CITY MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1412, 12 April 1912, Page 6

CITY MAYORALTY.

MR. R. A. WRIGHT'S CANDIDATURE

HIS FIRST ADDRESS. Mr. R. A- Wright opened his campaign as a candidate for the City Mayoralty by i\ddre>sing a meeting of electors in the Xewtown Public, Library last night. There v;ere about 20(1 people present. Mr. W. Hijuhiboltoni presided. Mr. Wright was welcomed with a hearty round of applau.-e. He opened by giving some of the reasons which prompted him to seek election as a candidate lor the Mayoralty. Had Mr. Witford been a candidate, he would not have been opposed, but when lie (Mr. Wright) saw that difficulty was being met with in securing the services of a suitable man, he came to the conclusion that it was a pity to seo the office of chief magistrate of the city going a-begging. The only candidate who bad then announced hiui.-elf, if somewhat indefinitely, was Mr. John Smith. That was the position when tho speaker decided to stand for election. Since then Mr. Smith had definitely declared himself, and also announcements had been mado by Mr. M'Laron and Mr. Biss. His second reason for being a candidate was that he claimed to have had some experience in nublic life. A third reason was that he 'had a good general knowledge of the city and its requirements. He was a very old resident of Wellington, and ho had seen it grow to its present size and importance. What a Mayor Should Be. He outlined the characteristics which he thought the Mayor of Wellington should possess. In the first place he must be a strong man; secondly ho must bo devoted to the duties of his office, for the office was no longer a sinecure; thirdly, he must bo strictly impartial; fourthly, he must have business ability; and, last of all, he must be endowed with common sense and tact.' The man to be Mayor must have time and energy to attend to his Mayoral duties, and to learn thoroughly tho needs of the town. He must also lie impartial, for disputes might arise between different districts or sections of the community as to what works shall be done, and in them he must give to the council an inipai'liiil lead. He must-1)3 impartial, too, in his dealings with the army of employees of tVe council. Tic must lie a man with business capacity, for he would have to hold an important position in tlie control of a huge business concern. And frequently positions might ariso in which the Mayor would be required to exercise tact and all the common sense ho commanded. Of course, the '.uiincil was not called upon to run concerns in competition with others, the sole exception being tho Electric Lighting Department, but there was still need for economical careful administration. A Wealthy City. Tho total indebtedness of the city in loans was ,£2,1SI);050, but the city had laid aside in sinking funds .£202,876, leaving a net debt of JC1,956,174. It seemed a heavy liability, but ".lion account was taken of. tho property tho city held, it was evident that the city was in a strong financial position—was, in fact, a wealthy concern, and as years went by it would become more and more wealthy. In tho future, people residing in Wellington would be enjoying the fruits of the labours of the people of the past. We had the tramways, and huge areas.of land, which latter we owed to the foresight of the older residents who set. aside reclaimed land, recognising that it would ona day become immensely valuable. Tho rents from . these area's were already considerable, and .as the leases fell in would be- increased from time to time. His Policy. He believed, however, that we should follow a policy of progress with caution, for there were clouds on the financial horizon which New Zealand had nothing to do with. He was afraid there would be some monetary stringency, caused by over-importation and the strike in Great Britain. The corporation would need to pursue a cautious policy for one year at least. There must be no increase in rates, for rates in Wellington had almost reached the limit already. Increased rates must mean increased rents; they must always revert to the occupiers of houses. The corporation must turn to profitable account all waste lands vested in the city, and he instanced the sites of the old tramsheds in Adelaide Road. It might not lie possible to sell it io advantage, but it might in the meantime be leased to some sports body or turned to some profitable account. Reserves and playing grounds ought to Tie improved. He was not one of those who held that money spent on the upkeep of playing grounds was badly spent. He was in favour of proceeding steadily, so far as funds would allow, with the improvement of reserves, and with the making of those playing fields now only partly made. The council should also employ some of its officers in planting out the Town Belt with trees. If need not be a costly work, and it would help to make the bare hills a great deal more beautiful than they now were. (Applause.) The council hnd appointed a Tramways Board to take over the undertaking of running the trams in this city, having been influenced by the fact that the business was not paying as much profits as tramways in other parts of New Zealand. The balance-sheet for 1911 showed that (he tramways had earned a profit of •£5616 for that year. There were those who thought that (oo small a margin, and that was a question which the newboard would report at length upon shortly. Last of all. he believed in sound administration without waste. Zoo, Gasworks, and Other Things. We had practically the only Zoological Gardens in New Zealand, and it was costing us .£l.lOO a year. If we went on adding to the collection of animals it would cost more and more per year. He did not suggest that we should not go on maintaining the Zoo, but he did think that the council should strive to induce private citizens to contribute voluntarily to the upkeep of the Zoo. There was a section of the community which was always calling out for the purchase of the Gas Company by the city, but he did not see how this was to be carried out just yet. The company could be bought out only by agreement. Wo could not acquire the works compuisorily, calling in arbitrators to decide upon the price, so that it was boneless to obtain it at a reasonable price. The best policy for the council to pursue was to extend its electric light and power plant, in competition with the Gas Company. He thought the question of superannuation of corporation employees was worthy of serious consideration. There were 1327 employees of the city, and among them .£IOBO . was dispersed per week. Other questions to be considered were, the linking up of tho Constable Street and the Kilbirnie tramlines—(applause)—; the joining up of Vogeltown with the Arn Street. line; the duplication of the Willis Street line; and the construction of a line to connect Karori with the Kelburne cable car. He believed that Wellington was bound from its situation and from its possession of such a fino harbour always to be an important city, and if elected he woiiid endeavour so to discharge his duties as to preserve the honour and dignity of (he city, and to carry on its affairs in a proper anil business-like way. (Applause.) A Vote of Confidence. In reply to a question, Mr. Wright indicated that he thought the work of enlarging the tunnel through the hill too costly an undertaking to bo considered lightly. He agreed that the residents of llntai'lai were under a hardship in having to ride in a tramcar to get to the city. To another question he replied that ho wa-s in favour of the Mayor holding office for two years. He stated also that if it were possible he would be in favour of reducing the cost of electric light to users of it. He was not in favour of allowing the tramlines to go through the llaj-in Reserve unless some other recreation ground could be found near at hand to take its place. A vote of thanks was proposed, and an amendment that a vote of thanks and confidence be accorded was also duly nropesed and seconded, amid applause. The amendment was carried unanimously, with hearty applause. Mr. A. S. Biss, who is a candidate for the Citv Mayoralty, will address the electors as follows:—Monday, April Ur, at Newtown Library; Tuesday, April Hi, at Svdnev Street. Hall; Wednssday. Apri l 17, at" Druids' Hall, Taranaki Street; at 8 D.ni.