BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 32, 27 April 1915, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTION.

Speeches by Candidates. A meeting, convened by a represfseitative group of citizens, was held at the Oddfellows' Hall on Saturday eveuing, all tbe candidates seeking membership of the Borough Council being invited to attend in order to place their views before the public The building was filled with electors, but only six of the 17 candidates nominated responded to the invitation extended to them to be present. Mr H. Dell was voted to the chair and the advertisement of the meeinsr, that bad appeared in the "Times" having been read by Mr F. Perkins, Tbe chairman explained that the

meeting was called so that candidates could express their views before the electors as it was only right and propsr that they Bhould do so. The important matter of raising loans would be before the Council in the near future and the burgesses wanted capable men to adjudicate. Petty feelings should be put aside when the selection of candidates were made. They had to decide that night a3 to the men best fitted to reprt sent tl em. A rumour had gone round that the meeting was called for fun. Such was not

the caße. His interests were in Pokekohe, and he hoped to leave it better than when he had first made ita acquaintance. There was no party feeling in the meeting; Borne of the candidates he approved of, others he did not. Mr Comrie was the first candidate called on to speak. He said

he bad been under the impression that being an old candidate, together with the fact that his views had often appeared in the "Times," they would not expect him to make a speech. He was

not there for the purpose of defending the old Council; but he claimed that -the Council had done good, solid work, ind had got good value for money spent. True it was that tbe old Council had made mistakes; they had not fallen in with his ideas. (Laughter). The roads were in nothing like the bad state they were two years ago, but a good deal still remained to be done with them. Money would have to be borrowed if they were to have good roads. The shingle they had introduced had proved a great boon. It was expensive and at the same time difficult to form roads in Pukekohe owing to the nature of the sub-soil. The best way to form

them would be to lay big boulders on the bottom as a foundation, small metal in the centre and shingle on top. If that principle were adopted the result of the loan would mean that the rales would be reduced as expenseß of upkeep would be reduced. As to the waterworks, although a large sum of money had been expended on them they were not satisfactory. During the summer it was necessary to obtain an extra engine and pump, but still they remained unsatisfac-

tory. The machinery at the power house was fitted for pumping water to a height of 300 feet, but the reservoir had been built 500 fe*t above the level of the township. Frequently there was nearly as much water lost daily through »he reducing valve, at the bottom of the Pukekohe Hill, as there was consumed daily. The water pressure, from 300 feet high, would be found ample to deal with fires. The concrete bed on which the engine was built at the power house was cracked, and as a result tbe engine might have to be laid aside at a minute's notice. The acquisition of Hickey's Dam as the source of supply would give abundance of gocd water and would avoid the cost of pumping into a well. Keterring to drainage, Mr Uomrie said he had always been In

favour of a dreinage .system, and as soon as finances could be arranged such should be taken in hand. Although good health had fortunately so far prevailed danger might occur at any tme. Lighting was sot so necessary as water and drainage, and he considered it might wait until the borough was in & better financial position. He was not in favour of coal gas Electricity was better; coal gas was going out of date. He advised the Counicl to arrange for advice on the waterfall at Paerata, with the intention of in-

stalling electricity, but they were all coal gas men. He was in favour of the Council assisting, the Fire Brigade to obtain an outfit of modern fire-fi«hting appliances. The brigade did good work at the recent fires and were deserving of support. (Applause). He was also in favour of the formation of a Salvage Corps, to save the contents of burning buildings. The Fire

brigade and Salvage Corps were the only bodies authorised to no into a burning building to save its contents. They cvuld call on the public to assist, if so desired. The Pukekohe Band also needed assistance. The Cemetery had been a disgrace to the town. The Council had however, taken over its control and' were having it attended to. The next speaker was Mr Andrew. The chairman explained that althnogh Mr Andrew was under lh2 doctor's care he was present because he considered it was his duty. (Applause). Mr Andrew stated that he was offering his . services because he

thought there was an cpening for business men on the Council to deal with financial affairs, and if bis aervicea were not required he would still teel that he had done bis duty. He favoured dealing with questions of water and lighting before drainage. The Borough had uo reproductive works to relieve it of its rates, and they should fiibt have payable propositions in water and lighting, and then a drainage Bcheme, which was sure to be a drag' on the rates for a considerable time. The balance sheet for the waterworks for 19J4 showed that

