CIVIC ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1733, 25 April 1913, Page 6

CIVIC ELECTIONS.

YESTERDAY'S MEETINGS. THE MAYORAL CAMPAIGN. MR; LUKE AT KELBURNE. I; { i Mr, J. P. Luke, in'continuance of his campaign for the Mayoralty, addressed a meeting of electors in tho Churchroom, Kelburiie, last night. Sir..-Stephen was in tho chair. -Mr. Luko explained that he was desirous of. seeing progress in all parts of the icity aind not riii any. special area. He referred to his support of tho lato Councillor Anderson in his work'in promoting the construction of tho park now named after -that worthy councillor, who never lost'.'interest'in'-tho needs of tho young people of Thorndon. The candidate also stated /that he .aided, in tho policy 1 and 'development "work in providing tho Kel'burne Park. The centre of the city had been well provided; w'ith the conveniences that Tesult .froiviia progressive mnnicipnl life; and diiriug the coining year forward Swork :'.should, extend .to the outlying areas;'' Tho extending of a good water and drainage sdhemo was being accomplished at a 1 fair'pace,, and further,improvements in street, works 1 were necessary. -After he had spofen oil omer matters of general interest, .(.unanimous vote of thanks and confidence was accorded 3lr. 'Luke; on-the m'Qtioii'.of Mr, Dunn, seconded by Mr/ R. Jl'anley. ;. "Can you explain .-why VXtr. M'Larcn made the statement ,at .the Town Hall in liis policy speech last-Monday night that i£100,()00 was falling duo this year, When tho balance-sheet referring to the said loan states that the. loan will not be duo until 1929?"- asked a member of Mr. Luko's audience ■ at Kelbnrne last evening. .The candidate replied that in the balance-sheet of the City Council-the-loans are, set out, in 'order. The. date, of maturity for the .£100.00(1 city imprbvenient loan is shown to he 1.92!), and if Mr. JrLni'en, is correct it must lie n drawing 4 loan, and the balance-sheet should show* it. ■-. v. • ' ...

MR. M'LAREN AT HATAITAI. >' Mr. .1). M'Laren nddr'sssed meetings' at Hataitai Howling Pavilion and at too Eoseneath School last evening in continiianie of his candidature for ty. In 'referring to the general position of. the city's undertakings, he emphasised the point, thai the several services of the city, .such as street lighting -and-(Various, works.of tho kind,'were going at such a rata that. it. entailed increased expenditure eyery. year. As, an example, lie explained that in 1905 the number of .lamps' provided for street lighting was 809 and the expenditure was .£llO3, whilst ill 1912, tho'number of lamps was 2026 and the expenditure .was >68710. -The growth -of expenditure was therefore, lie said, a' matter, to be-watched,;.and during his term of office he- had endeavoured to curtail; any extravagance .in that direction. The candidate said lie was ■; seeking, reelection because; liOj had commenced several matters of .city business, and lie deSired, an, opportunity to complete . the work he -was:'engaged upon. A vote' of thailks and confidence was recorded at bqth' meetings. .

