TO-MORROW'S BIG POLL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 301, 14 September 1920, Page 5

TO-MORROW'S BIG POLL

SPECIAL LOANS AGGREGATING

£1,708,916

HOW THE ISSUES ARE SET OUT

YARD-LONG VOTING PAPERS

Wellington ratepayers will bo asked b.i the City Council to-morrow to sanction file bi ggfst aggregate limn ft"- municipa ■wo'ffirTii the history of the city. Pro viousiy the biggest loan submitted t< Wellington ratepayers was .a matter o; •£330,600 for tramways, wood-blocking and a Town Hall in 1902. All thosi who can remember that poll will recall the manner in which tho dimension o1 the loan struck the ratepayers, bu nevertheless they carried the wholi unJount, and Wellington was all th( better for it.' Tho amount of that loar was less than a fifth of the total thai , ifl being asked for to-morrow. There ar< 21,265 names on the ratepayers' roll (ratepayers and their wives), an increas< of about 11,000 in ten years, which in dicates the very large number of peopl< who have become the owners of the properties they occupy. In no previous decade in the history of tlie city, ha: such an increase in the number of rate payers been recorded, but it has to be remembered that Onslow and Karori Boroughs are now included. The ratepayers of Miramar are not concerned in tho poll as the amalgamation of thai borough lias not yet gone past the formal decision to merge into the city. The various items of the' loan have been set out on a pink sheet about a yard in length. Tho items are in nirn separate groups, with the simple form: 1. I vote FOR the above proposal. 2. I vote AGAINST the above proposal. The voter must erase the line marked """ if he wishes to vote for the proposal and vice versa. The items are sot out as follow:— Water Supply. Proposal No. 1. Orongorongo Tunnel; cast-iron main from Orongorongo Tunnel to Karori Keservoir; new tunnel to Waiwetu .£561,943 Street Works. ! Proposal No. 2, Permanent Toad paving; Clyde ■ ■ Quay Square. Wakefield St., Victoria St., Hunter St., Mercer St., Featherston St., Lambton Station. Square,' 'Thorndon Quay, Cambridge Ter; new Toad Brooklyn to Vogeltowm; etormwater drainage. and foreshorri improvements, .Island Bay; improved access to Rosenenth; new road to Khandallah; widening Evans Bay Road from, Oriental Bay to Kilbirnie; widening Luxford St.; widening .Adelaide Eoad; Toad to Karori, via Raroa Eoad .£129,150 ... . Tramways, Proposal No. 3. New track, viz.: Victoria St. ' and Wakefield St;; duplies tion Thorndon Quay line; duplication existing lilies Vivian St., Island Bay, and Lyall Bay'; car-shod extension KUbirnie; new workshop and plant Kilbirnie; twenty-four new cars: tramway extension to Ivaiwarra; new electric power 6tation, Evans Bay .5664,887 Tramways. Proposal No. 4. Kelburn, Karori, and Northland tramway extension, viz.. Willis Street, Aro St., and .Earoa Eoad; extension to Northland .£66,986 Baths. Proposal No. 5. Thorndon Baths and site and hot salt water baths and Turkish Baths ,£26,875 General Improvements. Proposal No. 6. Oriental Bay sea-wall to Ballina Bay; pnblic sanitary conveniences; enclosure and building and plant for corporation yard; .Basin Reserve (pavilion and improvements j to reserves) .£63,425 Tramways. Proposal No. 7. Tramwny extension to Melrose (Sutherland Eoad) from Zoo gates .£12,900 Tunnel. 1 Proposal No. 8. , i New tunnel through Mt. Victoria ,£161,250 ; Fire Protection Buildings, Fire Alarms and Equipment, etc. Proposal No. 9. In Brooklyn, Mornington, Island Bay, Ngaio, Khandallah. Kelburn, Northland, Karori, Eoseneatb. -£21,500 There will be 26 polling-places. and 44 polling-booths availnble for votors. Mr. Arthur Ames will be the Actjng-Chief Returning Offioer, in place of Mr. James Ames, who is at present incapacitated through illness. TOWN PLANNERS' SUPPORT THE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY THE' CITY. The meeting called by tho Town Planning Association to consider the loan proposals now before ratepayers was held in the hall of tho Y.M.C.A. last evening. Mr. A. Leigh Hunt presided, but owing to the rough, weather thero was a small attendance of ratepayers. The chairman, in opening the meeting, said it was the desire of tho To\yn Planning Association to 6tir up interest in tho loan proposals. The proceedings began with an exhibition of films showing the welfare work of the National Cash. Register Company at Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A.. and scenes of the worst parts of Wellington; the contrast being most marked. Mr. Hunt oaid that the pictures of Wellington looked better than they really , were. It was impossible for tho association to do very much just now because of the house shortage. Furthermore, it was necessary to 6olve the transit problem, and the loan proposals went a Ion? way towards that. He said that the loans were nccessarv to cover the urgent works of the next five years. He contended that there was nothing in the proposals that could be objected to, and many of the works were long overdue. The pro-perty-owner who did not desire to see his rates Increased would bo sure to turp up and vote, and they were nfraid of that voter. He urged them all to turn up and vote for the proposals. Councillor M. F. Luckie said that tne poposals wero the minimum that could be submitted, and covered absolutely urgent work. The population of Wellington had increased very considerably during the past fifteen years, and it was some years since a loan proposal was .before the ratepayers. The city could not. stand still—it must either go forward or deteriorate. Tho city had grown by the amalgamation of the surrounding boroughs, bringing a very, large area of building land into the city boundaries, and these boroughs needed water and drainage, and that was why thev had the Orongorongo proposal. Tho propo-als did not cover merely what was wanted to-day, but they wero planning for the future, when Wellington would have a population of 200,000 or more. Tho tramway extensions wero necessnry to enable the people to get out of tho city and become tenant propri«tors, and by that means they would get rid of tho slum areas. Tho money for electric power was a considerable sum. but it was absolutely necessary to provide increased plant for olectric light and power. More than once recently there had been almost a 'breakdown, and they must guard against that. The city must also be able to meet the increasing demands for elootric light and power. Mr. Lwkie also referred to tho'necessity for

