More Light.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 4, 25 April 1914, Page 5

More Light.

to emphatically deny that he had over made the statement imputed to him. WHAT IS HIS POLICY? Mr Kirkwood said he (the speaker) had consistently voted with him on Ids general policy, hut he did not know Mr Kirkwood had one. Last year lie had no policy beyond a loan of £15,000. ' Certainly he had voted with Sir Kirkwood on matters which he believed would be of benefit to j.he town. But Mr Kirkwood said he (Mr King) had always voted against him on light questions. That was contrary to fact. He had voted in favor of the deputation going to Wellington, had moved in favor of paying the expenses of the Council’s delegates and at the last mooting of the Council he had seconded Mr Kirkwood’s motion to ask the Minister for Works for ’ the names on the petition asking for the new license. That was three times he had voted with Mr Kirkwood against the Company.

Th 3 Water Rate. Two years ago Mr Kirkwood had made a great point of reducing the water rate by 3d, the water account being then £9OO in credit. He opposed the proposition because he did not think it was in the host interests of the Borough. At (id in the £ the rate brought in £6OO, hut at 3d it brought iu only £3OO per annum. The advantage of the reduction had chiefly been felt hy people in Broadway between Opunake and Pembroke Beads. Any reduction should be equally shared hy the whole of the citizens. Ho had moved to rescind the resolution to reduce the rate, and the motion was defeated on the casting vote of the Mayor. Ho thought the Mayor’s host course would have boon to let tlfings remain as they were. The rate had now been increased to 6d, because the Borough could not do without it.

permanent Works. When the requisition waS presented to him he had made certain remarks regarding Eltham. What ho had in his mind was the amount of permanent works Eltham had carried out in comparison with what had been done here. He did not refer in any way to the stability of Stratford. He knew Stratford was stable, financially and otherwise. He had pinned his faith to Stratford for twenty-two years, believing that iu time it must be a big town. The tithe had arrived for Stratford to do more permanent work. Kerbing and channelling had just been begun, and was being done hy the Borough staff about 7s cheaper than the lowqst tender received for the work. This was one of.the best works for the Borough, as a good deal of money would be saved through the Borough employees not being called on to spend the time'they now did in cleaning cut-water-tables. He thought the work would pay for itself in two years, owing to this saving in labor. He was firmly of opinion that the Borough could now go in for a good deal of permanent work.

V/hy Streets are Better. •Mr Kirkwood said the streets were in better condition than ever before. He (the speaker) would admit that the streets were iu excellent condition. Much of the credit therefore was due to the excellent staff, the work of the foreman, 'and the road roller, which was one'of the best investments the Council had made. Obviously there was now much more money available than when he was in the Mayoral Chair seven years ago. At the present rate at which the revenue was increasing they should he able to do much more work than in the past and much more permanent work. Mr Kirkwood said the roller and crusher had been pijid for out of revenue while 'ho was in office. Certainly they wore paid lor during his term, hut Mr .Masters was the one who had moved to get the roller. Three years ago steps were taken to provide raoUey lor the purchase of the roller, and the (('solution deciding to buy it was passed on March 11th, 1912, before Mr Kirkwood assumed office as Mayor at all. In his annua! report Mr Kirkwood had paid a great compliment to the

speaker as chairman of tho Works Committee. The chairman of the Works Committee was a person created for tho purpose of taking off the shoulders of the Mayor tho responsibility for all Borough works. During the past two years he (the speaker) had had all the works under his own supervision. The only exception was tin' planting of the trees ou Broadway front Pembroke Road to flint Hoad. That work had been under the supervision of Mr Kirkwood. He understood, hut hoped otherwise, that till I he trees were now dead. Increase of Revenue. In 1010 thi' Borough’s revenue was e;f;>/JO, in Ihi I LT29-'!, in 1012 Cldsd, in JOl'S „tl()7'J, and in ID I 1 TSMS, The increased revenue had, naturally, enabled Mr Kirkwood to do more i work than previous Mayors. He .•onld account for some at heist ol the increased revenue. After the ere at old Town Mai! in Broadway a peeial arrangement was made, when ,'C-building, with the tenants oi the shops, whereby they were freed ol rent of their shops, merely paying the ground rent. At the end of the term the shops were to he handed to the Borough and this was done roi cently. Now the Borough was receiving an annual revenue of £591 ; !0s from tho buildings, and some part of that revenue had boon available In the past year for street

