THE MAYOR AND THE TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 179, 24 April 1908, Page 8

THE MAYOR AND THE TRAMWAY EMPLOYEES.

MR. YOTJNG IN REPLY. 'A REMARKABLE CIRCULAR. (To the Editor.) '. y " Sir,—ln publishing my letter in your issue ' • of this morninjg you attach an.editorial .footnote in which you assert that, had 1 1 , perused your comments of the 20th instant correctly I would not have committed the absurd error of - stating that, you 'denounce Mr. Hislop for 'allegedly conceding the: whole of the claims of the Tramways/Union, and you desire nip, to point out where you uttered any such denunciation., .'ln my endeavours to herein comply' with, your request I candidly confess that the denunciation was not made in'"'so. • many words, but by common • inferences it would be a sheer impossibility to miss what you intended to convey to the. public mind—i.e., that if Mr. Hislop was returned tho tramways employees/would scciiro all they desired, and in. proof, of that 'here are your own words,, extracted from your, leader of . the . 20th, viz."The tramways employees are concerned—we do ; not say wrongly—mainly with the wages they receive from the .Corporation, and tho reason for-their support of Mr.'Hislop is quite.'patent. To a Union of municipal . employees the most desirable man for the mayoral office,, is he who will assist them to obtain higher wages and fewer hours of work, and by exerting their votes in' , his favour , they may secure his election, and through him. obtain what..they require.!' In your issue of the : samo date, under the .heading, "Tho Mayoralty," you quoto Mr. Hislop and the " Evening Post," in which you, point'out that both he and that iournal tavo- AaJb-if-JHiy.. Trials™-j-

roturned tho Gas Company would not sccuro such good, terms from'the municipality as they would sccuro .if Mr. .Aitken wero elccted, and after pouring : forth the aforesaid quotations you invito tho public to consider tho wages of the tramways employees; point out that the demands of the Union would swallow up the'past year's net profit; request them the resolutioiwof , the Tramways Union supporting Mr. Hislop, and, lastly, you ask' tho public to apply s > the methods of Mr. Hislop and tho "Evening ■Post,"' and ask' themsfilves, i.e.—(l) Why :s do the tramway-men support Mr. Hislop? t•-'(2);For.,whom should the public voto if they a do not desiro to see. tho city despoiled by . an*excessive inercaso' of the pay of tho tramways employees. Tho methods of Mr. i. Hislop arid tlio "Evening Post" wore that e if Mr. Aitken were elcctcd the Gas Com1. -pany would sccuro more- from tho city j than thoy would obtain if Mr. Hislop wore . elected. From the foregoing, it is quite y .clear 'that 'you intended to convey- to the -public mind -' that Mr. < Hislop would conioedo the wliolo -of .the. demands of tho r ■'Tramways . Union, thereby eating up -moro than the. whole of the net profit, hence ' the:, Union resolving to support him, and consequently if. lie did that ho would not 1 strike tho bargain in tho acquisition of the ■ gasworks that Mr.- Aitken would striko. t You have, however, fallen in rather badly 1 by the'.public announcement that so far as- • .tho wages and' overtime of .the tramways 1, oriiployees'arc concerned those matters are, to I all "practical'intents and'purposes, settled, I and .in tho settlerricrit rio increase worth l- 'mentioning '.has' been granted the men, 1 therefore .the public will, see that the Union 1 does not siipport'Mr. Hislop, for tho reason 1 that''lie has granted,"or-is likely to grant, ' the whole of itsJdeinands. In reply to your question as to whether Mr. Hislop addressed a' private meeting of . the Union: oil* Friday last, I have to'men,tion that a number of, tho tramways employees l are. members of that institution : -.that recently canvassed' the city to the tune . of - something like - £12;000, and which is • coriimorily ■ : known 'as - the' Y.M.C.A., and which was addressed by . Mr. Aitken in respect to , the mayoral, election only quite .recently. : In view of tliaE, and in 'accordanco, with your own way of thinking, Mr. Aitken committed-the sin of sacrilege.