MR. HUTCHISON AT NEWTOWN.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5504, 16 November 1878, Page 3

MR. HUTCHISON AT NEWTOWN.

Last evening Mr. Hutchison addressed a meeting of electors at > ew/town in the schoolhoitxe. here were present about fifty or sixt.v persons, and Mr. Alexander Wilson was voted '•> the elmir. •

Mr. Hdtcjhsojj, who m< well received, said so far from Imvi g touted during the past year lie bad scarcely seen his Newtown friends, aud had frequently refused to express opinions on public subjects, so that he cou'd not be justly accused of touting. He recapitulated what he had previously said about the Waterworks cheque business, and said he had nothing to accuse his conscience of except at most an 'error of judgment, such as any public man might commit at any time. Ab to the To Aro ■ reclamation, he had never said more than that " ho had obtained the Crown giant for the foreshore, and to that statement he adhered, without any desire to deprive Mr. DransSeld of any credit due to him, remarking this, in addition, that he (Mr. Hutchison) had gone to a good deal of trouble in the matter. After having referred to the failure of the Bill in Parliament, he said he saw no reason why an amicable arrangement should not be .made between the Council and the foreshore owners,' so that this great work might be gone on with duriDg the present summer. He repeated his condemnation of the action of the Mayor in regard to the Thomdon Keclamation Bill, especially in reference to the change ia the provisions of the Bill between the' time of its second reading and its com-. ' mittal. Supposing the change was in itself good, still the necessity for it should have been explained to the House, and the burgesses' opinions on the subject should have been invited ; and while he admitted it was a good thing for the city to obtain the management of the Hospital or any other institution within the city, it must be remembered it would cost "£4OOO or £SOOO a year to maintain. The Mayor said the rents of the Hospital reserves would bring in £2OOO a year, and that there j was a subsidy of pound for pound; but how long woutd the subsidy last ? No one could tell, and he believed it would not last Ions;, so that the city would have to pay £2OOO a year on account of the Hospital. He next adverted to the drainage question, and after repeating what he had previously said remarked that as between Mr. Clark's and Mr. Climie's schemes, professional opinions favored that of Mr. Cliraie, while the cost of it would be about half that of Mr. Clark's. [Mr. E. H. Hunt : Ha 3 Mr. Clark's scheme ever been approved of by the ratepayers as Mr. Climie's has been ?] The Council had not consulted the ratepayers on this particular matter. He then touched on the failure of the Council to ask the ratepayers' consent to a reclamation loan, and discussed a loan for making unmade streets. He referred.to the Mayor's declaration as to the principle on which ho propesed to make these streets, and said persons living in these streets ci»uld not be specially taxed without further legislation; but apart from that it was a grossly unjust proposal to the working men who were getting homesteads in out-of-the-w-iy streets. Everyone in Wellington, persons in the more densely populated parts ot the city, who had had their streets made for them out of the general, funds, should pay taxation on account of these new streets. . (Hear, hear.) That of course did not apply to streets made by speculators, but merely to the stieet3 laid out on the city-plan. It was a very important question that these street-i should be made, because Te Aro was becoming too thickly populated, and if possible population should be drawn further away from the heart of the city. (Hear, hear.) [A Ratepayer : What about the night soil ?] That was becoming a difficult question. Some fresh arrangement must be made, for no doubt it was a great nni*auee and a drawback to the people of Newtown to have it deposited at their back doors ; indeed, he believed the owner of the farm on which it was at present deposited would uot continue the arrangement bevond the term of 'the present agreement. (Hear, hear.) As to the hours of labor on the wharf, he had not raised that question, but nevertheless he thought the introduction of any scheme for extending the hours of labor was wrong, even tbongh extra payment were given. (Cheers.) There was a danger of the extended hours being continued and the extra pay being dropped. (Hear, hear.) Had he been Mayor he should have objected to the Government arrangement entirely. Mr. BUCK energetically defended Mr. Hutchison from the charge made by Mr. Dransfield that he had worked up O'Connor's case for political purposes. Mr. Hutchison bad nothing to do with the matter till pressed to take ac ion. Mr. Dransfield would do nothing until requisitioned by "influential" ratepayer?, as he put it. Let him only appeal to influential ratepayers now for bin election. Mr. Buck then went on to urge that nightsoil should be shipped to sea in flat bottomed lighters, which could be constructed for £SOO. Mr. Hi'TCHisoN theught the suggestion well worthy of attention. In answer to Mr. E. H. Hunt, Mr.,HoTCHisoN said the Waterworks cheque had been BJgued in the ordinary course. He was not aware whether since the che ue inquiry had taken place a further sum of £9OO had bsen paid to Mr. Saunders for extras. Some further questions having'been asked, Mr. Hbhby Andebsou moved a vote of confidence and support. Mr. Mclhttee, baker, of Tory Street, seconded.

The motion was agreed to unanimously. A working committee was then formed, and the meeting adjourned.