MAYORAL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 174, 17 April 1919, Page 8

MAYORAL ELECTION

MR. BARBER'S OPENING ADDRESS

POLICY PROPOSALS

Air. W. H. P. Burlier, one of the four candidates for the (.lily Mayoralty, addressed ;i meeting of electors in the Concert Chamber last night. Councillor L. M'Kenzie presided. Mr. jiarbor was supported on the platform by Councillors W. T. Hildreth, C. .1. Norwood, and M. F. Lnckie. iMrs. Barber also occupied a seat on the stage. Mr. Barber said that he had been just elected to tho council 28 years ago, and with the exception of a period of three years when lie was a member of Parliament he had sat continuously on the council ever since. Ho was now senior councillor. In his 28 years <>+' service as a councillor he had seen mai:;. changes in this city, and he outlined some of the most important.

Miramar. One of the enterprises he had very strongly urged ,the council to take up some years ago was the purchase of Miramar. His' advice was not taken, and ho thought tho loss was such a disastrous one to the city that he felt justified in referring to it. He was a member of the sub-committee which recommended the council to purchase this area, and if the committee's report had been adopted all that land could have been bought for ,£7s,ooo—land which was today worth '.£860.(100. There would have been an area of 500 acres for recreation, and the rest of the land could have been sold in quarter-ap allotments at .£25 each! That would hare solved niany of the problems now facing this city, notably the housing problem.

The War Years. Owing to the war very little progress had been made in city affairs. No labour could be obtained, coal was short, and all plants were overtaxed. Sometimes the council had been at wit's end to know how to continue tho running of the trams, and the supply of electric light. With the present plant it was not possible to int another ear on the tram tracks, akhough the extra cars wer.i sadly needed to. cope with the traffic. Now that the war was over he honed that H would be possible tn pet extra plant and so improve the facilities to the public. He thought it was a matter for congratulation to the council and its officers that these undertakings had been carried on successfully without eddition to the rates or to the. cost of the services to the citizens using them.

Future Progress. Aβ to the future, it must be one of progress. In order to get tho latest information in road building and other matters, the. council had sent the engineer (Mr.. \V. H. Morton) to America and Europe. He was sure that this would be a good investment for the people of Wellineton. Citizens would remember that just prior to the.outbreak of war there were proposals ready to be submitted to the ratepayers for the raising of considerable moneys for certain improvement works. The war had made loans impossible, and that poll never was taken. But in the meantime the council had done quite considerable works out of the schedule from ordinary revenue—and all this without raising rates or tram fares, or electric light charges. This V.-as the more remarkable in view of the increased wages which the council had quite properly paid because of the higher cost of living, and the higher cost of coal.

Congested Areas, The epidemic had revealed things in Uiis city which should not be. There were slum areas on To Aro flat which ought not to be allowed to remain. in their present condition. His own opinion was that the council should get power to declare tho whole of Te Aro flat an industrial area. All this land would one day be required for factories and warehouses, and it would never bo suitable for dwellings. Closely allied with this matter of improvement of undesirable areas was the problem of re : iievimr the existing congestion in the city. His belief wns that the only real solution would be .to give cheap, transit iiito the' suburb's. ..-Fares might easily bo reduced without'very greatly adding to the liability of the ratepayers. Sixty per cent, of the revenue of the trams was collected in penny fares. If the maximum fare of twopence were adopted, more people would go to the distant suburbs, and he did not think that in the end there would be any Joss to the city. Among areas which might be opened up were Mornington, Northland, ond beyond, and parts of the borougli of Ouslow. The council had in hand a scheme to build workers' dwellings for tramway emplcyces, and he could seo no reason why these schemes should not 'be pushed ahead at once. The material would be concrete, the constituents of which had not advanced greatly in price owing, to the war, and the labour cost would' never again lie at pre-war level.

