MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 178, 23 April 1919, Page 8

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

MR. J. P. LUKE ADDRESSES THE ELECTORS AN ACCOUNT OF HIS STEWARDSHIP (Extended Report—Published by Arrangement.) Mr. J. P. Luke, C.M.G., M.P., who has for six years filled the offico of Mayor of Wellington, and is now offering himself as a candidato for a further term, last night addressed ft well-attended meeting in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall Mr. John Hutcheson presided. The meeting was on tho '.hole r.n orderly one, and such interruptions as time were came from a very limited number ot Tho' chairman said that tho other three geutlomon who had addressed meetings in connection with the Mayoral contest liad received a good hearing, and he asked that Mr. Ljikc be accorded a similarly patient hearing. Since Mr. Luke did not'desire to prolong the meeting unduly ho would restrict tho time for tho asking of questions afterwards to fifteen minutes. . ' Mr. Luke was received with applause. Before ho commenced to speak, he. was handed a floral tribute shaped like a horseshoe and bearing the legend: "Donated by tho ladies of Wellington as a mark of our gratitude for the many public services rendered by Mrs. Luke >iring her husband's very strenuous form of office." Mrs. Luke, who occupied a seat upon tho platform, received tho token frOm the Mayor. The chairman, began Mr. Luke, had asked that lie should be given an attentive hearing. Well, if the audience did not desire to hear him personally, ho trusted that it would sit any rale show some respect for the office he .for the time being held. Ho did not intend to say anything of a personal nature, but wi'shed'to deal only with municipal masters. He we.s there because ho had responded to the request of a very largo deputation, and to the generally-expressed opinion that ho should again be a candidate for the Mayoralty. Ho could assure his hearers that he did not seek to submit himself as a candidate. The deputation that had waited upon him bad put tho matter in such a way that he had agreed to ym himself in its'bands. When there waa some question about whether he should *o on with tl« contest he referred the negotiations and the discussion to the. committee he had been associated with, and ho would challenge any man or my woman to say that he had no riuht to stand before them and ask for their suffrages to return him for a further term of office. (Applause.) For Work Done. He claimed the right because of work that ho had done. Ho thought that they would concede that he had been no slacker in the discharge of bis office. -Tho affairs of tho city A voice: Are rotten . It had been impossible to merit the approval of everybody, and he had never had the slightest desire to train his mind in such a direction. He did claim, however, to lave worked throughout his term of offico to the very best of his ability. No man or woman in tho audience, except his own wife, knew what an amount of work tho holding of the Mayoralty had entailed for him, and he considered it very ungenerous of some people to imply by their conversation and their attitude tiiat tho office was not a strenuous one. During his term as Mayor there had been some considerable happenings, and ho had not had a. bed of roses. He was eorrv to say that tho end of tho work connected with the war had not yet been reached. He wished that the wholo thing wero absolutely settled, but there was much still to bo done by any person who was returned to the position of Mayor. There was tho work of reinstating tho returning boys in civil occupations. Ho had all along played the gamo with the boys while they were in oamp, while they we're passing through the city, and while they were arriving back again. , The Epidemic. During the recent epidemic had the Mayer been a slacker? no. Tho Mayor had carried out his duties. 110 and tho Mayoress had played the gamo. (Loud applause.). There were hero one cr two interjections, to which Mr. Luke replied: "Wo were in some of your houses, too, and you'vo got to thank us for it." (Applause.) ~ ' A voice: Don't you think others did the same?—" Yes, Mr. Fraser and quite a number of others did the same." Tho chairman (to the few interrupters): There was no one disturbing your meeting. Be a little bit decent. Mr. Luke said that ho was not in tho least concerned about interjections or any little, opposition that was manifested. Ho had rather reckoned on something of tho sort. Amalgamation. ■ Returning to tire tenor of his address, Mr. Luke said that he was in favour of n development policy for the city and an extension of the present borders. He was distinctly in favour of amalgamating the neighbouring boroughs, and making a great and better Wellington than they had at the present time. (Applause.) It was impossible for tho city to receive all the benefits of up-to-dateness if it had lying alonjside it lands that could not bo properly developed because of certain restrictions. It would bo the duty of a future copncil Io bring about the amalgamation 'of Miramnr and Karori, and he would even like to see Wellington so extended as to include Petone a.nd Lower Hutt. He was certainly in favour of .Eastbourne being made a part of the Overcrowding. The evil of overcrowding was to bo mot with in Wellington, and a great number of