THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 783, 5 April 1910, Page 6

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. CRAWFORD OPENS CAMPAIGN,

A STRIKING POLICY SPEECH

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.

: The Municipal Concert Chamber was iairly well, filled last evening, when Mr. C. J. Crawford,'who is a candidate for the city Mayoralty, made the opening Bpeech of the present Mayoral campaign. Mr.. Crawford's address, which lasted just under an hour, was closely followed by the audience, who expressed their approval of his opinions by very frequent applause; A vote of confidence was carried at the conclusion of tho speech. Mr. C. B. Morison was in the chair. The Chairman's Speech. , The chairman said there were very few who did not know Mi. Crawford. He had come forward as a candidate for the highest office , the city could bestow, at the request of a number of citizens who believed he could well fulfil the responsibilities of that office. Mr.' Crawford was a native of Wellington, and was the son of the late Mr. J. C. Crawford, the very earliest settler of Wellington. The son of such a man could not be wanting in grit. Mr. Crawford started work in Wellington at 20s. a week. He was not an advertiser, but he wae a worker. (Applause.) It had been intimated in the press that the mayoral contest was. going to be fought as a-political contest. ■ He did not see why.it should be so. In his opinion the city did not want a politician at all for Mayor—(hear, hear)—but! one who would throw his whole heart and soul into the interests of the city. He- would have no time to waste, on politics, if he was to serve'the city properly. (Hear,'hear.) He (the chairman) would like to affirm the Srincmle that no person in active politics tiould have the guidance of the municipal ihip. It would be no advantage to the citizens to have the city made in the cmallest degree a political engine. • If municipal" management were mixed with politics, the result would be'political mismanagement." (Applause.) Mr. Crawford was a man of earnestness of purpose and great' ability, and he 'would show himjelf, in the management of city affairs, an economical Scotchman. He could be trusted, if anyone could, to.see that loans jrere , not raised and 'expended in. -the light and v airy way ■■'•• that .. they had sometimes been. He had time at his disposal, and the duties of the Mayoralty .•equired the best part of six days a~week and most of the , evenings. Br. Newman or Mr.-Hislop could tell them that. The. duties were far too important to,bo disposed of in a man's spare time. ■.Mγ. Crawford was fortunate in haying a wife ■whom it'would. ja , privilege, for the citizens to have as Mayoress. (Applause.) In conclusion, the chairman'said he was prepared to prophesy that-Mr. Crawford pould be elected.by. a large.majority, and that at the close of the year the ratepayers would be almost unanimous'.m isking him to take office' for another, term. (Applause.) ■:'■■ ... . ....-

Mr. Crawford's Address.—Reclamation. Mr. Crawford, who was enthusiastically received, said he was no pessimist, and thought that no pessimist should come .forward for the Mayoralty at the present time. .What;was Vaiite'd after the period ': of depression was someone with' an unbounded confidence in the destiny of the city, and he possessed i that .confidence. He considered that few cities in the world Were better situated for a prosperous future than'. Wellington, with its central ■. Bi.te.and-.its fine, harbour. he" was. dieted Mayor he would also be elected a member, of; the Harbour Board. 'Ho wished the citizens.to take.more interest .in the Harbqui Board, and to realise that ■the harbour was really. their ; birthright, -and that there would be practically no city without it. , / Mr. Crawford referred to the old , days wheri"there were beautiful bays all round, the'fereshore,. and :prac{ii.~; cally ail the'meri of-Wellington were boat- . ingiiien.;''Beolamationfl had been'. neceisV eary, but different .Governments had, been allowed to■; collar very much more than their due; oh which}'tie oity lost rates.and , revenue. The railway.lines, to Petono should have been" laid 'on. the inner side of; tho "road, leaving .the foreshore to tho jitizens.' , The.hand : bf the despoiler was hard at work at beautiful Oriental Bay. It would have been better to keep tho , foreshore, , and even to remove the houses on the other side of the load for purpo6o9 of street-widening, rather than that tho cpuncil should build ;a;... great, wall at enormous expense' along the beach. Again, the sea'was to be pushed back for a mile at Evans Bay, and .the citizens,- , . who> would lose their facilities for : boatlrig and. their, opportunities for recreation,: eaid not a word. >■• . -..>.■... •