j ' AT ISLAND BAY. ASSOCIATION CANDIDATES. SPEAK. •' Before an'audience of about 30 odd persons, assembled in the schoolroom. Island, Bay, last evening,- -addresses were'deliver-' ed by Mr. A/ Leigh Hunt (candidate for th® Wellington Harbour Hoard),'Council--lor; r len. M'Kenzie, Mr..iß. A. Wright (who ,is contesting the City Council elec-; ' tion), Councillor G. Frost,- and Messrs. H. /Buddie and M. Luckie (council candidates). Mr. H.G. Hill presided, and the speakers -jeoeived, a very l , attentive lieariujf.'' 1 '•■-■ ' . In the course of his address, Mr. Leigh Hunt explained that lie.had decided to contest the Harbour Board election because |liO; objected..to the Harbour Board being' controlled by on irresppnsiblo caucus, which would be the result if the Labour "ticket"-were'elected. ,Thc total assets of the board were over. .£I,OOU.OCO, and this huge concern should be governed by men who had-business experience to guide thsm in their deliberations,. He laid claim to a proved- business 'capacity by tho fact that lie had. built up a successful business' during tho last twelve years. T ' -. . ; - Referring'to thejrevioiss administration, of the .board, Mr. Hunt expressed the opinion that that body had not displayed sufficient interest in town-planning. If Kail, years-ago,- considered the question of town-plnniiing it would not liave made such a mistake in building a breastwork and costly sheds: abutting on Waterloo Quay. Again, the board should remove, as it should have done long ago, ■the;,'present disgVlice to; tln: city in the wretched facilities for the .transfer of rail-, [way passengers to the ferry steamers. This coiild-be effected by ,the construction- of the proposed T« Aro Wharf, and the running, of the mail; trains right alongside the steamers. . Both the passenger traffic Mifl coastal shipping should be concentrated as near as possible to 'lie centre of the city,.'and that, unquestionably, was, at-Te Aio. The finances of the board were in a satisfactory condition. He believed in a strong YinanCial policy, but at the'same'time local bodies had no. right to build up large, resources beyond the iieed :;to meet. reasonab'.-e Beyond that point the monc.v was best left in the pockets of the people. . . ' Mr. B.'A. Wright, iii the course of his remarks, referred to the recent 'muddle in TflMicctioh with the n>unieii:al mils. " The electors ware invited bv advertisement to inspect the rolls in different |«';ivs oMhe district. Tilt,-" rolls contained "Cftli 'names than had bsen ''struck «IV." It was ,true that there...had b;en attached to tile lly-leaf on the roll a iKtU 1 warning the electors that,,the roll was. defective., .but. why. were -the-TCilO names that had ;bfcn j."renrjved-' from the .Kill not cx:piiuge(l iieforei i lie -electors' .'were, invited to inspect-'it.- 'The 'ehpet <n ;the;muddle;; 'would be that ou ; election day >a .nmnbei-i of .'electors win 'had- seeii their tho rolls 'ivould find thill I hey had no vote." '■ v ''' ;. "i '(/■ Z

Councillor 0. Frost, spoke on similar lines to his previous address at Brooklyn. Referring to tho •r.oeftmtton 'of' an esplanade at Island Bay., Councillor Frn<t.sniil that lie »;n in fuvoiir-of flic lisrk fccinpr carried out dnrinrf the criuim; year.. The eilv engineer's estimate for tln> work was .tim.' ,

' .Councillor . L. M'Ken/.iV defemleil the 'council against certain allegations which' •liad been raised in connection "with the municipal market. He pointed out; that Itlic Markets Canim'Hte? 'contained certain names of candidates now standing on tho Labour "ticket." Tho speaker went on :t,o review the principal works of the past ye*iv , ' v - -Messrs. ;H. Buddie and M. T.uckie also ifcpok?, traversing'the iuain points of their jirovioiis . . 1 Mr. Luckie referred to various matter* "ivjiich; had been covered by his previous .' jpcechos in other parts of Dip electorate, .mid emphasised the fact, that he and those with whom lie'"was associated were not pledged to any particular party or platform, but if elected were prepared to : deal with every question that came befoni. the council from a broad standpoint, v,-it'll ■ a view to serving only the best interests ■ of tho city us a. whole, having one regard to tho sound fuiancinl administration of : all the city's undertakings. The can-, didatc adinitted the right of all parties to equal representation 011 the council, but ; denied that any particular class or section : of, the community was entitled to solo representation. I ■ Mr. H. Buddie, in his address, urged i the advisabloness of a superannuation | scliemo for corporation employees, poiuti ing ont that it would ensure a good class : of permanent worker, and would 'tend to i minimise the risk of strikes in the corporation's services. Ho directed .the attention of electors to tho fact that the j Hospital and ■Charitable Aid Board had the power to levy from the electors the sum of .19000 without submitting.' the prol posal to them Tiy .poll. If the council I itself wished to establish some public j work demanding the expenditure of so large a sum o.f money it could not do so ■ without first, setting tho sanction ol tho ! ratepayers. This distinction,, lie contend- ! ed. was wrong, and ho urged the necp?- ; kUt, in view of the large in the I >ast few years in the rales levied by the i hoard.: for local bodies In lake steps to i have legislation Introduced removing the j anomaly: When dealing with Hie qucsi' lion "f' municipal"markets. Mr. Ruddle j elated thai it was hi? opinion thai the

