MASTERTON FIRE BOARD.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9612, 5 October 1909, Page 5

MASTERTON FIRE BOARD.

ADDRESS BY MR F. HAUGHEY. There was a fair attendance at the Town Hall last evening, when Mr F. Haughey, delivered an address on "The Abolition of «be Master ton Fire .Board." Mr C. E. Daniell, who occupied the chair, briefly introduced the spekear, and referred to the importance of the subject to the citizens of Masterton. Mr Haughey,. on rising to speak was warmly welcomed. He regretted that there was no>3 a larger attendance. His object i© addressing them was simply to give his opinions of a subject to which he had gSven much time and study, and as a citizen he claimed it as his right to give utterance to the result of his* investigations. The speaker traced the history of the constitution of Fire Boards in New Zealand. He claimed that the Fire Board would not have been established in Masterton had the public been in possession I of the true facts of the case. Roughly speaking it cost lour times as much to administer the Fin? Brigade under the Fire Board as under the Borough Council, and the speaker quoted figures in support of this argument. The estimated cost of the Board for the present year was £1,350—0f this the Borough Council contributed £650, the Government £SO, and the Insurance Companies £650. It was urged that the latter sum was paid by the Insurance Companies, but the speaker contended this sum really came out of the , pockets of the ratepayers in increased premiums. Fire Brigades were originally formed for the purpose of pro tecting the interests of property owners and minimising the loss by j fire, and the speaker claimed that the insurance companies were not benefited by the Fire Brigade, and therefore should not contribute towards their upkeep. The speaker paid a warm tribute to the work done by the Masterton Fire Brigade for the past twenty year 3, in the w<*y of gratuitous services, raising money for the upkeep of the Brigade, and insuring at their won cost their members against accident. He , regretted that tli2 public ha.l not supported the Brigade in the manner it deserved. After the local Brigade Had reached a high state of efficiency it was acquired by the Fire Board. This Fire Board movement was popularised in New Zealand by reason of the statement made that the bire Insurance C impa.iies were willing to pay half the coat of the upkeep ot the Board. This looked very nice on the face of it, but there was not the slightest' doubt that the ratepayers ni the Baro'jTh piid perhap3 indirectly the wholj of the £1,350 instead of £3OO under the old system. It was probabla that in the near future the cost of the upkeep of the Board woul.l increase to £3,000-. In support of that there was unnecessary expenditure under the Board. The speaker SDwerely criticised various items of the upkeep of tha Board, as slnwn by their balance sheet. Moreover, the Brigade itself was no better off, and since the inception of the Board half a dozen of the Brigaded best members had left its ranks.- The value nf the Fire Boards had been misrepresented and the speakr-r considered that he had sub • mitted facts that it wa3 desirable in the interests ot* the town to abolish the Board. This was a more simple matter than m st people thought, for it only required a special resolution of the Ciuncil to set machinery in motion that wouM result in the abolition of thd Boari. This «'iS no new thing, for in Wellington the Board had been given a fair triul and had been abolished after a idw months. The speaker said that th ; only recommendation that the Board appeared to have was the working of the system in Australia, and he (the speaker) contended that the conditions were totally different, and demanded that the original reasons for their existence should be forthcoming. Besides all the money spent on individual Boards there was also the cost to the ratepayers of the salaries of the several inspectors throughout the Dominion. In conclusion, Mr Haughey advocated the reversion to the old control, but stated that the Brigade deserved much better support and payment ! than they had received in the past. This he considered would cost about £SOO a year for a most efficient Bn- j gade. Mr A. Hathaway asked for de- ' tails in connection with the payment of officers under the Board. Mr Haughey supplied the necessary information from the Board's balance sheet. Mr G. R. Sykes asked if the ' speaker had stated whether the fire ' premiums had been increased. ' Mr Haughey said that the insurance companies were negotiating with , the Government in order that their rates should be on an equal basis. Mr R. Krahagon moved and Mr J. Berry seconded, "That in the opinion of this meeting it is in the ! best interests of Masterton to abolish i the Fire Board." , The motion on being put to the , meeting, was carried by 24 votes to 11, although a. number of those present did not exercise their vote, i On the motion of Mr Sykes, seconded by Mr J. Hunter, a hearty vcte of thanks was passed to the speaker for-his address. A. vote of thanks to the chair concluded the meeting. |i