THE RETIRING MAYOR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 487, 21 April 1909, Page 8

THE RETIRING MAYOR.

A YEAR'S REVIEW. MR. HISLOP ADVISES CAUTION.

; Tho tenure of. office of.the present Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop) will last for a week only, when ho will mako way for tho ohosen of tho electors on April 28. In tho course of an interview with a- Dominion representative yesterday he dealt with the work of the past year, and the task confronting tho incoming Mayor and council.

What ono'has to consider, in fho management, of municipal affairs nowadays, he com- ; menced, is that it is a combination of large businesses, whereas, in the past, the corporation used to bo merely engaged in the management of its streets and lighting (done probably by.contraot with some outside body) : and;tho ordinary.-civic/duties of licensing, making by-laws, etc. Electric Lighting. ; '.. Wellington, 'city, nW. : has;its own electric lighting, and tho now. lamps liavo been a revelation. -If tho works do not more than ;p_ayjiintorest : upon outlay and- a satisfactory sinking fund, thero would still be a great , saving, ■ through • the . comparative cheapness caused by tlio Osram lamps. It is believed that the. extra consumption* will give (with' the new machinery and . additional > power Which is being put in) a profit at the'same rate as at present;' tho profit, might not expand as had reason to sup■poso,.it:w;oii!d,,. l^t.'^Cay. has closed, with a '%■ per; cent. - sinking . the . payment of interest, the providing ; of> a satisfactory depreciation,fund, and : a profit of about £4000. . With a little aid in' financing, it,, is believed :{hat,-, besides these ; necessary .provisions, the: department: will be able' to ...build up'a plant ; capable 'of supplying' ; the whole, city if it should. require it:. There is no doubt that ' this 'brancH' will. requirei .very .careful watehing and variations., in' management, • according to circumstances (probably in the mode 'of .charging), and.care-in'the:.supply of. the light only where" tho" probable consumption is an inclination to connect-up places .without regard as to-whe-'ther.thcy will pay', or: not,; and this.must be : guaided against. ; • • K • The Tramways. ■ ' Dealing", with: tramways,-; the : Mayor : said that- although, in many places, they are .managed, by a seprato board, what the. coun-1 oil; has to .consider.''is,-,' the charging '.of. only a. fair rate to; the' passengers, and, ■at tho same time, how to. secure return as will mako tho.'system 'sotiiid financially; During the p.asji four years' ? (practically the period during.' which tho trams have been running) the' council;, has,'.'.managed .-to pay ' interest, .sinking fund, and ".what; they'considered a sufficient; depreciation fiind, and to carry something i ,W' profit.; ' Profit; has been practically treated-as a further' provision against depreciation, because the; full amount . has been put intoi the;, concern. In Glasgow, the amount. which. is'.provided .for depreciation, and. profit, which goes ■ into, the 1 ' is] J little; over<lo, percent.;, that of .Wellingtoh 'city' 'amounts to between '8 1 and pSr. fcent;, .but tender, the deprecia-. tion fund 'set aside -in; the Glasgow, systejn, a certain is-for repairs and replace-' ments. Tho City Council . .rhavo ~ hitherto charged all repairs and - replacements against working -expenses,;' bo; that, 1 , financially," the /Wellington system is 'almost as.:sound and liberal as the Glasgow system, and'.the latter has proved' so;; liberal :th'at a very large proportion of the amount in l their tramways has been derived, from 'depreciation' . and'■.•profits.';. J la 'Wellington, m the course of four years, capital expenditure'has been added to ;by about ; £60,000. The : Major ) vtherefprd,;.'claimed.;that,''if the pretramjvay;,policy -was;.,carried out,. all necessary, .^.expansions ; and improvements could; with..a;ilittlo; aid. by,..way -of. anticipa.tionvof re'venuej from tho profits, and depreciation, fund;-; In other ..words; ..there,;,could.. be ; , : applied .towards '.expztnsibh of tho". tramways 1 a sum .of from '£20,000. 'to >£25,000 a year/ after' providing , I siiikin'g fund; .^towards;the .ultimate extinction of the-debt.: One candidate,'proceeded Mr.' Hislop, has ■mentioned that the profit last.year, was,only £365 . more .than that of tho,-previous'. year.'] One 'matfcor worth- mentioning is that the previous : year,. wasone day : ;. longer, ■ which Would '.account for'an extra £400, that being the averajge daily takings. The - council jias always : held, that .it .is inevitable that, for; a few. years to como, the,charge for; replaced ments will increase.; This year, on. account of .the replacement of some metal, and- additional cost of, repairs,, the expenditure was greater than mi tho previous year, and, if possible, those payments' . .may. still bo met out of income, and.'still show additional profit; ;Dnring last year a sJight increase- was mado in. •the,rate of pay of the employees—-an increase brought, about by .tho' Arbitration' Court's award, and there was also a voluntary 1 addition of about £300 in ..the increase of wages of motomen and conductors, and others not affected -by the award. Tlio reason why tho depreciation fund and -profits. have hcen absorbed in the conoeni.:was that.the-power-house and machinery had had to be extended, as.'it was only- proposed to proceed on. tho original . number of miles ' of' rails, 'and them there had be-en tho acquisition of sites and the election ;.of "new buildings. It was unfortnnato that this expenditure had had to be met; at the present; time 'to : some extent out .of " loan,- because it would be necessary this year tomorrow up to. £10,000 or £12,000 m anticipation, of .incoine. ' In :a year or two, if !thmgs ■ went as they are at present, It'he tramways ought to; be in,. a'very healthy condition, and; if/no- further-expansions are required, tho whole debt could be Tepaid in from 15 to 20 years. Water Charges, and Supply. After referring to what had been done regarding- water supply : and drainage, Mr/ ffislop said that the new-council would have to reconsider 'the■ charges where water'is to be pumped to,high levels, as the expenditure in_.doing-:this is very high. -It/was scarcely fair, 'that,, those who udid -not, live at high, altitudes 'should';pay ;fo'r "thoise who did. The: new oouncil would'ha'vei to face the question, of duplicating the main; from Waimai-o-mata, owing to the . liability ;;of the pipes- to burst. The doublo main lis not; required , fof ' jiurpose's of .supply.. His,fopihiori was that some means of i storing water in the. city might .-found, ;although ; the engineer had been .somewhat urgent in advocating duplication of the main. ". • > - Streets and Cas. The amount expended upon, streets had Considerably increased. Th e expenditure for the , year Iprevious, to his . taking office , was about £25,000, and last year it exceeded £50.000.- Most of this expenditure was,;in works of ; a permanent' juature, which, , in former times, had been probably taken from loans, but last year the work was done out of revenue/' .