corporation was not justified in-interfer-ing with private enterprise, unless it was clearly necessary for tho purpose of ensuring that tl\e public were neing fairly treated as to tho price and quality of articles of general use. Mr. Buddie also dealt with other matters covered in previous addresses. LABOUR "UNITY." HOW IT SHOWS IN THE SQUARE. After all tho protestations to the contrary, it would appear from certain hnppenings in the Post Office Square yesterday. that there is a wide breach in the Tanks of Labour. -Some Labour candidates for the local elections were speaking to n crowd of about 500 people there, and all the people were not of one mind. Orio candidate (Mr. Dalrymple) had been asked a question- (which The Dominion reporter (lid not hear), and instead of answering it, he said: "Do you know why the Employers' Federation don't pay men to come down herer-and smash up our meetings?— Because there are men amongst you who are doing it for nothing." , Another questioner was becoming a little importunate when Mr. W. Scott Bedford was talking, and thero whs at onco a mild hubbub, which the Mayor sought to qniet by addressing words of reason to tho questioner. "Hit him in the. jaw," laconically suggested a bystander, and ho did not address his remarks to aiiyono in particular. It ought to be explained that the questioner did certainly not belong to ' the capitalist class. Nobody hit him, but .'lie subsided presently. | A more amusing incident happened later. Of course, it is understood that thero is only an hour in which to talk, and the candidates divided up the time as fairly as may be. -Mr. G. G- Farland, who proclaimed himself a. red federationist. said, in fact, that .ho just dripped' red paint, or something to that effect, was the second speaker in turn, and his shift commenced-at 12.3.5. Ho had gone on for teu minutes when Mr. Bedford reminded,'him' of the time. "Ho wont on five minutes more, when Mr. Bedford

minded linn again. Mr. Farland said m reply : "I've been blocked out of this for three days' now," evidently , referring to something extra fine that he had to say. lie was apparently going on when Mr. Bedford appealed to him to "Be reasonable, bo reasonable." Mr. Farland suggested something about "taking another stand over there" for himself, but lesblved -upon a cheaper course. "Look liei'e, people," ho said, "do you want mo to' : go on?" And there was a chorus of "Ayes"; so he went on until ho had taken, rather more than half tho available 'four of time for himself. < Incidentally, lie referred to the other candidates, nlostly'T.'rades Hall men. "These people," he said, pointing to them, "have got no time for me. Let me tell you that." It was evident, from their faces that just nt that moment they had no time for him, and that they were much concerned as to whptlier they would have time to speak-

; MR. T. C. A. HISLOP. Mr ; . T. C. A. Kislop addressed an open-air meeting at Kilbirnie last flight in furtherance of 'his City Council campaign. After referring to the necessity of .reducing tram fares when finances allowed and of establishing tepid baths and libraries, the candidate referred to an inaccurato statement made by one candidate who. had recontly spoken. It had been/'sajd that lie,-stood representing all classes except Labour.' Such statement was' untrue, . He 'had full sympathy with the legitimate desires'of labour, and was keenly anxious to improve the conditions of Labour, but he believed tho council should represent all phases of opinion and all classes. The'evil in the. past had been thntf employers ; and others holding power liad used that power solely ' in their own"' interests regardless of' others. What lie hoped and believed was that if electors turned up in tlujir force on Wednesday next the result would-be the election of a; council representing, all-classes— .Labour as weir as others. A , unanimous' vote of thanks and confidence concluded a successful meeting, and a strong committee was'formed. . ' .'

• MR. W. PERRY. . | Mr. W. Perry addressed an open-air .meeting at the 'corner, of the Recreation 'Reserve, Kilbirnie, . last night. Thero were about twenty persons present. Tho candidates spoke on similar lines to his previous address. , He stressed' particularly tl>;' no&d for lfioro ..'recreation gro.unds in tlie city, and said. that tho ouflving districts, such as Kilbirnie, Northland, Brooklyn,, and Wadestowu were entitled to recreation grounds as much as the people of the city. He dealt with several aspects of tramway management, and said that the present policy of the council with regard to tho trams was wrong. The council preferred carrying fewer people at a ( high price -tliaiil'iiore, people at a, low fare." He stood as'an'liidependent,'and assured his ,'h-earers that if lie were elected to the council he would/do his best to conserve tho interests of 'the citizens as a whole, and would-always, to the best of his ability "play''the game." A unanimous vote if thanks and confidence concluded a very successful meeting,.and the member.;; of the audience i formed themselves into a committee ta-assist Hi". Perry's candidature.

