THE TRAMWAYS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19165, 23 November 1927, Page 8

THE TRAMWAYS.

TO-MORROW'S ELECTION. CITIZENS' ASSOCIATION CANDIDATES. The views of candidates of the Citizens' and Ratepayers' Association for the Christcnurch Tramway Board election, which is to be held to-morrow, were expressed at a public meeting in the Chamber of Commerce last night, Mr W. J. Sim ; chairman of the committee of the Association, presiding. The chairman said Messrs J. A. Flesher and G. T. Booth were old members, who had an intimate knowledge of the affairs of the Board. Three other members of the Board were retiring, and in their place Messrs E. H. Andrews, W. Hayward, and W. Williamson were standing. The first-named was an eminent and experienced member of the City Council, Mr Hayward had an expert knowledge of transport problems, and Mr Williamson was a well-known building contractor. First Bid for Public Honours! Mr Hayward E.aid it was the first time he had stood as a candidate for any public position in Christchurch, but he had been for long associated with many 'semi-public bodies. He had been president of. the Canterbury A. and P. Association and of the Canterbury Employers' Association, and he hr.d been present nt the first meeting of the Citizens' and Ratepayers' Association. He had extreme views regarding public life, and held that when a candidate offered himself for election he entered into a contract to carry' out his duties conscientiously; he had no right to accept a position and then not attend meetings regularly. Then he believed that no man should sit on a body unless he had some special qualifications fitting him for such a position. When he saw certain gentlemen and others nosing as experts in finance and milk supply, he could not but think that the public had lost its sense of proportion. As for' himself, he had been engaged in transporting passengers from the tram terminus to Sumner when but sixteen years of age. He considered it unjust for men to be in Wellington on Parliamentary duties when they should be giving service in. Christchurch. He was not saying a word against the gentlemen to whom he was referring, bu* it should be remembered that they were not supermen, and therefore could not be in two places at once. By en-. deavouring to do so they were preventing other men more competent than themselves from accepting office. Replying to a question asked by the North Beach and Waimairi Burgesses' Association if he would reinstate the tramline from Burwood to the sea, in view of the inconvenience.paused to the residents concerned, he would answer "No," because a tram service must be run as a business proposition. _ However, he would be in favour of reviewing the position should circumstances alter it at a later stage. Labour Party Criticised. Mr Andrews said that while he did not want to state that the Labour Party was endeavouring to steal the thunder of the Citizens' Association, he would point out that the Labour Party had in its platform some planks that belonged to the Association. For instance, it advocated penny sections; the United Burgesses' Association went further. It asked if the candidates would support penny fares within the Belts, which meant, he understood, from Belt to Belt. This seemed to him to be going too far. He was in favour of the extension of concession tickets, believing that if a passenger were allowed to have several punches taken out of his.or her ticket it would mean that the sales of these would be increased. With regard to the proposal of the Burgesses' Association that the City Council should control the tramways, he would point out that a difficulty was that tramway management meant special management, and the system went out into six different boroughs or counties on the outskirts of the City, over which the Council could have no control. Regarding the operation of the tramway workshops, he had to -admit that not having been on the Board he could not state whether in this connexionthere was any wasteful expenditure going on. However, all the Citizens' candidates would be in favour of investigating the position. He found nowhere in the Labour policy any remarks concerning depreciation and renewal funds. He knew most of the Labour people well, and such being the case, he wondered why they left this question alone. He thought it would be wise to build up the reserve fund. He would not favour the abolition'of free tickets to returned soldiers, and probably there were one or two other such privileges that should be maintained. He hated to see a line pulled up once it was down, and with regard to the No. 10 line he thought that if it would cost about £40,000 to put in order the amount would be too much. In his opinion the work could be done for much less, and one-man trams could be run on it successfully. A Costly Undertaking. Mr J. A. Flesher said he felt like an habitual offender in that he had been connected with the Board for 21 years. The Christchurch tramway system , required special treatment in that its difficulties were peculiar to itself. There was a sum of £1,300,000 sunk in the system, of which amount £1,000,000 was borrowed money. The sum of £BBO had to be earned per day to meet all requirements. The depreciation fund amounted to £330,000 at the present time, which earned £16,500 a year. Added to this was an annual levy raising £25,500 a year. Mr Flesher stressed the necessity and advantages of the depreciation fund. He was not at all impressed with the policy issued by the Labour Party, believing that they knew very little about tramway management. Answering recent criticism, Mr Flesher said that the fares had not been raised until wartime increases in wages, cost of materials, etc., made it absolutely imperative. The system had to extend into outlying and sparsely populated districts; but for this the operating costs would be much less. How, he asked, could a passenger be carried from, say, Knox Church, for a penuy when it had been computed that the cost of transport was 1 l-5d per passenger per mile. With regard to the proposal to set up a Metropolitan Board of Works he would ask would the public, in view of their experience of the City Council during the last six or seven months, be prepared to hand over to that body the management of the system 1 He claimed that had the Tramway Board received sympathetic treatment from the present City Council in regard to bus services, the losses made by the Board would have been very much less. Best Service at Lowest Cost. Mr Booth said any suggestions made to the Board were thoroughly tested before being adopted. Hardly a question came up but was not covered by data. For this reason it was undesirable that candidates of the Citizens' Association should commit themselves to promises. With regard to the, manifesto of the Labour Party, Mr Booth said that in spite of what was said to the contrarv the service was always run with the idea of giving the best at the lowest cost.

