THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 795, 19 April 1910, Page 6

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. CRAW-FORD AT ISLAND BAY. IN EEPLT TO ME. WILFOED. In continuation of his mayoral election campaign, Mr. C. J. Crawford addressed a meeting in the hall, Humber Street Island ,Bay, last night. Mr. E. ■Keeno presided. The candidate, in the course-of his address, referred to some remarks made by Mr. Wilford in his recent speech at Island Bay. His opponent on. that occasion had accused him of using personalities. "That I emphatically deny," he continued. "I have , not made one personal remark about him, or one remark that could be construed into a personalIf my opponent puts forward policies that are false, I shall take the first opportunity of knocking them over, and up to the present I have knocked over every so-called policy that he has put forward. I have usually not even referred to him by name. In his last speech, as reported, he attributed to mo remarks I never made. I must ask you to take my remarks only- from reports under the heading Ilr. Crawford's Address.' " '■ •' • '■'■-.'

In regard to the dock, Mr. Crawford said that he had not the opinion that the dock should be abandoned— a statement that had been attributed to him by his opponent. What he had said wa6 that he favoured the indefinite postponement of the, completion of tho dock if it could be arranged for, and that was a very different matter. .He knew the difficulties the Harbour Board had to meet, and he had no intention of discussing the dock in such a way as to embarrass the present board, which was doing, its best to overcome the difficulties in wnich it was placed. He was of opinion that the dock should never have been started, but if the opinion that a dock was necessary were accepted, then it was the business of the board before committing itself to the work tosetits finances in order. Yet they found that the board had now deemed it necessary to put/ another .£17,090 a year on the port duos, which would therefore amount to .£33,000 a year. That money would come ultimately out of the pockets' of the citizens, just as certainly.as if the charges had been levied by the City Council. . Had the City' Council done such a thing the citir zehs would have turned them. out of office. Yet.the citizens did not seem to care. When he dealt with these matters, his opponent, by way of reply, read a letter from the present chairman of the Harbour Board, stating that he (Mr. Wilford) was not,' chairman when the board committed itself, to making the. dock, and was not responsible for' the nqn-setting of the cement. His (Mr. Crawford's) view was that' the moment one took' office one .became responsible absolutely for the work that was put upon one. Every member was just as responsible as the chairman, and the only way for a member to clear himself of responsibility for any action of the board was to vehemently oppose it when it was proposed. (Hear, r hear.) His op-, ponent had tried to get out of it by saying that he was not chairman at the time. That sort of excuse deserved the contempt of all right-thinking citizens. It had been said:that he (Mr. Crawford) was in favour of an art gallery for Wellington. What he had said was that the idea of an art gallery had his utmost sympathy, and that within reasonable financial bounds ho would endeavour with some help from. thS city and some assistance from wealthy citizens to pro-, vide for the nucleus of an.ait gallery.. •At the close of the address a vote of thanks and confidence, was moved by Mr. E.L. Turner, seconded by Mr. Palmer, and carried .unanimously."

MR.vWILFORD AT ARC- STREET. Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., continued his campaign for the City Mayoralty last evening, by addressing over, fifty ratepayers in .the Aro Street' Hall. Mr. Carmody was in the chaii. : ■ In. expressing his opposition to ; Mr. Crawford's policy of tree-planting, Mr. •Wilford said..that if he> was elected he would not undertake to expend one pomny out of the money available this year on planting. Mount Victoria with any kind of shrubs or trees in the coming year; What was the position at the Brooklyn water-works reserve ' now ? ' The fences were broken down, with a wire here and there, and sixty or seventy loads of manure had been tipped into the midst of the reserve. He thought that it was better to clean up and put in decent order the present reserves than to spend money which was required for other works on -tree-planting on Mount Victoria. Beferring to his connection with the Harbour, Board, Mr. Wilford said that when he was first appointed to the chairmanship, it was by a majority of one vote, but when he stood for re-elec-tion at the end of the year he was reappointed unanimously, and one man, who had voted against him before, admitted that he had been wrong, and had underrated his capacity. He had to thank The Dominion for the. excellent account of eulogistic remarks upon his management of the Harbour Board, and he intended.to reprint.them in pamphlet form in order that the public might judge what The Doimnos really thought of him, for they were uttered before ne announced himself as a candidate for the Mayoralty.. As.a matter-of fact, he had already had- them' printed in pamphlet form. The date of their previous .publication Ttas' January 23, 1910. He had been held up to ridicule in connection with the dock. The dock ; contract was signed, and . the contract entered into and work begun under the chairmanship of his predecessor, and. was ■12 months in hand before he (Mr. Wilford) became chairman. Mr. '< Wilford said that he declined to take any responsibility in connection with the Petone wharf or the present trouble at the dock. The members of the board were appointed for administrative purposes, but the driving of a pile and the proportions for concrete, mixing, in the laying of a dock matters that lay between the contractors and .- the ; engineers appointed for that purpose. Mi. Wilfoidi dealt 'with .other questions on the lines of his previous speeches. ■ A vote of thanks and confidence was passed to the candidate at the conclueion of hie address. ;'; HHBAMAfi MAYORALTY. Mr. I?. Townsend addressed a wellattended , meeting of ratepayers at I'abian's Tea-rooms last evening, Mr. Hawson , occupying the chair. The candidate spoke at length on the urgent needs of iho borongh—drainage, water, and the need for economy in-tramway administration—ground over which he had travelled before—and-' at the termination of his address was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and-confidence.