i works. Ho took credit to himself j for the acumen lie displayed in mak|ing this revcinitt available to the ! Borough. The revenue had also injcreased by reason of the recent revaluation. Mr Kirk',mod had spent more money on the streets than'inn other Mayor because be had had it to spend. The Lean Question. ■ Two years ago Mr Kirkwood had (come forward with a scheme lot a I loan of £15,000 for water, drainage and streets. The scheme aas leasable and Mr Kirkwood deserved ercjdit for bringing it down. Hut it was a different matter in the Council. Tile southern members fought until the bridge was included in the loan, and other things were also included. At the time ho was sure that the ratepayers would not sanction a loan of £IO.OOO, hut the Mayor did wrong in not putting Ids foot down when he saw the Council going to extremes. He should have taken a firm attitude that the proposal should he for £15,000 and no more. A Voice; ft was the Council, not the Mayor, who insisted on the larger loan.

| Opunake Railway. The Opunake railway should have come to Stratford—it was the propei place for it. if a town had railways, running north, south, east and west, that town was bound to go ahead. This was proved in the case of Palmerston, which had gone ahead by leaps and bounds merely because of the railways. Messrs Kirkwood and Richards, be believed, had worked very hard for the railway. There had been copious correspondence between them and the Government—but it bad dolic nn good. A deputation wailed on the Premier and Mr Fraser, who promised that nothing would Ijo decided until all the proposed routes had been surveyed. When the Mayor found that the Premier had not kept hi s promise he .should not have sought the president of the Chamber of Commerce and wept silently with him, but should at once have called an indignation meeting, That would have boon the biggest meeting held in Stratford, and if a supporting deputation had then gone to Wellington he felt sure that the railway would, have come to Stratford. There had been ,io survey ’to Stratford, and only a living survey from To Roti, which took three days. If the line had come to Stratford it would have done more for-the town than anything he knew of. Land values would have jumped, up. But the opportunity had been missed and the line had gone to Eltham.

The Electric Light. Many of those present that night did not know the true ‘history of the light question. What they did know was that a bogey was put before them and that they were calk'd upin, to .believe the views of tho’hogey’s supporters. Mr King detailed the early history of the light movement. When the 21 years’ concession expired, the position of the 1 Company was a moot point. Mr Kirkwood said he had the best legal ■' advice in the country that the Company would have to cense operations, but whothere that was so or Hot he (the speaker) could not say. He had put some money into the Company, but had got very little return for it. Ho was public-spirited enough to support the Company, believing that it was in the best interests of the liorough. The Company had come forward to help the town, but ever since it had been in existence it had suffered by the most bitter opposition from a section of the community. Personally, he thought ho should he commended lor his public spirit in joining the Company. He thought the ’Borough should own their own lighting plant. The Borough was paying £SOO per annum for light, and that amount capitalised represented £IO,OOO, which would he sufficient to purchase the works. H goodwill was to ho paid the amount should he settled hy arbitration. As to the new license the Company was asking

for lie did not think the Government would grant it—they would not dare to grant it against the wishes ot the burgesses. lie sincerely hoped the license was not granted. He was not standing there asking for the granting of the license—lie was absolutely opposed to it. If the Company wanted a license for the County he would let them have it, hut lie would give them no more privileges in the Borough. The ■ people at the

