INSTALLATION OF THE MAYOR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 197, 15 May 1919, Page 6

INSTALLATION OF THE MAYOR

\ MR. LUKE'S ADDRESS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS f .■„•.:, r TOUCHED ON | ' Tho first meeting of the'newly-elected | City Council was held in the Council ' t Chambers at noon yesterday. Thore ;■. .were present the. Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) ' ~ and Councillors E. A. Wright, P. Fraser, i ■ .J.,. Hutchison, J. Gloveiy C. H. ChapU.man..J. M. Dale, J.'O.Shorland, M. F. ' ■ rvluckie,, L. M'Kenzie, T. Forsyth, A. ft. [ ■ Atkinson. "tV. H. Bennett; C.. B. NorI wood, W. J. Thompson, and G. Frost. i The Mayor was accompanied by.' the ■Mayoress. ' The Mayoral installation was the first '•••business-of the' meeting."- Councillor '.-•Frost. < as>i the oldest'member, of' the |'-licounoil, was for the-time being voted to r ~:the chair: !,:■:.:• Congratulatory. j . Councillor Frost extended to the Mayor i the congratulations of the council upon i his return. Mr. Luke, in. his previous ! terms of office, had passed through I , ; strenuous times,, and- it was to be ext" peoted that there would be strenuous ! times ahead also. He believed that the j Mayor would have the hearty and loyal support of all his- colleagues. : The Mayor, in assuming the chair, said | /that during the time that he had occut pied the position of Mayor he had done | his best for the city, and where, he had i failed the community had. been very ! generous to him. Where he l)ad been i successful he had been/very much ini debted for his success to the councillors I who had worked with him. He wished I ,to congratulate the old councillors who ( • had been returned' again, and ho wished, I also, to welcome to the table the new ;■ councillors. He would say to tho Lai. hour members at tho table that the j council had never had .parties, but had : always pulled together in the best interi ests of the city. The Labour represeni tatives, he was sure, could look forward I to the full co-operation' of their con- • freres on the counoil. ~ | The Water Supply. ! It would be the duty of the new couni oil. paid Mr. Luke, to talte. immediate I | action to build up the.sources of water | supply for the city. The city was hard '- . pressed even now by the lack, of water, | for there had been no very wet weather ! since Christmas. There was a great i '■•; need for conserving tho present supply :;: as-far a 6 possible. He was in favour of | /"pushing ahead..the Orongorongo scheme. r',A. ; .bigger dam was' wanted at Wainui, ! and the council would have to face the '". : cost % of that work: Ah additional wnterf main would also be needed, and ho hoped that the council, if it found it'necesi sary to make a tunnel through the hill, I would try'to arrange for the tunnel to be I ' used.for traffic. . The extension of the drainage system i of the city would have ! to be considered, j He Wanted to see that question dealt i with on a broad basis. ; He was strongly, in favour of amalga- [.. { mating the adjoining boroughs with Welf ' lirigtpn, and' he would like to see even Petone arid Lower'Hutt. as parts of the j, metropolitan area. Amalgamation open-|!-_\ed the-way to'vast improvements. ' ■■•,; Tramways and Lighting. j . •' The /tramway, service of Wellington '. stood'as well as any other tramway seiv /vice in New Zealand, though its expan- ! ' eicn had bean retarded by the war. The Government had decided to enforce from January of next year regulations to pro ;.,.. vent overcrowding. When those , regu. : lations came in, the citizens would have ; to be more patient than before and would have to exercise more, forbearance. The j present' overcrowding was, in his opin- . | ion, muoh to.be deplored. | ' "' The hydro-electrio scheme had been j discussed very freely around the table. Wellington .. must link'up as soon a 9 ! ■- possible ( with Mangohao, in order' to avail itself "of "the benefits that would i - accrue .in the departments of electric I . lighting and the tramways. He' would- , like to see the tramways taken to Northi land soon, and he thought that if the i council did something in the way of I adopting the scheme it ought to reap at ;.' least half of the benefit accruing from ', j .-.the increased/value of land, etc. The ■'•tra'm?'should now go to Kaiwarra also and'the .Island Bay duplication, which .;'had .been held up, ought to be proceeded i v .with as early as possible. Additional i i ; . cars were needed, but materials had not , yet., arrived, in sufficient. quantity to enable the council to fnlfil'all its desire* '< .in this matter.- ■;...-.- '" ( ' ~■ To those iwio were 'advocates of a , universal tram toe he would recommend ; ,-,.« careful.study of the tramway finances. : -' - that that study would re- < j- , veal the. foot that, the proposal was not ; :■■ in ths best .interests of the city. : •' .Tiers/were, hiimdreds'of new applica , i ,attons:for electric lighting.: The council ; -had 'never shown any discrimination in .dealing,, with-the applications, and it re- ' •'•|™*ett'.those, oases where applications : ; had had to be v refused.- The financial • accretions due to the electric lighting had had to he used for the purchase of : new plant/but he would ask the council :■ - =to consider some reduction in the charges ■ [ to the pubho for light. ] '•; ■ Other Matters, The Milk Committee was at present surrounded with difficulties, bat the ; council would not stop until it had made ,- a complete success of the milk supply i soheme. Ho believed that the time was approachiife when the council would need to have its own farms whereon to prodnco milk for the city.'' r ■ Miscellaneous questions that called for .-„• consideration inolialed the following:- [ An extension of the tramways from Jerh: 7r 018 ,. 9n ua:r alon S Wakefield Street into | J. Kent Terrace; the wood-blocking of imi , portant thoroughfares; the development | of Anderson Park and the Botanical Gardens; the Installation of "lift trams" to [• P? 0 ,"? 9 "? W raeall s of access to the ; ; high levels; the provision of a new road i ■ - t . o ,Y o .? l el ™ ra . l ttnd of a way other than , Adelaide Head to Kilbirnie and Hatai- ! • taij extension of the office accommoda- : ...ition of.the council; tho development of , - Onslow; extension of the library; proP">»ls to purchase tlie. Kelburn trams ! and the Gas Company's business; the , •, councils superannuation scheme? and the housing problem. i *? f, 011 , 11^ 10 " w »t» housing, tho Mayor , said tliat tho new council must set" about ; the improvement of present conditions j without delay. The last' council had ■ . Jacked money, material, and labour for > the oarrying out of desirable measures. ; ihe atmosphere was now, however, some- | what clearer, and the difficulties might j be surmounted. The council should take i its share of the, responsibility for the I proper housing of the people by acquirj ;- ing land and building houses. :• Councillor Wright offered his congratulations to the Mayor, lie believed ■ that Mr. Luke had .been returned largely : because of the excellent work that he '" ntt" 8, L " ke Im(1 (lone fo "' tu ß soldiers. Other councillors also spoke. .. "To Miss Edith Cavell, Martyr to Right," is to bo the inscription on a .tablet to bo placed on tho front of the St. Gilles Hospital, Brussels. Fourteen Chinese soldiers have been ; executed by tho Chinese authorities for taking part in an assault on the British I Consul at ICweilin,'South-Bast'China. A sheep, the property of a West Mcath farmer gave birth to five healthy lambs. bir Mark. Oldroyd has given iIO.OOO to ; Dewsbury Infirmary and .£2500 to Dewsbury Day Nursery m memory of the late j. Lady Oldroyd.