The Waipa Post. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1926. PROPOSED FIRE BOARD.

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1927, 28 October 1926, Page 4

The Waipa Post. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1926. PROPOSED FIRE BOARD.

THE convincing manner in which Mr John McKinnon put forward his arguments in favour of the (Establishment of a Fire, Board in Te Awamutu, alt the public meeting on Tuesday evening, must have been distinctly pleasing to tile advocates* of this new dteiplartur-e. Mr McKinnon did not attempt to “paint the lily,” nor did,, lie scathingly condemn the older system; live merely gave his opinion after an experience Of several years as chairman of the' Fire Board at Hamilton, and Wis sincerity land straightforwardness would no douttt convert any,/ .sceptics—if ( here were any .s'cteiptics in thjei hall. He cut his main speech short —too short, some thought—%u!t there was a purpose, for he well knew that question time is the more likJJly to prodluicte the knotty points float trouble burgesses before going to a poll. In this Instance there was a shoal of questions, most of them asked by avowed supporters of t'he 'estabLis'hmhnt of a Fire Board in Te Awamutu, and Mr, McKinnon was able to give satisfactory replies. Taken all in all, ithe proposal seems more likely To be''siiccess ; fully carried into effedt. This on'e, regrettable feature was tliajt. the audience • was so small in number' One would have thought that every ratepayer in the town with insurable' property would have h-'tlan iglad to hear the subject discussed. The speaker readily agreed

that the main question a't issue is: Wjnoit is it fueling 'to cost us if 'we change 'the sVst)3tm ? Quite It,rue, but he hadi a Tejplljy to that when he said that Ithej personnel of the Fire 'Board would be preponderating!}- in the hands of the ratepayers themselves, for t|hte 'Bolrcjuigh 'Council nominates three members—ithe same number as the 'fire underwriters do, while the H.iventh vote is Ulnait of the - Governmeint nominee—almost invariably a man of approved standing in the town, and frequently a man Who has held high office in the town’s adm'inisjtrajtaon. If those people cannot be relied upon to conserve !tb)e finances, while a|t th'ei same 'time ensuring efficiency, well, we can think of no better arrangement. With regard to the installation of what Mr McKinnon called the duplex fire alarm system, apparently the ratepayers of the, Borough would be called upon to sanction the explElnditure necessary, and the Borough. Council ,which is comprised of sound business men, would not be likely to accept any GoVer-n----ment inspector's recommendation along these l'ines until it was convinced that !th}3! ratepayers would at least get quid pro quo. There is a mobe; or toss general feeling that the fire underwriters are secjujning big profits from thla property owners of Te Awamutu by way of premiums, while contributing nothing to the upkeep of an efficient 'firs brigade that so fair has been signally successful in quelling outbreaks of 'fire be'Eoite very much 'damage has been ’dion'e The new system would compel the fire underwriters (to contribute tfclsiir quota towards itbe maintenance of the brigade a’s an efficient fire-fighting force. Probably the Borough representatives on the BOard would stipulate that a reduction must be made in -fire inslujran'ce premium rates before! they would sanction a loan (of about £3OO to £4OO, according ito Mr McKinnon) for a fire alarm system. We expect to se)s the ratepayers record their votes next Wednesday a s distinctly ’in favour of the establishment of a Fire Boslrd in Te Awamutu.