MAYOR INSTALLED.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2460, 13 May 1915, Page 7

MAYOR INSTALLED.

"TIME UNIQUE IN WORLD'S HISTORY" ( CITY'S AFFAIRS REVIEWED There was a full attendance of councillors and a number of interested spectators at tho formal installation of Mr. John Pearce Luke into the officc of Mayor ol' Wellington for his third term, which took place in the Council Chamber at noon yesterday. , . Councillor W. H. P. Barber was voted to tho chair, and after formal proceedings the Mayor-eket, in his official robo and chain, was ushered into the chamber by tho Town Clerk, and signed the declaration, and assumed the chair. Councillor Barber congratulated Mr. Luke on the liigli honour of having been returned Mayor of the City for the third time. Thero would be some gratification, too, in the fact that on each occasion an absolute majority of the votes polled had been recorded at each election m his favour. The period during which. Mr. Luko had been Mayor had been unique in tho history of New Zealand. During his first term there were the difficulties consequent upon an industrial upheaval, necessitating considerable care and attention on the part of the Chief Magistrate of the City and burdening him with additional responsibilities. Unfortunately the Empire now found itself involved in a terrible struggle, and on account of >V elliiwton being the headquarters of the Defence Department and the Empire City onerous duties had devolved upon the Mayor. The way those duties had been carried out were not only a credit to tho City of Wellington, but a credit to New Zealand and to the Empire of which wo form part. In that direction the assistance given by Mrs. Luke and other ladies in equipping tho men who were engaged in the defence of the Dominion and Empire had been of great value—fapplause)— and she (Mrs. Luke) must have sacrificed much time and home comfort in attending to the needs and comfort of the soldiers of the Dominion, and many of those now at the front would be grateful for the work done by Mrs. Luko. He hoped Mr. Luke would be blessed with good health to enjoy the honour conferred upou him, and that Mrs. Luko would be spared to help. Of her work in the_ community he could not speak too highly. He desired to say that the re-elecfion of all the old councillors who stood was a matter of gratification. It showed that the public had some confidence in the council His Worship had presided over foi the past two jrears. In congratulating the new councillors, Councillor Barber said that knowing these gentlemen as lie did he was confident they would make capable councillors-^applause)—and the council as a whole would give the Mayor loyal and liearty support in the administration of the affairs of the City. Unfortunately there had been delay in tho carrying out of several important works owing to financial stringency—works which he hoped they would all have the privilege of seeing satisfactorily completed. (Applause.) Councillor J. Fuller said he could endorse every word Councillor Barber had said, and went on to refer to the time between tho going out of office of the old council and tho swearing in of the new. There was plenty of work to do, but not much money to do it with. His Worship knew what a lot there was to be done, and he hoped that in the future they would have a monthly report showing how much progress has been made at the end of the month. Ho congratulated the Mayor and Mayoress, and espressed the hope that no obstacle would be put in the way of their doing their duty by the City. Councillor fuller mentioned the return of all the old councillors, who stood as approval of tho work done. He congratulated the new members, and remarked that the old councillors who had not stood would be missed. Councillor J. E. Fitzgerald also spoke.

The Mayor on Current Events. In reply the Mayor said that ho felt that ho was occupying the chair at a most critical time in the history of tho Empire. They in New Zealand in common with other parts of the Empire were feeling the great strain and stress, and their hearts went in sympathy vdth the men who were employed in fighting for tho prestige of the nation in the Dardanelles, in other parts of Europe, or in South Africa, and a spirit of comradeship which space does not recognise. _ appeared to permeate the hearts aud minds of all the troops now engaged in the great contest. All the wives, and mothers and sisters of those men—the women of the Dominion had not been slow in carying out the work of equipping the man. It was a unique time in (ho history of the Empire and the world, and they iu their lives would not be called upon to witness again the things that were taking place in their own city. He asked the council to pass the following resolution:— ' "That this council place on record its high appreciation of the splendid bravery displayed by our Expeditionary Force, in company with other Australasian troops, acting in concert with the British and ther Allies in Europe, and of the noble spirit of *elf-sacrifice of the relatives of Ihe fallen r.nd the wounded who have given their services in the defenco of tho Empire." The motion was seconded by Councillor Barber and carried unanimously, everyono present standing. The City's Affairs. Continuing, Mr. Luke extended the tight hand of fellowship to all tho old councillors who had been re-elected, remarking that their help "considerably assisted in the return of .the Mayor." He also extended a welcome to each and all of tho new members. Finance, continued Mr. Luke, was the difficulty with municipal work at the present time. He did not favour short-dated loans, and tor that reason thought that the works some people thought necessary could wait. Money, as they had been getting it, did not cost so much as for short-dated loans, and the volume of rates, and other sources of revenue would enable them to meet their obligations during the current year. As to any alteration in the rates, that need not come up for consideration until the end of the year, and with the support of tho council, he was sure that they would be expended with the greatest result to the city . He was not taking a pessimistic view and thoroughly realised the extent of the resources of the country, and he hoped that they would be able to do a considerable amount of progressive work during the year. The Milk Question. One of tho first things for the council to do, added the Mayor, was to safethere had been an agitation for some guard the milk supply, about which time. He thought it was a right and proper thing that they should submit to the people tho question whether they should municipalise the milk supply or go in for a clearing-house. Tho tramways was a great business undertaking, and thoy must seo that the system was built up to meet the growing needs of the people. During the current year, whether the money came from tramways revenue or the general account, there must be no hanging back in the matter of getting people to and from their homes in reasonable time and comfort. Before tho end of the year they hoped to have the Constable Street extension (to Kilbirnie) in working order. There was tho matter, too, of improving the feeder supply on the Brooklyn line—at present thero was not enough "booster" power for the increasing demands made on that line. The erection of a cars lied and workshop was an important work. It was that a earshod sluiuld bo provided at Kilbirnie. There were at present six car bodies awaiting undergears, and with Ihe other six to be built during the year they would not have room to accommodate them. Another work was the dnplication of Ihe lower part of the Hrook ly ii linn, which would mean Iho dupliea. lion of the whole of the line except where it ran through the township. This was necessary to remove stoppages and prevent delay. At. Island Bay some dupliea I ion was also needed. Rounding Off Street Corners. The matter of tile improvement of Ihe streels by rounding off awkward corners was one lo which he would direct aliention. One sue.h miner lie h;id in niinil thai one opposite Veitch and Allan's, at the corner of Vivian and I'uba Street.-. U was no breach to mention this work Jja, JUW, .MODM jM&jSffKSA te fet

