Our Stratford Page

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 252, 24 April 1912, Page 3

Our Stratford Page

THE MAYORAL CONTEST. MR KTRIvYVOOD'S POLICY SPEECH. Mr. W. P. Kirkwood, a candidate for the Mayoralty, addressed the electors at the Town Hall to-night, the Mayor (Mr. J. Masters) presiding. CREAT (PROGRESS PREDICTED. Sir. Kirkwood, after prefatory remarks, in which lie stated that in his criticism of the previous policy of the Borough Council he was not making any ■personal reference, said he believed that the whole of Tarandski, and Stratford in particular, 'would show great progress in the m,ar future, and anyone leaving the district now and returning ten years hence would be astonished at the progress made. Although Stratford would continue to grow and prosper whatever might be left undone, it was necessary, for the proper advancement of the' town that a progressive policy should be pursued, and to this end it was necessary that money should be borrowed and the necessary works carried out. It was not a good policy to borrow money if it could be done without, but on the other hand it was bad business not to borrow when it was essential to do so. Stratford not being a manufacturing town, its people were depending for trade on the efforts of the man on the land, and they should make every endeavor to draw the trade from the surrounding district and alTord every facility possible for farmers to make Stratford a central market. At the same time the town should be made attractive as possible to live in. THE SURGEON'S KNIFE. In accepting the recall to municipal politics he likened Stratford to a strong, healthy person who suddenly found he had appendicitis, and that it was necessary for his health that a skilled surgeon be employed to perform the operation necessary to restore him to health and vigor. ''l am the surgeon," he said. "I have been called to perform the operation." IN A NUTSHELL. The crux of the position was that they had arrived at a stage when the whole of the loan money had been expended, and the revenue was not sufficient to do both maintenance and new work. Consequently they were faced with the necessity of securing a further loan to do the necessary work, or they could do without the loan and just potter along as best tjiey could. Whether he was elected Mayor or not, the question of deciding whether a further loan would be floated or not would depend entirely on the ratepayers themselves. He could only advocate what he considered the right thing to do, but, of course, if they would give their consent by way of a poll to perform that surgical operation which he had mentioned, then he was at their service. Mr. Kirkwood said his plan of operation would be this: Any increase of revenue which had accrued by reason of rentals should be placed to the general account so as to reduce, if possible, the general rate, which was now as high as was allowed by law. Then borrow whatever sum might be eventually decided upon, and by doing this the burden would not be altogether on the shoulders of the present ratepayers, but would extend to those who came afterwards and received the benefits of the expenditure. He would spread the expenditure of the loan over a period of four years. THE FINANCES."

Mr. Kirkwood gave a clear exposition of the state of the borough finances. The total public debt of Stratford was. roughly, £43,000, made up as follows: £17,000 street improvement and general purposes, £12,000 waterworks, £5300 drainage, £4300 abattoirs, £3OOO Town Hall, and £2200 spetic tank. Of this amount £20,000 was raised by debentures at 4y.> per cent., at a time when it was impracticable to borrow from the Government. This amount was repayable in 21 years. The balance of the loan was raised under the Loans to Local Bodies Act. at 3% per cent., with 1 per cent, sinking fund. The capital value of rateable lands in the borough under the old valuation was £319,000 (but the new valuation would be considerably higher); exempt and non-rate-able lands, £'35,000; and the unimproved value was £171,000. The rates struck for payment on loans were as follow: General rate, 2%d; street improvement, Id; drainage, 3-lGd; septic tank, l-10d; waterworks, '7-1 Od (the interest on the Town Hall and abattoir loans was paid out of receipts); totals, 4 3-od in the £. Now, although these rates were fairly numerous, they were not excessicely high, and they had good assets to show for the money spent. Whilst they continued to get good value for loan money spent, such expenditure must mean progress.

That a further loan was necessary for the development of the town, he thought most people would agree, and it was just a matter of deciding how much they were to borrow, and the works to be done. lie suggested a loan of £15,000, to be spent over a period of, say, four years. The increase in the rates for a loan of that amount would be approximately a pen:: in the pound, but by reason of about £4OO '"■ creased rental from municipal mems the general rate would be reduced by that amount. .Making new works out of loan money instead of using revenue for the, purpose, meant that a future generation would have to bear a part of the burden. To carry out a comprehensive scheme of borough improvements would entail borrowing something in the neighborhood of £50.000.