The Kelburn Tram. He was in favour of securing the Kelburn tram, and extending from the top a nrvice to Karori and Northland. He had heard of anothor suggeqtio.il to take trams to Northland via Glenbervie Terrace and Garden ]Joad. The grade of Garden Hoad was less than that of the Brooklyn incline, and Northland would be brought within a mile by tram of Government Buildings. He was not an engineer, and could pass no opinion on the suggestion, but if elected he'would have the project investigated. Jivery endeavour should be made to induce Karori and Miramar to join tho city. Karori would have to relv on the city for water and drainage, and it needed these services already -very badly. Miramar was taking water and electric power from the city, and it would undoubtedly be tn the advantage of the residents of tho 'borough to amalgamate with the city. ■

Growing Requirements.. The Wellington water supply would very soon have to be liicrea&i-u, and the engineer had prepared a very valuable report setting out what must be done to provide for tho population of Wellington '25 years hsiipe. Tho scheme would be adequate when completed to supply the' whole of the Hutt Valley, iiis opinion was that the city should take in, as well as Mirajnar and Karori, the borough of Eastbourne and the boroughs in the Hutt Valley.. It seemed to him that the proper boundaries of the .: ty of .Wellington should be tho mountains surrounding it. Shortly, the enterprise to supply the city with hydro-electric power would bo taken in hand by the Government. Eventually that cheaper current would bo of immenso benefit to the city, but in tho meantime the council would be embarrassed. The water produced power would be available in a few years, but in thoso years the city would have to remodel its power stations to meet.the citys piesent requirements. At the meeting ol the council on Thursday the. decision would be made to reduce the cost oi electric light for private use by one penny per unit. The hydro-electric scheme would mean a saving to the, city of J325.000 a year, a U d the Minister • had promised that the power would be available in four years. He advocated the establishment of tepid bathe in the oity, the use of l'loro up-to-date machinery for tho council s works, the erection of nioro public conveniences, particularly in the suburban districts, tho provision of rest rooms lor women and children in the city, the conetruction of another tunnel under thhill to Hataitai, largo _ enough fvehicular traffic, the depulication of. exKing single, tramway lines especially on the Island Bay route, and the completion of the sea-wall, and esplanade m Orental Bay and tho extension of it round Point Jerningham and eventually down to Kilbirnie.

Mr. Barber paid a warm tvibulo to the Special Milk Committee, the members of which, lie said, had worked with rare enthusiasm and energy to make the enterprise a success. There w»ro difficulties, but tho committee had spared no effort to surmount them., It was too early vet to condemn tho scheme because of the adveise criticisms made by interested persons. His opinion was that tho people were much better off under tho present scheme than they would have been had nothing at all been attempted by tho council.

Another suggestion he made was that the city should undertake the eea casriauo of its own coal. Tho Contest. Ho spoke of tho contest and' the presence in tho field of four candidates. Mr. Luke had definitely told him and other councillors that he would not stand liiiain. There were complications, and the issue was doubtful owing to the volr-splitliiiK Ilial must occur. Six .years ago he had stood down for Mr. Luka. and two years ago Mr. Luke had urged him not to retire from the council (us lie hail thought of doing), but to stand again, with :i vieir of going for the Mayoralty at this time. Of Mr. Wt'slon he hud the very highest opinion. The only objection to him .was that he Jiml no!, sufficient experience of the eitv's affairs to h'H the office of Mayor.. If elected he would loyally support ihe council in carrying out its policy, He accused the present Mayor of failing in this duty to support the council, and the council's policy, especially in failing to assist the Milk Committee. In conclusion he sa'id that after twenty-five years' rprvice he thought he could with propriety retire from municipal politics, but at. the end of his term he would apprcciafo the honour very much if the citizens would give him a term as Mayor.. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr, Barber for his address.

