MAYORAL ELECTION.

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 46, 26 April 1929, Page 7

MAYORAL ELECTION.

, M3R. jrCTSTIN M. POWER'S CANDIDATURE.

Mr. Justin M. Power, in furtherance of his candidature for the Mayoralty 'id dressed a veTy large gathering of electors at the Dance Hall of King George Theatre last; Monday night and received a .very cordial reception. Mr. M. J. Hodgins presided and also on the_ platform were Messrs E. F. Rothwell, R. G. Anderson, J. W. Newell, S. T. Watkins, A. Anderson, I.' Kennedy, H. L. Brown and j. W. ;Andrews — all candidates foT the borough council.

Mr.' Power expressed h,isi pleasure; that so great an interest was' being taken ;in the forthcoming election. He proposed tovreply to what he. considered was; a, massed counter attack, against him for hi^ criticisms .of the past administration of the present council. He thought it would. hay y e ,bej& ; a^ man to man contest, but such had not been the case, as the ~Mayor and sitting members- had entered the arena: in support of his opponent/ However, as far as he^ (the speaker) was concerned, it woujd be a clean fight, and fought under the best .British traditions. (Hear, hear)". He had been accused of having'no experience but when he noted the number of men who had occupied the high position without previous experience he considered he, too, could carry out the job, and the lack of experience in municipal affairs, was no disqualification. 'It was said that he was an amateur and he was proud of the fact. He had always been an amateur on. the field of sport and he intended to remain one. He~ considered it was' no disqualification to be i a land agent; his opponent was one also but this was hot generally known, considered that the electors had been, invited to Sir. Alex Roberts's meeting under false pretences-. They had been invited to hear his policy and also replies to criticisms made by him (the speaker). But the meeting had. proved to be a mutual admiration [society, How his opponent had the I effrontry to say he. favoured nothing but the award Irate- of wages to unem-. ployed, he did not know. „ /Under a certain clause in the Industrial Actj there was a miud form of slavery going on in this borough, and -he contended that; the privilege of the Act was being abused.

Referring to Sit Alex Roberts's statement that the rates were too high ? Mr. Power said he and his opponent were in absolute harmony on this point. His opponent had made no men: tion of his' policy in regard to the future of the rates and the speaker asked if he intended to investigate the rates and bring them down to nqrmal, which he certainly should do. Mr. Power dealt with the taking -of land for street widening purposes and strong ly condemned the policy. He, explained that the method of purchase was aba.d form of speculation and exploitation. With regard to the drainage question the candidate said that his opponent favoured an • investigation so that there would not be a recurrence' of ■■':■., the present trouble. "But what sort of., an investigation does he intend to. make V' asked -Mr Power. "Does he intend that, those ra.sponsibie for the present state of affairs should make; the investigation,. of does he in-.

tend to get outside expert; opinion.". Mr Power said iris opponent had already said that hV $id not favour outside opinion; then he must- be. in favourV of those responsibieV making 'the investigation.'••'-.■■;Mt Power asserted that there was need for more, light to be thrown on the' tranactions. of; the borough. He appealed to his hearers- not to let wild statements interfere, with

their judgment but to .judge both, men on then: merits. "Don't let the wool be pulled over your eyes," continued the speaker, ' 'you have suffered for the past six years. "It was most amusing to read how enquiries had been made by the ceuneilin regard to the concrete pipes. in Kings Road.. Out of a total of 182 only 72 had been passed, Mr.' Power Assured the electors that had he been in authority he would have had "the whole of the pipes put on the trucks fot Palmerston North, and said;"l've*done with you." (Applause) In referring to the Minute Book in* cident Mr Power reminded the electors that it was their legal right to peruss that book and assured them that if ,they put Power and Party in office they y would have all then* legal rights restored. (Applause). His opponent ■had staed that 'if elected he would coordinate the departments, but the speaker contended "that* Cr. Roberts had

been sufficiently long in office to assert his right and if/things were in a sorry position to-day it was at his opponent's feet and the rest of the council. The candidate- was surprised to see that the Mayor, had entered the arena and eon : sidered it very infra dig for him to foist another man on to the ratepayers to pursue the policy which was being carried out to-flay. (Hear, hear.) Referring to Mr. Strand's denial of the statement;that he (the mayor), had made anoney out of. the council Mr. Power said: "Why this tirade of in-

nocence? Who ever did say that he made money put of the council? Neither 1..n0r any of. my suppoiters have. Then w>hy; does he come out, on a public platform and make such, a statement?" Mr. Power - then referred again. tb : the cesspit at Moera, and he declared emphatically that, it was-a disgrace and one of the most rotten sights he had ever seei in any civilised 'borough, and again referred to the visit of two A hidies v .'.who. were surprised with the. state of affairs., existing. . Ho asserted that on the morning of the 12th. inst Mr Mayor had visited the scene an 1 .immediately a band of workers with soap and water were busily engaged cleaning up. He . very strongly condemned the actions of Cr. Meßain in connection with this matter. It was a remarkable coincidence that on the afternoon of the 12th inst, Dr.O?iiolay and the' Health Inspector had both yi'sted the., place .and expressed themselves as satisfied with the conditions. Mr, Power informed his hearers that during" his visit to the scene some weeks ago he. had been fortunate in taking some photos and he made the offer that. if Cr. Meßain wrote : to him within the- riext three days he" would have slides made and put them on the screen on -the night of the 30th. He contended that the whole thing had been staged from start to finish. ' 'But almost all the business of the eouncir

