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keep, bearing as fruit the satisfaction and approval
of the ratepayers and the convincing facts tabulated
under "Vital Statistics." This has been going on
for years not only in the sanitary, but also in the
highway, finance, and other departments, and, as a
consequence, the popularity of the district as a high
class and healthy neighbourhood is well known and
well deserved.
Surbiton is not a commercial town but a residential,
and its prosperity depends upon its attractiveness,
added to the attractions so bountifully
bestowed on it by nature. The well-being of the
trading section rises or falls with the success of the
inducements held out by the inhabitants, represented
by its governing body, for others to come and reside
here, and I have long noted that with prospective
new comers the foremost consideration is naturally
the sanitation and health giving properties of the
district, and then its natural beauties and its attractive
surroundings. In sanitation I think we may
fairly say we have set our ideal high and striven to
attain to it. Let us, in addition, see to it that we make
Surbiton as beautiful as we can and so add to the
pleasure and satisfaction of its residents. Much of
the beauty and many of the attractions of past
years have gone, notably its semi-rural aspect. The
exigencies of growth and development have done
much to deprive us of this feature, hastened by the
destruction and mutilation of the many fine trees
we formerly possessed. Trees in inhabited districts
are health-giving and beneficial, purifying the air and
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