—l am, ' etc. :- Z" W. T." YOUNG, . £ ; Secretary Tramways Employees' Union. ' April 23,,1903., ' y ; -Mr." Young's efforts'to - escape from' anawkward situation'wouldi be amusing wore the ■ issues involved less serious. Wo will not follow him in his somewhat -rambling statement but would direct'spccial attention to the concluding paragraph of his letter. This evasive.; reply to our question as to whether Mr.' Hislop alddressed a private irieeting of the ; Tramways Union. on Good Friday, priqr to • its arriving at a decision to support Mr. Hislop; does little credit to the intelligence of our r'eaders. Possibly the circular published . below may refresh , his memory.,: Tho copy wo have .is typewritten on. the. Wellington Tramways Employees' Union letter paper aud bears..the 'seal of the.'Union., r It roads as, ■ follows: — WELLINGTON TRAMWAYS EMPLOYEES' : ' : ; ; ..p:-,- UNION. p SPECIAL'MEETING. A SPECIAL EXTRAORDINARY MEETING of member's of the Tramways Union will ho'"held at the , MASONIC HALL, Daniel Street; Newtown; on GOOD FRIDAY morn- j irig ! at 10 o'clock sharp. ' ." ■ , BUSINESS.: ;;i . : ■'■' ' (1) To recalve furttisr progress report of ths ' Union Executive in regard to conference ] respecting , the" demands of the Union. . , (2) Ths Hon. Mr. T. VV. Hislop, Mayor, will adtiress'; membors in regard to, tho I MAYORAL ELECTION. 1 NOTEThe Mayoral Election takes place on V/EDNgSBAY,\,;Aprir 29th. All mem- j ' bars of/the Unionshould bnilevour to t place.thoir names .on .'the roll. e Evory; mem'aer.'of'. the Union whose. ? name is,on ths;roll should noVforget to. j : • cxe'roise his VOTE on polling day. v • 1 ' The'electiori of a-. Mayor effects;,the : .vital interests of every man in the tram- c '• 'ways service.'" \ r On behalf of the Executive, V •c . •' - ■ ,W. T.-Y-OUNC,,'- , . (Common Seal,) •>" Secretary'. > | 1 W r ill;Mr." Hislop or;'Mr;'.Young -now state 'j ■whether" the formcr' addressed .the Tramway r Employees'' -Union"'during the present elec- r tion campaign ? ■-''': ' £ THE ISSUES. AT STAKE. ! , Sir,—As. oiie who., ha' 4'! been a consistent voter for No-licouse .sinbo the inception •01 the, plebiscite on tho I resent tlio insidious olforts of' Mr .'-Aitken and his supporters,to raise 1 the 'questiori of license ori\o- * license "in' this election.- At Mr. Aitken's meeting Town Hall on Tuesday ovening. ho:-stated -that.Mr."Hislop's supporters .'had suggested' his (Mr: '. Aitken's) firm • was J engaged in- a ; wholcsalo way in the liquor traffic, and tho candidate expended considerable timo in destroying the imaginary 'bogy.'.'ln this .'contest' 1 such tricks are vain n •to-deceivo '..even-the';veriest novice in politi- > cal wiles and' dodgery^—the object is. so clearly disclosed. \.Mr:';.Aitkeiv knows that tho Prohibitionist,'section of'tho community aro j. takirig no' combined : action in this contest, J being'fully aware' that/reform of the liquor f, trafhe will not be affected in tho .'slightest, whichever:way"tho coiitest: eventuates. The „ 'only-object such ,remarks, could have in'view was . -to,; make' l a - stalking-horse of . liquor reform- in the vain endeavour to , rally < the majority' "of: Prohibitionists, who are at pre- I sent supporting' Mr. Hislop, to-vote on an & entirely false issuo at. the municipal election. Most of those " who are deeply concerned with the, progress of No-license re-. * ;form.-will:also!-sincerely regret Ul3 founda- a tionless.,charges and'; liliputian arguments a of Mr. Fisher is his: endeavour to brand the li Mayor as guilty; of obtaining, a personal benent from! the. - investment.of. -the - Council's sinking, funds. Tho ■ discovery' of the imagi- 1, nary voucher, with tho discredit such a c i charge brought upon tho No-license loaders S( through their association'with Mr. Fisher, • threw the moveinont back .considerably-at the last (election. It,'is-sincerely to be hoped that in" the Mayoral election only tho real a issue .will be considered by the Prohibitionist,, as by;.other sections of the community, and. that is.: which of the two candidates has proved' himself tho most capablo 0 administrator, of: the municipality's affairs? si If -this-question>-is intelligently and con-' 'scientiously . answered'by tho majority, it will .bo to "say that tho present control is far moro to all the burgesses' interest than the'discreditable bungling that was common' a during Mr. Aitken's term of office.—l am, etc-* ' NO-LICENSE. ' . [Our correspondent is prolific of assertion, ri and does Mr. Aitken some injustice. The Prohibition issue has never been raised in the present contest, although it has been generally recognised that, other things be- 01 ing equal, Mr. Aitken is likely to secure tho support of tho Prohibitionists/ whose' confidence he has held for so long; just as Mr. Hislop may secure votes because of his -past interests in connection with the liquor trade.]