He maintained that the.'service had been conducted with reasonable care during the last twenty years, and that no serious mistakes had been made. The were troublous times ahead. The petrol tax would add to the Board's troubles, and in addition to this there was a higher price to be paid for current from Lake Coleridge. Another question that would have to be taken into consideration was the fact that the employee* were asking for increased wages amounting to about £IO,OOO annually. Mr W. Wi'liamson claimed that he had the necessary qualifications in virtue of his experience as a contractor to fill a seat on the Board., If elected he would do his best to reduce the running expenses of the system to a minimum, and at the same time give a firstclass service.

A QUESTIONNAIRE. CANDIDATES' REPLIES. The Council of the United Burgesses' Association has submitted the following questionnaire to candidates for election to the Christchurch Tramway Board: "Are you in favour of:— "(1) The removal of the present restrictions of transferability and) time of availability on concession tickets? "(2) The institution of a universal penny section within the belts? "(3) The division of any.of the present twopenny sections into two separate penny sections? ' "(4) The abolition of all free passes at present given on the Christchurch tramway system? "(5) The reviewing of the position regarding the North Beach tramway route with the object of making the line a paying one? "(6) The municipalisation (i.e., control by the Christcnurch City Council) of the tramway service?" The answers received from the various candidates, the numerals denoting the different questions in the circular sent by the Burgesses' Association, are as follows:

Central Sub-District. 'Mr E. H. Andrews—(l) Yes. (2) No. (3) Favours a system of penny sections with overlapping central city zone. (4) No, but may favour restriction when the list of recipients is seen, (o) Yes. (6) Feasibility doubtful.

Mr G. T. Booth—Prefers not to give a categorical answer. He states: "As a candidate for re-election I shall require an absolutely free hand to act according to my best judgment in respect to any matter of policy that may come up for consideration." Mr J. A. Flesher—(l) Yes. (2) No. (3) No. (4) No. (5) 'Yes. (6) No. Mr W. Hayward—(l) Yes. (2) and (3) In favour of a fair trial. (4) The list of free passes requires revision, but the rights of certain people, e.g., returned soldiers, should be considered. (5) In favour of reviewing, but not necessarily of reinstating. (6) Emphatically no. Mr E. J. Howard —No reply. Mr R. M. Macfarlane—(l) and (2) and (3) yes, in accordance with the policy of the Labour Party. (4) No. (5) No. (6) Yes. Mr F. M. Robson—(l) Yes. (2) Yes. (3) Yes. (4) Question should be reviewed*. (5) Has no objection to reviewing. (6) Yes. Mr P. W. Sharpe—No reply. . Mr G. T. Thurston—(l) All restrictions should be removed and tickets made transferable. (2) Yes. (3) Yes. (4) Except in the case of limbless soldiers or those confined either to the Sanatorium or the Rannerdale Home. (5) Yes. (6) Yes. Mr W. H. Williamson —No reply. Spreydon-Addington Sub-District. Mr G. Manning—(l) Yes. (2) Yes. (3) Yes. (4) Disabled soldiers should be carried free. (5) Yes. # (6) Yes. Mr D. Sykes—(l) No; in favour of lengthening time to two months., (2) and (3) No. Suggests a 24-ride ticket at 2s. (4) No. (5) Has already replied to North Beach and Waimairi Burgesses' Association. (6) No. Avon-Brighton Sub-District. Mr J. N. Harle—(l) Yes. (2) Yes. (3) Yes. (4) Yes, with the exception of disabled returned soldiers. City Councillors and Board members should have yearly tickets debited against their respective administrations. (s*) (6) Yes, with full and adequate representation of all sub-districts in the form of a Metropolitan Board of Works. Mr W. J. Walter—(l) Concession tickets should be usable by two persons, a lady and a gentleman. (2) In favour of dividing present first section into two penny sections. (3) Yes. (4) Free passes to disabled soldiers only. (5) Strongly in favour of retention of the line. (6) No. People outside the City would not have a voice in the representation or management of the tramway system. • Hills-Sumner Sub-district. The Hon. John Barr —No reply. Mrs E. R. McCombs —In almost complete agreement with the proposals, but does -not consider it wise' to attempt 'to mark out in detail a rigid policy for-the next three years.