petfplo wero inclined to blame the present City Council for part of it. (Hear, hear.) Ho wished to say, on the contrary, that the people who had manngp.d tho affairs of the city before the present council had come into being had had ii greater share in the responsibility. The present council was the only one that had got an Act of Parliament enabling the engineer and the council to determine the cutting-up of land. The council could now, under authority granted by Parliament, determine the nature of the subdivision of a block of land so that it could be made to fit in with a proper scheme of town planning. In sneaking of town-planniiij, Mr. Luke described the schemes evolved in Britain .and Australia. He thought that the City Council s'ns, with some little outside assistance, a competent authority to deal with the problems that nrosa. He believed that a scheme could bo made that would bo satisfactory to the community at large, and of great advantage to the people who would occupy the new houses that veuiki .bo built under it. Financial. Touching upon the city's finances, Mr. Luko said that there had been an increased demand made in tho past year by the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. In four or five years tho amount of the call upon the city's funds had risen from .£16,000 to ,£23,000, and the levy for tho coming year would rise even higher, owing to the possibility of a recurrence of tho influenza epidemic. During his occupancy of the Mayoral office there had been no increase in tho rales other than tho Hospital and Charitable Aid Board rates, and he thought that hint merited some credit in view of tho improvements that had been carried out in the city. Mr. Luke said that year after year the City Council hurt authorised expenditure of «• special character. Years ngo a loan had been raised for Ihe purpose of paying off special liabilities Io thai, date. ,The amount of the liability at tho present lime was about .£BO,OOO. Ho considered that as soon as the financial situation permitted, tho council ought to raise a loan to cover these sums and so remove tho linbility from the banking accounl. Tho .£BO,OOO included XI 1.000 for slreufwidening, .£II,OOO for Day's Bay, ,Clo.oofl for drainage in the outlying portions of the citv, «£SOOO for improvements at Oriental Bay, .WOO for the Basin Reservo, for the Island Bay culvert, J1.1300 for a pumping engine, .£3OOO for land at Stoke Street, .£4200 for the Ngahauranga quarry, and £1500 for Central Park,' ,

The Tramways. Turning to tho city tramways, Mr. Imko said that liis conviction was that the trams ought In servo oil Uio people and not any particular section. Tho system should bo used to provide conveyance under the best; possible conditions at tho lowest, possible c'hnrgos, and not regarded as a means of reducing the city rales. During last y«ir_lho trainwar revenue increased by .£-t r )"2 and the expenditure by JZV2.XX. n difference of rC77"»-l. This 'year there was in increase of over .£3ooo' in the appropriation for tho trains, and he wished to point out that the total sum included such items as X 2703 required to bring ihe military pav of tramway employees up to Ihe civilian rale, ami £IGSfI for fiiiDeraunualion. The horse tramway sinkin? fund absorbed XtMtH). The total special expenditure, includine this sum. exceeded .ffiflflfl. Tramway finmioo admittedly required careful handling, but the system was in n much belter position than some praplc believed. A voice: Then why don't you raise tho tramwavmen's wages? Mr. Luke: "The men got a very Bond denl. The trams have got to be run on :, financial basis. The rote of pay received l>v the men is beyond their acren. ment. They have a new agreement wilh which thoy are quite fait<'«finrl." Mr. Luke said that no -nmnicinality had a right to mn tramways except on a proper financial basis, with duo provision for depreciation and sink'wr f "od. A voice: Under a proper social system tl>c trams would be free to tho public. (Laughter.) •Mr. Juke snid that tramway finance had suffered during November from the .epidemic, but the undertaking averaged on a business basis' 7 nor cent. A voice: Why not take. 2 per cent, off and pav the men decent wages? Mr Luke: T think vou would take it all off. The voice: I certainly would. ' Mr. Luke: And then yon would n»r for the trami out of the, rates. The franuravs had been burdened bv the decision of a Court that tho Wndestown people should not be specially taied. Electricity Supply, Referring to the Electric Light Department Mr. Luke quoted figures to show that the system was on a sound basis. The council had made good provision for depreciation, and had written off sums for old plant. He had suggested that the chargo for lighting should ho reduced by one penny per unit, but this proposal had not been very woll received bv the council.' The electric undertaking was producing 16 per cent., and he felt that the benefit ought to go to tho consumer. Lie hoped that the council would agree to his proposal. The electric light accounts might not be large, but the sums were important to poor people. A. voice: You are just waking up. 