hoad of the Company wore well able to look after the Company’s interests. Ho would be no party to thrusting the now license on the burgesses if it was against, their .will. If elected ho would oppose the new license tooth and nail. As to the purchase of the plant he would have nothing to do with it unless the burgesses expressed a desire for it. Mr King continued : ‘‘As to serving two masters—with a capital M—Masters and Son: ! would never play second fiddle to donas Masters--good man as ho is. I can paddle my .own canoe without him and also without Jlohert Masters. My interests are hound up in tin; town. Does Mr Kirkwood think that for the paltry sum of LAO which i have in the Company ! am going to prostitute my efforts when ! am elected .Mayor. Does he take me for a thorough rascal ? When he says that I am going in its a tool if tin' Company he states what is untrue. Hut do yon know that Mr Kirkwood himself is not a ratepayer, ((treat applause.) He has only a . residential qualification. My rates total £lO per annum.” “Chief Magistrate.” Mr Kirkwood had said he was the Chief Magistrate of Stratford. That was not so, as his trade precluded

him sitting on the bench. -Air Kirkwood had done his duty well as Mayor. He believed Mr Kirkwood would grace the bench, but the? law laid it down that he could not sit. Mr Kirkwood had been a good Mayor, but he never was the town’s Chief Magistrate. The Summing Up. “If you put me in as .Alator for tin; coining year,” said Mr King, coining to the conclusion of ids address, “I will say that it is about time that in some streets the footpaths and other works of a permanent nature should he done. The time has arrived when the Borough should have a loan of anything up to £16,000 or £17,000. A loan will be necessary by and by. Owing to the width of our streets and their length Cabout 20 to 26 miles), they need a lot of looking after. You know from looking around the borough that the streets are not in the position they should he in—' Hear. hear). A loan of £16.000 is required for water purification purposes, street construction, and for drainage, which are the most pressing needs at present. 1 will he specially prepared to help the Council, if I get in, to go in for a loan of that description. AVhen 1 say £15,000, it will he £16,000, and not, one penny more. it will raise your rates, and of course your rates are very high at the present time, hut it is work we must do. This year we will need to spend a considerable amount of money in Broadway itself: I do not know if wo will have enough. If we take any of the money out of revenue for other parts of the Boiough we will have to let it go undone. We know perfectly well tlmt wfi cannot do anything with the water unless it is done out of loan money. The pipes arc corroded and the pressure is not as it should he; and the time will come we will have to put in another main from the head-works; and wo will also have to put in‘filters, as the water is in a filthy condition—in fact, it is not fit for drinking. And yon cannot expect the Council to put in another main out of revenue, and the filters must also be put in out oi loan. AA’e are now negotiating with the man who owns the land at the head-works for a larger area. Then as to street construction, to bring them up to date, we will have to spend a considerable amount of money. The time has arrived when £15,000 or £16,000 'of a loan it is absolutely necessary should be spent ii\ the best interests of the town. I believe that every man should have a road and a footpath to his door, and 1 will do what 1 can in that direction. Some years ago a scheme was advocated to build a bridge to connect the South end with the North ; and I opposed it then because 1 considered the population did not warrant the work being done. But the population has increased, and at Cordelia Street or some other suitable crossing a swing bridge for passenger traffic should be made—(Applause.) I do not throw this out as a bait or a carrot so*that you will vote for me—(laughter)—hut the time has arrived when there should be better connection between these parts of the town. The time has arrived when we must consider the matter. During the four years that 1 was (Mayor I considered the interests of the ' town and gave of my best. _l will do so again, but 1 will do- better because of the added experience that I have gained. I have a little more hair off—l do not know whether it has fallen in or whether brains has pushed it out—(laughter)—hut I am perfectly sure 1 can do better in the future—(Hear, hear). I will consider the interests of Strntftord every time—the interests of the Borough more than the Electrical Supply Company. 1 have done whatever 1 could do, and will strive when INget into the Mayoral Chair to malyc the Town what it should he—one of the best towns in Now Zealand, and to use my energies to the. best of mv ability —

(Hear, hear). With the experience of years of Council work, it is my earnest hope that, if you put ule in the mayoral chair, 1 shall, at the end of my term, have earned the reward of your “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Laughter and applause.) 1 thank you very much for your patient and cordial hearing, and I hope that when Mr Kirkwood again addresses you, you will give him just as good a hearing as you have given me, I thank you again.” >(Lond applause.) Veto of Thanks. The Chairman intimated that Mr King would he pleased to answer questions, hut there was no response. Mr H. Smart said it gave him great pleasure as an old. friend of Mr King’s—one, indeed, who had come to reside in Stratford 22 years ago with him—to move that a hearty vote of thanks he accorded to Mr King for his address. The motion was seconded hy Mr ,1. 'H. Thompson, who was greeted hy a voice in the crowd, “How many shares have you got?”—an ejaculation that caused some amusement. The motion was carried unanimously hy acclamation, and a vote of thanks to the Chair on the call of Mr King concluded #he meeting.