.MR. LUP'S CANDIDATURE WOMEN'S ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. Yesterday afternoon a meeting of Wellington 'women interested in the candidature of Mr. J. P. Luke for the Mayoralty was held in Godber's rooms, Couptenay Place. There was an attendance of about 100, and Mrs. Luke, the Mayoress, presided. In opening the meeting Mrs: Luke said that both she and Mr. Luke had received a great deal of kindness from the people of Wellington, and they had greatly appreciated it all. In one way ihey felt a little diffident in coining forward and asking again' for the people's suffrage. There was nothing like experience for testing the real mettle of people, and during the time that he had been in office Mr. Luke had given 'iis best to the city and'its interests. The past four or five years, as they all knew, had been very busy years and although people might not be able to say that the asphalt in front of their gates had been beautifully done, yet much had been achieved in other "directions. ■ The security of the city had been looked to and everything that could give comfort and pleasure, to the soldiers. They <Ud not want to 'be greedy, continued Mrs. Lu.ke. The term of office was for two years, and in.the ordinary course of ovenls two years would be quite enough. To a man, however, who had the interests of the city and of the people at heart the time was all too short. It had been said that Mr. Luke had more than enough , to do, that to fill two public positions was too much for any man. They forgot, however, that Mr. Luke was ablcuto give his whole time to the'work. In most .cases the man who became Mayor had his private calling to-attend' to, so that, ho filled two positions also. Mr. Luke was "iving niriiis'time-to his-public duties. Although the'war hod-stopped much constructive work, , for , money was needed for other purposes, something had been done in this direction, aml'Mrs. Luke instanced'the transformation of Oriental Hay'.' She and Mr. Luko wanted to do the honest thing, and they were there to ask for their friends' assistance m putting Mr Luke at the top of the poll. To achieve what one set out to do was the best reward that could happen to one. Mr J. Huteheson followed Mrs. Luke, an 1 congratulated her upon the sincerity of her speech. Referring to one' of the objections that had been raised against the candidature of Mr. Luke for the Mnyoralty-that no man could hold two public positions without detriment to one or both-Mr. Hutcheson said hat iuilßiiiK by previous Majors that mignr .have bee/tlie case. Their official fcour, had usually been from ten to twelve in the morning and faro to four in the atteir.oon, and during those hours they would be absorbed in negotiations, consultations etc., with the result that matters which wore equally within-their sphere of Mayoral activities had to lapse for want of time. 'They did not see any fO" being at the office in the way that Mr. Luke had teen. His hours mis it be said to bo from one to twenty- our, for tebe'found there at any hour alnwt. He (Mr. Hutelfeon could speak f 6m personal knowledge of the time hat Mr Luke gave to his Mayoral. dutie>, and he considered that he Tμ a elaye to service. Mr. Luke was better able to atvoto his time to office tta»a» who was not a member of Parliament bu; who had his pnvato practice or calling to follow, lljii chief opponent 1 a<l i™ 'ted an office that won d need m>. forbfng attention, that post being chairmr,n of Hie Bepatrrobon Boa <. Another objection that hart mui broSTforward against the election of Mr Luke as Mayor, continued Mr. Hu - cheson, was his length of time, in ota. It was said that he was greed). I« »» first place Mr. and Mrs. Luke did jot &&&$&% thinu"h thev too would be weary. ?*• eS: ft the moment that he had «*■ d to L returned to office it would la e t fair thing that he should be f.skcd to take them up at-the point where they ill to be put on one side owing' to the "n Hi position was that of a weary ervant who was asked to go on with Ihe *£ &,• 5? Si Mer in the worted to promote the -we fwe oi \ U Sf public works bad been drawn up, and much of it would have mater ia wd had it not been for the war. j\s a ma - teroffS«/»«ueofit>a,lb«..nch«v«l. There was the extension of the n <> line from Constable Street to h\ all vhich relieved the congestion ol the - birnie line; the building of .the lnaime "rale t Oriental Bay; tho format™ in 1 finishing of Central Park, and tho dunlicaion>of the Brooklyn tramway li ,c Ho would have liked to have wen uu y improvement* to the city earned it/particularly the cleaning up o the To Aro Hat. To do so, however, meant 11 9 of about -150 people ol tbcir to provide somewhere for them to go to. Hint was a difficult matter to arrange, especially during the war period. Jlo assured Hie meeting that, now bavin" entered the arena he would endeavour to so conduct, his campaign that no reflection would rest npun him, that he nad either let the election go by deiau t or that ho had deported liiuisrU . towards any of his competitors in any way inconsistent with the canons of fair play and honourable rivalry. . Mr Lisle (lion, secretary to Mr. Imkc s election committee) then explained to the meeting the various arrangements made by the general committee, for Hie conduct of the cHinp'iign and for the election day. He also quoted an interesting analysis of recent election figures tending to show the strength of Mr. Litko'a following, and in conclusion he impressed upon all present that as Mv. Luke's olection was in reality their election, it behoved each one to leave null'ing to chance. As polling day was so near it was necessary for everyone present to do their utmost to bring every supporter to the poll. All the forties present having given their names to tho secretary as willing to undertake any duties awarded Hu'ii in connection with Mr. Luke's election, the proceedings, which were characterised throughout with much enthusiasm, were brought to a close with a hearty vote of thanks to Mrs. Luke, and confidence in Mr. Luke as a suitable person lor Mayor of the capital city.

Mr. J. P. Luke, a candidate for tlio city Mayoralty, will address the electors in tho Concert Chamber, Town Hall, on Tuesday 'next at 8 p.m.

The total number of births in Germany in 1916 was about W per cent, less than ■in 1913. In ancient times the country now known «s Portugal was called Lusitnnin, The present name is derived from Porte Callo, the original appellation of Oporto* which has ever been the'chief comugj* oial city of the country.