KARORI. • , i The following, nominations for tho Mayoralty and Borough Council elections of -Karon had .been received' yesterday, when'nominations closed:— Mayor. Mr. ,C. Cathie, nominated by N Benjamin George Henry, Burn and W. T. Hildretli, has.;been returned unopposed. '* Councillors. • — -The-following have been nominated:— Thomas Reginald Boycs. nominated by 'Havr.v Walter Moss and F. J. Lissington. William. George Bradnoek, nominated by William Craig-and Frederick Dryden. Benjamin/.George Henry Burn, nominated by Maurice Philip Spiers, Sydney IJix, and Ellis George Lowe. Charles Thomas Chilian, nominated by Ciuy Francis Smythe and Sydney.Henry ]?os«';Dix. '< -f eofric-.Pearson -Da vies, nominated I>V "Cy'i'il I. -Unseat, Henry Cook, and' E. E. 'Hrtimtt'ond; ■ —Andrew* Hamilton, nominated by Henry ,Di>6k'iirid -W. F. Newcombe. James W. Henderson, nominated by Charles Nicholas Cathie and John For-tes-cue Mills. • Edwin .Oscar Lower, nominated by Benjam'iiV G.-H. Burn, Robert Thomas Pell, and Chaj-les Frank Spiers. Franci* Leo O'Comiell, nominated by Alfred "fiatliday and Hugh Logan Cartwright.;^,' TJobert. Thomas Pell, nominated by Benjamin G, H. Burn and Edwin Oscar Lower. Wilfred Skejg. nominated by W. N. Hinchcliflc, E. Norwood Anderson, and Henry Cook. Edward .Tohn' Standen, nominated by Henrv Taylor Marshall and Adam Gordon Croll.

; MEETING AT PAROCHIAL HALL. Residents of Karovinvere sufficiently interested 'in borough affairs to muster in force at the Parochial Hall lust night, to hear.the addresses of two candidates for the council. The speakers were Messrs. ■L. I'. Davies and W. Skcgg, and the hall was filled to hear thorn. Mr. C. I. Dasent occupied the chair. Jlr. Skegg dealt fully with the tramway question,' pointing out the drawbacks of the present service, and the desirability of. effecting sonic improvement when full consideration had been given to tho matter. He favoured the introduction of gas to Karori, provided the borough was not committed to any agreement Hint would prove prejudicial to the electric light. If elected he would not be bounced or bluffed on this question. Wrong impressions of Karori had grown oil account of the deprecating and apologetic tone adopted by the residents. He personally declined to adopt such a tone because of tlie present satisfactory position of the borough. and the bTight future before it. He urged all present to make it their duty to vote, and promised that if lie were relumed lie .would prove honest, fearless, impart'al, and independent.

Mr. Davies said there had been rumours that some candidates were going to .withdraw, and that there would be 110 election. I'or his part, ho declared he was going to stand his ground whether there was an election or not. He then sum liiarised tho position of (lie borough at the present time, in order to show the necessity of a policy ol' # economy. To effect any Saving in 'administration was. Ire "considered, iiuprm-lieablc. Thi're were, however, oilier directions iu which eco-

nomy could be practised, and lie indicated these. Tramway matters, the anticipated increase in (ho winter revenue consequent upon (lie hockey arrangement.?, suggested improvements in the service, and n shorter rotifo to the city were other subjects touched upon by Mr. Davies.

