THE MAYORALTY

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 3

THE MAYORALTY

MR. CRAWFORD'S CANDIDATURE. ADDRESS AT BROOKLYN. Mr. C. J. Crawford, who is standing for the Mayoral contest, had a good hearing from a meeting of Brooklyn ratepayers, whom he addressed in Fullford's Hall last evening. Mr. A. H. Fullford was in the chair. The candidate stated that nothing could be further from the truth than to say, as had been said, that he had .lived on unearned increment.' He had worked for twelve years in various parts of New Zealand, and by his own efforts, without any assistance, financial or otherwise, he had risen to a high position in the way of controlling very large stations. He had had to perform very responsible duties, to' administer large sums,, and -to employ large numbers of men, and all this was experience that would bo very useful to him if he was elected Mayor. Afterwards he threw in his lot with the Miramar Estate, but he only inherited a very small portion of the estate, and that was covered with debt. For some time it'was a very hard matter to make ends meet in connection with the estate. The development of the large area at' Miramar had tended to keep down rents in the entire Wellington area.•

With regard to his suggestion that work -on the dock should be discontinued, if possible, in order.to prevent further loss, Mr. Crawford said ne was not prepared from the public platform to go into details about the dock, bocause he knew that at the present moment the Harbour Board realised their difficulties, and were trying to solve a very difficult problem. He certainly would not do anything which would embarrass their position. A great blunder had been made in the position chosen for the dock. The dock site was really the centre of what would be the industrial area of Wellington. The wharves and central railway station were being built at, the north end of the town, and the-popula-tion was all going south. The dock site should have been used for as many wharves as possible, so that the shipping should bo as near as possible to the heavy population. " - ■' . Mr. Crawford detailed his schemes for a system of short-dated loans to extend wood-blocking, and for assisting athletic bodies to get their own ;jSj-mnds. The tramways should be run tor the absolute convenience of the public. ,_They-must provide interest on the capital expenditure, an adequate depreciation fund, and other necessary charges, but'if there were any profits after that the fares should be immediately decreased. . There, were districts all round the city which would soon need extensions of the tramways, and he believed that it was desirable to enlarge the residential area and extend the tramways wherever it could be done. (Applause.) The linking up of lines would be of enormous advantage to the service. '

It would take a huge sum of money to purchase the Gas 'Coirwnv for +V city, and he thought it was very much .to the advantage oi the citizci.s io ktL-p thes electric lighting department and the Gas Company m' competition,' as that must mean a cheapening of the cost of lighting to the public. (Hear, hear.) Ai adequate sum had not yet been provided for the extension and working of the electric lighting department. , The business was extending considerably, and the profits were.not sufficient to pay for the extension. He thought. that it would soon be advisable to find more capital for this _de-. partment, -instead of working on an overdraft. As,regards the milk supply, .what was.:wanted. above 'all was adequate inspection. No milk, should; come into the city unless it was licensed by the city's' authorities, and the source or supply approved by the city inspectors. Tho depot. proposed in the Bill should be no more than a clearing house, and if there was to be a depot at Te Aro there should be another at Newtown. The City Council should certainly not engage in the milk trade; anything of that kind could only end in disaster. (Applause.) . He claimed that 25 years' experience, private and municipal, had gone to qualify him'for the position of Mayor. : .■■'■• < In reply to questions Mr. Crawford stated that his proposed short-dated loans for wood-blocking would be paid off by increasing the sinking fund. ' If the council seriously, interfered with the milk supply it would certainly mean increasing the cost of milk. He would sooner see £1000 spent outright on inspection than see the council seriously interfere with the trade. Depots like thai which it was proposed to construct cost from £500 to £600 in other countries,'and ho would be sorry to see a depot erected by the Orty Council. In reply to another question Mr. Crawford explained that he had resisted a proposal to go to the City Council for a reduotion of the power, charge to Miramar, but had been over-ruled by a majority of the Miramar Council's Finance Committee. He certainly would, not give a pledge thai if he was elected he would refuse to make any concession to Miramar in this matter. He had given mo pledges in this campaign, and he certainly would not give any pledge at all. It was a question for the Mayor, whoever he might be, and council to consider. If such economies were effected that the power, charge could be reduced) possibly the City Council would reduce'the charge both for Karori and Miramar. They could rest assured that no reduction would be made' within the year, and he would not move for any such reduction, and no reduction wquld be made at any time to Miramar that was not also made to Karori. (Applause.) A motion of thanks and confidence was moved by Mr. A. B. James, seconded by Mr. Turner, and carried, unanimously. Mr. Crawford wfH, speak in St. Luke's Schoolroom, • Wadestown, at 8 p.m. on Monday.