MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1437, 25 April 1905, Page 2

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS .

ADDRESS BY MR W. D. LY3NAR.

There was a largo attendance at the Thontro Royal last evening when Mr W, Douglas Lysnar, a candidate for thg Mayoralty and Borough elections, delivered an address. Mr G. Hatthowson presided, and briefly introduced the speaker, expressing pleasure at such a representative gathering. It wak was a good sign, he said, to see such in-' torest taken in the approaching contest, and in Mr Lysnar they had an able candididate. Tho chairman passed a high tribute of praiso to the part Mr Lysnar had taken in connection with the tion of the borough aud suburbs, and also in regard to the rejection of the Waihirere water poll. He thought that Mr Lysnar ; was entitled to the confidence and support } of the electors. (Applause). - ■ Mr Lysnar, on rising, was greeted with loud applause. He prefaced his remarks by stating that the town was a long! way' behind the country, and the past adnSsnistration of the present Mayor had not tended to progress. There was no m%a he respected more than he did Mr Townley, | but he differed from him -in regard to municipal administration. He hoped the contest would be conducted in a friendly ■ spirit and without any ill-feeling. Mr Townley had occupied the office of Major for a long period and had - made no enemies. This was not altogether a good sign, as it shewed that he had just drifted * along with the current in the same old hum drum way, and had done nothing, to mark hiß long term of office. One could not point to anything of importance which he had been instrumental in bringing about in the Borough, aud his connection - - with tho Harbor Board was anything--Jbut satisfactory, Tho speaker pointed out that at the last contest for the Mayoralty Mr Townley and his friends had given the, assurance that that was his last year of office, but this promise had not been fulfilled. Passing od, Mr Lysnar dealt with at soma length the water loan proposals, contrasting tho great advantages of the To Arai source of supply oomparod to that of Waihirere,to which tho present Mayor asd - olhess had very Dearly committed the town. The Waihirere scheme made no 1 provision for supplying tbo suburbs with water, and was totally inadequate for such a town as Gisborne. The opponents cf Waihirere had been termed obstructing, ists, but he could stand before them tlfiaS evening knowing that he had done his duty' and had acted in the best interests of the town. (Applause). If he were favored with the confidence of the rate^ (payers he would da his best to ■ serve them, and at all times study to conserve their interests. At the present time there were too many coun- i, ! eillors who adopted the give and take' policy; who were jolly good f‘""jws among themselves,. A member a work on condition Shat other momb'ers voted as he desired in regard to, gome other y.~ matter, and in this way the beet results were not always obtained. It was ab9o. lutoly necessary that the councillors should go in for an economical and progressive policy. The speaker took exception to tho __ , manner in which the abattoir loan of , i £4OOO had been evpended, no provision being made for a road. Tho original contract was .£I9OO, but the work had oost the Council £4000,b Things in connection wtij ;

