CITY COUNCIL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1717, 7 April 1913, Page 5

CITY COUNCIL ELECTION

THE CANDIDATES. A GENERAL SURVEY. Throo weeks from Wednesday next th'O municipal doctors will bo called upon to elect a new City Council. On the present occasion there aro 110 prossing municipal questions to decide, inasmuch (is Wellington is fortunately well abreast of the times as far as civic utilities oro concerned. Tho tramway system has been, placed on a paynblo basie througli tho policy of tho Tramways Board, which admits of no "kissing by favour" appointments inimical to the. general cfliciencr of tho staff. Each question is dealt with on its merits; and any complaint is cure-, fully inquired into before a decision is given. Everyone agreed that tho t-rams must pay, but' when it camo to a readjustment of tho sections, parochialism showed its iinwelcomo : head, and the coming elections doubtless made councillors wary as to how they "shaped" ovor, tho new sections. In tho end the board's suggestions wore adopted, and the returna since liavo fully justified the change. Wo have now an assured water supply . for many years.. Not only havo we mora . • than' trebled our water storage during ' tho nasi; ton years, but wo now have a double lino of pipes from Wainui into the city. Tho new length of pipes laid during last year aro conducted into town, and via Wellington Terrace and Upper Willis Street, to a service reservoir above . the Nairn Street Reserve. This gives a splendid high-pressure- to tho whole To Aro flat, and is calculated to bo of great sorvico in tho direction of fire-suppres-sion. Our drainogo works are all but completed. There is still a littlo work to do at Northland, Wadestown, and Maranui, which will ba completed. this , year. Maintenance of streets is not such an acute question as it was prior to tho days of wood-blocks. Instead of waiting . for .the 'general deterioration of a;patch , of wood-blocking, the City Engineer's policy is to repair 011 discovery. A littlo wood-blocking is being done every year. This autumn the streets surrounding tho General Post Office are being attended to. This should mean a big improvement to that part of tho town. With the further wood-blocking of Fcatherskin Street and Lower Cuba Street, and tho ' tarred 1 macadamising of Thorndon Quay and Clyde Quay and Lower Taranaki and Tory Streets, tho dust fiend will find himself well fettered. Theso arc tho thoroughfares that should bo assiduously watered in windy weather, as they are certainly . tho channels which' convey ,the dust from , reclaimed lands into the city. • With all the big works out of the way. the questions of city improvement ana beautifying liavo been brought moro prominently into tho focus of the public eye. The council is not immune from labour troubles, and in that direction the electors will havo to do somo hard thinking. : This, too, looks like establishing "class sections within the council. Tho Trades. and t Labour party liavo deliberately arranged a full ticket, which includes tho' .names,of two,'eitting councillors, whilst . Mr. 'M'Larcn will bo their nominee as Mayor. There is likely to bo' an interesting contest, inasmuch as a citizens' "ticket", will bo offered, and a "Young Wellington" party is also, threatening to bring out a ' ticket." THE CANDIDATES. : So; far those who havo definitely nn» nounccd their intention of standing ars as follow :-r ' Sitting councillors—Messrs. R. Fletcher, J. E. Fitzgerald, J.- Godber, A. H. Hind" marsh, E. Trogcar, J. Fuller, L M'Ken« , .-ale," A. R. Atkinson, Jas. Trevor,' G, Frost, F. Cohen. " ! \ ■ The Labour fifteen—Mews. W-S.,'Bcd< , ford, E. J. Caroy, C. H. Chapman, J. G« W. Dalrymple, W. Dobson, S. Gordon, W< H. Hampton, A. R. Hornblow, E. Kennedy, ■ Dr. F. W. Mackenzie, W. C. Noot, M. ,T 1 Reardon, W. T. Young, also Messrs Hind' marsh and Tregear (sitting, councillors mentioned above). • Other candidates:—Messrs.. T. Ncave, H.'Buddie, H. G. Hill. W. Pern', Martin. Luelcie, .1. Dykes, W. J. Thompson, Charlos M'lntyre, and D. Moriarty, Theso names represent a. total of 33 candidate for tho fifteen seats, and the above is not by any means likely to bo the full list. Of tho new. candidates, four are solicitors, so that the oouncil should not bo at a loss for legal advice if theso gentlemen aro elected. Of ' tho newest candidates, Mr. H, G. -Hill is managing director of the firm of Hill and Barton, Ltd,, dairy produco merchants. Mr. H. Buddie is a solicitor. AT PETONE. As far as can bo gathered, it seems ai if there will be some difficulty to gel, sufficient for tho election, of councillors at Peton/i at tho end of tha • month, Several prominent business men ■have been approached, but up till tiro pre- ' sent all have declined nomination. Anions ; others, Mr. E/P. Rishworth was waited ,on, but 110 stated that he could not spare tho time. ■ Mr. Ralph Jones, of Koro Koro, has definitely decided to contest the Pctonf Borough Council election, on, April 30. CANDIDATES' MEETINGS, Messrs.-■ Martin Lnclcio and H, Buddl« announce by advertisement in this issue' that they will bo candidates' for seats on the Wellington City Council at tho forthcoming election. Mr. T. C. A. Hislop mil bo a candidate for tho City Council at tho forthcoming - election) at tho ond of tho month. .