The ; Dock Denounced.. ;; , He .was not going to discuss-fully the affairs of the Harbour Board, but he thought'it-had made.a huge blunder in regard to the "dock. (Applause.) He was jf opinion that the dock was not neceshear)—and' after discussing the-question with a great;mahy mien he was: of opinion that the board's decision to go on with it had not been backed up by any weight of. public opinion. "If I am given. a seat on the Harbour Board I am of. opinion that if possible' the going, on. with it should be indefinitely . postponed;,and'that'.'it is ; far better to have,a charge!of J2OOO or 5£2500 a year on the'dues of .the. harbour, th'an to complete the..-. dock and ■ have a charge of .£IO,OOO to a year, which we can't recoup in .any. way, because the dock won't pay.";( Loud Applause.)

The.City Finances. The.figures for the city's financial year would not be public ; property till they were placed before tne council next Thursday night, and though he had an iwding of how they woulu turn out, he preferred; not to discuss figure's which 'Had not yet been before the council. At the end of the last financial'year there was a debit balance of ,£45,000. He could at least throw,out a hint, and say that it would be found from ■ the coming bal-ance-sheet that this had been very much reduced. (Applause.) He' thought- that they could all congratulate the Mayor and his council on having pulled the city's finances into a very much healthier state. - (Applause.) If lie was elected ■. Mayor he. would strongly oppose any increase of rates, and. would be in favour ofl a decrease .-if: possible. 'He would endeavour with the $«ine rates that were collected now to do those works that were absolutely necessary, and improve upon what had been done in the past. -About -.£50,000 a. year -was ex- , pended . for street . repairs and street works. ■ There were a further sum of ,£6300 fl year on the general, account, which was saent on street watering and scavenging a sum'of .£6BOO for ordinary household scavenging, and ,£6ioo for street lighting: Xhe last amount would probably Tie reduced because the city now had the electric lighting m its own' hands.' The amount for household scavenging would probably not be reduced, since there was room; he was inclined to think, for some improvement and extension of the house-hold-scavenging. (Hear, hear.) In regard i '■'iSSS? of for street works and ,£6300 , for street watering -■and- scavenging, he -'.- thought that, they could make 'an improvement. lhe dust nuisance was not only a ecource of-enormous tronble to'-all New Zealand cities, but also of enormous expense. The water-carts .were simply dust makers. They alleviated the dust for the moment, but they made dust for the morrow. . If the City - Engineer could bring some system of street-tarriug or oiling.at reasonable expense, it should be adopted. To make a success of tar{jng," was necessary to- have metal of the best quality and. a continuous supnlv of cheap tar. Those conditions were hardly obtainable in .Wellington, and he doubted if tarring conld be made a great success except in some of the side streets. Extension of Wood Paving. He thought that what was wanted was an extension of wood blocking, and he believed that that was the opinion of the City Engineer. • The . money for woodblocking a large area of the streets Bhould be raised by short-dated loans, go that the money would bo repaid before the blocking, required to be renewed Ho believed the interest wonld bo less than: the amount-now spent on watering

and scavenging, and the money thus saved could bo spent on much-needed kerbing and channelling and footpaths, and similar work all : over the city and suburbs. Tho surface-water must be dealt with, and this was urgently needed on .tho footpaths in many parts. (Hear, hear.) . ■•....

Parks and Playing Grounds. ■In regard, to the city reserves, Mr. Crawford acknowledged tho work'of beautifying that had been done, but Wellington was still behind other citi-is, which he had visited, such as Montreal. Mount Victoria should bo planted extensively. A real scheme should be got out for all tho parks, and solid work done. Tho funds shonld not be all spent in one part of the city, but the parts where nothing of the sort hod been'done slwuld receive attention. The city was very badly off for level parks and grounds for games. Wellington would not be able to afford, in the years to come, to find grounds for all the sports clubs and athletic clubs, and he therefore suggested that such, bodies should be empowered by statute to take up land and receive advances from the dovernment for tho purpose. They should be able to charge for admission, but under restrictions that would prevent them making a profit beyond what was required for maintenance. Tho People's Cars. .

