THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL % SELECTION OF CITIZENS' ASSOCIATION TEAM TO SL'FPORT SIR HUGH ACLAND The Christchurch Citizens' Association last evening selected 13 of the .16 men who will represent its interests in the election for the Christchurch City Council on May 1. The remaining three names and those of the association's candidates for the North Canterbury Hospital Board and the Lyttelton Harbour Board will be selected during the coming week. The association's council "ticket," as it is so far selected, includes the names of very well-known business and professional men in the city. The full list follows: — *E. H. Andrews. *T. Andrews. •J. W. Beanland. Dr. John Guthrie. •Hon. W. Hayward, M.L.C. C. E. Jones. *M. E. Lyons. W. S. Mac Gibbon. T. ,T. Maling. •T. Milliken. Dr. A. C. Sandston. ' T, D. Sargent. J. G. L. Vernon. •Denotes sitting councillor. There are 16 scats to be filled on jthe City Council, and when the association selects the additional three 'names next week it will have a full "ticket" to put before the voters. It Jias already been announced that Sir •Hugh Acland has agreed to stand in £he interests of the association for the 'jnayoralty of Christchurch.

Enthusiastic Meeting Tn a report made after the meeting Jast evening it was stated that the "gathering was one of the most enthusiastic in the history of the association, and there was hardly standing room in the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce Hall for all the prominent supporters of the party who attended. Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon presided, and indicated the steps which had already been taken to get the campaign of the party under way. He said that it would not do for Sir Hugh Acland to be returned as Mayor of the city unless he was supported in his work by a strong team of councillors. When Sir Hugh rose to speak he ■was loudly cheei-ed. He said that he had accepted the invitation to contest the mayoralty after considerable thought, and as a matter of public duty. Kc had never sought publicity but had felt that .it was his duty, in response to an invitation he had received, to lead a movement against the local government of the city by a minority party. It would be safe to say that there would be .for the coming election a voting electorate of 43.000. He had no quarrel with the Labour party for securing power, but there were probably 15.000 electors who did not vote in t.he last election, and it was the business of the association to secure a majority'of those votes. Sir Hugh said that he felt that if his supporters only took the trouble to vote the candidates for the Citizens' Association would score a great victory.

Mr W.' J. Sim also emphasised the importance of having all the electors enrolled and getting them to the poll. Further arrangements for the prosecution of the election campaign were discussed and completed, and the association's candidates were given a warm welcome by the meeting.

The Candidates Mr Ernest Herbert Andrews. J.P., has been for 16 years a member of the Christchurch City Council, and was for a time chairman of the finance committee. He is now chairman of the town planning and housing committee. He was formerly chairman of the Christchurch Tramways Board, and he represents the City Council on the Christchurch Fire Board. Mr Andrews is chairman of the Citizens' Unemployment Committee, one of the trustees of Riccarton Bush, and a member of the Papanui Memorial Hall Management Committee. He is also a member of the Canterbury Progress League. Mr Melville Edwin Lyons, J.P., is a member of the present council, and has been a city councillor since 1927. He has served as chairman of the baths and entertainments committee, and on the finance and electricity committees. He was elected to the executive of the New Zealand Municipal Association in 1930. For several years Mr Lyons has been secretary of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. He represents the City Council on the Christchurch Domains Board, and is a member of the Municipal Golf Links Committee. Mr Thomas Milliken, who is one of the youngest members of the present City Council, was born in Culvcrden. He has been in practice as a barrister and solicitor since 1922, and has always interested hims.elf in public affairs. He is a past president of the Boys' High School Old Boys' Association. has taken a prominent part in Rugby affairs, and an active interest in the Canterbury Automobile Association. Mr Milliken has been prominently associated with relief organisations in the city in recent years. Mr Charles Edward Jones, J.P., wellknown city auctioneer and estate valuer, has had an extensive service in various local bodies and was a member of a former City Council. He has worked actively in the interests of the Cambrian Society for many vears, and is also widely known in Canterbury through his association with the Christchurch Savage Club and kindred clubs. Mr Jones is a member of the Christchurch Tramway Board.

The Hon. WiHiam Hayward, M.L.C.. has had a ]ong experience in local body politics in Christchurch, and is a member of the present City Council. He was a member of the last Christchurch Tramway Board, on which he served for several years. He contested the mayoralty in 1931 as the Citizens' Association nominee. Mr Hayward has been a member of the Technical College Board of Governors, president of the Canterbury Employers' Association for several years, chairman of the Citizens' Association, and has held a seat on the New Zealand Trotting Association. Mr John Walton Beanland, J.P., has a long record of service as a city councillor. He has been on the council since 1913, on the Christchurch Drainage Board for almost as long a period, and has also served on the Christchurch Tramway Board. For two years he was Deputy-Mayor, Mr Beanland one of the most prominent

builders and contractors in. the • city. He was made a Justice of the Peace in 1917. Dr. John Guthrie was bornatAkaroa in 1877. He has practised in Lyttelton and Christchurch, and has been an honorary surgeon at tjie • Christchurch Hospital for many years. He was a member of the Lyttelton Borough Council and the Licensing Committee, and was a member of the Canterbury College Board of Governors. He served with the New' Zealand Medical Corps .with the rank of captain, 1918-1919. Mr Thomas Andrews is a member of the present council, and a member cf two of the council committees — baths and entertainments, and water supply and works. Mr Andrews is a member of the firm of Messrs Thomas Andrews and Son, plasterers. He is prominent in Christchurch musical circles. Mr Thomas James Maling, J.P., is a director of Pyne, Gould, Guinness and Company, Ltd., and a director of the Dominion Life Insurance Company. He is a Fellow of Christ's College and a member of the Church Property Trustees. He has had a long and successful business career in Canterbury, and has had a good deal of experience on local bodies in South Canterbury. He was Mayor of Timaru from 1914 to 1920. Mr Maling served as an officer with the Tenth Canterbury Regiment in South Africa.

Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon, who has been a candidate for the city council in former elections, is well known in the city as an accountant and director of several companies. He is chairman of the Citizens' Association and has done much to bring about the recently increased activity in its ranks. Dr. A. C. Sandston is prominent in the medical profession, and has been closely identified with St. George's Hospital." He is new to local btxly politics. Mr J. G. L. Vernon, another new candidate, is a city business man. He is assistant general manager of the Canterbury (N.Z.) Seed Co., Ltd., and a director of the Permanent Investment and Loan Association. He has been a keen supporter of the St. Saviour's Homes and has worked actively in their interests. Mr F. D. Sargent has been a member of the Christchurch Citizens' Association for some years. He is a wellknown barrister and solicitor, a member of the firm of Slater, Sargent, and Connal. He is a member of the executive of the Canterbury Automobile Association.

FIRST ADDRESS IN CAMPAIGN CITIZENS URGED TO VOTE BY MR C. B. JONES The first move on behalf of the Citizens' Association in its Municipal elections campaign was made last evening, when Mr C. E. Jones addressed members of the Business and Professional Women's Round Table Club at Ballantynes. Mr Jones mentioned Sir Hugh Acland's candidature for the Mayoralty. He praised the

Labour members of the City Council and : the Tramway Board for their energetic work, but emphasised that the citizens of. Christchurch should realise the value of' their right to vote more than' they had done in the last few years. Miss Ellen Jones was in the chair. "The .present is a most important time in the history of local body politics in Christchurch," said Mr Jones. "I am here to-night to indicate my support of the very fine man who has offered himself as a candidate for the Mayoralty, Sir Hugh Acland. He does not wish to stand as Sir Hugh, but rather as Dr. Acland. Dr. Acland has come forward from a strict sense of duty—that is the only reason for his candidature.

Franchise Not Valued "I do not think that we have ever had a better opportunity for securing a more even balance on the City Council," Mr Jones continued, "and for keeping politics out of it. We must, every one of us get on the roll no matter what may be our opinions. It is the duty of all who have any love for their city to record their votes. It is in the hands of the electors to decide who shall represent them and /If they use their intelligence and listen to good advice I have no doubt of the result. In public life a sense of humour is always necessary, and while bitter things may be said before the election I hope that it will be fought in the best spirit and that a sense of humour will save the situation every time." When so much of the citizens' money had to be administered by the City Council it was essential that they should all be represented, he said. Many of the citizens were not represented. They were represented by their complaints and criticisms, but not in the right way by the exercise of their votes. Countries and states had been wrecked because of the franchise, because people had valued it and fought for it; but it seemed that in Christchurch it was not always so valued. The Labour Party Complaints made of the imposition of the tramway rate were cited by Mr Jones as an example of a lack of proper interest taken by citizens in their own aflairs. The rate was inevitable, he said, no matter what board had had authority, but it need not have been so high. The Labour members had been given a mandate with power, but he himself had been given a mandate without power. When the rate had been imposed many people had complained, but it was their own fault. "I have the greatest respect for the Labour members of the Tramway Board," said Mr Jones. "They are workers, and they go thoroughly into anything they undertake, leaving r.o stone unturned to achieve success. If the citizens of Christchurch work as hard as the Labour people at the elections the result will not be in doubt." Service to the City Most of the work of administration of the city was done on the committees, said Mr Jones. The City Council was not to be judged by the Mon-

day night meetings. Although the Labour members worked very hard, their civic activities were often connected with their regular work. Business men had to make a greater sacrifice of time to the service of the city on local bodies than the Labour men, and if they offered to make this sacrifice it was up to the citizens to see that they were rewarded. Mr Jones said that unemployment had been the upsetting element in local politics. But it was only right to pay tribute to the work of the Mayor, Mr Sullivan, during his period of office. No man had spared lr'nself less in the service of the city than Mr Sullivan, and credit had to be given where it was due. None the less, no man in the position of Mayor could have acted differently. Christchurch was the most charitably minded city in New Zealand, and the Mayor was bound to represent public opinion. The City Council could not be blamed for an increase in the rates, said Mr Jor.es, as with the expansion of the city had come en increase in its "overhead expenses." Extensive building caused an increase in the rateable value of the city. There was a common misapprehension about rating. If Ihc valuation of properties were reduced the amenities of the city would still have to be carried on, and it was a mistake to have the value of a property lowered to what it would bring in the market to-day. That move would defeat its own object, as the amount of the rate in the pound would have to be increased.