council liave the land 1 at the Government valuation, so it was not & matter of price. Ho was sure they were indebted to the owners for tho public-spirited manner in which they had met the council. (Applause.) Cuba Street and Vivian Street had a right to a tram service, and it was only right and. proper that it should bo made as efficient as possible. Street Lighting and Road Improvement. The matter of street lighting would entail tjOiue c-nteiprise on the part of tho council, but no more new plant would bo required, as they now had the new turbino which would be able to meet all demands for some time to come. One of the first works which would revquire to be done was the cutting down of Hutchison Road at Vogoltown, a work that had been promised for some time. I.'ark Uoad (adjacent to Newtown Park), a road leading to tio southern extremity of tho City, deserved noine attention iu view of the expansion of the dstrict. At ICelburn and .Northland there was much loom lor improved roads. The residents of those districts had a claim, and lie hoped that the council would consider them favourably duriug the year. Tho council, too, should authorise the Improvement of the road between_ the terminus of tho tvaniway line at Wadestown and Wilton's Bush. When that was doun one of the new motor-buses could be run between th 6 terminus and tho bush, » means of showing the people of "Wellington what a line piece of bush they bav« at their back door. Crawford Road had to bo widened out to take the tramway line, and the Island Bay culvert should be further extended this year. Referring to the improvement work in connection with Oriental Bay, His Worship said that its prosecution depended on tlie finances ot the City, but he hoped they would make a good solid, start with tho work this year, and carry it on bit by bit, and so add to the beauty of Wellington At tho Basin Reserve some important road work was proposed. Ho hoped that the new council would authorise tlin Engineer to carry it out this year, lieference was also made to the removal of

the shops between Messrs. Duthie and Co.'s and Mercer Street to the now street alignment, and the wood-blocking that would have to be done in Willis Street in consequence. Much work required to bo done in rectifying streets at Wades town, but there were disabilities to faco that did not allow of the work being carricd out at once. The streets wero made haphazardly, some 30ft. and others 10ft. wide, but before thoy could bo widened out a lot of private property would have to be purchased. Still ho honed tho council would do some portion of thn work each year. He did not propose to tax the finances on account of waterworks this year, but to restrict the work to obtaining the Oronrorongo watershed from the Government. They did not need a reservoir in connection with tho work, but in times of drought the water would be'available by means of a tunnel tiiat ivould conduct the water into tho existing basins at Wainui. This was a matter the council would have to give attention to this year, and by the end of the year he hoped to see i taring of men carrying out tunnelling work at Orongorongo. New Garbage System. With Tespect to tho gathering of tho city's refuse, Mr. Morton and himself had decidcd that a system of small depots would be necessary—the carts to gather refuse from residences and convey it to depots where it would be picked up by fast-moving motor vehicles, which would take it to the destructor. A double, handling would not be necessary, as the carts would deposit, on to a platform at tho depot, and this would be received by the motor vehicles by releasing trapdoors. lu such places as Wadestown and Northland, councillors would see the limitations of a system such as was at present in operation, when tho carts had to come all the way to the destructor with a load. It was necessary to have those sub-stations (depots), and ho hoped it would be brought about. Tho city eugiucor required some ucw plant for the treating of tarred macadam. He hoped the council would continue to spend money on the Kilbirnie Recreation Ground, which would be urgently needed, now that everyone was to enjoy themselves on a Saturday afternoon. By the judicious depositing of spoil they hoped to widen the road botween Oriental Bay and Kilbirnie, bit by bit each year. Tho council was under an obligation to the Government to level some sand-hills at Lyall Bay. Appreciation of the loyal and whole-hearted support of the council's officers was warmly expressed by His Worship, who also referred to the loss by death of the late Mr. J. R. Blair (who was Mayor for two years), ex-Coun-cillor Folk Cohen, and Mr. Stuart Richardson, formerly tramways engineer, and Mr. Walter Murdoch (assistant city engineer), referred to by the Mayor as one of the rising men of the Dominion. Tho council, he said, had taken a wide view in connection with tho affairs of the late Mr. Richardson, and considered "the loyal service given at a salary which should have been larger." The same view was taken, in the case of Mrs. Murdoch and Mrs. Priest (widow of one of the oldest servants of the council). Mr. Luke paid a warm tribute to the support and aid given to him by his wife, and the loyal and loving service which had been given by Mrs. Luke and the ladies associated with her in connection with matters civic, national, and Imperial. (Applause.) Ho appreciated the remarks which had been mads by councillors, and expressed the hope that the relationships established that day would continue during the next two years. (Applause.)