MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9077, 29 April 1908, Page 5

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

MR HOLLINGS AT KURIPUNI.

There was a good attendance at the Kuripuni Hall last evening, when Mr P. L. Hollings gave an address to the ratepayers in support of his candidature for the Mayoralty. Mr John Smith occupied the chair. The speech was mainly on the lines already reported, dealing more particularly with the requirements of the Kuripuni portion of the borough. Special reference was made to the delay in carrying out the work of widening Makora and Kuripuni streets, the money for which had been provided for in the loan proposals twelve months ago. On the motion of Mr W. Morris, seconded by Mr John Mackay, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker for his address.

COUNCILLOR YARR'S ADDRESS.

The Town Hall was crowded last night, when Cr Yarr gave an address on municipal matters. Mr F. Haughey occupied the chair.

The main part of Cr Yarr's speech dealt with personal matters relating to the retirement of the Borough En - gineer and the Town Clerk. Admitting that the late Engineer was a thoroughly qualified and competent man, he said trouble and confusion had arisen in connection with certain culverts and bridges in Russell Street and Hogg Crescent. Further, the roads and streets were not being carried out in a way that suited him, and consequently .he moved for the dismissal of the Engineer, though he considered the Council was morally and legally entitled to give the that officer four months' leave of absence on full pay in terms of his agreement.

Next, Mr Yarr proceeded to review the case of the Town Clerk, and contrasted the Council's action in givingMr Brown £275 retiring allowance with that of Mr Hollings when Mayor in dismissing three hands from the Gasworks without any compensation, and a member of the road staff, after seventeen and a half years of service, with similar treatment. The speaker referred to the retirement by Mr Holling3 of another very old servant employed on the road staff, with an allowance of £2O, and declared that what Mr Hollings considered was a hardship to the Town C'erk did not constityte a hardship to a man who used the pick and shovel. In a general criticism of .Vr Hollings' speeches, Mr Yarr said the present Council had spent no less than £7OO during the first month of office in paying the debts of its predecessors, and declared that a "conspiracy of silence" had been maintained by the Finance Committee since July in order to allow the Council to pile up an overdraft. Cr Yarr also touched on numerous other points, and x'esumed his seat amidst prolonged applause.

MR HUNTER'S ADDRESS. Mr. Hunter followed Cr Yarr, and gave a short but interesting address. The main points of his speech were concerning three subjects—the drainage question, the linking-up of Lansdowne with Masterton, and the acquisition of the Showgrounds in Dixon Street by the Borough Council for the purpose of a public recreation ground. On the question of the drainage, Mr Hunter said that the report of Mr G. Laing-Mtason haa recommended th<? carrying out of a schcmG which would cost £30,000 and the chief expenditure would be in ihe removal of the outfall from the present site to the one at the Ruamahanga—Waingawa confluence, involving in itself a sum of £22,960. Before such a momentous step was taken it would, he thought, be preferable for the Council to make further investigations to see if another and less expensive but equally effective method could not be found to solve the question. From what he had personally discovered ho believed a better solution of the difficulty lay in the adoption of the Adams automatic sewage lift, whereby removal from the present outfall need not be necessary. He explained the principle of the lift, which utilised the sewage drained from the higher levels to lift that drained from the lower levels into the tank. He estimated that if this system were found applicable to Masterton it would save the ratepayers, on his working out, about £7,500. Referring to Lansdowne's isolation from the borough, he said it was only right that the suburb should be added to Masterton, and tbet northern approach difficulty attacked in earnest. Lansdowne's rating limitations would be lifted out of the present County scale, while at the same time its present responsibilities would be in no measure increased. On the Showgrounds question, Mr Hunter was strongly in favour of the Council acquiring the whole area, contending that the land not required for recreative purposes could be so utilised as to be made reproductive to the extent that the ground would eventually be no expense to the ratepayers. The speech was attentively listened to, and frequently applauded.