MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 182, 28 April 1919, Page 8

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

THE MAYORAL CAMPAIGN

MR. BARBER'S MEETINGS

Mr. W. H, P. Barber addressed meetings at Ngahauranga and Kaiwarra on Saturday night. He congratulated Onslow on the progressive spirit that actuated them in amalgamating with the city. ~ The fact that they had decided to join unconditionally was evidence tjiat Wellington would treat them fairly. • He bettered the amalgamation would prove to bo of advantage to the district, nnd Hint tlio residents would bo . provided with the conveniences that they desired, water aild drainage, n>ol* e'xpeditiously and more than would have been the case had they remained a separate borough. Ho promised that in the event of his being returned he would ondeavour to have these urgent works carried out with as little delay as possible. Ho expressed the opinion that the Borough of Onslow would prove valuable as a means of relieving the congestion of th'e city, nnd urged that some pressure would be brought upon the Railway Department to improyo the suburban train services to the district. Ho quoted from" Hansard to show that when a member of Parliament he had opposed the ombargo, which prohibited the running of trams oil the Mutt Eoad. On realising fhnt ]jo and others were not strong enough to prevent the, restriction altogether, he moved an amendment that tjie embargo should only apply beyond one mile from the city bolyidarr. This amendment was lost by four votes-. Had that amendment been agreed to, it would have permitted the extension of the tramways at least as far as^Eniwarra. Mr. Barber received, a unanimous vote of thanks at both meetings.

THE COUNCILOR-CANDIDATES ""satubday night speeches. Hataitai and Rossneath were visited on Saturday evening by various candidates for the City Council. Mr. Thomas For. syth, one of the "new blood" candidates for (lie City Council, eaid he had been induced to come forward as it Was.felt thi city councillors during the next two years should be btisine* men of known experience, ability-, and administrative capacity. Tho huge trading concernstrams and electric tl^ht—now undertaken by the city demanded , that the most cirpable men should sit on the council, in order that good results might be obtained and if possible improved, "he finances of the city required strengthening, and if all the necessary improve, -invnts and now undertakings were to to gone on with a further loan for a substantial nmount would be required. The eleteric lighting department was showing a good profit, but it would be unwise to reduce the prico of current at pteseut. In view of the' coming hydro-electric scheme;'-provision ought now to bo made to cover the heavy depreciation of the present plant, ; which would be necessary when tire new scheme of generating current was introduced. After liaving studied the tramway figures, ■ he was of the opinion that the adoption of a univercal fare is impracticable In Wellington, but greater facilities should bo granted to'those In the outlying districts or suburbs by extending ■ the concession tickets. Increased revenue for last r»ear was ,£4572, 'and increased expenditure amounted to which showed tT.at tho finances of our tramway department would require very careful handling. Amalgamation of the lwroughs of Miramar and Karon with tho city was desirable, and absolutely necessary before going into the question of providing additional and improved services in such nintters (if public utility as water, lighting, and transport. , , . With lT.'.'ard to the milk question, in view of Uhe fact that the city- was.al~ rcndv committed to the extent of ,£40,000 to h&tO.CWO in buildings mid plant and n. probable animal expenditure of several thousand pounds, it wns onjy a fair thing to allow the promoters of the present exn"'.im?nt' a fair opportunity to demonstrate tho efficacy of their s.ysteni in sup* TiVincr rV city-with pure milk nt a. reasonable fiiruro. To improve conditions of tho so-called slum areas lie favoured tlie immediate appointment of additional inspectors, preferably women* with full powers to compel cleanliness of the homes, iijside as well as outside. 3bo housing , problem wns one which must be taken up by the Government in conjunction with the Incnl bodies. It. was manifestly unfair that the whole responsibility for ttfis important and vital questio'V of Tefarm shou'd be .cast on the local bodies. Tlie pressing need for workers' homes was to a large extent attributable to the fact that large staffs of men on tho waterfront and elsewhere were noncentrfited at the central port of Wellington, in order to handle and distribute the produce and merchandise of tho provir.cial districts surrounding, and therefore tho cost should be shouldered and borne bv tho central government. If elected ho would do his best to assist in conducting the business of the city on' sound and economical lines, and he believed his training and experience would enable him to do so.

