THE CITY COUNCIL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 184, 30 April 1919, Page 8

THE CITY COUNCIL

GREATER WELLINGTON TICKET. The Greater Wellington Town-Planning Association candidates spoke at Khandallah last night, Mr. J. G. Harkness liresiding. The speakers were Messrs. Manton, Wright, Snd Gaudin, supported by Messrs. Dale, Meadowcroft, and H. II Bennett. Mr. W. J. Gaudin urged'electors to vote solidly. for the candidates selected by the association. The city, ho said ,was on tho eve of great development, which should be long definite lines. Tho outlying districts especially must bo devoloped to relievo tho congested city area. All city activities were backward and must be brought up to date. Tramways, roads, water, and drainage must bo developed to give the maximum of comfort and convenience to all parts of the city. , \ , Mr. Manton said, that he looked'forward 'to tho tinio when Khandallah would form an important link to the city. It was the City Council's respon-, sibility to take action to settio the housing problem. When ho was working during the opidemic, ho made up his mind to do all ho could to alter the existing conditions. His ono object in' standing for tho council" was the welfare of the city and all classes residing in the city. Ho was in favour of ths council obtaining sufficient land in outlying suburbs and erecting dwellings, not only ior the workers, but for all sections. If this got tho people out into tho hilly suburbs they would Jkivo a strong, healtlly community.. In" connection' .with playing grounds, no adequate provision had been made, and it was hardly necessary to enlarge on tliis question. Ono of his planks was to see tliat adequate recreation grounds were provided. Tin city was only in tho making, and there was no reason why Wellington should not be ono of the'finest cities south of tho line. •In conncction with town planning he maintained that the City Council should work in with Petono to make the latter placo the manufacturing centre, as. it had most of tho essential requirements.

CITIZENS' CANDIDATES.

A mooting was held Town Hull Concert-Chamber last night, at which several' of the "citizens' " candidates spoke. Councillor Norwood presided. He spoke briefly of his candidature for the Harbour Board, but he said that his work on the City Council was probably quite well known fo citizens. Airs. J. E. Gibbons spoko of the housing problem, mentioning some of the matters which in her opinion required attention. She gave soinb of her ideas nbout the duty of the council to build houses, fitted with conveniences, and to seo that tho houses were not occupied by too many people. She advocated tho purchase by tho council of largo areas, and erecting upon them tho houses required by people of slender means. Other of lior suggestions were for cheaper fish,'cheaper tram fares, the provision of tonnis. grounds for women, the opening up and planting of tho Town Belt, and better access to Kilbirnie and ICelburii. Mr. J. J. Clarke eaid that he was a resident of Kilbirnie, and .ho had been asked by wino of the pcoplo tliero to ho a candidate because that part of the city was not represented on tho council. He was not a bolievOr in tho universal trairifave, hoi said, but he did favour a reduction in fares -to suburb;. Ho was a strong advocate of the amalgamation of'Miramar with the city, in which cass the city could acquire tho large areas of land now vacant there at tho present values. This land could be used in the solution of the housing problem. He was in favour of a traffic tunnel through tho hill to Kilbirnie. • Councillor M; F. Luckic smd that the council had not had its eyes closed to its duties and obligations to the public, but in the last four years the council had had no opportunity of going- on with progressive schemes involving expenditure of much money. At the outbreak of war the council hod a big loaff scliemo for works to be done, Nmt this loan could not bo put 'on to the market, owing to the war- The city had, however, been able without increasing the rates, and without increasing the cost of city services,, to carry through a timo of extreme difficulty, a time when the cost of all labour and materials had increased. But every councillor realised that tho marktime period h&d passed, and works delayed would have to go on, even though they cw-t money. One of tho matters which had already had the consideration of the council was the housing problem. Ho said that the Milk Committee had tackled tho milk problem in tho only way possible. Mr. Norwood said that be was especially interested in the return of members of the Milk Committee, and for this reason ho was especially anxious for tho return of . Councillor W., JT. Bennett (who was present, but who did not address the meeting). Councillor V,. T. Hildreth was present and ''o answered a ono c no>' iiic tin* alleged failure of tho Harbour Board to prevent "plague rat? and oilier kinds of insects" from cntmn, Hiorc from overseas slurs. Mr. Tlihlveth s ronlv was that lie thought it mule right that vts should be orevented from coming Shove from ships, lmt tho tinn "( Ibis mailer was m II- hands of the Health Denartment. Ihe board could not interfere. . THE POLLING PLACES The polling places for tho city elections to-day are as under:— Alexandra Hall, Abel Smith Street. Victoria Ilall, Adelaido Road.

Masonic Hall, Adelaide Road. Methodist 'Mission Hall, Aro Street. Bethune's Auction Mart, Brandon Street. Baptist Church Schoolroom, Ohiro Road. Anglican Churchroom,"* AVashington

Avenue. Oddfellows' Hall, Lambton Quay. St. Peter's Schoolroom, Glnizneo Street. Methodist: Church Hall, Waitoa Road,

ilatiiitai. St. Kilda's Hall, Island Bay. Tea Kiosk, Kelburn. Presbyterian Churchroom, Raroa Road,

Kclburn. New' Century Hall, Kent Terrace. All Saints' 'Church Clubroom, Hamilton Road. Kilbirnie. > , Churchroom, Freyberg Street, Maranui. Kechabite Hall. Manners Street, Churchroom, Northland. Harcourt's Auction Mart, Panama Street, Newtown Library, Riddiford Street. St. Thomas's Hall, Riddiford Street. Schoolroom, Roseneath. , Gymnasium, Sydney Street. St. Peter's MissionTlall, Taranaki Street. Kearney's Tearooms, Tinakori Road. St. Paul's Churchroom, Tinakori Road. Clubroom, Pitt Street, Wadestown. Ladies' Waiting Room, Queen's Wharf. _ Church of Christ, Bay Road, lulbirme

South- . , Onslow Offices, Ballance Street. Public Hall. Khandallah. Methodist Cluirchroom, Ns;aio. Methodist Cliutchrooni, Kaivarra. Town Hall. Cuba Street The polling hours will be from. 'J a.m. to 7 p.m.

