BIRKENHEAD FINANCES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 643, 20 April 1929, Page 13

BIRKENHEAD FINANCES

EX-MAYOR CRITICISES PRESENT COUNCIL

MR. J. P. McPHAIL’S ADDRESS

Opening his campaign for the Birkenhead Mayoralty on Thursday in the Foresters* Lodge Room, Mr. J. P. McPhail addressed a good audience over which Mr. R. Darlow presided. Mr. McPhail said ho had occupied the Mayoral chair from 1915 to 1921. When h© took office in 1915 the finances of tho borough were not in a very healthy condition and tho road to Birkdale was nearly impassable. Besides making footpaths and leaving the roads in nearly as good a condition as they were to-day the road and embankment across Little Shoal Bay were made with the help of the Northcote Council. He also procured the park at Birkdale and bought the steam roller costing £BOO. These things were done out of revenue and could be done again. When he left office in 1921 he said he left a credit balance of £1,286. but tho balance sheet on March 31, 1928, only showed a balance of £2B, which was after taking £204 from the Beach Haven Estate account and transferring it to the road maintenance account, which without that would show a debit of £175. The high administration costs of the office, in his opinion, was one of the reasons that the credit balance was disappearing. Mr. McPhail stated that when he loft office in 1921 the borough’s public debt stood at £35,000, but at March, 1928, the public debt was £64,000, to which had to be added £ 5,000 for the water loan of last year.

On the transport question, Mr. McPhail would press for the setting up of a transport board on which the borough would be represented, and he was quite prepared to renew the present taxi licences as omnibuses, although he would not grant any fresh licences. He criticised the present electoral borough roll which, he said, had plainly not been revised for seven or eight years. Mr. McPhail, who is also standing for the Waitemata Power Board, spoke on power board matters.