it was a mo9t unsatisfactory concern. No charge was made for •' interest od capital. The works were going to the bad at the rate of £9OO per annum, and it was beyond his belief that a committee of men could continue to supply the water at Is 3d per 1000 gallons when the scheme was working at a loss. He favoured obtaining reports on the water and lighting from a reliable engineer. The borough could stand a loan for both proposals seeing that they would be reproductive. The loans which had bjen before the ratepayers were turned down because there was a «nt of confidence betwaen tbem

and tbe Council. s The public of Fukekohe were progressive and would support good schemes. The Council could restore confidence in the ratepayers by goimj into a qualified engineer's report and then working on the lines the Auckland City Council adopted in the matter of the Jennyn street outlet. Before this scheme was adopted some of the ablest business men of Auckland were invited by the Council to go into the matter, and it was not until their approval was received

that the Council placed tbe proposition before the ratepayers. He suggested that a committee of such business men as Messrs Matthew?, Bockett, Grigor, Flavdl, F. Brown and Perkins would be prepaid to act in that way. Then, if they ventured to Bay that a proposition was goor l , the ratepayers would support it. The best brains of Pukekche were required to solve the financial problems of the borough. It was through the apathy cf the ratepayers that at the h6t election co kes than eight farmers out of a membership of nine were elected on the Council. Farmers had the

ability, but no' the experience. The electors would have to decide whether farmers or business men were tbe most neceesary on the Council. They would have to be puided by the engiceer's report in regard lo the lighting. He favoured gas; but at tbe same time he

considered electricity was deserving of attention. It would cost less to conrect the settlers' houses up with electricity than it would for gas.

On Ihe other hand, it would be impossible to lay down tarred macadam roade, if the tar had to be obtained in Auckland, After tha water and lighting schemes had been placed on a sound basis it would be time (o tackle the drainage question. The alteration of the borough boundaries had been done in a haphazard manner. The public was not considered in the ma:ter;

whereas it should have received careful consideration. The people on the "outside" had no community of interest with the "inside," and accordingly on that score it was feasible that they should be allowed to "go out.'' If the borough was going to lose the revenue of "outsiders" it would have to be mads good. He considered a whsel tax, If put into force, Uiight have to be faced to feet over the difficulty. He favoured all possible assistance being given to the Fire Brigade. He advocated making all the arterial reads leeding into the town as good as they ctuld possibly be made. Mr J. Patterson next tcok the platform. To some extent, he said, he agreed with the previous speaker as to the constitution ot the Council. He acknowledged that the farming interests were entitled to representation thereon, but he did not approve of their preponderance. In connection with road matters, ho invited any Councillor to men'ion a

single road that had been finished after being started on. The Council had been advised by their engineer that the rsservoir was too high. The trouble was that every new man was an engineer. He maintained that the water scheme had proved itself as something in reality at the recent fires. The Council had been working on the engineer's estimate and during the present year had loat £3OO. He would like to know where the loss was. It was not business to supply water to the ratepayers at Is 9d per 1000 gallons when it coßt 4s 6d per 1000 gallons to pump it. He had suggpsteel, when a member of the Council, that the sewerage system would be too expensive for the borougb, ana that a pan system would serve the purpose. He admitted that the latter system was obsolete, but at tha same time it was not so obsolete as the present system. 'Voice: The pan system is rotten. Mr Patterson: It's miles ahead of the present one.

Continuing, Mr Patierson said that in the matter of lighting he was right out in favour of electricity, and if it was found necessary to shift to a new source of water supply ha favoured tha present power house being used for supplying electric current. In regard to the proposed alteration of the borough boundaries, he claimed that tha old Town Board had had nothing to do with defining the borough bcundaries and making them too big, as was suggested. A sub-committee, consisting of Messrs Johns and Dunn, members of the old Road Board, did it. The people who were trying to get out thought they would get out free, but they would have to take a share of the

loans with them. The Council said that there would be a saving of £6OO per year it the boundaries were curtailed, by reason of less upkeep of roads, but as a matter of fact there was onl> £6OO per year to spend on the roads in the whole borough. The "outsiders" think tbat the township should paytor the roads, so that the farmers might come into the township, hut they seemed to forget that it was a mutual benefit concern. (Applause). Mr J. T. followed. He said that some peoplu thought it was a presumption on his part to offer himself as a candidate. He

