MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15874, 13 April 1917, Page 9

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

CITIZENS ASSOCIATION'S

CANDIDATES.

MEETING AT LINWOOD

A meeting was held in the Rolleston Street Hall last night, when three of the candidates for the Christchurch City Council on the Citizens' Association ticket ventilated their views on municipal matters. Mr W. H. Seed occupied tho chair.

Mr A. M. Loasby said the platform of the Citizens' Association was in many ways tie platform he had advocated four years before. First of all he was thoroughly in accord with doing everything possible to win the war. He was also prepared to treat tho municipality a£ he would treat his own business, and the candidates of the Citizens' Association would bring business acumen to bear on municipal matters. He supported, the Association platform witli regard to public health and works, and pointed out the necessity for having an experienced chemist, and expert for the work of proper street construction. Ho took a keen interest in the supply of foodstuffs for the city, and he had been an advocate four years beforo of liaving all the meat properly covercd wlien brought in from tne abattoirs. He was in favour of the municipality haviug charge of all meat, fruit, milk, and fish markets, and ho asserted that all cows used for a milk supply should be tested by tho tuberculin test. The corporation shoukl have the solo control ot tho whole milk supply. He was a believer of tho unification of control of the city, and he considered that the trams drainage system, domains, ctc., could all be administered by ono body. The speaker claimed credit for the establishment of a nursery at Linwood Park, with getting a band rotunda crected, and with getting the whole park put in order. If elected lie would advocate the housing of the Council's staff under one roof, but ho did not think the Town Hall proposition would be practicable for a decade yet. He was in favour of tree-planting along suitable streets, but-not in the main highways and on ehain-wido streets;

Air \v. J. Jenkin said he was no stranger to the people of Linwood, and he had taken a leading part in tl>. 'amalgamation of Avonside with tho city. One of the first things he -wanted to see done, whether he was a councillor or a private citizen, was the winning of the war. and ho was strongjly against the repeal of tjic Military Service Act under the present circumstances. Ho hoped the citizens would not elect to tho Council men whose main thought was to hamper the Government in its effort -to send tho men to the front to vindicate the honour of the nation. He deprecated thedragging of national affairs into municipal politics, _for tho councillors had quite enough to do to look after the city's welfare. Ho was not at all satisfied with the present method of street cleaning and sweeping, and thought that somo more modern methods should he pone in for. He advocated a municioal cool store for the proper keeping of the city's mea'D supply. As they knew, he had l>een a keen advocate for tho Greater Christchurch scheme, and if elected, ho would do all he could to assist any district that wished to be absorbed into the city. He considered that the Council" had every right to extend its electric light business to districts outside tho city; for one reason such districts would be all the more advanced when they decided to come into the city. He did not think the price to consumers should 'be reduced just at present, for it was good business to build up a reasonable re T serve fund in case of any eventualities. With regard to the Town Hall question he thought the citizens were wise 'to turn down the recent Canterbury Hall proposition, for ho believed that the city should have a Town Hall worthy of the city. Such a hall could be erected as a peace memorial. He believed that the citizens would subscribe so willingly to such an object that the Council anight not have to raise a loan at all. As for the site, he believed Victoria square was the ideal place. Mr J. A. Flesher said that in reply to a query which had been made regarding the Citizens' Association, he would say it was composed of somo hundreds of reputable men who had considerable interests at stake in tho city, and who wanted to see municipal affairs conducted on business lines, and not _ made the medium for 'silly experiments, or a happy hunting ground for .place-hunting politicians. Their opponents put the repeal of the Military Service fAct in the forefront of their platform —as if the Council had anything to do with it —and they obviously merely wanted to be the controlling factor on the Council so that they would have a- better opportunity of harassing the Government. "When had the citizens of Christchurch ever heard of any of Labour's so-called leaders doing anything by word, or deed to show that they wished England to ho the victor in No one questioned the patriotism of the workers as a whole, hut the patriotism they had shown had been in spite of their al-

leged leaders, and not because of tfiem. The speaker quoted Mr R. M. Spiers s speech of two years before, and eaid that here was a. Labour man himselt giving vent- to one of the strongest indictments of Labour's 'leaders'' possible to imagine. He, the speaker, ventured to say that some of the men cow standing "for the Council had no sense of the responsibility of true citizenship and no desire to help to v.in the war. and if this type go't oontrol of tho Council their ideal would be to obstruct the Government and not to run the City's business on right lines. After referring to the Labour meeting of Saturday last, and stating that not a sign of the promised ''constructive policy'' had materialised, Mr Flesher said that much had been made of the complaint that the Government had denied the people the right to exercise their franchise? If the- Labour members really wished to protest against this, the remedy was simple; let them resign their seats and £0 to the people j again ! Personally he could not under- | stand a unionist's opposition to univer- | sal military service; surely ihe same principle was carried out in the union ! rules. A man was compelled to join, and if he would not he could starve. The Labour side made much of the high cost of living, but what about its "go slow" policy—did not that help to make the cost of living higher? If people were prepared to fnrego unnecessary luxuries, they would not find the. times so hard. Mr McCombs had made a point about tho rise in the. rates, hut he (the sneaker) did not. remember hearing Mr McCoiuhs make any protest in ihe Council. He (the speaker) thought, however, that the increase in the cost of accommodation which the Council paid last year was rather inexplicable when the excellent manner in which the rate money came in wa.s considered. When all was summed up, the only constructive suggestion in tho Labour platform for helping the health of the City was to anpoint women sanitary inspectors! But the Association candidates were out for a large sewerage and high pressure water scheme for the whole City, and its platform, on the whole, whs constructive and progressive in all reasonable directions. The Municipal Corporations Act prevented a man whose oomnany did business to the extent of £10 with the Council from sitting on the Council, but secretaries of •unions who dealt with the employees of tho Council were allowed to be candidates, and, if clccted. to sit on the Council. This did not seem to be equitable.

At the conclusion of the meeting several questions were answered, and a vote of thanks passed to the candidates. HOSPITAL BOARD ELECTION. Mr Frederick George Norton, sitting member, has been nominated as a candidate for the Hospital Board for the combined districts of Lyttelton, Sumner, "Woolston. and New Brighton. Mr W. H. Cooper and Mr H. J. Otlev -will he candidates for election to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. NEW BRIGHTON MAYORALTY. Messrs Charles H. Winny and "Walter A. Drake yesterday nominated Mr Fred Kibblewhite as a candidate for the New Brighton Mayoralty. TEE LOCAL ROLL. The district electors' list of the City of Christchurch linally closed on Wednesday evening, when 27 names were added, .and will appear in tho No. - supplementary roll. The. grand total of names on the roll is 26,294.