THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1414, 15 April 1912, Page 4

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. M'LAREN IN THE OPEN AIR. 'A tilt at Till-: i'hkss. Mr. David M'Laren began his Mayoral campaign with an open-air speech in Green Street, Xcivtown, on Saturday night. He said ho would not: indulge in personalities during the campaign, 110 had worked with Mr. Smith and Mr. Hiss on committees of the City Council, and willi Mr. Wright 011 Parliamentary committees, and he respected tliem all. lie had been a member of the council con- . tinuously since J!)UI, when he polled Mil) votes and became tho first l.abour member. 110 had polled at successive elections about 1(100, 5000, (1000, 7000, and 8000 votes. He had never stood in the interests of a section or a class, but always in the interests of l.abour. liy Labour lie understood useful work, whether of the. hand or the brain. It might lw tlio labour of tho artist or the navvy, of the nurse or tho wharf labourer, but if it was service of use to the community, it was l.aboui — and that was what tho Labour parly meant ,by the term, lie held that all public services that tended to become monopolies should be municipalised, and bo was glad to have assisted in preventing tho Wellington clectric tvamways being taken up by the American syndicate, which had control of the Auckland tramway service. There was scarcely a committee of tlio council 011 which he had not sat, and ho was the council's representative on the Technical Hdueation Hoard, lie was a nicml>er of tlio Hospital and Charitable Aid Hoard, and had _ assisted educational and mimical societies and oilier movements of advantage to the people. He had successfully filled tho position of chairman of tho I'enguin Relief Committee. Ho had advocated the widening of Adelaide lioad and Willis Street, the wood-blocking of streets, and the establishment of municipal abattoirs, 110 had also, during the last two or three years, been working for the establishment of a municipal mill; supply, and a Hill bad been brought forward in Parliament, but owing to tho lobbying that was dono for a private company, tho Hill was spoilt. If ho was elected Mayor, he would push this matter 011. It was necessary for the sake of tho children lo have tlio most perfect milk supply possible. He repeated that tho supply of gas had been allowed to become the monopoly of a company, and ho thought tho municipal electric light and power works should bo developed as much as possible, and the price 01 current cheapened, to compete with tho

Gas Company. Tiif, Dominion* and (lie Tost had placed themselves in a ridiculous position. Without waiting for him to announce his policy, they had said that (hero were three candidates on one "ticket/ and 0110 011 another. Such a thing had often occurred before, but it. was not; until tliero was a Labour candidate in the field that they saw anything wrong about it. Ihey got.'the other three candidates together to see which should stand down, so that Labour should not secure a victory. 1 hose two papers sometimes blamed Labour men for stirring up class feeling, but it was they who had stirred it up this time, for no one could say lie had brought it into this contest. A Labour man could be a citizen, too, and there were plenty cf citizens besides the lit tie coterie calling themselves the Citizens' League. Jho papers had no right to dictate to tho electors whom tliev should choose as Mavor, and it. was not, for tliein to preach about tho duty of tho people, seeing that when an election came along they i.nsed the advertising rate; from 4s. an inch to , r >s., showing that they cared only for their own interests. Tho law should be amended to prevent the papers bleeding candidates for public positions in tho way they Tho writers of the leading articles -vero wago earners, but there were commercial and capitalistic interests behind tho papers, and those interests were averse to having a Labour man as Mayor. Ho contended that it was well to have a Mayor who was independent of business interests. In elaborating this point, Mr. M'Laron mentioned tho proposal to reduce the minimum space between buildings in .suburban areas, as agreed lo by tho council last year. This, lie said, was the result of efforts bv certain speculative builders. Ho also referred to the city leasehold

lands, and said that when the leases fell in ho would liy to secure fair rentals for the next term?. ITis policy as Mayor would bo progressive, but cautious. Tho recreation grounds should be _ improved and extended., further i'ducationat improvements should bo made, and the means of healthy recreation should bo provided for the people, lie was a_ hearty supporter of tho movement for a National Art Gallery.

Ho did not believe in tlio strike method for tho settlement of labour disputes between the council and it? employee?, in

tho caso of the late trannvav dispute, ho pleaded with the council to set lip a small commitleo of conciliation to negotiate | with the employees before tho dispute readied tho acute stage, but they refused on account of their dignity. ITo held that in tho transaction of important public business that concerned tlic whole city tho man who would allow his own personal conceit to so cloud his judgment that ho would set his little dignity before tho interests of tho people was not fit for liis position. If ho was clecftd Mayor, be thought he could get a board set lip that could settle labour disputes in their early stages. The candidate answered several questions, and Mr. P. ,T. O'Eegan and Mr. Arthur Withy spoko in support of his candidature. The chairman (Mr. W. H. Hampton) then "put tho motion," and declared it carried by acclamation, although 110 motion had been moved, or even stated. Questioned by this journal's representative, lie. admitted this, but said that everybody knew that what was meant was a motion of thanks and confidence. It is only fair to add that tho remarks of Mr. M'Larcn and his supporters were well received by an audience of about one hundred.