At the conclusion of. their addresses both candidates answered a number of questif.'ns. A vote of tlumlcs and confidence was proposed by Mr. W. G. Tustin, and seconded by Mr. J. W. Henderson. It was carried unanimously,' both candidates being warmly applauded for their interesting addresses. Subsequently Councillor B. G. 11. Burn addressed the meeting. mlramar. The only candidate nominated for tlio Mayoralty of Miramnr is Mr. Frederic Townsend, who is consequently declared to be elected.' His nominators were: Messrs. N. W. Bell, E. B. llristow, W. E. Tomlin, and Mrs. Mary \Y\ Patterson. The following liavo ),cen nominated for the Borough Council:— Norris W. Bell, nominated by Frederic' Townsend and C. B. Bowie. George P. Edwards, nominated by Messrs. H. H. Redshaw, G. C. Patterson, T. W. Brown, and J. M. Campbell. Henry A. Smith, nominated by N. W. Bell and S. M. Stone. Stanley 11. Stone, nominated by Messrs. R. 0. Petersen and" C'. B. Bowio. William Telford, nominated by Messrs. W. H. Green and John Rrodie. Michael Tracy, nominated by Messrs. John Brodio and 11. E. Richards. Sydney H. Underwood, nominated by Messrs. John Brodie and W. H. Green. Only six members are required. IN OTHER DISTRICTS. ■ Woodville.—Mr. James Grant has been returned unopposed as Mayor. Eleven have been nominated for nine seats 1 on the council.- ; Wanganui.—Messrs. E. X. Liffiton, G. ■ Spriygcns, and T. B. Williams liaye been nominated for the Mayoralty. Thero are eighteen nominations for the twelve seats nil tho council. Waipawa.—Mr. W. I. Limbrick has been re-elected unopposed as Mayor. Twelve nominations have been received fot- the nine vacancies on thi council. Whangnrei—Mr. T. H: Steadman has been re-elected Mayor, unopposed. Nelson—For the city mayoralty, Councillor W. W. Snodgrass and Mr. W. Lock have been nominated. ! Motueka.—Mr. M. Simpsoa has- been reelected mayor unopposed. . A REMARKABLE COINCIDENCE. .'" UNOPPOSED MAYORS, It is rather a remarkable fact that in tho-' case of Miramar, Eastbourne, Karori. Onslow, Hutt, and Petono boroughs, there will, be no election for Mayor, on account of there being only one nominee in each instance. The Mayors so returned are as follow: —Mirainar, Mr. Frederic Townsend; Eastbourne, Mr. William Organ; Onslow, Mr. Frank Holdsworth; Hutt, Mr. E. P. Bunny; Pctone, Mr. J. W. M'Ewan. HARBOUR BOARD./ ' Througli inadvertence, the name of Mr. James Trevor was omitted from those nominated as candidates for the Wei-' lington Harbour Board. Mr. Trevor's nominators are the Hon. C. M. Luke and Mr. 1 John Smith. TE ARO RAILWAY EXTENSION. . CIRCULAR TO CANDIDATES. The Tc Aro Railway-Extension and Improvement League, has addressed the following letter to every candidate for the City Council and Harbour Board. Tho is signed by the chairman of the league, Mr. A. Leigh Hunt, and tho secretary, Mr. R. W. Gilbert:— - 1

Dear sir,—At n meeting of the executivo it was resolved to write ,to all candidates asking their support to the objects of tho league. As yon aro probably aware, this league is supported by 7500 petitioners to tho Minister for Railways as well as numerous ratepayers' associations and similar bodies. . ; ;The -signatures to tho petition were thos'o of the head of cach -household; so that' it is reasonable to assume that with their dependents, they .represent not less than 30,000-votes. '•'Having such a backing, the league, docs not ne.siiato to aski your support in its objects, which are briefly as follow:— (1) .The extension of the passenger service at To Aro Railway Station; (2) the establishment of a goods depot ■ at Te Aro, also timber and other sidings to avoid the present cumbersome, costly, and antiquated method of carting good's into the.city proper from the extreme northern portion of it.

"The executive have in view the running of tho Main Trunk and other trains to To Aro, not only for the convenience of city , travellers, but also to enable the Harbour Board to carry out a suggestion made by its engineer, namely, the building of-a special passenger wharf between the T'arnnaki Street and Clyde Quay Wharves, for the purpose of running tho through trains right alongside the Lyttelton and Sydney ferry steamers. This will remove the present reproach tho city T is suffering from by not providing reasonable ' facilities for the transference of through railway passengers and their luggage.'

"The establishment of a goods. depot will, wo.aro confident, appeal to you;.without any argument on our part, and as the Minister lias sanctioned this work, it is only, a question of urging an early com-pletion-of it. ■

"The league invites the co-oncration both of the City Council and Harbour Board in furthering its objects, and it is hoped that if elccted you Will use every effort to give effect to the wishes of the large number of citizens in this movement."

CANDIDATES'. ANNOUNCEMENTS. Messrs. Wright,' Barber, Godbc-r, LeighHunt, Buddie, and Luckie, of the Greater Municipal Electors' Association, will speak at. St. Thomas's ' Schoolroom, Newtown, nt 8 o'clock this evening. ..Tlio chair will be occupied by Mr. James Trevor.

At 7.37 f/o-'iio'-ro-.v evening Messrs. Wright and Hislop will speak at an openair meeting near the Kilbnnie Post' Office. Mr. Perry will deliver his sixth address io tho electors.in the Masonic Hall, Boulcott Street, to-uight, nt 8 o'clock.