BATHS FOR LEVIN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 July 1911, Page 2

BATHS FOR LEVIN.

\\IMATED DEBATE AT THE * * "BOROUGH COUNCIL.

VPFFiICVTION TO BE MADE FOR TliK GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY.

•VYD £250 TO .Bill TAKEN OUT ' "of this general rate.

At the Levin Borough Council last evening tlw> Town Clerk read the following letter whk-h Air Jueld, .M.1 , ., had received from the Hon. b. iViiddo:- , Minister's Office, Department ot Public Health. Wellington, 3Obh j-imo, ion.. . ~ Dear sir, —I am in receipt ot your letter of the 21st inst., stating that tho Hon. Mr .Millar intormed you on the- 29th May that a Coronation subsidy for puMie » atns at Levin would'be approved. In rejily I mxo to advise that public baths arc eligiblo for Coronation sublines, and 1 shall ho pleased if you will re(|iiest the Levin Borough Comnril to pass a, resolution, making application tor a subsidy for the work in question. On receipt of blvc resolution the application will ''a favourably considered. , rn , , ,i „ The flavor then moved : 1 hat the Levin Noronah Council hereby make application to blvo Government (in accordance with tho promise or the Hon. Mr Millar), Fi>r the subsidy ot £'>?>{) for the erection of Ooronatum baths for Levin. The Mayor, in moving the resolution stated that he did not think aiivono need fear the result of voting .upon the question. .It seemed fcThim that tho subsidy was like other subsidies, and they were not bound to accept it if they otherwise thought. If the council decided at a Hter stage it would not go .. in for baths, Tio harm would 'be done by passing the motion. "Cr. BlenUnoni .asked whetheir the motion was quite in order with the other resolutions standing oei the i bonks. The Mayor: There is no resolution !on the. books. Every resolution which had been brought forward so fan , hind been defeated . I Or. Mackenzie seconded the motion. ! Cr. France said that lie would vote for the resolution. Ho had never liked the idea of losing the subsidy, though he did not think it would' have been lost through the j action of himself and his colleagues. The motion d\d not necessarily hind the council to erect the hatilus. but it would he folly to absolutely throw tho subsidy away when a. mero matter of form woiu'ld secure it. The motion was adopted unanimously. CV R Prouse then moved, and Cr. Palmer scrawled: That £250 bo taken out of tillo general rate for the erection of public, baths. Cr Mackenzie had a resolution to the. effect that the matter he referred to the ratepayers by means of THE REFERENDUM.

t ton. Cγ. France said that lie would vote for t'lve resolution. Ho had never likod tho idea of losing tlio subsidy, tbousli lie <lid not -think it would' liavc i>een lost tliroiish tlifl action of Ivim.self nnd Ivis colleiagnes Tlie motion d\,d not necessarily bine tlio council to erect tlio ha.tiliis. bir it would be folly In absolutely tlirov tlio su'tisidy nway wlien "

He stated tliat in refusing to take the money out of the general Viy j X) the. couiK-.il was going against the. wishes of tlio general body 'of ratepayers, and Ire thought it only right that they slioukl JiaVo an opportunity of saying whether they should have the baths or not. Six borough, councillors-did not want baths, and! tlio largest ratepayer, who sat hi, tlio table, said citizens <lid a\rd seeing that there was n diversity *of opinion on the matter, ho tho.uabL the. question, should be people. fl^^H Cr. nienkhnrn did not CV. Mackenzie bad got .saying that six Hiai tlio ratepayers (1 i' baths. t Cγ. Palmer was firmly j... that tlio iiiiij'oritv of eitizcV e<l baths. ' 'i'^HH Cγ. Pronse thought that he<. ( have one of the biggest says ■■'hRS| matter. He objected to payinig fo]J such institutions by donation oj principle. He would rather ea<«l person paid through the gcnerM rate-. That was fair and equiitablM ffo respected: the- councillors wlil« ■bad voted against the. sr,i>sidy aaraT who had put tlieir hands in 'their pockets and given £10. Tt showed that they ware in earnest. Tf they took into eoiisidertiion that tlvo council might, be called upon in fivo years to erect pu'blic l;ath,s, he was ■ convinced, when that peniod came round, and they now declined tiro subsidy, .tlli-ey would say that they had acted very foolishly. He thought Cr. Maclvc-nzic's motion at tlio last mooting ivas a, very (rood one. By paying out of the general rate die believed ho (the speaker) would be 'hit hravior than anyone else, but Ire. thought it was tho proper tiling to do, and it was thoreI'oro that he moved the inot : on.'

principle'

:1 (V Hannan could nut midierstaiid f why the niattor luui been broughit up a sain considering that tlicy had dealt with it till poo times before. It sec mod a. reflection on tlio sincerl ity of tlio majority. (No! No!) ' Me was of the opinion that it wa.s 5 a reflection upon them, and ho in--1 siistod t'liat tiliiey ha:!. 110 right to in- ? voko tlio referendum, "tloro!" he f exflaimed, striking iHio table, "here ' is t!io roforo-iidum! AVc aro tlio 10prosontntiv'O'S of the town, and he--5 (-iiiuse a c'o{. Y i .O'-becaiiKo i ROM/K AGFTATO«S ? can't take dt'lcat, they briag the tiling up again. I .say we will put r our i'oot down." and » 11 Kir! Hear!) 3 The -Mayor: What abrait your * CIO? (L'au-rliter). C'r. Haiinan: Never mind about ; my £10. (Oh!) lam proparod to j pay it. Rut I say there are rato- ' payers in tlio Sown w!ho cannot af--1 foi'd to pay it- men with families and little children who are okcing 1 out it. poor existence. Tlio proposal ' has been defeated, and you have the temerity to bring the matter up again! The matter has simply been brought up for nm , - i^cse-'s —to carry favour with a low. 1 Me weiit oil to say the Mimli ratepayers were beiiiig duiven out of tho town. (.V. r.aira.^.ter: Hear! Hear! C'r. Mackenzie: Nonsense! Cr. Hann:)!i concluded by saying lie hoped the thing would 'bo killed 01100 and for ever. As far as he was concerned lie wa.s going to kill it "stono doad." (Hear! Hear and Laughter).