road improvement, and pointed out thnt to put a new surface 011 the main thoroughfares would be a great saving. If Wellington was to be the best city in New Zealand they must do things for themselves, and in the loan proposals the council had 6«bmiti«d tho very minimum. Deferring to the slums in tho city, he said that proposals wero before the council to get rid of these; it would cost a lot of money to demolish tho slums, but they would bo demolished. It was only by spending public money that they could get improvements. Ho recommended them to vote for evoryono of tho proposals. Councillor Chapman said that if the proposals wero carriod, each would have direct bearing oil tho progress of tho city. Tho proposals had three definite purposes in view, namely, the health of the people,' the comfort of the people, and tho conveniences of tho people. Had they been able to carry on extension of the tramway during the past few years hn did not think they would have been troubled with tho housing problem as tlioy knew it to-day. The council unanimously decided to put the proposals before tho ratepayers, and theso proposals wero fully considered by the "ouncillors. Ho recommended them to vote for the whole of the loan proposals, for the works suggested wero the minimum required by tho city.

Councillor P. Fraser also commended the proposals, and advised the acceptance of the schedule as submitted by the couneil.

Messrs. W. J. Gaudin and T. Brindle, candidates for tho vacancy in the City Council also addressed the meeting. During the evening a member of tho City Engineer's 3taff explained the electric lis;ht and power proposals, and showed why the Evans Bay station was necessarv. Mr. A. Patereon, Assistant City Engineer, explained the tramwny routes covered by thb proposals. , TO-MORROW'S POLL SHALL IT BE A RECORD? (Contributed by the Town Planning Association.) Judging by the interest that is being shown in the forthcoming poll on the loan proposals some record voting will be done to-morrow. Wellington has earned, and only too justly, the name of being apathetic where civic affairs are concerned, and it would add considerably to the city's prestigo in the Dominion if the news went forth on Thursday morning that the loan poll had been carried by a big majority, and that the voting created a record for New Zealand. And why not? There are, we understand, about 20,000 ratepayers on tho roll, and if each one—you, for instance, who read this—will take the trouble to visit tho nearest polling booth and strike out the bottom lino opposite each of the nine proposals placed before voters, the day will be carried and Wellington's progress assured. Remember the instructions to strike out the bottom line in each case if you want to voto for every item on tho I schedule. •