DARED TO STAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 648, 27 April 1929, Page 8

DARED TO STAND

MR. ALLAN DISCUSSES HARBOUR QUESTIONS ADVOCATE OF BRIDGE "Some of my opponent’s supporters have said that it was downright presumption on my part to seek election against a man of Mr. Mackenzie’s calibre.” said Mr. Ebenezer Allan, candidate for the Auckland Harbour Board, speaking in the Central Hall, Papatoetoe, last evening. Mr. F. M. Waters, chairman of the Manukau County Council, presided over a good attendance of electors. The speaker expressed the opinion that anyone who had been chairman of a local body for seven years should retire and let another member have the position. Mr. Mackenzie had been a member of the board for 16 years. He had had a good innings, and he had not contested the seat since his first election. It had been said that the speaker was standing for the position of chairman of the Harbour Board. He was not aspiring to that position, but would be quite content to be an ordinary member. The selection of chairman was in the hands of the members of the board, and if his opponent was elected, perhaps he would be chairman. Mr. Mackenzie had expressed his thanks to the speaker opposing him and giving him the opportunity to come forward and tell what he had done, so that he, Mr. Allan, had stirred up interest in the Harbour Board affairs. The finances of the board were not dealt with, as the speaker said it had been very difficult to get information, as the accounts had not yet been published. "NOTHING TO LEARN” It was said that the Harbour Board had unanimously asked the present chairman again to seek election on account of the valuable information ha had acquired' wh ilo abroad, yet on his return, he had told the people that the Auckland Harbour Board had nothing to learn. Why then the necessity of seeking re-election, asked Mr. Allan? Mr. Allan stressed the necessity of having a representative on the board who lived in the district. In criticising some of the past works of the board, Mr. Allen-cited the Prince’s Wharf, which was a credit to the designer, and was said to have cost £600,000, but the speaker expressed the opinion that it exceeded that figure. A lot of cranes had been erected at considerable cost. These were very little used, as all the large steamers carried their own cranes. The Onehunga Wharf cost over £70,000, on which £5,000 was lost annually. They were told that that did not matter, as it was made up on the Waitemata. The wharf should have been built to suit the traffic, and in that case such an elaborate structure would not have been necessary.

The speaker said he was a firm believer in the harbour bridge, and stated that it would be an accomplished fact in a very few years. The lata board did not favour or hinder the scheme; it was sitting on the rails. At present the owner of every car had to pay 3s 6d to cross the harbour, and suffer unnecessary delay, while with a bridge a toll of Is or Is 6d on each vehicle would meet the bill. Since the speaker had notified his intention of contesting the seat, the chairman of the late board had visited the. Franklin County, said Mr. Allan, and made arrangements with the council for the supply of shell at a very low cost. WAIUKU CANAL The speaker said he was a strong advocate of the Waiuku Canal, and thought that the Harbour Board should have control of the Waikato River up to Hamilton. When the canal was completed, coal could be brought from Huntly at half the present cost. One thing his opponent had not taken the credit for was the collapse of the Western Wharf. The cause of the collapse and the cost of reinstatement have never been disclosed, and the people would like to know what they were. Mr. Mackenzie took great pride in the way in which he had entertained Royalty, continued Mr. Allan. While the speaker said he believed in entertaining Royalty in a? proper manner he thought £3,000 was a hit too much for the Harbour Board to spend on entertaining the Duke and Duchess of York. After answering a number of questions, Mr. Allan was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks. CLIQUE MUST BE BROKEN MR. E. ALLAN ATTACKS HARBOUR BOARD WILL SUPPORT BRIDGE (From, Our Own Correspondent) TUAKAU, To-day. “We want to break up the Auckland Harbour Board clique,” said Mr. E. Allan, addressing electors, at Tuakau last evening. Mr. J. Fulton presided. “I have never been on the board,” remarked the candidate, “and if I am elected I will see that the officials do not run the board, but carry out its instructions.” The speaker explained that he was offering himself for election as he had been requested to do so by many electors. “Some people have said it was downright presumption on the part of Mr. Allan to aspire to the chairmanship of the board,” he continued. “I am only aspiring to membership—the chairman being elected by the board.” Mr. Allan went on to say that recently his opponent, Mr. H. R. Mackenzie, had reserved a shell bank on the Manukau Harbour for the use of the Franklin County Council, conditional upon its paying a royalty of one shilling a cubic yard. This royalty, he considered, was much too large. “I come before you as a keen advocate of the harbour bridge,” Mr. Allan proceeded. He considered that if the bridge was constructed, and a toll i gate erected, a charge of one shilling made for every car, it would pay for itself in a .few years. ' The Waikato River had great potentialities, and, if well developed, it should be the means of providing cheap carriage. The candidate said that the river could be made navigable as far as Hamilton at a small cost, and the Government could be easily persuaded to hand over its control to the harbour board. He would support the Waiuku canal scheme when he considered the time opportune. At the conclusion of his address he was accorded a vote of thanks, on the motion of Messrs. S. W. Turley and t Dynes Fulton.