THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 793, 16 April 1910, Page 13

THE MAYORALTY.

..iv,-'..;; ; ';;/.— ——►- : ■■■ .;. ira. CRAWFORD 1 AT NORTHLAND. AND LIGHTING.,':; lie 'Northland Methodist Schoolroom Taa.the'sceiie of Mr. C. J. Crawford's meeting last'night, in pursuance of his Mayoral ■ election ' campaign. Mr. J. 'Aston presided. : ; .\. -. .: : "...- The candidate said that bis opponent, m(a speech at Victoria Hall, had said or;implied that the 1 municipal balancesheet., could bo made more simplo, if : the. Mayor wished to have it so.. To Bay such a thing was merely throwing dust, in the'people's eyes, because the way of keeping the accounts was laid down by the Government Audit Department.: Moreover, the method was the result'of the experience of generations. The.;.. statements', published with:' the accounts. could be understood by any Intelligent person, and the public press gave accurate arid true particulars of the , municipal finances. He //strongly Seprecated. the introduction of general politics, into municipal matters. The Mayor,.as such, should have no politics, knd would thus be in a better position jii-.negotiations with ■ the head of the government. ' '■■■■'' ' ■, -"•'■■'.

V ..Northland people desired'a shortening , )f their tramway route to Wellington. In this connection, Lower Sydney Street should Tie retained, if possible, but there ■■•'■ need be no objection to a proper overhead -way instead of the present un- '•' sightly- structure. ; . Charlotte _ Street should .be made a full chain wide, and wider at.the junction with Lsmbton Quay. : He approved of the suggestion that there should .be a new. street in- : utead of Bowen: Street, to come up and Join' Moleswqrth Street, and do. away with' '•■ the ".'••■present- - "whaleback" of :' Musenm Street.: There should, also be . a- right-of-way from ■■■ Sydney ■■'.-Street 'to ■ "Hill'"' Street/ . There was' a pathv now, : . but the Government occasionally dosed tie gates. _ These ■were matters for. negotiation' with the Government. 'He did not favour the ■ suggestion, that a tunnel should be made from Moe's Steps' on' Lambkin, Quay to.Tinakori Road. .It would,'cost'about £800.-a , chain, and'wouldY.be .about 25 chains long,, andi would, be. the more v, difficult' - : from the fact.' that La-mbton .-Quay was almost at sea.level, and Tina- :-. korißoada good deal.higher. - ;More-. over,, the' tunnel would 'be', 'very : near the surface at some places, "and would .therefore be .'very expensive 'and very dangerous..-. Altogether,,.;the .scheme . : would be too costly, and of.- little ma-.'. , terial .advantage.. The tramway should ! . come up.'Bowen Street; assuming.. '.that the negotiations he: had.. mentioned- : were successful, and should run'by way of Sydney;; Street, where, there were : .no..' engineering difficulties ■;■ that: could : ■ not be overcome '• by a competent' en- - gineef:.. 'Assuming ;.that ;tb.e;engineer's ■ report,,wa3 'favourable, ■, and that' the cost was not too great," the work ought to be '.undertaken. The,. Molesworth . Street line would bo used as the route •'..'to Wadestewn. . The , new lino would enable the tramways to be worked woro. : economically:, 'in many • ways; "-. :: v The "Northland, peoplo would , not. mind paying the; samo fare: as at 'present- for a quicker; journey, l and the cars would :- be able to make more trips in !the day, • 'and.thus.earn-more. ■'..■- ./ ,'.:•". r 'A. large number of the streets.'of Northland, were in'very bad repair. The. .:Buburb.,was very...badly,.off for ■>'foot-. .paths and for street, lighting... ■ Short tracks should be made leading from the higheryroads down to-the road'below; • vKerbing.; and'channelling jweie also ... wanted,"and.proper drainsj so that the , . stonn-water would not' chisel ;oni'great : water-courses on the roads,'t':. l A.'nundretf . pounds would go ..a long way towards. ■'. putting;.the district; in order/i Money : toT-\ a~. good ~j3eal ,of,-..w.ork' ~of.:,tho same , kind might;bo found by: means . of.;the reduction in .the oost-of scavenging which would- follow upon an extension of .wood-blocking in the city'streets. as indicated - in :.previous '.addresse's. - y Northland and : some other districts ■should have got their drainage before- , now, and he would'; do, his . utmost te ■ get. it pushed on, if elected.: : . ;.. ', : In the course of a reference to the electric.lighting department, Mr. Crawford said that the council, during the. past 'year, had goiie ; in; for the' supply .or motors' and."other electrical appli-. ; ance«, and had Competed, with private enterprise i in those lines. ; That was: a , .wrong; policy.. had hot been adopted in , other countries, whore competition in the manufacture and sale of appliances was encouraged by means of exhibitions and in other ways, , the muni- ?. lpa lv elect " c departments :; employing publicity managers" to attend to that ■ part of the business. -The object was to get Ue people ,to use the current. ; and power department of tae_ Wellington Corporation could be made to ;pay if they would f.'buck up" ;and adopt:the best policy; ..,-.' ■'■■.■•.,■"■ '•' Crawford dealt with other subKcts on the lines: of .his previous ad- • dresses, v : V. '■■■■. ■ . ~ ■•''■: : ■If jeply to'a question, Mr. Crawford said that if elected he would, try to induce the council. to put; more men on ■' <l ?" n ß,, the coming; mnter, and get 'on ■.SγTnnn e v^ draina go- ■Aa only i£40,000 had been spent out of tho ..BmoqO; there should^enough to go twund. . - ■'-. ■'■ ■ . ■ • .-.■ . B