His policy in regard to tramways was that, the lines being put down for the convenience of the citizens, it was absurd at present to look to profits on this enterprise for relief to the rates. After allowing fully for interest, depreciation, etc., any margin of profit should be given, back to the citizens in the shape of reduced fares. The number of cars was inadequate.' People should not be compelled to'pack themselves into the 'Cars like sardines. Needful as wae economy, money must be found for 60me new cars, and also for new car-sheds. Wainui Main. ■ Tho duplication of the Wainni watermain was.estimated to cost .£120,000. If tho engineer said it was-necessary, then it;would have to be done, but he (the speaker) would certainly not be in favour of doing it before it was necessary. Even after the council had decided upon. it, two -years would probably elapse before it would be; necessary to collect a rate for the, work, and■-. the. council would, therefore,, have time to make financial adjustments. • '

Milk Supply, and Art .Gallery. In'connection with the milk: supply of the city, he wished to compliment the City Council's Milk Supply Committee and Dr. Frengley, on their jcport and Bill. , He had never had occasion to complain of tho milk supplied to-' him, which came not by train, but from Karori, but he believed that many.. citizens had had reason.to complain. The question was of very great importance, especially to the health of the -young. ■ One essential thing was .to bring the inilk to the consumer as quickly and as cleanly as possible. Somo people wasted time talking about depots and means of cleansing what should be _ thrown .away, if , it had once become' fouled. :,The council should not go in for the business of milk supply. That could only lead to disaster. While generally approving of the provisions of the BiJl promoted by the corporation, he was strongly of opinion that'the inspection should be, solely in the'hands.of'municipal inspectors, and no'-.milk-"';from any farm which they .had'not favourably reported on should be allowed to come-into the city. If there was a depot, it must be used only as a clearing-house. Other proposals in the Bill should be left to the Hospital and Charitable' Aid Board. He thought that the city should have an art gallery; though from a financial point of view it was a difficult matter to deal. with. He would be glad, within .reasonable financial grounds,, and without doing' anything too extravagant, to remove the stigma of the city's haying , to art gallery. . . Voluntary .' subscriptions should, form the basis of, the fund, and the art gallery should be situated where it would be of greatest use to the greatest number of the citizens. . .

I The City and the Gas Company. J.He .was not in .favour.i of the city takr;iug over the Gas Company.' ' It' had al- | ready. ( taken over the electric lighting,.'and :thi receipts to ttie'city from this source had. been Lvery f much ;reduced, ■ owing to, the of .metallic filaments. If. these had not been discovered,-probably the electric lighting department would have had .great difficulty in competing .with the ga£-company, owing to various improvements in the. methods of supplying gas.•-: Though the receipts had been considerably' • reduced, : the citizens ; had obtained a'very great cheap electric lighting. "I am of opinion that in the interests of the citizens, the electric lighting department should be in competition with. the Gas Company: It is 'by" such competition 'that both the Gas Company .and the department can be kept up -to- the' mark, and the citizens .will get the advantage of the keen competition which will go on between them." (Applause.)

, Recommendations for Office. ■' In conclusion Mr. ; Crawford said that he had had 20 years' experience in municipal' life, .'which should 'stand' him in food stead for. managing "the city's affairs. Iβ had had ) ,a long- experience in the handling of money, the elimination of waste, and getting 'the best value from expenditure. He had carried out under his own. direction for many years the expenditure of large sums on similar works to those which had been carried out in this city.. Ho did not suggest on that account that he' was an. • engineer, or would in any way interfere with the works which had been carried on by the city's excellent officers. , "But, if any of you were, appointing a director to a company you had an interest in you would prefer a man who had had practical' experience of the work he was asked to direct. (Hear/hear.) I suggest that few men have asked you. for your, votes, for. the position of Mayor who can slip into the- duties which'befali , a" mayor, more easily than' I can. .For many years I have been in contact with the whole of the work your Mayor, has to do, and in close contact with the officials, not only of'.the council, but of. the Harbour Board... I claim that I have time to devote to these duties, and that is something." The city liad had a long.list o{ Mayors who had devoted' practically the whole of their time to their Mayoral duties. He did not suggest'that he was as good a man as they had been, but he had had the training that would enable* hini to rise to tho occa'sion. :