; BOROUGH OF MIRAMAR. < - ADDRESS BY MR. F. TOWNSEND. Mr. Pi Townsend, who is contesting the election . for tho mayoralty of Miramar against Mr. C. J. Crawford, the present Mayor, delivered his first address to tho ratepayers last evening. .There was a fairly good attendance of electors. -'Mri Freeman .presided, and in opening tho proceedings referred .to the good work which had, boon done by Mr. Townsend as a previous Mayor of the borough. ' Mr. Townsend, who was received ' with applause, prefaced his address by tracing the history of the movement for the formation of'the Borough of Miramar up to November. 10, 1904, on which date the municipality came into existence. Twolve months later, while lie' was Mayor of the borough, a schome for tramway. communication was proposed, and after several obstacles had been surmounted an up-to-date electric tramway system was finally authorised, and duly constructed. The cost of their tramway : was~tft = h&v6-be,ea.^£^C&U^.iiud_hft:fQ.uglit.

"C "for the principle that .the syndicates which is 1 incidentally would benefit by tho system 3- should "cash up," eventually securing from d them £22,000 .as their contribution thereto, i- With regard to tho Scatouu Tunnel, he i; claimed credit for tho fact that tho Public n Works Department had, in response to his )- representations, agreed to accept tho sup;>f gested plan of the -tunnel us it now stood, >, and this resulted in a saving of at least y £2000 to tho borough. g Referring to tho alteration of the Soatoun y line from Broadway to tho Chinaman's gar- ? dens, ho.asked why that was done? y A Voice: Wasn't it done to straighten y tho line? ■ _ i o Mr. Townsend: There was no need for tho •. alteration. Tho lino was passed by the t Public Works Department, and that should i- have boon sufficient. y Another matter was tho reduction of the e building area. 1 He had been waited upon e as Mayor ,by no fewer than six deputations e in connection with tho reduction of the - building area from tho }-acro, but ho firmly 3 refused. Proper drainago and sowerago must 0 bo installed before they reduced tho area. 3 No sooner had ho left tho Council than 1 tho building area was reduced. W 7 as that t justice? 3 With tho installation of the tramway sys- . torn ho had foreseen a declino in tho ferry r steamer traffic, and, being at that timo a i member of tho Harbour Board, ho sugs gested to that body that it should take > the wharves over. This was dono on a i most satisfactory basis. i Referring to the Matai Road contract, of , which they had heard so much of late, tho i speakor said that the position with regard i to the tenders for this contract was unsatisfactory. Tenders had originally been called for tho whole work of supplying tho ; metal* and forming the road. It 'was then decided that tenders bo called for (a) tho • supply of metal, and (b) tho formation of' tho road. Two tenders were deposited, and in spite of the fact that both tenders wero for .the supply of first-class metal, and that the quality of that-supplied'by each was beyond question, the lower tender: was rejected. This, he considered, was an injustice to ,tho borough. ' Why was Matai Road singled out for contract work, when the other works wore let for day labour? Ho loft it to their own reasoning to judgo whether it was not better that' tho head of tho Council should' bo a man who would be able to mcto out equal justice to the whole of the borough. KARORI. Tho only nomination-received for the office of Mayor of Karori was that of Mr. Cyril Irwin Dasent, who was nominated by Messrs. J. W. Henderson, John v F. Mills, and R. H. Wedde. Mr. Dasent has been a Councillor .for fourteen years, and-no ono knows the district or its needs better than lie. The , following four nominations wore received to'fill the place of tho three Councillors who| retired from - tho Council automatically on Northland being cut out of the district and absorbed by Wellington :-vMr. W. G. Bradnock—Nominated by Messrs. W'\ Craig and F. A. Dryden. Mr.