EASTBOURNE RATEPAYERS' ASSOCIATION'S TICKET. -> Candidates selected by the Eastbourne Ratepayers' Association as nominees for seals on the Eastbourne Borough Council, last evening addressed a well-attend-ed meeting of electors in Eastbourne Hall (Komi Buy), Mr. J. AV. llcenan, secretary of tho Ratepayers' Association, presided. Tlie candidates wore Mr. F. H. Mather (tor Mayor) and Messrs. H. Black, S.' R Fisher, H. Foley, C. L. Green, li. E. Manley, and T. W F. Marsden.

Mr. Heenan introduced the candidates in a fairly lengthy speech that was listened to with close attention. He said that though tho present council had dono somo. good service in its way, it had been riding its hobbies to the exclusion of other important business. It had neglected the roads, and had violated two principles of local government. The principles were: That no new service in the 'nature of a trade undertaking, and particularly a trade undertaking that was of a speculative kind, 6hould be eutered into without the consent of tho ratepayers; and that moneys the profit, of one service should be conserved for tllo use of that service alone, and not diverted to other ends. It had been contended against Mr. Mather that lie had not had the advantage of experience as a councillor. The contention could tie met with the fact that many of the finest Mayors that Wellington had elected had never previously sat ns members of tho council. Moreover, an old councillor was apt to be pettifogging with detail, whereas a man who was new to municipal government went to his task with a freshness that the other man did not possess.

' Mr. Mather said that the present council had-been weighed in the balance and found wanting. The present state of the borough ivas not creditable to the council. The district fund'account was a "sick account'—overdrawn to the extent of ,£IOOO. There was practically no money available in tlio general, account for operations on a sound financial basis. The purchase of the Aorere as a cargo boat had been directly against the best interests of the borough. Tho vessel had cost ,£2OOO before . she had gone into commission, and she was going to be a steady source of loss Whon the council bought her for ,£ooo'she was on the market for ,£SOO. Ho could prove that. The Aorero was referred to in Wellington as a."dilapidated relic.of a bygone age," and as ."a joke on the harbour." (Cries of "No.") Mr. Mather ■quoted official figures in support of his assertion that the introduction of the bus service had been a failure as a business proposition. The borough would soon have to acquire a new steamer. He was in favour of the proposal'to obtain one, after careful and guarded operations,. Tho steamer must he a .firstclass one, that could defy competition. To the extent that Eastbourne neglected its ferry service its property values would depreciate. .

PETONE \ THE MAYORAL CONTEST, s The Empire Theatre, Petone, was,wellfilled on Monday evening to hear Mr. G. Iwiulon, the Petone Electors' Association candidate for Mayoral honours. Mr H. ■liXirrell, vice-president of the.association, presided, and explained the objects of tho association, which included the securing of the services of capable men, whose energies would be directed on right .lines. Mr. London, at the outset of his remarks, referred to his former connection with borough affairs as Mayor for a period of four years, and stated that the depweatory remarks of his opponent vero in striking contrast to the feeling exhibited when more friendly relations existed between them. Dealing with what had become almost the' deciding question of the contest—that of his present responsibility for the present position of the gas works, he declared that if there wore one matter for which he could 61aim credit it was for. the influence ho hail brought to bear,ill terminating an arrangement which ened to 6inujly bankrupt the gasworks business.

As regards the general account, Mr. London stated that lid' was surprised at the methods of his opponent in presenting to the public his view of things. For instance, his opponent ,had stated that the overdraft of the general account was ,£7296, just about what it when he took offico, whereas tho debt of this account was .£12,279 12s. lOd. This was nearly doublo the rates collected under this liead last yoar, and.an increaso during Mr. M'Ewan's control of i£9277. It was! to bo noted that .£l2lO had been taken from rates paid'in respect to water maintenance and used to prop up. the general account. Petono was probably the most highly-rated community in tho Dominiou, tho rates being on equal values doublp that of Wellington, Outstanding rates at tho end of March last were .£IOBS 18s., at tho end of March, 1918, they were i' 1352 lis.' 7d Contrast them with the amount outstanding in 11)07. which was only ,£166 Bs. 7d. The speaker also dealt with the gas working account and the motor bus account, and in referring to the future he said tliq most pressing work was to put the affairs of the borough in a moro satisfactory position. He thought money might be saved in cpal cartage, either by arrangement with tho Railway Department for a siding near tho gasworks or a light line connection over tho 6top-bank into the gasworks':

One of the most pressing questions of (lie time was housing, lie had been accused of favouring slum dwellings. This statement was utterly devoid of truth. He favoured the idea of prohibiting moro than a limited numbeV of persons occupy, iiijr houses. Messrs. Lambert, Long, Bedingfield, and Cook, candidates for a scat ou the council, also addressed the meeting. Mr, A. R. Hornblow nnnounces that if elected to the City Council he proposes to meet electors in each centre and discuss municipal affairs, so that the needs of each district will bo known to him, thus enabling tho best work to bo accomplished. A final appeal is made to the electors by those members of the Miramai- Borough Council, who are seeking re-election. An error was made in the publication of -the list of sitting councillors by tho omission of the name of Mr. W. T. Hil(lietl). Mr. Hiiidmnrsh was not a member of the council at* the time of his death.