MR N. J. KING ON MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS. A REPRESENTATIVE MEETING. BOROUGH FIRST: NEW LICENSE OPPOSED. J The Town Hall held a largo gatlierjiug last night, when the “Opposition’' ■candidate for Mayoral honors, Mr N. J. King, delivered his views on matters at present tickling the municipal ear. The numbers about equalled those at the Mayor’s meeting on Monday night, and Mr King must have been pleased with the splendid [reception accorded him. | Mr G.. Sangster, an ex-Mayor of the Borough, presided.

A Bit of History. The Chairman, in introducing Mr King to the audience, said he.had one or two mateters he would like to mention. It was 22 years since Mr King came to Stratford, and die (the speaker) felt sure that not more than 20 residents of Stratford at that time were present in the Town Hall before 1 him. The population of the place had changed very much since then ; in fact, they were almost a new people. Mr Sangster said he could remember that time well, as that was the same year in which he had come to live in Stratford. At that time, there were only about twelve business premises in Stratford, and they were all on one side of the street. One of the businesses was a lawyer’s, of course, there was then no electric light—(laughter). “I don’t know,” said Mr Sangster, “what would have happened if there had been a mayoral election, as there would have been no ‘bogey’ to set up, to be shied at with sticks.”—(Renewed laughter). Referring to Mr King, the i chairman said he had been bound up with public bodies, of one sort or another ever since he had been in Stratford. He had been on the School Committee for a long time, and was one of the first members elected to the Borough Council. Mr R. McK. Morison headed the poll of that Council, and Mr Liardet was Mayor. Two years after, Mr King was “kicked out,” but with the exception of one member every Councillor at that time was also kicked out. The reason, added Mr Sangster, with a smile, was that the Council were making a footpath in Broadway North; indeed, it was a

terrible crime!—(Laughter). Although Mr King was kicked out then, he came back, and at the next election was elected -Mayor, his opponent being Mr Monkhouse. Mr King remained in the Mayoral chair for four years, and there was no one game enough to turn him out. One candidate was put up simply for the reason that Mr King should not have a “walk over.” “I have not much doubt, “continued the speaker, “that had Mr King cared to stand for Mayor all along he would have been Mayor yet.”—(Applause). \o one, ho considered, could have put him out. In conclusion, Mr Sangster asked “the boys” to give Mr King fair play during his address, and at the end questions could be asked and would be answered by the candidate. To introduce Mr King to the audience gave the chairman much pleasure.— (Applause). Introductory. Mr King said that during the four years he haA been Mayor he thought he had properly discharged his duty as Mayor. After the dressing down Mr Kirkwood had given him last Monday perhaps he should make some apology for having the audacity to stand on the platform and ask to be returned as Mayor of the town. For many years there had existed a close friendship between himself and Mr Kirkwood, and he desired to state that nothing he would say that night would be said in any personal spirit. Mr Kirkwood had suggested that their friendship resembled that of David and ■Jonathan, and he mentioned the fact with tears in his eyes and emotion in his voice; but then he said he had a public duty to perform and ■he proseeded, as was said collopuially, to “deal out stouch.” Every public man had to expect criticism. There was a proverb to the effect that a man should be looked on with suspicion if everybody spoke in his favor. He would criticise Mr Kirkwood in the same manner as he had criticised him (the speaker). Electric Light Bogey. The old electric light bogey had been ‘brought up against him every time ho had stood for election to a public body for the past eight years. He would endeavour to dress this old bogey in Mr Kirkwood’s coat, Mr Richard’s trousers, and Mr Frederic’s hat, and he would endeavor to show burgesses just what kind of a bogey it really was. The Requisition. Mr Kirkwood had made a point of the fact that the requisition to him (the speaker) had been presented to him in Mr Masters’ shop. What of that ? It was a respectable place at any rate. To he sure there was a smell of red herrings, but it was appetising. Probably Mr Kirkwood was disappointed because they had not celebrated the occasion with a drink. Personally ho could take a glass of beer, but that occasion was not one for such (celebration. The electric light bogey had always been brought up against him, but whenever he had stood for a seat on the Council he had always topped the poll by considerable numbers. If the burgesses had not recognised that he carried out his duties well they would not have returned him. The people of Stratford knew that he would give them a square deal