'Mr. Luke approved of the hydro-elec-tric scheme, which would conserve coal and give increased efficiency. It would also remove difficulties of an industrial character between , the mine and the city.' It was the duty of Hip city to link up with the proposed Mangnhao scheme and secure for the people, the I benefit of cheap and abundant electricity. The City Council had been fully justified in sending its engineer on a visit to the United Kingdom, if only in order that ho might acquire the latest information noont electric tramway undertakings. 7 lie council would derive great benefit from the journey. Tho Mayor suggested thai when the city had water-power the necessary stand-by station should he placed on tho Hutt Road. The valuable Mercer Street sito would then be available for other purposes. City Improvements, In connection with water supply ha considered that tho time had' arrived to proceed with the Orongo Orongo scheme. Mr. Morton had brought down a dotailed scheme, and the benefits that were promised ought to appeal to the people of tho city. Tho scheme would provide for the present and future needs of Wellington, and there should be no delay in view of the fact that already the present supply was being at times fully taxed. Water and drainage had to be .provided for tho Onslow district, and this work, ho felt, was pressing in order that people might be encouraged to move into the outer areas. He was in favour of extending the tramway system to Petone and Lower Hutt. Parliament should be asked to sanction this extension, and tho line should bo taken immediately to Kaiwarra. The trams should be extended also to Northland and in the direction of Wilton's Bush. An alternative route to Northland ought to be considered \ia Sydney Street and Garden Eoad. A r.ew road to Vogeltown from Brooklyn was another proposal that . had his approval-. Hawker Street required to bo regraded in order to give improved access to Eoseneath. Hs believed tho city should have better access to Hatai* tai. He had never seen the wisdom of tho people who opposed a traffic tunnel to liutr.itai. In any case an additional road to Hataitai would have to be provided in the near future. ■ It would be necessary for thjj council, to improve the city streets by wood-blocking or other process. Lifts were needed to the higher levels of tho city. Tho City Engineer would gather information on this point in the United Kingdom. Than he thought that tho council should extend Anderson Park and make improvements a.t tho Botanical Gardens. The alterations that were to be made by the Railway Department and. tho Harbour Board on tho Thorndon waterfront would deprive the council of its reserve at that point and of the Thorndon baths. He had suggested already that the money received by the council by way of compensation should bo spent in providing, a good tepid swimming bath for the Thorndon end of the city. He was in favour of the council considering the desirability of purchasing the city gasworks. On an earlier occasion negotiations had been begun, but tho prico asked by tho Gas Company had been very large, and the proposal had been dropped. He was prepared to reopen the question. The council could erect gasworks of its own in Melrose at any time and 'supply gas to suburban areas. The milk supply scheme so far had cost about .£30,000, but thero were substantial assets against this. Conclusion. In conclusion, Mr. Luke snid that if ho became Mayor for a further term his efforts would be directed to advancing the interests of Wellington as a wholo. He looked upon the city as a heritage in which all tho citizens had a part, and he considered that Mayor, councillors, and citizens ought to givo their best efforts to making it in fact, as well as in name, Ihe Empire City of the Dominion. (Applause.) In answer to questions, Mr. Luke said that the Engineer had been sent to Britain to gather information on matters of cily concern. Tho grant of ,£IOOO would come from the general funds of the city. He believed Ihe trip would save the city thousands of pounds. He had helped many people to get rents reduced. The City Council had never refused to pull down a house when it had been condemned by ihe Health Department. Tho council had urged the Department to onerate on many houses. A citizen: AYhat about the fortv-two houses condemned bv the health authorities and that are still earning Tent? A lady said she could show i'te Mayor some condemned houses that were stitt occupied. Mr. Luke: I do not hnow of a case ii-herc the council has refused to; tako action about a house that had been condemned. The Mayor said that if there had been accumulations of rubbish in any backyards, the council bad not been aware of the fact. The council had not been the responsible authority on imnHh matters during the epidemic. F" thought Ihe Government should let the eouncil erect a tramway shelter on public land ;•! (he corner of Lambton Quay and Jlnlesworth Street ft) answer to another oiiostion. Mr. Luke said that he had not leeeived 0"e penny from the Macnrthy Trust. TI P did not think Hint the trust would make any such payment, and he crrtaivlv would not accept it. Mr. Luke n<Mnd tliat since he Ji.id been Mayor he had paid all his own expenses. After some further questions had been put and answered, a vote of thi'jlis to the Mavor was moved and seconded. A citizen: 1 am going to move an amendment. The chairman: And I am not going to accept it. This is merely a courtesy vote. We are not asking for a voto of confidence. , , , . The motion was carried by acclnmai lion, and tho meeting closed.