MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 154, 25 March 1919, Page 2

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

THE LABOUR CAMPAIGN

OPENING MEETING AT iSuwtOwjn The Labour Ciuupaign in connection rtii/i t'Jie imiiiiviptu wi'ttioiiA was opened lust nigiit, m tiic Star Xheiivre, iNcwwwu.' lijie fiiiex apeakcr was Jlr. .1. Head, Jjai/tiir citndidaw lor tnc .uiiyoriuty. - Mr* I. Hill prtsmiiii. Tlie uUemUiuce was small. .in , . T. Brmdle, who was the first aprtiKcr, tnlKctl of die "cliiss Mas" of the present members of the Oily Council, andmentioned thill Wellington workers Had Ijobii retused permission to hold a meeting, in the Town JlJill. Tho councilors Imd also witnhcld iiernnts lor the lioldmi; i>l. nireiiiiys in to streets. They did no 1; stand i'or tree speech, 'i'lwy had retused- cue penniaeion to talk in public places, aim by so doing they had foileitcd the coufiuence of democratic people. Mr. Brindlc urged thai; there was need of housing reform, and that the experiences of tlio recent epidemic had showed the character of tlio men ivho had sat in successive City Councils—''business" men devoid of imagination and sentiment, grossly rich and grossly commonplace. These men had inado-profits,.,but they did not understand the economics of their own capitalistic system. The city needed tonlay councillors of political intelligence and civic courage. It did not need men who had axes to grind and interests to protect. The Citizens' League and the New Zealand-'Welfare League were' organisations of a kind that the workers ought lo avoid. Tho councillors claimed to bo business men, but nobody could sny they had handled the injlk (iiieSlioii in « businesslike way. The Labour Parly-'slood for the complete lminicipalisation of tho milk supply. Jlr. Brindle urged the people of Wellington to remember that the City Councillors were delegates, not owners, and that the city's, facilities and authority, were the property of the people as a whole. There was no need to buy out .the Gas Company. ...The citizens coujd wipe out the gas interests by developing tlieir own electrical plant. 'Hie Labour Party stood, in local-politics as in national politics for the interests of Hie. many and not of the few. The chairman, in introducing' Mr.; Swindell; explained that no man in tho" Labour movement was the boss of the movement. Each candidate'was theser-_ viuit of the movement, and μ-os required to obey in its instructions. Mr. .Swindell spoke on the housing question. He quoted instances of del:\pidatcd dwellings on the Tβ "Arc flat, and said that men who were prominent in the public life of the city had been directly responsible for bad-housinji; and insanitary dwellings. The conditions prevailing on the Te Aro flat were a standing disgrace to the city. The facts had been known for 25 years past. But the councillors had dono nothing. Hβ advocated municipal control of the fish, fruit, aiid milk trades' in the city. There should: be a municipal market where the people could buy fresh and chenp foodstuffs. Tho people of the city.would be serving their own interests by. putting the Labsur men h charge of city affaire.

"Mn J. Read said ' that unless tht, citizens elected « majority of Labour councillors lie did not want .to bo Mayor. A Labour Mayor who did not have-the hacking of a majority of Labour councillors would'.be in a very difficult position. The question of public health, ought to loom large during the present campaign. The people . had . suffered eseverely from the recent epidemic, and they needed an assurance that they would be better protected in the future than they had been in tho past. They should not forget that, the men who controlled tks city now'represented the class who had controlled it for the last half century or 60. The .time had coins , for the Labour men to bo given a chance. Wellington was -a city of' mean streets. The question of housing was connected intimately with the tramway system. The aim of tho City Council should be to distribute the people over as inrge nil area as possible fin order to Telieyi congestioh.'-'He-did not'propose to Bay just what the Labour Party would do, because a. mere'rumour of- tramway extension' was sufficient to send land values soaring. But he would indicate that there were areas that could bo opened for settlement by extensions of the tramway system. The council should buy tho land that would'be served toy the new lines, and so retain , tho increased values for all the citizens.' Mr.. Read referred to repatriation problems. He said that some of the men who .had fought to. establish the rights of democracy in Europe found themselves unable to get a job in their own country. If social conditions were not improved in this country he feared there would arise in tho future conditions similar to those now prevailing in Europe. Industries wero being closed down in New Zealand to-day. Over TOO flax workers had been thrown out of employment by tho closing of the flaxmille. The .seasonal industries would soon be. closing down, and thousands of men wouild be out of work at the very time when thousands of other men were returning from the front. This was a national question, but he felt that the City of Wellington would have to see about providing snitaMe employment for men who were.returning "after.being ' forced in some cases to undertake a taik they did not care a"bout,'' ..Mr..Read, said that the fruit and vegetable .markets of Wellington were not cleanly. The people's foodstuffs 'were not adequately protected. lie would say that the floor of the fruit niaret -had not : been properly cleaned for months. Private enterprise, was more concerned always with profits than with social service. Mr. Head devoted some attention to "the tricks of the fruit trade."- Tho wholesale markets in Wellington, he eaid,- wore conr trolled by an organisation that was practically a trust, and ha considered the tini3 had arrived for tho City Council to step in and lake over the whole business. Referring' to the milk trade, Mi , .. Read said he thought the-quality of the'milk had been improved since the City "Council took oontrol. The Milk Committee:, had .dono some good, but it had not gone far enough. It h%d left distributipu in the, hands of the old vendor?,, and consequently, the people were paying more thun was necessary for • .the niilk. while private interests had'lfcen left in-a position,to damage the municipal enterprise.. Municipal milk ought to be in sympathetic hands. Ho advocated an improved method of street construction. Concrete or woodblocked streets would save haulage and reduce the dust nuisance. A universal fare should be adopted on the Weuinjtoii tramways ui order to move p&ulation out into the suburbs. Mr. Read said, ho wished to see proportional representation adopted for municipal purposes in Wellington. The City Council had power to do this, and -tlus' Labour Parly claimed tliut pro»orti(*!il voting would bn i'nir, to all parties. Labour members would bring ttu\'system into operation when they got a majority iu the council. In conclusion , Mr. Head'said that the appearance (if Mr. Weston as a candidate for the.Mayoraltv sroincd to mwiii thill. ' the . Employers IVdcration wished to run tho municipality m well as the Government. Iho people ought lo register their protest. Tho meetings closed villi a vote of confidence in Mr. Bead' And tin Labour 'ticket. '