CR HUNTER'S ADDRESS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3173, 26 April 1909, Page 5

CR HUNTER'S ADDRESS.

To the Editor.

Sir, —The election address of Mr Hunter was an effective contrast to the treatment he has so far received from his opponents, and if his audience found nothing else to please them, that in itself was a strong point in his favour. The case for Mr Hunter seems to be that at the outset of hjsmunicipal career here his economical and practical suggestions found disfavour with a section of the Council, and eventually with the Mayor, and he was making such headway with money saving* propositions that it was deemed expedient by the opposing factioii to represent him in the light of a useless obstructionist, to discount his value with the ratepayers. Extraordinary as this alleged position appears, it seemed to be pretty clearly borne out by the various facts which Mr Hunter placed before his meeting. The Mayor must confess that he has largely himself tD blame if the ratepayers believe Mr Hunter, as the amount of Committee work done by the Council during last year was out of all reason. Skeleton outlines of the Council's deliberations, if it

were in committee, might have eased the public mind as to whether the ratepayers' interests were being properly conserved or not, but beyond a scrappy summary of resolutions—and not all even of them—the public got nothing* Previous Councils never dared to carry the committee business to the length Mayor Hollings and his Council have done, and one is forced to conclude that, in spite of any explanation which might be given by the Mayor, there is a good deal of truth in what Mr Hunter stated about depriving—a mild term—the Gasworks of its profits ad lib, to bolster up the credit on the year's working. Can the Mayor deny Mr Huntefs statement that he ' (Mr Hollings) voted strongly in favour of a contingency estimate of £I,OOO, which the town got along very well without expending? If be cannot, he layar himself open to be criticised on a question of competency. The ratepayers will gather from Mr Hunter's address that he has well earned bis place as a Councillor, and with an evidently valuable practical knowledge of Borough works, he could; as Mayor, very well! carry out the reforms in economy be alleges ha can.—l am, etc., i RATEPAYER. *