MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 485, 19 April 1909, Page 6

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

MR. BOLTON'S CANDIDATURE.

■ A mooting'of electors at Maranui • was ad dressed by Mr. F. G. Dolton in the opon-aii , on Saturday aftornoou. In tho evening Mr Bolton spoke at Itoseneath Schoolroom, anc subsequently in tho open-air at Morcei Street. Speaking at Maranui, tho candidal eaid in answer to a question' that if th( money for tho extension of the tramway U LyolTs'Bay had been voted and raised by th< council, it was tho duty of tho council t< expend that monoy on tho object for whict it nad been voted. If tho money had beor ' '' spent in any othor way, tho council was trader a moral obligation to put in a, tramway forthwith, and mako its own financia arrangements in respect to tho same. • Tlw tramway seemed to him to bo one that could bo cheaply constructed, and there was nc doubt ,tnat in summer tirao it would bt greatly patronised by excursionists, apart - i from the Maranui residential traffic, At Itoseneath, in answer to a question, the epeakor said that from personal experience he thought that tho lighting arrangomeme of that part of tho city should bo 1 improved, since pedestrians were liable to be molested when going homo at night. Tho main road , al3o needed attention. With respect to the . improvement of the water supply for Roseneath, and tho highor levels of Oriental Bay, tho best method of remedying the present difficulty would bo by placing a storago reservoiroosn s tho top of the hill for tho pur--1 " pose of serving Roseneath, 'the higher levols of .Oriental Bay, and also tho highor portion of North Kilbirnio. Dealing with the question of the acquisition of Haining Street for ■ ' fc_ municipal market site 1 , Mr. Bolton said at his Mercer Street meoting that tho purchase ©f-tbe locality in question would be a turect benefit to the corporation, not only jn the ' "' matter 'of purchase itself, but also in im- ' proving the value of tho property within a ,*•=", considerable radius of the site, which would necessarily mean increased rates available for the corporation funds. He advocated going slow in tho purchase of the gasworks, ' " 3? u * thought it was very necessary that tho • . Municipal Corporations Act should bo araen- ' ded by giving power to all corporations to ;' purchase compulsorily all gas and electric hght undertakings. At present there was power U> purchaso, hut'only by agreement, - consequently if the private company asked an exorbitant price tho corporation must 'either ' , pay .that price or not make the purchase.

&k;-"wilford at aro street. Mr. 'T. M. Wilford, a candidate for tho city Mayoralty, addressed about 60 electors at Aro Street on 'Saturday evening,: Mr. Lindsay presiding. /Mr. Wilford, speaking 'on the lines of previous addresses, dealt ' ly ; comprehensively with tho various points of - » municipal government, ' and traversed tho > - -features of his policy. A number of questions were asked at tho,close of t his addross, and answered to the evident satisfaction of the raeetirg. At the- conclusion, on tho motion of Mr. Stovens, seconded by Mr. Carmody, a vote of 'thanks and confidence eras 'awarded. \ 1' _____ ' . ! /' DEPRECIATION FUNDS. -In conversation with n Dominion reporter, ' * Councillor Ballinger dealt with stateinentsl made by Mayoral candidates concerning the tramway depreciation fund, and pointed out that the Harbour Board depreciation funds included repairs and maintenance. Mr. 80lho said, made another mistake in referring to him ' (Councillor Ballinger) as , ißSinniin of the Tramways Committee as the ,_, Mayor occupies that 'position. Mr. Bolton 1 ' ' Btill seemed to bo-under a misapprehension. 1 In the City of Glasgow balance-sheet for tho 1- vear.ending May, 1908, it is stated that the ' ' ( '' ' rate of depreciation on the electrical equ!pf' jnent of the lines had been increased from ;' an avoiage of 3.06 per cent, to an average of 4.28 per cent., and the rate chargeable on < r plant ,in tho Pinkston power station had '■ been increased from an average of 5 per cent, to 7J' per cent. This shows that the rj • average is not 7J'per cent., and Mr. Wilford ;' •' had made the same mistake as Mr. Bolton in -; sayuig the reverse. Moreover, out of this '~ - funOj'-the 1 sum of £43,804 had been expended i Uirough the year. "I want it to bo clearly ; ondersiood," Councillor Ballinger added, I am not in favour «f a small deprc- ,\ ciatibn fund. The depreciation is not too much, but I don't want it to'go forth that it is lose than it is." ' < ,*" Jlr. Wilford had referred to the question ,', of interest on depreciation as debatable and worth consideration, Councillor Ballinger 1 , said that this matter was considered 'at the '• last meeting of the Tramways Committee, and '■\, a motion that tho council should charge 4 \ per cent, interest on the past year's money ■ . borrowed from depreciation for capital ex- ', . penditttre was lost on tho casting vote of "" ' the Mayor. This matter must bo dealt with by the new council. , " EIVAL TENDERS. The action of tho Oity Council in acoopt\f , fag a certain toßder for the twelve months' ;. 1 Bupply of sanitary drain pipes is called in , ' question by a letter, which has been addressed to municipal candidates by 'Messrs. R. O. Clark, Ltd., drain'pipo, brick,' and"tik 1 makers. The letter states that this firm ' has been making sanitary drain pipes since 1864, iind gives particulars of its business , ; which demonstrate the quality of thoii 1 manufacture. When tenders wero recentlj / , advertised by the City Council for tho twelve , monthi! , supply of theso pipes, the firm ten dored in due form. "Before doing bo,' , etates the letter, "we were incidentally in , formed that it waa useless for us to tender -' us a film named, and since advertised, as th« successful tenderer would be the only ont occeptod. Judge our surprise, 00 getting ■Uμ prices from the authorities at the Town Hall after the tender of P. Hutson, Ltd., was published as recommended to bo accepted, t< find tba.t our tender was about 8 per cent , lower than tho recommended tendor, anc ttaturally wo want to know the reason whyi '. . . Why was not the lowest tender accepted! Surely the City Fathers could ,not have beei cognisant of all tho facts." It is understoot that Messrs. Ilutson's tender, though adver iised us accepted, has not jet been signed The letter states that the protesting firm 11 perfectly willing to submit its pipes to an l tests the City Engineer may deem fit, ani to guarantee that in any ono test they wil exceed tho ordinary tests demanded.

Mr. Wilford had intended addressing tho tramway employees at tho Daniel Street Hall yesterday. As the proposal 3id not meet with the approval of some of his supporters Bt Newtown tho meeting was abandoned. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher was nominated for tho Mayoralty on Saturday. His .nominators aro Ifessra. J. B. M'Ewan, F. Wallace M'Kenzio, G. J. Pethorick, P. Ogden, and J. N. Isaacs.