Attitude to. Labour. < He had no. wish to .make any appeal whatever to: any special section of the community. A- Mayor should represent all sections. (Applause.). "But there is just this," said Mr. .Crawford, "that is very often said of a" mail like me, that being an employer of labour I. can't represent Labour. I am not. going to make any appeal to Labour, but I can , say this, that during the last twenty-five years I can almost say I have had thousands of men employed—very frequently I have had 100 or 150 men in my employ—and I ask any of you who doubt that I can represent Labour to find out who supported me. strongly in the last election I fought at Miramar? It was Labour." (Applause.) He believed that this city had a-great destiny before it. The city was as sound to-day, and sounder than it ever was. ,If elected, with the help of the councillors, and backed up by a strong public opinion, he felt that he could help this city to forge ahead till it was even more than the undisputed capital city of New Zealand. "I think that dome day it will rank with. Melbourne and Sydney as one of the great cities of the Southern Hemisphere, and that yon will in''those days deserve to elect, not a Mayor, but a Lord , Mayor." '(Applause.) - . : : ,

Questions Answered. ' Questions were asked by soveral people in the audience, and answered by the candidate, to the following effect:—. Was he' in favour of an appeal board to which the, casual labourers on the wharf could have recourse in case of dismissal?—Ho had not considered the question, but would give a reply at a future meeting. He was not going to answer any question he did not fully understand.

In, reply to a'.'question about tramway sections, Mr. Crawford said he,-would not be in favour of an J alteration in the tramway sections, unless the .whole city was tackled from end \to end. The candidate was.iitxt asked whether ha would invesiigaiciiiilitters connected with a return lately, presented to the

council, and showing that certain members of tho council had been receiving contracts without tendering; and, if satisfied that there had been a violation of tho statute, would lie see that the law was pursued? Mr. Crawford replied that he was not aware that the law had been violated. The councillors alluded to were members of joint stock companies, and were not liable under tho Act. The citizens could depend on him that if the law was violated in any way whatever, they would know about it. (Applause.) Another burgess asked whether Mr, Crawford, if elected, would give every year a return of the rates collected from each street, and tho money spent on each street.

Mr. Crawford: No. I will not. It is an old question, and I have been familiar with it for years. I am prepared to admit that the rates collected in ono part of tho city should be spent as far as possible in that part, but it is impracticable to do what is suggested in the question. If your street is thoroughly repaired ono year, it doesn't want repairing again the next year, but some other street does. And when your street was repaired, it took more money than it paid in rates. (Applause.) The questioner: It is done in other countries. Mr. Crawford: Then they are very big fools. • / Vote of Confidence.

Mr. H. F. Von Haast said that Mr. Crawford's speech and his straight-out answers to the questions showed that he had cleaT ideas about'th'e city affairs, and recognised that the management should not be run on parochial lines, but, in the interest'of the city as a whole. It was evident' that he was in favour of economy, but would not starve the city in order to show a profit. On the other hand, he would not plunge the city, into financial straits in order to make a splash. His watchword would doubtless be, "Progress with caution." Wellington ; was the capital of New Zealand, but they must remember that there was another trig city in the north. They ■wanted to make Wellington such a city that everyone who came here would say that it was the city of New Zealand. He (the speaker) deprecated the introduction of politics . into municipal affairs. They wanted the best man, whether ho was a sumiorter of the Government or the Opposition. Mr. Crawford would devote his time to. the Mayoral duties, and do his best for the city. The speaker moved':

"That this meeting expresses its confidence in Mr. Crawford as a candidate' for the Mayoralty, and proraises him its hearty support in this campaign." . The motion was seconded by Dr. Martin, and carried by hearty acclamation. Only one "No" was heard. Mr. Crawford will speak at Eoseneath Schoolroom to-night, and at Berhampore to-morrow. : .