Prom uu estimate prepared for the cost of ilrninagp extension to the thickly populated parts of the borough in tile, north-western area and on the south side of the bridge, lie found the cost would be £!HIU() for drainage and £2OOO for the septic tank. He would not go as far as that amount, but just as far as would be an ,equitable proportion out of the proposed loan, carried out in such a way that a policy of continuity could

be carried out later. He would also favor borrowing, say, ,£2OOO for the purpose of doing the necessary fittings in house connections, such outlay to lje repaid by householders in instalments. In the matter of street improvements, he would set aside, say, £3OOO for kerbing and channelling, estimated to cost £6 Cs a chain: £SOO for re-forming footpaths, at a cost of 15s a chain, which sum would also provide for proper access to residents in the by-streets. It would also be necessary to set aside a sum for scarifying, providing new metal and rolling existing roads where necessary. In the case of the main street, something should be done to make it at least presentable, which could not, by any stretch of imagination, be claimed for it at present. It was certainly as good as could be expected, considering

* From Our Resident Reporter. * Broadway North., next Loan & Mercantile Agency Co. <f>

that 110 road roller was available when it was matkj but it would not stand comparison, with the main street of some of tlie towns not a hundred miles from Stratford, lie proposed that for the sake of economy the street should be' searified, rolled to an even surface, and coated with tar. Whatever the cost, the work of improving the water supply should be carried out, for the health of the community demanded good drainage and good water. THAT SURPLUS. "You have heard a good deal about a surplus of £BOO. If I tell you that we arc indebted to the bank to the tune oE .Cl'floO you will probably be surprised, but such is the case, and the surplus spoken of is only a reduction of the indebtedness by that amount. The indebtedness of the borough at the commencement of the year was in the neighborhood of £2fiOO, and this amount was reduced by saving £BOO allegedly to buy a steam road roller, but, for whatever purpose it was done, hy so doing starved the streets." Air. lvirkwood made it quite plain that borrowing meant increased rates, and that if the people wanted improvements in the borough they must pay for them.

He found that there was a credit balance to the water account of £982 ss, duo to the collection of much more in rate than was required to pay the interest on the loan. The amount required was £l4O a year, but last year £403 17s 2d had been collected. Out of the account £2BO was spent on new works, but these should be done out of loan. The credit to the water account was being pikd up in order to keep down the overdraft. Last year the overdraft would have been over £3OOO 'but for this. lie advocated that no further interest should be callod up as long as the account was in criedit. The overdrafts had been steadily mounting up: In 100!), £1100; in 1910. £2070; in 1911,; £2511; and in 1912, £1613; this latter 1 amount being smaller by reason of the amount saved wherewith to buy the road roller. He believed in using labor- i saving machinery, with a view to expeditious and economical work. Referring ; to "THE LIGHT THAT FAILED," Mr. Kirkwood said his attitude on the electric light question was well known. While he had not been averse to the borough taking over the concern, he had , not been in favor of the methods adopt-' ed. Had there been less secrecy in dealing with the matter the borough might have been saved an expenditure of £ 100. i He hoped that there would be an end : of all bitterness, that the company would ' see out the term of its concession, anil the Council see that the conditions of; the concession were carried out. Extra light was needed in many streets, and in none more than in the neighborhood of the Town Hall. He favored amending the terms of - leases of borough reserves to encourage lessees to erect good buildings on them. THE ROAD ROLLER. He defended the purchase of the road roller by the Council. There were 24 miles of streets to maintain, and as most of them needed scarifying there would be any amount of work for the roller immediately it arrived. Further, there was the probability of hiring the roller to the County Council. In scarifying, the machine would do the work of many men at a much cheaper rate, and in all its working it would earn much more than the cost of working and interest on the amount invested in it. A TRAVELLER'S COMPLAINT. '"There is another matter," said Mr. Kirkwood, "'that affects our town more than may appear at first sight. . . . The Stratford railway station has a very long platform, and as part only of it is covered in, and for the most part it is badly lighted, the mail train arriving at night pulls in at the north end of the platform, and in bad weather travellers suffer great inconvenience by having to step down practically in the dark, and find their way through the crowded platform to the main skeet. This is a matter which I should endeavor to have rectified. Of course in this matter I quite understand that the railway authorities have difficulties in their way on account of delaying improvements in view of making very considerable alterations when Stratford is an important junction, but at the same time I think something might be done to relieve the great discomfort to travellers that I have, indicated." OPUNAKE RAILWAY.

