COMMUNITY CREATED VALUE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 202, 24 May 1944, Page 10

COMMUNITY CREATED VALUE

Reserves In Electric Light Fund MR. ROBERTS’ CONTENTION Labour advocated extension of the electricity department to supply aud instill all necessary equipment in homes, said the Labour candidate for the Wellington mayoralty, Mr. James Roberts, in addresses at Berhampore and Northland last night. There were reserves of over £1,000,000 in the electricity account. That was a community-created value and should be used for the benefit of the community. Past councils had kept up prices to domestic users while reducing them to commercial users. All necessary electric appliances should be on sale through the municipal electricity department, which should also instill them. There should he no middlemen’s profits, and the service should be available at all times to the people. Since the campaign had started his opponent had run daily advertisements which., because of their gross unfairness, had annoyed many of Mr. Appleton’s own supporters, said Mr. Roberts. His latest, accused Labour of being “ignorant” and “dangerous.” “I doubt whether the workers of Wellington will relish that insult,” said Mr. Roberts. “It is an insult. The workers of this country are quite intelligent and 90 per cent of them and more are decent, honest men aud women.” ~ The Labour Government which was elected in 1935 was composed of workers. The public had shown then and at subsequent elections its attitude toward men who claimed Labour was “ignorant and dangerous.” What sort of intelligence did Mr. Appleton claim for the Government and its handling of unemployment? * 4 *

Of the adult population of Wellington of 100,090, approximately 23,000 were ratepayers, of whom about 200 owned more than 20 per cent, of the land values, said Mr. A. Parlane at Ngaio. It was in those 200 large ratepayers that the so-called Citizens’ ticket was particularly interested.. Mr. Parlane denied tile right of this ticket to appropriate to itself the name of citizens. Proof of this could be found in their efforts to reduce rates for landowners while at the same time they had endeavoured to increase tram fares.

The state of the permanent way of the Wellington tramways was notoriously bad and if something drastic was not done during the coming summer a large portion of the track might not be usable during the winter- of' 1945, said Mr. P. A. Hansen at Northland. Their opponents blamed the manpower shortage for many things. If this were sb, why were the older type of trams not kept in the depot and the more modern types used? The truth was that the shortage of rolling stock was just as acute, if not more so, than the manpower shortage.

One very essential hospital reform was the appointment of a stipendiary staff, said Mr. A. W. Croskery at Ngaio. By stipendiary staff he meant a staff who could give the whole of their time to the service of the hospital, and as a result give the whole- of their time and attention to the patients. The present system of part-time medical appointments was a costly one to the board and unsatisfactory to the patients. The London County Council, which controlled 40 hospitals in the area, had full-time medical men employed. In New Zealand some hospital boards had full-paid medical staffs —namely, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Timaru —and it was only in such hospitals that it was possible for the patient to receive proper medical attention.

■ • » * As an old Rugby player and; referee, Mr. C. J. Hay said the lack of dressing-, sheds on the playing fields in Wellington should receive attention. All players and referees had experienced the difficulty of trying to change in the crowded sheds, sometimes among lawnmowers, rakes and' barels of whitewash. In some cases players had had to change in the shelter of nearby trees, or through the kindness of neighbours, in a shed outside the playing area. “The provision of proper dressing-rooms and showers may not pay a dividend,” said2 Mr. Hay, “but the youth of the city are entitled to these amenities.”

Labour advocated' children up to four years of age being carried free on trams and at half fare from four to 15 years, said Mrs. L. A. Allen at Berhampore. She stressed the heavy cost of, children travelling to and from school to the average working family, and the need for consideration particularly with the raising of the school-leaving age to 15 years.

Under the present city council's housing scheme whereby the purchaser put up 10 per cent, deposit ami the .building society 66 2-3 per cent., the council stood guarantor for the balance, said Mr. J. Fleming, speaking at Berhampore. In other words, the city council held the second mortgage, which made the building society’s advance a-gilt-edged investment.

It was correct that he was chairman of the public health committee of the city council at the time, said Mr. C. H. Chapman, when referring to opposition criticism against him regarding people living in condemned houses. However, suggestions had repeatedly been made to the then council to embark on a housing scheme, but nothing of value was done.. Labour was in a minority and could get nowhere, despite continued representations.

The setting up by the city council of a servicemen’s welfare committee for the purpose of co-operating,with the Government in rehabilitation, and also to assist in the receptions to these men, was advocated by Mr. 'll. H. Stillwell. He also urged the creation, as a tangible memorial to the service given by these men to the community, of a housing settlement on a suitable site.

Following recent fatalities on the waterfront, the Waterside Workers’ Union had issued a statement, and had felt confident that the employers and the harbour board would support its request for the setting up of a commission of inquiry, said Mr. T. Hill. However, no statement had since been issued by them except attacks on the workers and the board’s usual practice of publishing the wages of the workers, which was calculated to create unrest. TONIGHT’S MEETINGS Labour candidates will hold meetings tonight at the Mornington Town Hall and the Taia Hall. Kilbirnie, starting at 8 p.m. This afternoon at 2.30 a women’s meeting •will be held at Mrs. Cooley’s residence, Norway Street. Citizens' candidates will bold a meeting in the M’elllngton Town Hall tonight at 8 p.m.