is camouflaged, and you Vill never know, the true position until I can get to those pigeon-holes," declared Mr. Power. If elected as mayor, ancL with a measure of support! around the table, he " undertook to give a 'progressive policy the like of which has n,ever been seen before.in Lower Hutt, and would be all square and above board. It had been said* that Power had no policy as he had not touched on finance. So far his opponent had not touched on finance. There had been no balance sheet for two years and therefore the financial position was not. known to the public only to the.Mayor and coun-. cillors, He maintained "^hat he had a policy and a pretty. compTehensiye one at that. speaker then riead the policy of himself and his party, which appears in full on another page of this issue. • "

- In conclusion Mr.(Power appealed to. the elecetors to exercise their vote on Ist May and urged upon them to put Power and his party into office. MR E. F. ROTHWEiLL. Mr Rothwell dealt with, the question of rates and reminded, hjs hearers that there had been a substantial increase

during the' last year; It was impossible for his party.-to obtain information from, the balance sheet, and adr mittedly there had been a tremendous amount of money- expended on land, purchase, but they had no means of finding out where the money; came from., The first thing Mr. Power., and his party would do, if.. elected, jvould b\e; to investigate the finances of the borough .and" prepare a\ concise statement at th 6 ygarliest possible -' moment. 'His policy was to. reduce rates if pos-. s\ble but; this 'muM; be;pconjsisten.t .with advancement fbf, the borough. ; He was of'opinion that>-a soimdj economical, adininis'ti'ation. would,made a reduction .in . rates possible and* still have progress ifi" the borough. He asked the electors for their support on election day and assured them, if elected, he would give thent- of his best;. . : . MB ALEX ANDERSOiN. Mr. Anderson claimed to have considerable knowledge of municipal affairs, having occupied the' position of councillors on the Petone Borough Council for several years. ,He Considered that Mr. Power had already done ■ a service to the ratepayers by bringing to light many. matters which needed more light being thrown on them. He also considered that Mr. Strand had done good work for the borough, but was of opinion that the*e was far too much committee work and not sufficient work'done in open council. He referred to the many^ improvements that were required in back Waiwhetii -and said the ratepayers in the.-back areas were entitled to be considered. If elected he would work in the interests of all and give the best service possible. .-'.

ME. I. KENNEDY.

Mr. I. Kennedy was. quite in accord with the policy of Mr. Power. Although he had only known Mfc. Power for a short time he had found him a man of sterling qualities and if the people did their bit Mr! Power would be returned as their .Mayor and Chief Citizen of the borough. The candidate remarked that he hjad entered' the fight as a protest from'^Toera and he camebefore them. to.ask them, to endorse that protest., Moera had. not been .fairly treated vand-he felt suTe : the ratepayers of Lower Hutt would stand behind; them in their protest and show | the present .council that they/ were -not 'satisfied with the treatment received. • MR H. H. BBOWN. ;Mr. Brown said that he had been a resident 'of the borough, for sours considerable^ time but perhaps he was not very widely known.. He reminded ■them however, 'of the time when the extraordinary vacancy on/ the council had. occurred aad his nomination had been "technically ruled but of orde.r;" Since then he had'1 always had in. his mind; that'he would be a candidate at the next election arid he took care that his nomination,was "not technically "out of order this time. (Laughter). He declared that the council had not managed, the affairs, of the borough in the democratic manner in ■which they should have done. He urged that it was the bounden- duty..of the electors to elect men of integrity, on the council.; He asked for their support and "assured them he would ever be ready, and had a real-desire, to further their interests. • ; " !' •_•■'_ .■..3pL"."j,:'W i ANDEEWS,'1"1 -"! Mr Andrews explained that the time at his disposal did not permit of a lengthy address so he would . content himself by dealing with, the points in Mr. Charles-'Bi Buxton*s, letter which , appeared in the last issue of the * 'Hutt News." Mr: Buxton had said that Mr Power was evidently-not aware ':f the action of filters and he then-asserted that the* shallowest iwell is 80ft. We know the action of filters, said the speaker, but still prefer to .have the seweage forwarded through the proper; channel and dealt, with in the. septic tank.' Mr. Buxtbn apparently thinks that all the water used in Lower Hutt comes, from the one source. He would probably .be surprised to hear that tJiere are at least ten private artesian wells in Kings .Jfcoad; and they are all shallow ones, so that .after all there was a real danger>. arid there are numerous private soivrces of" supply throughout the boroughs wonderful engineering knowledge had led him astray re the Moera water supply," continued Mr Andrews, "and he has sadly? confused seepage with sewage" Mr..An-' drews felt sure that even if Mr Power and his whole ticket were, defeated, the. r.esidnts would owe Mr Power '% debt of gratitude' for the A vast .improvement that had taken ' place . in. both sewerage and water particularly' at Moera, as a result of his intervention. -The speaker tendered his thanks to Mr Buxton for his-assistance In proving the danger from-seepage, with its resultant overloading of septic tanks, and their .ultimate failure to function. Mr Andrews declared." that in Mastefton it had been found that water was seeping into the drains and sewage leaking out. "And 'seeing js believing," '. exclaimed the speaker. Mr Andrews said that the eprrespond^ ent's vague generalities re dates were very noticeable, but he was absbliitely wrong regarding the alleged date of the [: eoi-respori'dence to the "Hutt. News" Dealing with the matter of, correspondence to the Hume Pipe Company, Mr. Andrews claimed. -that it was rather late in the^day to alleged evidence that "the "council had taken the .matter up prior to the receipt oi a complaint from a ratepayer. y No Court of Law w^ould dream of accepting, such. ■a plausible tale now when no use had been made at „ the., logical time. , The psyQological moment, said Mr. Andrews was undoubtedly when the correspondence first appeared, and a proved statement that the matter had already/ been taken up with the company, and thai" the pipes were, condemned, would have completely flattened the speaker. Further, the; speaker, the Borough stamp book, which is a record of. all outward correspondense, shows that no letters were • forwarded, to the Hiime Pipe Company on the matter on the dates claimed by Mr, Buxton. The speaker had been approached with a suggestion that he should meet Mr Strand and discuss the matter before his first letter was published, He had agreed on the condition that the engineer arid one othor