tho abattoirs wore a perfect disgrace, ana /•- ho predicted that before they wore opened poneo. The foundations of tho buildings "•-J -‘ WQ fQ sufficient to carry n castle, hundreds - of pounds being absolutely away. Ho had fought against a‘l these things in tho Council, but unfortunately had boon in tho minority. It was tho duty of tho Mayor to go into suoh matters of detail nhd have them checked, but this had not boon done. The alterations to the Taruhoru bridge had alsn exceeded tho estimates by £450, whilst the cost and up keep .for tho year was £960. Is was a disgrace to the Counoil. that they had not scoured a seotion in tho town lor munioip.tl build- , tugs. Ono bad only to travel in other parts of tho colony to see tho improvements required in Gisborne. Iu Wang*- • uui there were muuieipnl gasworks and a municipal tboatre, both of which showod bandsomo returns. Tho speaker scathingly oriticicod tho action of Sho Mayor in regard to tho proposal to secure a gravol pit at To Karaka, contending that the Borough were only just saved from having a worthloss pit thrown on their hands. Ho cautioned the eleotors that if Mr Townley were allowed to have his own way the £76,000 would nob be sufficient to provide Gisborne with a watar supply. If they proceeded in regard to Sho water pro. posals as they had done with the abattoirs and Taruheru bridge there was no telling what the result would be. It was to save the Borough from this that he (Mr Lysnar) offered himself for the office of Mayor. He contended that Mr Hay should not be asked, as Mr Townley was proposing he should do, to carry out Mr Leslie Boynolds’ scheme. If he did so tho work would never be carried out for the amount stated. The speaker continued, amid some interruption, to discuss the eostly nature of the abattoirs, and charging Cr Somervell as one of the councillors who approved of the work* the latter rose to make an explanation, and finally took tho platform. Cr Somervell, being allowed to speak, . explained that the plans for the abattoirs were first submitted to the Council and afterwards forwardad to Wellington. Car taio alterations were insisted upon before the plans wore finally adopted by the V ..Council. He (Cr Somervell) also considered that it was monstrous that there should have been such expenditure in regard to the concrete foundations. Mr Lysnar, continuing his address, dealt at some length with the spiral pipes which Mr Townley was favoring for tho water supply, and urged that the time had come to stop the muddling that was going >od.- Three engineers had refused to recommend the adoption of these pipes, as they had not yet been tried in the colony. It had been oontended that tho percentage of salt in our water—which waa 10 per ■ cent, when it should only be about 1 per oent—would oorrode the pipes and make them worthlees in a few' years, which would necessitate all the pipes being relaid. The town was not in a position to experiment in regard to these pipes. They should, ho said, consider the question carefully and make up their minds' to put Mr Townley in a place where he could not do any further harm. (Applause.) In regard to drainage, the speaker said that he did not think anything could be done for a time. He favored a look being put oh the river, and they could then drain into the river. They could not afford to go n for experiments, and mast proceed on safe and careful lines. As another instaoce of the careless administration that had been going on, Mr Lysnar pointed out that the Council had decided to accept a lease, of the present offices for a period of seven years. The lease was drawn up and directed to be signed, but for some reason . unknown to the speaker it was not signed. Beeently he had learned that Cr . Harding had obtained a lease for a lengthy term of the premises, inakiDg the Council his tenant at will. With regard' to the asphalting done in Gladstone road, the work had not been properly carried out owing to the material used. Good grill should have been used instead of sand, end this could be obtained from the Waipaoa river. There waa a good deal of discussion as to where a second bridge should be placed over the Taruheru river. Solution of the matter was to leave the site to the people to decide by moans of an info*-mal vote. It was absolutely necessary - that a second bridge to the Whataupoko should be erected forthwith, and also another-bridge to connect . Whataupoko and Kaiti. The rate for these two bridges would be about 5s for every £SOO of property, which he was sure no one would object to. He strongly urged that the Council should acquire the Gisborne gasworks, and a considerable saving would thus be effected to the ratepayers and also to the Council. They had seen what had been done at Wanganui, and could reasonably expect the same or better at Gisborne. (Applause.) It was absolutely necessary to have better lighting in the town. In conclusion, the speaker referred to matters in connection with the Harbor Board, and criticised what he fsermed “ the wasteful expenditure” that was continuing tinder tho chairmanship of Mr Townley. It was no use his telling them theee things unless they took steps to put an end to them, and they would have the chance of doing (jo on Wednesday. He had done his duty to them and poiotrd out where their affairs were being muddled, and it was for them to remedy them. He challenged tho Mayor to question any of the statements he had made. The whole thing rested with the ratepayers. He was tired Pinpointing out those things and it was for them to say whether they should continue. Ho asked them, one and all, to get to the poll and record their votes. If the town were legarthic in the matter he called upon the suburbs to come forward to do their duty to their children and to themselves. (Loud and continued applause). Questions being invited, Mr Lysnar, in reply to Mr Devery, said he always favored alterations to the Taruheru bridge, bat he objected to the estimates being ex ceeded in the manner they had beeD. JJr Devery : They spent £9OO on alteration*. and a new bridge could have been built for £i7oo. Mr A. F. Matthews moved a vote of thanks to Mr Lyanar for his able addreßS. He (Mr Matthews) had many friends in the Borough Council, bat until that evening he did not know that they were suoh bad fellows . (Laughter and applause). They should take warning from the past to try and avoid the mistakes which had been made. They had a good town, and only wanted the best men in the Council to see trae progress made. He was a candidate himself, but would be quits willing lo stand aside fo. a better man. In Mr Lysnar they had a fearless, outspoken man, one who would do his duty by the ratepayers. (Applause). Mr Diekson seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. In replying Mr Lysnar said that in regard to what Mr Matthews said about the members sf the Council, he did not blame the councillors so much as the Mayor. They had got into a groove, and too readily followed tho Mayor. He WGuld not object to tho old councillors Btanding befog re turned, and they had very good men offering to fill the places of those retiring. A vote of thanks to the chair terminated a most successful meeting.