had, however, been asked by a large number of ratepayers to offer himself for either one of the two capacities offering and he had decided to become a candidate fcr the Council. His qualilicationa consisted of the following:— Twenty-five years constant work with local bodice, doing both txecutivu and administrative work. For eight years he had been a Government road inspector and he could also use a pen and go into finances. His policy was one of roads, water,

drainage and light. The borough had to have roads and if they were not properly graded, the money expended on them was being thrown away. Some of the roads in the borough were a standing disgrace. The present state uf King street could not be remedied without going to considerable trouble. Ihe fault"wtib the majority of local bodies was that they undertook too large a portion of a road at the one time, the consequence being that only a portion could be metalled, and in the winter the other portion was a Bea of mud.

The water question was, in his opinion, not so serious as it was said to be. Mr Lockie uannon said in tne first portion of his report that the present supply would be sufficient for some vears to come, but later on said that the Council would have to find another supply. In connection with the recent poli for a water loan, he was certain that the ratepayers would not have turned it down had they known that it wa9 being taken with the idea of purchasing Hickey'e Dam, The

Council should have taken the rate-

payers into their confidence. Then on the eve of the poll the report emanated from the Council that if the poll was not carried on the Wednesday Pukekohs would go dry nn the Thursday. Yet a week later it was reported to the Council that the water in the reservoir was within a foot of tne top. If there was a deficiency in the supply of water it was necessary that arrangements for a better supply should be

made, but not before the Council had obtained expert advice. Similarly in regard to drainage, before any scheme was launched the best expert that could be secured should be retained to submit a report. He considered that refuse removal shouH be introduced into the town. As regards lighting it was an expense that was not required at Ih3 present time. The recreation ground was a recreation ground only in name and Bhould be made more attractive. Noxious weeds were too prevalent in the borough, but he believed that if asked to du so owners would take steps that would be the means of

beautifying their streets. The chairman next called upon Mr F. W. Mountjoy to speak, but Mr H. G. R. Mason, who was sitting in the hall, aroeo aid asked permission to make an explanation in regard to what h'.d been said earlier in the evening concerning

Mr Dunn. Tha chairman replied that he would be pleased to give Mr Maeon an opportunity to speak when all the candidates present had spoken. This produced the

remark from Mr Mhson that he was unable to remain any longer at the meeting and he thereupon departed

Mr Mountjoy. first referred to the water problem, saying that he did not know of any town in New Zealand that possessed such a coor water supply as that in Pukekohe. He considered that it had been proved that it was nrcessary to find a new source ot watsr supply. As

to drainage, he thought bacteriological treament the only desirable scheme, and ha pointed out that the co?t to owr.erß of the installation of private septic tanks was greater to them than woald be their share of a system of drainage. He objected to Mr Lockie Gannon's proposals to run drairage pipes through private property, as in time properties were buiit over. He was utterly opposed to the pan system. Drainage, he considered, should be put in force before the roads were made, as otherwise the roads only had to be subsequently broken up tor the sewerage pipe 3to be laid. He strongly favoured electric light. Gas deteriorated the furnishing of

rooms and vitiated the atmosphere, whilst with electricity no diggingup of the roada wa; required. He thought that the best sulu'ion for lighting would be to allow a private company to come in, tbe Council making proper safeguards for future purctase. The tax levied.on tombstones erected in the borough ought to be abolished. The borough bylaws were of a voluminous and absurd character and shoud be revised, and regulations made stipulating for the constructon of brick party walls for fire prevention purposes. Mr J. H. Webb waß next "named" by the chairman, but that gentleman, speaking from the body of the hall Btated that he nad handed Mr Perkins a letter which be desired him to read. The letter was then read by Mr Perkins, and was to the effect that although Mr Webb had every sympathy with the objects of the meeting, yet he was not inclined to sptak seeing that the majority of the candidates had stayed away. In response to calls, Mr Webb went on the platform and intimated that he would not depart from the decision he had arrived at as stated in his letter.

The chairman thanked the candidates for "attending and placing their views btfore thoee present. He was not, he said, in sympathy with all of them, but at the Bame time the candidate who could not see fit to come lorward could rot expect to gain his (the speaker's) confidence when he had several thousand pounds at stake. Mr Perkins said that » number of candidates had tried to throw cold water on the meeting. He tnerefore particularly thanked those who had come forward to keep things going.

The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to tha chairman.