Mr. Kirkwood referred to the important matter of the Opunake railway and , ■the 'point of its junction with the'main line. He was not going to say much, but he had little doubt that when the { commission had completed taking ;evidence and taken all things into consideration, the line would junction at Stratford. CONCLUSION. He also touch on the necessity for borough councils to study the new Local Government Kill. Concluding, he likened mayors and councillors to links in a chain, and gave his opinion that each mayor should see that his own link was well forged. Then the chain would be a good one throughout. By this he meant that a mayor should bo satisfied to attempt something which could be carried out successfully, rather than a large scheme doomed to failure from the start. This would be his policy. PERSONAL MATTERS Mr, McAllister in concluding his address on Monday, stated that he wished to refer to a matter that he had hoped he need not refer to. "1 have been compelled," he said, "by what 1' have heard continuously during the last few days since I made the announcement of my candidature. It is that I am being run by the No-License Party, and that I am only going to get votes because I am a Prohibitionist. I tell evi rvone of you to-night that if you are going to vote for me because I am a Prohibitionist, then I am sorry for the way you look at things—sincerely sorry. (Applause.) I want you to vote for me, but because you consider that I am fitted for the position and will fill it with 'honor to you and credit to myself, and that on every occasion I shall fill the Mayoral chair with the wisdom and tact that has been used by those who went before .me." On the other hand, Mr. McAllister thought it was only fair that because he held these views people should not consider that they debarred him from occupying the Mayoral chair, and urged them to look at the matter fairly and squarely. • Mr. Kirkwood, seen by me this afternoon, said that ho hau no desire to see the McAllister and Kirkwood forces ranged under the banners of No-license and License, and hoped the electors would deal with the candidates accord-

ing to the policy laid down in the addross to the electors, returning the man whom, they considered would be the better man of the two to advance the best interests of Stratford: HOME SAFES.

The "home safes" issued bv the Post - Office Savings Bank can now be obtained at the Stratford post office. The safe is a small, substantially-made steel safe, handsomely finished to represent oxidised copper. There is an ingenious slot arrangement, which readily permits of the deposit of all sizes of coin, but prevents its removal except at the bank Silfes are issued to any depositor apply- j ing for them, upon payment of one shilling, a debit for a further two shillings being made to the savings bank account 1 while the safe is in use. Tn consideration of the issue of a safe to a depositor, ' it is expected that he will deposit his savings with the savings bank not less frequently than once a month. Upon the safe being returned in good order, the debit of two shillings to the depositor's account will be realised! One of the advantages of the home safe system is that by its means small sums can be 1 put aside in the safe. The safe is delivered locked, and the money deposited can be taken out only at the savings bank, where the keys are kept. When brought to the bank the safe is opened, the 1 amount counted in the presence of a depositor, and placed to his credit in his pass-book. It is one of the best plans ever devised for encouraging the saving habit in children. It may be worth while to point out that savings at the rate of sixpence a day for six days a week will, with interest, amount to £42 S3 in five years.

ECZEMA CURED. I' "Rexona Ointment removed a patch of Eczema from my face in less than a week in a manner that was positively startling," writes Mrs Jane Robinson, of 3 Commodore street, Newtown, Sydney, N.S.W. "This patch of Eczema was very unsightly, and (really I was ashamed to go out of the house. It was located on one side of my nose and all round my mouth. The pain and irritation from which I suffered were intense. This Eczema had been on my face for about four years when I started to use the Rexona. I had tried all sorts oK Ointments and othelr remedies, but all without any effect at all. After a few applications of Rexona, however, the irritation was much decreased, and the Eczema 6cabs began to come off, leaving new skin underneath. The improvement kept up day by day till all the scabs were gone, and a perfect new skin appeared whore the disfiguring Eczema formeMy was. There is something in that Rexona Ointment that acts like the touch of a magic wand, and the wonderfully speedy cure has astonished and delighted me." Price Is 6d and 3s. Obtainable everywhere. FOUND CURE AT LAST. Earnest Edridge, Halifax St. Nelson, N.Z., says:—"All my life I have suffered more or less from constipation but am pleased to state that since I started taking Chamberlain's Tablets I have found them to always give me immediate relief, and I can thoroughly recommend them to anyone suffering from a like complaint." Sold by all chemists and 1 storekeepers. NEURALGIC PAINS CURED, i "Eoir seven years I suffered with neur- ! algia and shooting pains in the head," • says Mrs M. A. Cradock, John street., . Salisbury, S.A. "I tried many things ; but found nothing to equal Chamber- [ lain's Pain Balm. I have recommended i it to many and they have been relieved, i It has also relieved my son of these neuralgic pains." Sold by all chemists and storekeepers. Business billhead*, letter ) heads, or auv other description ol print 3 ing, cannot be betteT in price, 6 quality or despatch, than by the Daily ® News Printery. Try us "#JI. rroj np, or writs.