COUNTY ELECTIONS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4972, 10 May 1926, Page 3

COUNTY ELECTIONS.

CANDIDATE FOB PLAINS COUNCIL. MR. WALTON’S SPEECH. Mr B. Walton, ex-clerk to the Hauraki Plains County Council, addressed a well-attended meeting of ratepayers a,t Kaihere in support off his candidature on Tuesday last, Mr E. W. Harris presiding. In view of the interest aroused by Mr Walton’s entry into local body government his speech is reported in full. “When it became known to some of my friends that I intended to resign from the position of county clerk, a number of them, both in and put of this riding,- told me it was a pity that my services and my experience of the administration were being lost to the county. They urged me to consider the question of standing tor the. council at the next election. They informed me that they thought I would be better able to assist in the administration than was at. present the case. My motive in standing is' tp give my services for the benefit of this riding and .the county generally. If the ratepayers think that my services are of any use to them I vill give' them willingly for the advancement of the Plains. If they do -not think so, then they will vote for someone else, and I will be tree to pursue the practice of my profession’. -If I had considered the monetary aspect solely, I would be better off bv keeping out of the council, but I consider i.t is everybody’s duty to' do what he'can for the progress ol the district, even a.t some personal inconvenience.' So that now you have my reasons- in a nutshell. Knowing the. county as I'do, I think il can help yon along, and I ain willing to do so. If you think I can be .of service to you, ‘vote me into office; if you think otherwise. ,vote me out ?. ' HOSPITAL BOARD. “On the-same grounds, and for the same reasons, I; a m standing for the Thames Hospital Boa,rd. I have been nominated by Mr W. E.' G. Willy, df Turua, and Mr J. C. Milin', the. county chairman. I am pledged with ►Messrs Hale and Parfitt tc vote against the further expense of the proposed Paeroa hospital, which will mean about £BOO extra, per annum for tni - county to pay in hospital rktes. without any appreciable benefit, and also against any unnecessary expense tn the detriment of the Hauraki Plains county- T am in favour of increased facilities for the country people getting to the existing institution. “I Will now?deal with a number of matters which I think concern .this part of Ngatea Riding more particularly, and first I will deal, with* the proposed -bridge at Ngajrua Landing. I wish to say right now that I am, and always, have been, in favour of this bridge. My opponent cannot honestly mention one/word or act of mine to the contrary. On the other grand, I can point to the fact that I Slave brought forward the only feasible scheme for getting it: I refer to the county scheme for the construction and maintenance of the main .traffic routes and bridges, -in the county. I will deal with this scheme at a later part of my address. I pass on now to the Ngarua Creek bridge. The state Of this bridge hafs heen before the council for some time. I have reason .to believe, that the engineers.—Government and county engineers have the matter under consideration at present—will be able to remedy the defects in the foundations’ to the satisfaction of the-settlers. I am not’ at liberty to say more at present. With regard to the top road from Kaihere : to the lower Patetpnga road, I favour .this section being included in any general county scheme. The necessity for this ,was> brought home, to me by the forceful argu’iiient of a ratepayer residing at Tprehape- This road is your outlet to Patetonga; it leads to-your outlet to Ohinewai and the railway, and from the corner it serves, the Torehape people. This taring's; me to the road' to Torehape. I’ think 'this road should be and can be gravelled out of rates, assisted by Government subsidies. It will ha,vei to be done in soetionts’, the first of which should be the. bush section. I think that once the officers of the Public Works Department see that you are out to help yourselves and do something permanent, then they will assist the settlers, of Torehape to get .an outlet to the main roads. Ido no,t think the Torehape ratepayers would be well advised to burden themselves with a heavy special rate to put down a, road wih'eh would be .beyond their requirements ■and their means.

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS. The county scheme iq my scheme — one I have'brought forward from my observations of the traffic within the county. It is an attempt to place the matter on an equitable basis and’ to remove the unfairness which would be imposed on .this district when the main highways are made a county charge. This s'cheme is also the best answer that I can give to my opponent, who, for his own ends, says I hold parochial views.. My aim is to the whole - county, bhd this scheme was laid before the council long before I resigned from the clerkship. It at once received 1 hearty s,up•port, and was supported by Mr McLoughlin. .-The roads included in the scheme are from the Maukoro estate lower Patetonga Road to Kaihere, by way of the Kaihere post office, thence down Kaihere Road to, the landing, thence .along the river and canal to .Ngatea, thence to Pipiroa, and'thence to Waitaka ; ruru and the western county boundary. From Ngatea along Orchard East Road to parry’s corner, thence southwards to and along Pekapeka Road and.on to Netherton,. then to a,nd along Wilson's road to the. Puke bridge. From Pekapeka Road northward through Turua to Orongo. From Orongo to and through Kopuarahi to Pipiroa to Dalgety’s corner. From Parry’s corner to Turua Roa,d; The bridges included in the scheme are Maukoro, Ngarua, Ngatea, Pipiroa, Kiriklri, and Puke. The Maukoro and Kirikiri lodges are already charges on the tteounty, and Nga.tea and Puke are charges, on special, rating areas. Pipiroa and 'Ngarua are yet to be built