person were also present. The .interview had not eventuated and he could orjy assume that the terms were not acceptable to Mr Strand The speaker wished the audience t6 realise that th-j. issue so far as he was coneerneck w^s whether the pipes in Kings Road were suitable for sewerage. : Mr Mabson, engineer v at Mastertoia, had effectively settled the point that thy wore not suitable when he asserted that everything depended on. porosity. Mr .Andrews thenv referred to the Masterton failure and stated that the engineer vf that borough had rported'on the wrong pipes. The pipes in question were not handmade '' monier'' pipes, but were machine made pipes, made in the Masterton factory, purchased by the Hume Pipe Co, Details ,of the' establishment were then given, including... the names of the officials. Mr Andrews '3aid he had discussed the matter with the Masterton engineer who regretted that lie •had confused the "reference "and had •stated that he was nqp aware of the other failure as the'pipes had all been replaced befpre he took chajge. Hbwt ever, said the speaker, full confirmation had been received the ex-

mayor.

Mr Andrews said that the ticket he was associated with pledged itself, if elected to abolish all possibility of" -•* recurrence; of: such a state of affairs '. Not one of them had an axe' to grind and all were imbued^ with an : earnest desire to serve the borough faithfully and wll. He appealed to the-electors

to see that the present'" system -'of ""secrecy was abolished , and tlia£ th\e , representative^ sfcotild: deal, with the" people ?s business^in the open and that the rights of ratepayers should be protected ' . . .

MR..R. G. ANDERSON. Mr E; Gt. : AndeTson said it was not his intention to make a lengthy ; addressas he considered Mr^OPower had dealth most fully and clearly with the policy of the party. The^oliey which. Mr Power had so fully dealt with had been brought forward after <"■ considerable discussion by, all the candidates, and he assured Ms hearers that-not a single principle contained in the platform had been put forward with the idea, of* catching ' votes. "Weare vnot out to render you 'lip service/ only," declared-Mr. Anderson, "but are genuinely desirous of s securing sounder *ad^ ministration, greater economy, and, above- all, Ijetter results: Mr. Anderson .^xplaiaed that for some seven, years he was Wellington Branc-h Manager for a large commercial concern and to-day he was in business on ■ his own. account in the capital city. . During Ma term of management in Wellington he was for some four years Chairman of the Wellington Wool Brokers' Association and was delegate to the New Zea-* land Association at every meeting of that body during that period. Ho therefore claimed to have a fairly wide and successful business experience to offer, and came forward, at the request of a number of ratepayers as he realised that the land speculation and general policy pof the present council required drastic changes. If elected he promised to delve most thoroughly into the financial position of the-borough anl to insist upon more business-like .methods being employed, with a view to the early return of rates to normal, . ME, i; W. NEWELIi. . .Mr. Jewell said that he had been in business in Lower Hiitt for'the past^ nine years as a licensed plumber and drainlayef* and every day his work took him all around thfe district, which ledT him to see that a change was jieeded in the administration of the borough He was strongly of opinion tHat more .practical nien were required on the council, and if elected he would use his best endeavours to further the interests of the ratepayers. MB S. T. WATKENS. Mr. 5..-T. Catkins said that he had consented to stand for a sed^; on the council at the request of- a large number of electors. He heartily supported the policy which had so clearly been put forward by Mr Bower, and he realized that a change in the council was necessary^ . f >■"

Mr." NY' J. Benningtpn moved and Mr^ McEwan seconded a hearty vote ■of thanks to the speakers for their addresses and confidence in Mr. Power.

as our futuxe mayor. The motion wis carried unanimously.