The Mavor snid that the position was this: Tlwv .'ha.:l £114 subscribed now. Was it possible now io got another £130 from the public towards t!:e erection of- the baths? Ho (|ivoted figures to show that there were 16." absentees connected frith tho town representing over £40,000; their portion would b? £;">(). Four hundred ratepayers would bring in £13S, oran average of 6s M per head. The easy way to reckon was to count 2s in each vGIOO, wh icli meant that if a in,nn's valuation was .£-100, lie woiiild pay, as his contribution to the bath.s the sum of Bs. , The Mayor fui-Elior pointed out that twenty-four persons owning property valued at from .£IOOO to £1000, representing a capital value of about £29,000. would, if a, farth-ing rate were levied—mud it would mot bo levied:— pay among them £30 9s: ten persons, with, property valued at from £1./JOO to £2,000. representing a capital Value of £16,818. would, on the same lines, pay £17 8s 8d : nine persons, own•infit property of from £2000 to £3.000, would among them pay £23 8s 2d: five persons', with from £3000 to £4000 would pay £24 17s 2d; two persons of from £4000 to £9000, would pay £16 los 9d. Cr. ' was one of those who would pay £3, 6s 6d, and vet h.e put liis irome " down for CIO. (Laughter). Per-" soriially, tliio Mayor " expressed tilife, opinion - that he did not llhink tho

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rcfoi-eiulmm a good thing. (General applause). The councillors wero elected to ,tlio council for a period of two years. Cr. said that this was a caso of whero a. minority could not TAKE A LICKING. Or. Alackenzic replied to the reminrks of Cγ. Hannaii and said that tho headmaster of ttho District High School had (assured him that the baths would be a perfect boon to the children of poor people. .BareJy s'per cent, of the scholars could swim. _He (the speaker) felt that tho majority on tho council reflected the views of a .minority of the ratepayers. Cr. France: AVe're here for two years and! we're going to run the >s3io\v! Cr. Mackenzie: T feel if tho council is so foolish on the matter as to roil) the labourer's children of the right— Cr. Hannan excitedly exclaimed that Cr. Mackenzie 'h;ad no right to use the word "rob." Or>. France: It's too strong. Cr. Mackenzie withdrew the word complained of, and said that ho lV.lt the council was really removing from the working people that which they had a right to have. Ho felt that the aristocracy ("?0h". and laughter; of the council was depriving the children of poor people of their privileges! He eoneluded by saying that if the council would not give the ]>eoplo the vhance to right mx injustice he was going to .act on -his own—a,nd that action would give the ratepayers a dhance of expressing their views on the subject.

Cr. France raised the question of the public subscriptions, and said in the event of the resolution being carried the money eoirid not ho accepted. He would have lik«t to see a resolution moved accepting the money. (Applause). Cr. Lancaster did not see- where the inconsistency of the majority oame in. They :lmd thrown the matter out, and then the minority brought it up again. Cr. Krance: The public are very well satisfied! Havo you not read tho poetry about the six heroes? (Laughter).

Cr. Arms commented upon the fact that some councillors said they did not want baths and yet they gave £10 toAvards their erection. Cr. France ih'acl always had baths and water holes on the brain since lie had been on the council. He (the speaker) thought some councillors had been a little inconsistent.

The resolution dealing with the referendum was not put. Amd tho Mayor then submitted Cr. Prouse's motion, Wilien there voted: For the motion 5 (Councillors Prouse. Palmer, Arcus, Mackenzie, and the Mayor): against 5 (Councillors France Matheson, Hannan, Lancaster. Blenkhorn).

The Mayor gave his casting vote in favour of the resolution, which was then declared carried.

Cr. Hannan then moved an amendment that £200 be taken out of the rates for the years 1912-1913. He spoke with considerable warmth and! declared that b© did not care if he kept the co'.vncil tliere till next morning. His observations caused some amusement, and as he nimself expressed himself jocularly at times, the Mayor asked him to treat tho matter seriously. Or. Hannan retorted -tliat he -as treating tlio matter seriously. (A voice: Yes, exclaimed Cr. Hannan, lincldo. Ho will be budding next year! Cr. Mackenzie: You can't take a licking. Cr. Hannan: What! You and your friends wont take their licking. "We're going to stay here all ra'giht! Cr. Lancaster supported the amendment. At the present time the council could not afford to spend £250. The amendment -was rejected, and the original motion was adopted on the .voices. The Mayor subsequently moved, and Cr. Blenk'horn seconded the following motion, which was unanimously agreed to :—That Mr "Rastlier receive the very hearty vote of thanks of the councl for his efforts in obtaining promised subscriptions amounting to over £100 towards the cost of public baths.