MIRAMAR CAMPAIGN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 789, 12 April 1910, Page 3

MIRAMAR CAMPAIGN.

SPEECH BT ME. TOWNSEND. ; Mr. P. Townsead, who is standing for the Mayoralty of Miramar, addressed a meeting at the Worser Bay kiosk last night. About 50 persons, about half of whom were ladies, were present. Mr A. E. Mabin, who presided, said that during the last two years an ostrichlike policy had been pursued by those in authority. The amount of loss on the tramways had.been hidden from the ratepayers. The loss really amounted to .£4OOO or i>sooo per annum, and it' was monstrous that those in authority should have said that it was only .£6OO 'or ,£7OO. Mr. Townsend, who was well received, said he came to • Wellington 33 years ago, with , nothing, and, by his own ability, he' had risen to his present position. Hβ was a successful husiness man, and he would be able to devote ample- time to the duties of the Mayoralty. A business man was needed to safeguard the small finances of the borough. Hβ had received, unlike his opponent, a requisition signed by 120 Miramar ■ residents, asking him to stand. He was not .going to say that the loss on* tho tramways was so great as the chairman had said. It might be. At any rate, it was considerable. When the agreement relating to the tramways was made, it was defectively drawn, so that the guarantors were able to evade their obligations.- The ratepayers had. therefore, had to bear the loss,-which the council of that time, of which he.was' a member, had foreseen. The cost of running was Is per mile, which ran into £3500 per annum. The only way to effect a saving was to run fewer care. There should be no reduction of the service up to 9 a.m., nor in tho service about 5 p.m., but by running the cars less frequently at other hours of the day, a saving of ,£BOO to £1000. a year could be effected.: He would not raise the tram fares to residents of the borough, but he would raise the fares- to trippers, who would as readily pay 6das 3d. to ,?o out on a Saturday afternoon. The tramway loan was £35,000 at 4i per cent, and the borough had to pay £1575 per annum on it. Water-supply and drainage were highly desirable, but'the. council should go slow at present. If. economies could be effected, as he had suggested, in. the tramway

system, they might, after a while, be able to have waltr and drainage without levying ah.-extra rate. Judicious'economy should be the policy.of the Mayor of Miramar. If further taxation was imposed, people would not go to. Miramar to live.

He understood that he had been branded as a "nigg-er-driver." He could prove the contrary, though he would .admit that he did not have loafers about his place. A good man would find in him a good master. He denied a rumour that he would discharge a number of borough employees and reduce wages, if elected. He did not intend to do anything of the sort. Hβ only wanted a fair day's work for a fair day's wage. A reference to the newspaper'■ files would show that there was no truth in a saying that councillors were "gagged" when he -was Mayor. The Government valuations of Miramar had been raised much too high, but he suggested that it was for the owners to object;at the proper time. ■ It had been stated by Mr. Crawford that the rates of. Miramar would probably be reduced during the coming year. He (the speaker). thought so too, but it would be in an extraordinary way, and a way that would not do much credit to the present Mayor. Ho would dear with the matter at a future meet,ing. The street improvement loan •of .£24,000 had been all spent in one part. of the borough,- while residents in other parts were still waiting for roads. The grade of the tram line in one place was altered to suit one particular person at acost of d>4ooo or .£SOOO to the borough. After briefly referring" to his opponent (Mr. Brodie) as one who had done nothing in his capacity as a councillor, Mr. Townsemd advocated the removal of the borough office from the city to Miramar. (Hear, hear.) He cauie before the electors unfettered and with no axe to. grind, and he had just as much confidence as ever in.the future of Miramar. ' ,

A morion declaring Mr. To-wnsend to be a suitable person to occupy the Mayoral chair was moved by Mr. D. Blair, seconded by Mr. Stuart Eobinson, and carried unanimously.

MB,' j! BBODHyS VIEWS. • About thirty ratepayers of Miramar assembled'in Hope flail last evening to hear Mr. J. Brodie, who is a candidate for the Mayoralty of the borough, deliver the inaugural address of his campaign. The. chairman, Mr. William Bath, stated that Mi. Brodie deserved to be supported as a resident of the district Sir. Brodie, who was received with applause,, expressed great pleasure at the opportunity of making his 'views known to the electors. After six years' experience in the, council he thought, that he was fully qualified to take office, as'their Mayor; Partly owing to his endeavours, the Gas Company had decided to , establish itself, in'Miramar, and under the agreement with the company the borough would ha'vo a complete gas reticulation within three years, which he thought was very satisfactory for the "baby" borough. It was generally admitted that the. council had made good terms for Miramar with, the Harbour• Board. Wellington' was ■ expanding rapidly, and the board had • recognised the necessity of extending the Miramar wharf and. canning out the reclamation scheme. These were works which would be greatly to the advantage of the borough. The amount of i>22.000 had been,spent on road improvements, but this was necessary work, seeing that amalgamation city was a near contingency for which they must make ready. JOlbirnie should co-operate with Miramar in. forming. an attractive drive, along the foreshore round the Peninsula, to Breakers B.ay. This might be made one of the finest drives in New Zealand, and it would prove of great benefit to the districts through which it passed. This project would Teceive his earnest'support: if he was elected Mayor. As a , meniner of the Borough Council he had 7>een largely instrumental in getting • the tramway out to Miramar. They had _been persistently'told th,at' the Miramar trams were losing between JBSOOO and ,£6OOO a year. That statement was absurdly incorrect. The actual loss for three years, Mr. Brodie contended, was .£BOO to March 31 last, and if the interest on the tunnel and on road formation was included the loss was only .£2OOO a year. The exaggerated statements that had been made in this connection were tho sort of thing that caused a district a lot of harm. When the , tramways were built ■no one expected that they .would pay; they wera ouilt .to aesist the 'developmentl'of' the district. ' He . had strongly.resisted, and.would continue to .resist, any'alteration! of the tram fares. If he were defeated it would mean that residents would have to pay a twopenny fare over the Miramar .North and Seatoun links. -Probably they .would also have only an hourly service over the line, but he thought that", the ratepayers had too much sense to agree to such a retrogression. The 2s. concession ■ card. was a nuisance which should be wiped out of existence., .. . . . Bathing sheds should be erected on the Worser Bay, Seatoun, and Scorching Bay beaches, and the council might subsidise a local band, which would provide an additional attraction for' the various beaches on fine afternoons, as well as being a source of revenue to the municipality. There was going to be a solid reduction in rates this year. They should come out at something like twopence in the £, instead of threepence. At .the outside, the \rate would not be over twopence halfpenny. The water and drainage scheme. should be urjjed . forward, and he was a strong believer in pushing on with road works. ~- A vote of thankt and • confidence was passed to Mr. Brodio at the conclusion of his-address. ... . . :

Mr. C J. Crawford, will address the electors in the churchioom, Kelburne, at 8 o'clock this evening, and at the Victoria Hall, Newtbwn,.to-morrow evening. A meeting of ladies interested,™ Mr. Townsend's mayoral candidature for ; Miramar aro invited to meet at Fabian's Tea Rooms, Seatoun, at 3 o'clock this afternoon ~'■... \ •Mr: John Brodie, candidate' for the iliramar Mayoralty, will address the electors at the kiosk, "Worser Bay, to-mor-row, evening at 8 o'clock. . The mayoral election for the Borough ofKarori'is to be held on April 27. Nominations close on April 20. '