THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1907. TRUST LAND TRUST'S BORROWING PROPOSALS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8994, 3 December 1907, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1907. TRUST LAND TRUST'S BORROWING PROPOSALS.

The proceedings at last night's public meeting respecting the borrowing proposals of tho Trust Lands Trust were to some extent unfortunate, inasmuch as a question foreign to the subject before it was introduced ana allowed to be discussed, viz., that of the exchange of sites for a courthouse. This question should have been vetoed. We, at a time when it seemed probable that the exchange was about to be effected, raised the question of what the conditions of exchange were; but we cannot see that this question (especially in view of the present position) relates in any way to the borrowing proposals of the trustees. There is a somewhat vague sub-section in the Act of 1895 which our local lawyers seem anxious to "interpret," but the bold, broad position is *.his-that the trustees propose to borrow ,£IO,OOO to build according to the requirements of suitable tenants. If the trustees are not allowed to borrow, it means that private individuals will continue to make profits out of the trust lands which the trustees might make for the benefit of the public generally. No doubt it would be a mistake were the trustees to possess unlimited borrowing powers, but anyone who has gone carefully into the question will recognise that the limited powers

which the trustees have may be exercised in a very valuable manner so far as the townspeople as a whole are concerned. The proposition of the trustees that they should be allowed to borrow money may be viewed in a captious or in a broad-minded way; but it seems obvious that, from a practical point of view, it is advisable that the poll should be carried, and we believe the voters will see the matter from a :orumon - sense standpoint, and give the trustees the authority they ask for.