Mr. R. A. Wright.spoke at Roseneath. Mr. T, W. Ward was voted to the chair. The speaker, after referring- to the extreme importance of tho coming election and the vital issues which were at stake, urged every electof to vote a full ticket, particularly with regard to the Hospital Board. Dealing with Harbour matters, he pointed out that if waste and extra: vagance prevailed in tho administration of the board's affairs, the electors were compelled to foot the bill. Whatever revenue the board required, it collected by means of charges levied upon the goods imported and exported. Although these charges were paid in the first instance by tho merchant, he in turn passed them on to tho retailer, who followed by passing on the increase to the consumer. Taxation, like water, found' its own level, and in the end the consumer paid. Therefore, all waste at tho waterfront, including pillaging, which resulted in increased charges, was made up by thoso who consumed the goods. He pointed out the value of labournsaving machinery. In this respect something.had been done by the board, but there was still room for improvement. Dealing with council matters, he touched upon the slum problem. Before this could be solved, more houses must be erected. The dwellers in the slums could not be disturbed until new houses were built. Therefore, the most urgent work to l>6 faced by the council a.nd Harbour Board was the erection of several hundred new homes! Until this was done, slums would remain? . ■ • .

Mr. W. J. Gaudin, sneaking at Hataitai, referred to the financial position, and urged electors to be careful in tho selection of councillors. Owiug to tho increased obligations placed on tho Dominion, economy, both public and private, was essential, and good men would lie required to ensure the city getting value for every penny spent. It was falee economy to etint money for education or' for the development, of mich schemes as hypower. While not advocating tho ward system, he would supjrtrt a scheme for bringing tho requirements of the suburbs more directly under the notice of the council. Something should be dono immediately to improve the roads in nnd around the city ia this counection. Mr. H. D. Bennett.'provision merchant, gavq a spirited address to.an enthusiastic audience at a meeting held in the Hataitai Schoolroom en Saturday evening. Mr. Bennett tpoke sis one of a team of speakers urging the adoption of a greater Wellington ticket, and took-as Iris subject tho follies of extreme Labour. In a very interesting address ho warned his hearers of tho (lungers • looming ahead, as evidenced in the outspoken utterances of Labour leaders in Wellington and elsewhere. The witing was on the wall he said, and would hecomo the writing in our law- books if encouragement was given ial municipal stepping-stonos such as the Qoming - election provided. Labour had its honest and rrniseworthy aspirations, mid he, the speaker, could be relied on (o see fair play, lint he claimed that no industrial jieaoo could be made without equal consideration being given to the third factor—brain power—which was most conveniently ignored by the present political agitators. Ho exhorted ilic great middle classes to exercise their electoral rights by outnolling tho extremists. Mr. 11.-l). Bennett was also ono '.if the sneakers at a combined meeting of candidates under tho banner of tho Greater Wellington i'eket, who addressed a meeting of electors in the Roseneath Schoolroom, on Saturday night. Mr. 'Ai & Lambort, a candidate for the Jtopitu osd'C&tritobJe Aid Board, i

considered that the nurses were not adequately remunerated. The question of the upkeep of all hospitals should bo borne by the general Government, and not by the ratepayers, and the produce of the Government farms should be sent to the hospitals, thereby ensuring both cheap and the best of produce. He belioved that hospital 'boards should take a much more active part in town-plan-ning propaganda.' , Mr. F. "W , . Man ton dealt with the hydro-electric scheme, and tho question ot' better housing for all classes. Wellington should bo mado the model city of the Dominion.

Mr. Dale considered that\. the City Councilors should be as capable as company directors. Tho business of the city Required capable men at its head. He considered that an extension of tho concession tramway ticket should bo made, and that tho housing question should receiyo immediate attention, as should also access to Karori, Onslow, and Hataitai.