As to tHo gas works, if it were found impossible to arrango terms to take tho' property over, tho council would.havo to 1 consider the terms on which it would grant permission, to tho company to carry its mains through. Melrose, : or: undertake tho construction of .works to supply that part' of tho city. It was open 'to the. council to apply to the Legislature for power to construct their works, and Rood reasons could be given! for promoting this, but .it'meant a •very'hard fight..; ■■ ■■: ■' -.

" Street.widening,. also',, must be considered. There seemed to be,'a strong desire,; not only to widen'Willis Street up to the corner of, Manners Street, but to widen the latter street as well. That would mean heavy expenditure and adjustment of 'the street widening finances. The 6treet widening loans ought to be. put in a satisfactory position as, soon as: the money market cased, and a definite plan ; of widening . should' be adopted and carried; out graduallyas circumstances required. The present council had in contemplation the buying up and re-arranging of certain portions bftho city . (Frederick;. Street; Haining Street, etc.);" but want of funds" proven ted them; from going on. If funds could be obtained at tho preaont time,_it iWould.be wise policy to kcop I tho question, in view, and endeavour to carry out the.idea. ' • . : . .;

At any rate, concluded, Mr.- Hislop, . the 'management of the municipality, with all- its various departments, requires; very .'careful and continuous attention.;