NORTH SHORE PROGRESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 504, 6 November 1928, Page 12

NORTH SHORE PROGRESS

MR. GREVILLE WANTS A BRIDGE ROOM TO EXPAND A land policy, and the want of a harbour bridge, were the two points dealt with by Mr. R. H. Greville, United candidate for Waitemata, who addressed an audience of about 100 people in the parish hall, Devonport, last evening. Mr. E. Aldridge, Mayor of Devonport. was chairman. The candidate was obviously suffering from campaign strain, and referred frequently to the necessity of saving his voice. Mr. Greville expounded the United Party's land policy of group settlement, whereby the sons of non-rich families would be trained as agriculturists, and. when qualified as such, placed on suitably prepared lands, with State assistance. The Reform policy in land, as in other matters, was merely one of drift; the Labour Party stood for socialism and stagnation. Only the United Party had a policy of construction and proS Mr. Greville considered the harbour bridge a necessity to Devonport, but from the number of questions and interjections on the point it seemed as it many of the audience were not convince d. The candidate claimed that the popalation of Devonport increased only 2 per cent, in five years, but the chairman had told him there was room for 400 more houses in Devonport. He quoted Vancouver as an example <*f how persistent agitation and grappling with vested interests would get the bridge. The question of who was responsible for the £SOO grant to the bridge committee had T>een sufficiently ventilated. Mr. Harris claimed to be the father of the bridge scheme, and the credit for the £SOO grant; hut he himself could claim just as much credit for the grant. A Questioner: Where are you going to put the extra people in Devonport. A Voice; In the old cemetery. jY; i■ _ Greville ; If we look at Cheltenham, and think what would be the number of people living by it if motorists had a bridge to cross the harbour, we can see that there would be an exodus from the city. A Voice: Have you any interest m a motor-car business ? Another Voice: The people who own land where the bridge will go are whooping it up. ..... Mr. Greville; Don’t you forget—the bridge would make the highway north as crowded as the Great South Road. A Questioner: But if you have the railway and road to Helensville, what is the good of this bridge? Mr. Greville: They do not touch the land I am talking about. Questioned if he was in favour of depriving boys of civil rights for refusing to drill, the candidate said it was only an extreme penalty. He would favour remodelling the code so that conscientious objectors would be given other work to do than actual military work. Another query was whether Mr. Coates was not merely buying votes with the £SOO bridge grant, which sum would not cover the cost of survey work on the bridge site. A vote of thanks and confidence was carried.