MEETINGS & SPEECHES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1736, 29 April 1913, Page 8

MEETINGS & SPEECHES.

s . ■ ■■■' ■ v RECORD POLL EXPECTED TO-MORROW. \ STRENUOUS CAMPAIGNING. i. ■ jThe .Wellington local body elections of *913 rill b e in many respects notable. is no doubt that the public has bct-ii stirred to a much ; keener interest I ban ordinai-j- in tho issues which, will bo determined by the electors at to-morrow's ylls, ft 11(1 it will bo surprising if the luting is not a great deal heavier than : of last year., Tarty lines have probXly never ljeeii more sharply drawn in Wellington local elections. Labour party '.ippoi'ters. are straining every ncrvo on ohalf of their various tickets,' nrid a big Mjnter movement Is on foot. A feature the present campaign is the amount of spenking, a department of; elecineering which-was once, practically |<nopolised by the Labour party; In the ,'esent contest oaiulidntefe 'opposed, to fesprit contest. candidates'fSppoaeU. 46 idates.into the open air, and'ona, result is been ito create ait unwontgd stir and ,- Istle. 1 ■ ■ Yesterday numerous meetings xtre held from noon onwards. Customjsuso Square was a. busy scene'of elee''.oneering for two hours in the middle of ilia day, and'in the evening , a ,)ittlo irroy of candidates were at .work, iiv and iut of doors. Some of ithe linoTC enterprising hung on the skirts of the school :ommitteo election . meetings, and so scoured a number of ready-made audiences at which, tir dischargo their election ipecckea. To-day tho pace will probably ro even liol'ter.- ' How to Voto. ■ The. correct way: to' vote at to-morrow's election.is to place a cross in a square .set opposito tho name of tho elector desires to see returned. Tho non-observance of this rule does not, liowSwor, invalidate a voting paper, so long 'j it is mado quite .clear oil tho paper ■js . 'to whicii candidates tho ; elector favours. The provision oil this question is ;ict oiit as follows in the Local liloctions find PolLs Act:—. . • ! ; 1 that no voting paper will bo rejected as .informal that; clearly ' indicates the candidate-or candidates ' for whom the voter intended to vote, whether sucli indication is made in. tho manner .'prescribed by. this section (tho cross op- ; posito the names) or by striking out the ' names of the oundidato or candidates for the voter did not. intend to vote." V Respecting tho Deposit. There is a doubt in somo quarters as Ito tho operation of tho Act respecting (the deposit to be jnade with tho Iteturn>ing Officer by each candidate for the Mayoralty or council. Section 19 of the Municipal Corporations Act declares:— i "(1) Every candidate'for" the office of l : Mayor or councillor shall at the time of 1 nomination deposit with the Returning \ Officer the sum of ,£lO ill the case of Mayor and ,£3.iii tho case of tlie.coiinfcillor. ' , ' *

' "(2) If the candidate does not poll oneeighth of tho votes polled by the successful 'candidate, or; as the caso may be, by ftjio ' Successful candidate • polling' the jiewest votes, the deposit shall bo forfeited Sto tho District puiid, but otherwise, or :if [such candidate is elected Without a poll, ;:itisliall bo returned to him" THE MAYORALTY.

U7 . MR. LUKE'S-CAMPAIGN. . 'A : ifleeting' of.'about -10 iolector^-was addressed atilaranui;last evening by Mr. J. P. Luke, Mr. MV. H. Morrali presiding. The: address generally' was on similar ,'lines to previous 'speeches. Referring Ito ; tho tramways, Mr. Luke, remarked ' that' the Wellington tramway installation ■was on such lines us to allow of extension ! without impairing the original Scheme. -Not only had the city lines been provided, but the linking up of the suburbs had been possible at a, cost .that enabled the : extended mileage to bo provided at a ! minimum cost. There h!ld mot been any tinkering with tlie tramway scheme. Ho |was in favour of linking' up Constable Street with Kilbirnie, and thought such ' a-.move, would be ,a success from the ; beginning. , On the motion of Mr.' Carry, ; seconded by Mr. Geo. Winder, a vote of thanks and confidence was carried.

Mr. Luke also addressed a meeting of some ■ 00 ratepayers at the Tea Kiosk, Oriental Bay, JLr. T. "Ward presiding. After referring'to matters of policy, Mr. Luko said lie was experiencing; similar ; conditions to tlioso thai; too often met ;inen engaged in manufacturing concerns ' when they offered themselves for a public i position, viz., tho allegation, broadly • spread, that they paid low wages to their : workers. He challenged anyone to slate that he had either advocated paying low wages or, as a member of his firm, actually did so. As a matter of fact he pointed out, the wages nowadays • were I determined by the Courts. However, ho !regretted that .statements of the kind : mentioned had been circulated, for they could only have one object, and that was to shut out men who were closely identified with the work of building up tho interests of the city from offering: themselves to assist in municipal .government. jA vote of thanks and confidence was ac- ; corded Mr, Luko on the motion of Mr. I.yeouians. AfT? Ar'T.APPM'H ArnVIITTM|-!B

| SIR. M'LAREN'S MEETINGS. I Mr. D. M'Laren addressed two meetings ! last evening, one at the Concert Chani- ! ber of tho Town. Hall, and the other at jWadestown. Speaking on the subject of ; tho general finances of the city, Mr. : M'Laren challenged >a statement by Itr. J jLuke that thero was a difference of only ; .£3OO between the balance of this yeax and | that of last year. The real position was, jho said, that in 1912 there .was a debit |balance of J!ll,lG!i. . Calculating* on the ; same lines, there was a debit this year of £77' M, but against this 'there were properties purchased in Willis Street at a cost of c£11,3G2, which had been bought ; for re-sale. In conncction .with- the lighting department, lie looked the '.further ; improvement the sta'tipfl VJ ', ; ,JXhat had I beeni done in that'direction-showcd excellent results. Tor instance, tho cost of , generating in 1909 was -£17,328, o$ 2.07 d. ; per unit sold, the number of consumers ■ being -il3fi. This year the cost of geneTa- : tion lad been reduced to £1-1,810, or I.IIUI. iper writ, while consumers had'increased !-to 7881. It was absolutely necossary, -with : the 1 advaneement of electrical science and. mechanics, t-lmt the city should keop abreast of the times in getting the best' plant procurable. Ho was not in favour of cutting into the present surplus, save : for extension, aiid improvement. ;of the business. Much criticism had been levcl- ' led at the Labour party, but at ,least it tad a definite programme to submit, . whereas the membors of the anti-Labour ticket wore in favour of leasing parts of the Town Belt to private clubs, and against it; in favour of cutting through tho Basin Reservo and against it. They : were in favour of the tram sections as . they were, and against them. So - with fares and other matters. At each of his meetings Mr. M'Laren ■was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence. ' .