whether he was connected with the light company or not. Mr Kirkwood had spoken of the men he had beaten in previous contests, but he said nothing of his own defea'ts. Mr Kirkwood had been beaten the most of anybody except his chairman, who “took the cake” in that respect. When Mr Kirkwood left his meeting on Monday he hugged the delusion that he had “put his pot on’’ y but when tb| meeting closed they would see thafle (the speaker) had been grossly misrepresented. Why a Calamity? He had heard it'stated in the town that it would be a calamity if Mr Kirkwood was not returned. Why should that be so? There were Letter men than Mr Kirkwood or himself. What would the calamity be? Would there he an earthquake, a smallpox outbreak or another strike? Even though Mr Kirkwood were beaten the town would keep on progressing in the same manner as heretofore. Serving Two Masters. Xo man, said Mr Kirkwood, could serve two masters. Four years ago a prominent citizen had stood on that platform and used the same words. Probably Mr Kirkwood had rung him up and asked if the old gag could not be used again. The gag went down with certain people; but be did not intend to serve two masters. If he was elected Mayor, bis first consideration would be the Borough,#and the light company would not even be a secondary consideration. In saying that he was Sound up with the light company, Mr Kirkwood set himself np on a pedestal like a Pharisee of old, saying: “Thank God 1 am not like other men. But as to the liquor trade, was not Mr Kirkwood absolutely bound up with that? As this was general election year everybody knew -hat the Xo-License question 'would be a burning one with electors; but if Mr Kirkwood was elected he was sure die burgesses would get a fair deal—ie had sufficient faith in Mr Kirkwood for that. But could Mr Kirkwood say that he would not be influenced by his connection with the liquor trade while he (Mr King) would be influenced by his connection with the light company. The thing was absurd! Mr Kirkwood was just as liable to be swayed in bis opinion as he (the speaker). Perhaps Mr Kirkwood might be the most liable to be influenced.

The Company’s Secretary. Mr Kirkwood had replied to a letter sent to the press by Mr Xewton,. the letter complaining of some hole into which Mr Newton’s motor car had fallen. Mr Newton should have gone to the Council with his complaint—he did not believe in such matters forming the subject of letters to the press in the first place. If Mr Newto had gone to the Mayor or himself n > doubt something would have been dor to remedy the defect complained oiMr Kirkwood alleged that he (Mr King) had inspired the letter in order to damage his chances in the election. He (the speaker) could assure his audience that lie had never even seemthe letter in the paper, and he knew Mr Newton was well able to look after himself. Mr Kirkwood said Mr Newton was his (Mr King’s) henchman. He was not. Mr Newton had been his friend and would no doubt do what one friend would for another, hut he was not a henchman. The Workingman’s Wage. When he had been sitting in the hall on Monday he heard a person say; “I wouldn’t vote for King—ho says £2 a week is a good wage for a working man.” A voice: Who was it that was speaking? . • . Mr King: “I know who it was, but 1 won't tel! you.” 'l ive speaker then repeated the explanation given at last Council meeting of how the rumor gained currency. A Voice: Well, do you think £2 5s is sufficient for a working man? j Mr King said he did not think so. He had moved to raise the wages of the Borough staff to Is Id per hour and Is 3d for drivers. With rent and everything else so high £2 5s (was not sufficient to keep a mankind his wife and family. He always believed in paying the highest wages. He bad men who had been with him for sixteen years and who had never complained. He believed that the more wages a workman received the better work the employer would get. On that platform he desired