A ■ vote of thanks and confidence was Manimously, .on. the motion of filr. W. Clark, seconded by Mr.M'Leod. 'MR. WILFORD AT THORNDON. ! SHORT-DATED; DEBENTURES. ■'.■■;•.■ ■;.■;;■; OPPOSED. "'V ' » e ?? e( LH nd ' 70 ratepayers attended Mr. Wilford's .address in the uoring Street Hall last night. Among f 1 "" 6 e > re rs - Dr -Gilford and Mr. Wilford's sisters. Mr. Henderson was voted to the chair. In the course of his remarks, Mr WilJortl said that any man-who'advocated a-policy of heavy expenditure at tho present-time could' only be written down as a lunatic. Just now, owing to the; high iC ost of rent and the necessaries of We, practically nothing could bo saved by the.workers: It was wellthe extra rates meant higher rents. He noticed that Mr Urawiord favoured/ wood-blocking the various streets out' of moneys obtained by .short-dated >:debentures. A more hare-brained .schemo ho could not lmngine. If such a policy were entered upon it must mean an increase in rent and with that would follow an. increase of rent for every worker in the town. It was well-known that the longer the currency of a loan the smaller, the rate of, interest, and the shorter the currency the higher the rate of interest. ShortKlated debentures,' therefore, spelt high interest. If wood-blocking was to be'carried out in,the various streets, what was gonig to be,the cost?. He had no hesitation in saying ;■ that it would cost thousands - upon', thousands, and the- interest if 'tho' "money were obtained on short-dated debentures would be enormous. If the schonio wero adopted property-holders, whether they were owners or occupiers, would have to foot a very big bill. Some might, think that an increase of rates fell only upon the ratepayers, but the fact was that directly the rates wero raised. the owners very naturally put up_ tho rents to pay the extra rates. This was the' wrong time to advocate tho wood-blocking of the streets and he hoped the ratepayers with him would raise their voices in protest. .' A number of other subject wore also dealt with bv: Mr. AVilford.- Ho declared himself quite opposed to Mr. Crawford's proDosals in favour of the

establishment of a public art gallery and further tree-planting at Mount Vic- | toria'. Any money that was available i would, in his opinion, bo better spent on necessary works, such as drainage, water supply, street improvements, etc. Touching upon'the guestion of trol of the fire brigade he contended thai:-a fire board should bo created. There was, he thought, every reason why, the Government and tho insurance companies should contribute towards the upkeep of the brigade.. As regards tho gasworks lie submitted that they should bo municipalised as soon as wwi-s practicable. Before the city attempted to take over a big- going concern like tho gasworks it should got Parliament to fix the principles of purchase. If that wore done the city would then bo in a proper position to treat and tho negotiation would bo fair to both sides. :The probability was that if that were not done the city might ultimately bo involved in litiga.tion- running into thousands upon thousands of pounds. The right to take'did not confer the right to take any undue advantage. . In connection • with the Thorndon Baths' Mr. Wilford said that at low water they were becoming of little use owing to tho . quantity of silt which bad collected. It was his opinion that steps should be taken at once to see if thei silt could not be cleared away at a reasonable expense. - Upon the motion of Mr. Fenwick, seoonded by Mr. 8011, the candidate, to whom no questions had been put, was accorded a vote of confidence.

Mr. Crawford will address the electors on Monday night at Keen's Hall. Humber Street, Island Bay; at Willis Street on Tuesday night j and elsewhere on later evenin2s as advertised. ' I . Mr. Paroy R. Purser, returning officer, gives notice in this issue that nominations for the Lower Hutt Mayoralty are.receivable next -Wednesday forenoon. ■ : ..- '. '■■ : ...Mr. Stuart' Robinson.calls the'attention of. Miramar electors to his candidature . for the , position of councillor. His views on the tramway question and • other important matters will shortly be placed before-the electors. MASTERTON 'MAYORAUTY. (By Teleßraph.-Special -Correspondent.) .'■■•■. ■■'■/:'■■■ ;• /Masterton, April 15. -. In; response to. a roqu jsition very largely signed by''influential citizens, Mr.' J. M. Coradine bis consented to become a, candidate at, the approaching Mayoral election.- Mr. Coradine has filled the office of.Mayor on. several occasions in the, past..