong protest forwarded to the Government in regard to the unsatisfactory departmental attitude and the stand taken by the Unemployment Board in regard to the'"renewal ■ of the town’s one and only source of water supply, so essential to enable the mining industry to take a fresh lease of life. Anyone who knows the Thames will readily agree that the matter of an adequate water supply is'one of extreme urgency, and this fact must be hammered home to the official mind without further delay. Ratepayers are hard pressed at the moment to find the wherewithal to meet their heavy commitments, and the avenue which promises most relief to them is temporarily closed with red . tape. It is their bounden duty to get busy and see that the obstacles to progress on the road back to more prosperous times are speedily removed. We understand that it is only a matter of some £75 for the necessary piping, and while the Public Works Department has the pipes lying idle at our very door it is absurd to think that ways and means cannot be found to have them installed even temporarily. If ratepayers do not bestir themselves, it is only natural for officialdom to conclude that the matter is not one of urgency.