CHARGE OF CANVASSING.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16158, 12 March 1918, Page 4

CHARGE OF CANVASSING.

AX AGGRIEVED BOROUGH COUNCIL. ELECTRICITY AND SUMNER. JTpparently some remarks made afc a rccont meeting at Sumner have annoyed the members of the Sumner Borough Council, as shown by a letter received by the Christchurch City Council last evening from the Town Clerk of Sumner, in which ho stated that ho was instructed to draw the Council's attention to a report of a meeting held in Sumner when an association was formed to be known as the Electricity

foe sumner Association. The letter proceeded as follows: "The chairman of the meeting stated that he had been, detinlteJy assured that the City Council would reticulate the borough free of cost and supply current for fourpence per unit, \our attention is drawn to two matters in particular, regarding the above: Inrst, your ohicer is evidently canvassing 'tne man in the street' with a proposal to install electric lighting in a borough that is not under your control, and by so doing hejs ignoring the fact that there is such a body a»s the Sumner Borough Council; second, j'our engineer is olfering to undersell the local authority controlling this borough, being aware as he is, that it has its own installation, and is charging sixpence per unit. My Council is surprised that a Council of your standing should allow ono of its officials to act in this irregular manner, and -would respectfully suggest that if you have a desire to enter into the business of supplying elcctric current in this borough, you put your proposals in a busi-ness-like form and submit them to the Council in a proper manner." Mr E. E. Stark, the city electrical engineer, in the course of'a written explanation. denied t«at he had discussed the matter with any man on the street, or in the street. ' Two separate individuals had approached him in his office and a third individual approached him m the Council Chambers, and under the condition of his employment ho claimed to have the right to answer m a respectful manner any Teasonablo questions pertaining to the Council's business that were not withheld or under discussion by the committee or Council. The only time and place ho ever mentioned any electrical subject •Jo any person or persons .in the bolv ough of Sumner was the time lie called upon the Mayor (Mr Barr). Since then he had spoken to no one within the limits of Sumner. Furthermore, he had not been in the Sumner district for the past five months. Neither lie nor any of his representatives had made any canvass whatsoever within the district. He considered 6d per unit a very high price as an average, price for household use, taking into consideration all the conditions of selling electricity. Cr. Taylor said the matter had been discussed by the Electricity Committee, and it had been decided not to engender any feeling on the part of local bodies. The letter from the Sumner Borough Council had, however, provctt a boomerang to that body. He favoured the suggestion Of Mr Stark, that his letter of explanation be forwarded to the Sumner Borough Council. The City Council had always been ready to give any information either to individuals or local bodies regarding the supply of electricity. He moved that a copy of Mr Stark's report be forwarded to the Sumner Borough Council, and also that whilst the Council was pleased to give information to individuals, any concrete proposal must come from the local body affected. The Mayor (Mr H. Holland) stated that ho bad received a letter from one of the gentlemen who had interviewed Mr Stark. This correspondent was a ratepayer in the city, and .also a ratepayer in Sumner, and he considered he was only doing his duty in bringing the matter forward. The motion was carried.