- J. Fowler—Nominated by Messrs C. F. Spiers, and H.. Cook. ' Mr. E. S.'Harris —Nominated by Messrs. R. H. W'edde and E. B. Bristoc. Mr; J. D. Raine—Nominated by Messrs. C. Cathie, E. E. Hammond, and J. F. Mills. , . . MIRAMAR. ' Only two candidates havo been nominated for the. Mayoralty., at Miramar. Those aro:— x Mr. Charles John Crawford —Nominated oy Messrs. H. E. Richards, Harold Beauchamp, John Brodie, D. K. Blair, J. N. Ayling, N. W. Bell, C. E. Fabin, Hector N. 'M'Leod,'. John Stacey, A. G. East, : and Joseph Lyman. ' Mr. Frederick Townsend—Nominated by -Messrs; Alfred Loasby, James Rod, and Edward YOllll2. . Mr. C. 'J. Crawford, candidate for the ! Miramar Mayoralty, will address the. electors as follows. —To-day.—At Mr. IlobcrtRoom, Park Road, at 8 p.m.:; to-mor- . row, at Mr. W r yatt's Room, AVorser Bay, at-. 8 .p.m.;, Monday, at Mrs. Maxwell's Room, Miramar North, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, at Mr:. Wyatt's Room, W 7 orser Bay, ai 8 p.m. *: Mr. Aitkeri will address a meeting'-of: electors at Fullford's Hall, Brooklyn,v-to-' night at S o'clock. .-•! . . ''V . Mr. .Hislop will -speak to-night 'in St. '•! .Peter's Room, Ghuznee Street, tat 8 o'clock. ■, Mrs. Hislop will meet tho ladies of Newtown, : to-day, at ;the Committee Room, Riddiford ' Street, at 3 p.m.,-and. at the W.C.T.U. ! Rooms, Constable Street,.at i n.iri. To-mor- ! row afternoon, at. 3 io.m., Mrs'. Hislop will ■ moot the ladies of Thorndon at the'WeileYan , Schoolroom, Molosworth Street. .' Dominations EL'Sewhercl (by' TELEGItAPH.—rRES3 ASSOCIATION.) ' j ... , Auckland, April ,23. ! Mr. Or. W. Basley s being Ihe onlv nonnna- J tion rcoeived to-day, for tho Mayoralty of i Parnell, ho has been declared duly elected. ' 1 T T7 . , • . Napier, April 23. Mr. J. Vigor Brown lias been -elected Mayor for a second term. m. ' .'! „ Napier, April 23. ! Xhc nominations for Hastings' Mayoralty aro Messrs. T. J. Thompson (the present Major) L. \V. bowler, "William Lane, and A. A. George. mu \ r , . Nelson, April 23. ] lhe Mayoral election nominations closed to-day. For Nelson, jUr. Jesse Piper, the c sitting Mayor, and Councillor Hampson were 1 nominated. -• £ For Richmond, Mr. Sheats was returned ] unopposed for a second term. ' * ■ Wangar.ui, April 23. Messrs. J., Joiies (the present j\luj'or) and R. Noilson have been ' nominated for tho Mayoralty of Wanganui Bast. Mayoralty. . .' t ■ ' New Plymouth, April 23. [ ' Thero are three candidates for tho Mayor- ; alty—Messrs. W. A. G'ollis, Gustavo Tisch 1 and Fred. Bellringer. A keen contest is { likely. ' Gisborne, April 23. Mr. W. D. Lysnar and Dr. Williams havo been nominated for the Mayoralty. ' On tho drainago question Mr. Lysnar favours a septic tank as .at Palmerstou North. r Inuercargill, April 23. Mr. W r . B. Scaridrett, the present Mayor, and Mr. Duncan M'Farlane, a Councillor, f have been'nominated for the Invercargill * T " Feilding, April 23. * Mb. W. J. B. Trewin was re-elebted unopposed to tho Mayoralty, making tho third successive year of office. - , Blenhaim, April 23. Tho candidates for- tho Mayoralty aro Messrs. A. M'Callum, tho present Mayor, .and E. H. Penny. . - - Carterton, April 23. ! For the Mayoral election only one nomination was 'received, Mr. Willie Mooro being re-elected unopposed. j- • Levin, April 23. u Mr; B. R. Gardener has. been returned un- J opposed as Mayor of Levin for a third term, t-