Mr.rF. MeadowoToft expressed hinwelf .strongly in favour of. the councillors electing their owu Mayur, Hβ considered that tramways should precede settlement, and not ns at present folloiV it. He strongly favoured tho amalgamation of the adjoining boroughs, and gave an interesting account of the model town of Bourneville, founded by Cadburys,- of which firm he. is the Dominion manager. A Labour candidate , for the City Council (MT. A. W. Croskery) advocated that the "riino o'clock workers" of Wellington should be given tho right to purchase and use workers' tramway concession tickets. Ho repudiated the! sugggestion that tho tramways revenue would Dot permit an extension of the present privileges. The real profits of tho tramway service for the past year were, according to a certificated accountant, J:G2,000, and the profits for the past two years were well over .£IOO,OOO. The new council ought io meet. promptly the need for a readjustment of all the fares charged on the trams. Mr. A. W. Croskery, Labour candidate for-the, City Council, speaking in the Post Office Square,' pointed out that 412,500,000 was to be spent on.the carrying out of a housing scheme in Britain. Surely if England, with her enormous ■ff.i' , expenditure, could tackle the prob-' lem in this manner, wo in New Zealand could, to say the least of it, provide the funds to house tho people in .sanitary, comfortable, and agreeable homes. Speaking from the Labour Party's platform, Mr, W. M'Arley, the secretary of the N.Z. Locomotive Engineers' Association, said that h* stood for tho platform of the Labour Party, for the improvement of the city, and considered that in order to carry it out common sense, practical, economic, and efficient methods should be adopted by the party. The housing problem, was the most acuto one at present, : but before anything could bs dons by the municipality, an efficient tramway system would require , to be introduced as quickly as possible. Then the next step wouid be the introduction, of a universal car fare when practicable, or cheaper transit to the suburbs. When'it was assured that ' thesp«_reforms could be carried out, the pavly "would stand for a comprehensive bmliing scheme and so get the people into a house for each family. Then tha glunis copld be swept away and parts of them taken for ,open 6paces for the children of the city to play in instead of taking to the streets art they do at present for a recreation ground. ' The roads Tn the city wore disgraceful, and tho wood-Kicking required a coating to prevent polluted water lying between the blocks, and so being a menace, .to tho health of citizene. . .

BUSINESS MEN'S TICKET A nieeting of business men was held on Saturday morning to "consider the , advisability'of submitting a "ticket" of desirable -candidates for the Mayoral, City Council, and Harbour Board elections Mr. A. Veitch was voted to the _ chair. After-discussion the meeting decided to support "the following candidates:— Mayotnlty.—Mr. W. H. P. Barber. City Council.—Messrs; T. Forsyth, G. Frost. W. T. Hildreth, M. Luckie, F. W Manton, F. Meadowcroft, L. M'.Kenzie, S (J.- , Nathan,• J. 0.- Shorland, W.- J Thompson, C. J B. Norwood, J. M. Dale, E. J. Eighton, Bert Koyle, , and AY; H.Bennett.

'Harbour Board— Messrs. W. Cable, A. S. -Collins, W. T. Hildreth, and C. J. B. Norwood* ■ ,

A' counter proposal that the ticket of thu Greater Wellington Association should be supported was negatived 1 by a JcjVßc majority, the meeting objecting to the attitude taken up by the association in regard to the, Mayoral contest TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS. To-night at 8 o'clock Mr. W. H. P. Barbe; will speak at. Fullford's Hall, Brooklyn. Thu elector*! will be addressed "to-night by. candidates for City.. Council at Lyall Bay Church Hall and Wadestown Anglican Churchroom. Speakers: H.. I\ Bennett, J. M. Dale, T. Forsyth, W.J. Gaudin, 'P. Meadoweroft, F. W. Manton, and others. • A labour rally will be held in- the Town Hall , to-night. Open-air meetings will be held to-day at the Government Buildings, from 12.30 to i:3O p.m. Meetings will be held to-morrow dt Ghuzneo Street,' Dkon Street, Boyd'e store, Hataitai, and at Kilbirnie Post Office.

■ At fhe King'e Theatre this afternoon nt 3 o!clock Mrs. J. R. Gibbons, and Messrs. E. J. Eighton and Bert Koyle will speak. They promise to give bright, pithy, and snappy speeches, and there will be good music, Signor Cesaroni, the Italian baritone, will sing; Sapper Theo. Tresize will recite, and Mr. L. D. Anetin will bo at the piano. The candidates hope that every' one interested in the progress of the city will attend. There is, of course, no charge for admission. ■ ■ ■ •

•The labour Party's,campaign in pot): nection with the municipal elections "will be continued to-day in the Post Office Square at noon, .and. at Government Buildings (Bunny, Street), from 12.30 to. I.SO p.m. To-night, in the ■ Concert! Chamber'of the' Town' Hall, n Labour rally will he.held, and the.speakers will, be jleesrs. P. Fraser,.M.P/, J, Road.. A..'W. .Croskery, T. Brindle, A. L. , Mpnteith, and Mrs. Beck.' To-morrow even-, ins; open-air ''meetings' will lie'held at. Ohuznoe Street, Dixon Street, Hutaitai (Boyd's Store), and; Kilbirnie (Post Office).