and the rating areas finally settled. The scheme, is intended to cover both construction and maintenance. The authority for construction would ba obtained by poll of .the ratepayers, and that for the maintenance by a special order of the council. By the Main Highways Act the cost both of the construction and'maintenance of main highways is > intended to be a county charge. This; is a very important matter. Without my scheme it. would work unequally in .this county. The sections; of main highway in this county serve a large proportion of the county in whoso interest it' is to have the cost made a county charge. Likewise, bridges on these routes can be made a county charge. It was this factor that prompted me to go into the. ma,tter with a view to finding a. way of giving equality to places; like Kaiher©, which are. off the main highway. I think the- engineering profession is quite agreed that the 'class of road to be aimed at is to be determined first! by .the volume of traffic, secondly by.the nature of the country, thirdly, by .the materials available, and last, but not least, by the ratepayers’ ability to pay the cost. If you accept what the engineers are. agreed upon, and I think you must iif you think the matter out, then you must admit that there might well be different classes of roads: within the scheme. The aim is to give efficiency and at the same time equality. We have it as the opinion of the engineers of the Main Highways Board that the column of traffic in .most of the Country districts, in New Zealand does not Warrant more than a macadam road, provided tha,t such road is properly maintained-. The jnaintenance is. the most important factor of all —far more important than the first cost, as the maintenance is with us all the time, and no class of roa,d is permanent without maintenance. .“I believe—and I am supported by competent engineers in that belief—that a good many of the’ 'roads on the Plains can be kept in. reasonably good order with proper maintenance which would be within your ability to phy. As to the class of road to'be laid down, I think the council should form tentative proposals, then hold meetings of the ratepayers-throughout the county to explain them and receive the ratepayers’ comments, after which the proposals could be finalised and put to the poll. ® the scheme is acceptable to the ratepayers of the county, then I think that, the first work should be to metal the unmetalr led parts and blind the, metal, with red. shingle, which Jias proved its quality as a blinding. After that every effort should be made to maintain the wearing surface, of the roads with red shingle, One very great advantage of this course is that the cost of maintenance can be reduced to the'minimum for safety and regulated from year to year. Ais I have no doubt the council, will take this scheme up after the elections, and as my-intention was to give you just the outline of it so as to refute the statements that I stand'for the township df Ngatea alone, il will conclude on this point. Whether you approve of the scheme or not, I think you must fidmit readily that my thought has been given to something which is intended for the general good of the county,'.

ADMINISTRATION. ‘’in a county such as this', where .there is, such a crying need for development of the facilities for transport and a.n increase of! the amenities of life, I think the aim and policy of the administration would; be sane progress—neither incurring expense with too much -optimism nor acting niggardly through pessimism. I think, you (should not look for paring down df rates at the ■expense £f efficiency. But I think you should and can expect increased efficiency in the spending of your money to the best advantage. I do not believe in throwing sops to this, or that ratepayer to keep him 1 quiet or friendly, but -I- believe in getting the maximum work done Ifor the money available. If elected, I will, advocate a certain amount of reorganisation in the administration with a view to increased efficiency, which I think should) be the aim. The riding and: ,the county need all the money the settlers cap afford to improve the means of getting about. If you wish to go to Patetonga, Ohinewai, Kerepeehi, Ngatea, or places outside the county, you (should be given eviery'facility for doing so that the funds which you can afford ..will permit.. At present th®, settlers of .this district are isolated for months in the year, and I think it is a fair question to ask : What has the'present member accomplished in the past six years towards improving your accessHo other places ? -.My experience has been (that things are. obtained in ,the council not by abusje and loud talking, but by thinking matters out in advance, and’ by persuasion, convincing the other members that the matter advocated is fair and reasonable. That my principles have stood the test may be gathered from the ’fact that I left the employ of the council bearing complimentary expressions of opinion from all the councillors, seven at least of whom support by present candidature. But it. is for the ratepayers to say whether they want me. or not. -Mr -McLoughlin ' appears to deny this principle, for he says that if I had come to him he would have stood down in my favour. In effect, he would have presumed to give something which was not. his to give, 1 know full well that• two-thirds of the votes.in .this riding are in and around Ngatea, and I am assured of an almost unanimous vote there. But standing as Ido for what is fair and reasonable throughout the county, I am asking support in this area, too. Throughout the county I have, friends and clients, whose goodwill I value highly, and it is idle ffor my opponent to say that, I stand for the township of Ngatea .to the exclusion of all else. If elected I will hope to treat all in a,nd out of the riding fairly to the best of my ability. I know that some have confidence in my opponent, and perhaps are attached to him for one reason or another. To them I say, ‘Stick to the man in whom you have confidence.” To those, of you who are not attached to my opponent I a,sk you. to j consider my candidature fairly, and

if you can see your way to vote tor me I ask you to do so. And in conclusion, to all of you I say tha,t, if elected, I will do my best to deal fairly with all. You have nothing to fear, whether yoti vote for or against me. Let your conscience be your guide, Tor it dictates the one you should follow.”