The Lower Talley and the Loans Act.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2027, 7 February 1887, Page 2

The Lower Talley and the Loans Act.

The aetion of Messrs McDongall and Bowman, members of the Featberston Road Board, 'fa endeavoring to secure for their respective wards a sum of money under the Loans to Public Bodies Act, sufficient to place their road districts on a good substantial footing and carry oot all necessary works without encumbering the ratepayers either at tbe time present or in tbe future, ought to be endorsed by all the settlers in tbe Lower Valley who wish lor tbe progress and prosperity of that important and naturally well-favored district. Tbe Eahaucara bridge, for which Mr MoDougall is now eo ably and persistently advocating the loan to bis ward, is without a doubt, as much required and as necessary to the advancement of, not only the immediate district where it will be located, but the whole of this part of the Valley. It will not he n! Ihe expense of nuv i tlier part of the distr.i t ihit this impor'imi woik will be carried out; neither will it effect the town of Martinborough one iota in the w iy of diverting the trals or local traffic. Martinborough will fldl retain its position as a centre, and the seltlers in every part of the district that require to get to the local market for then wares will still repair there to do their business. They will not seek pastures new when they can be satisfied locally. The Mariinborough tradespeople know that they can compete with their fellow-tradespeople in any of the towns higher up. It is improbable that their business connections will thereto.! be interfered with; their patrons will noi transfer their orders simply because they can send their heavy wool traffic from the exit' nr lower part of the Valiev by a nemr r> u- t the Penfhc:.-‘ n K;.i. -.- v-1 .■ o iI- I ill- hi'f ; , I mi" I ( i s ■- i.pimi t and it, M ili iij-ii .be w i t-niiic in m a few etas tiini.'i should in t p i-s tin tin ili the town, still nanli if not <ill ilio coastal tiatlic will be abandoned, and tie Wellington metchant will not have the same facility to introduce bis goods to tbe settlers near the coast by water carnage. Some of the wool wagons will go to Featberston via Kahantara, others will go via Waihenga. Carriage by sea being suspended, it would lead to an increase of business with Martinborough; thus the tradespeople would gain ratlin than lose. The Kahantara people will benefit by the erection of a bridge to an incalculable extent. The vote will be approved by every ratepayer in Mr MeDougail’s ward and will be assented to unanimously by the members of the Road Board, we believe. The Martinborough resi. dents will, no doubt, agree with the Board’s action in recommending the loan, and also the petition of the settlers in No 6 Ward for the funds to carry out the work of the bridge. About two years ago there was some opposition to the bridge, but the objectors, in many instances, are now tbe supporters'of tbe work, knowing that their interests ate part and parcel with the progress of tbe district. Mr McDougall has every chance of success with bis project, and tbe money will no donbt be readily forthcoming. We are living in the age of'advancement and we must advance accordingly. Then again in reference to Mr Bowman’s application for £SOO tor No 5 ward, it certainly in importance, has not tbe magnitude of that of the other application—bnt, surely no ratepayer in Mr Bowman’s ward wonld seriously think of obstructing the chance, perhaps for some time tbe only one, of securing for tbe district the money required to improve in every shape and way tbe value of all properties where the sum will be spent. Let any ratepayer that has conceived it, dismiss from his mind the notion or erroneous idea that the loan has anything to do with the special rate that will be levied, A special rate, though perhaps it will not be collected, will certainly be levied irrespective of the matter of the loan, and the £25 per annum per centage on the proposed loan of £SOO would be paid out of the ordinary rates. When tbe roads are placed in good condition by the expenditure of the loan, less rates for a long period will be required to be paid. It is an opportunity that it would be very unwise and suicidal to throw lightly aside. Secure tbe loan by all means ; other districts in tbe colony will be only too eager to grasp the chance. Now hj the accepted lime ; let every man who has an interest at stake, go to tbe poll aud leoord his vote snaigbtfor tbe proposal and then when other ratepayers in apathetic and somnolent districts are. in the future, bewailing Ihur lost opportunities, the No 5 Ward si tiler can saywitli pride, I have done my duty to myself and my district. Good roads are the main channels of successful traffic and consequent attendant prosperity. No district should hesitate n moment in accepting the best terms upon which to secure that desideratum and to all intents and purposes the pro . isions of the Loans Act are the best and most liberal means to that end.