AUCKLAND CITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 302, 19 December 1894, Page 4

AUCKLAND CITY.

A number of citizens assembled ab noon W\ day ab the Municipal Offices for the purposi of witnessing the installation tor aseconi' term of our popular Mayor, Mr J.j. • Holland.

Amongst those prasenb were Crs. Garratfe, Warren, Trenwith, Farrell, Glover, Julian! Grey, Kidd, Atkin, Dignan, Thorae, Court* ney, White, Paterson, Messrs F.Lawrv. M.H.R., W. Berry, J. Burke, and J. M. Geddes, and the Council officials, pn Thorne apologised '- for the unayoidabli absence of Crs. Btichbury and Baume, ' Before taking the oath of office for tht ensuing year, the Mayor saidj Gentlemen,—As you are aware the business before you to-day is the installation. "of the Mayor. It Is usual on these occasion* for tho retiring Mayor to lay.a;fes wbrd« • on the finances of the Council, and slap on. the works of the past year. As it is a busy parb of the day I shall nob take up your lime very long, but just briefly deal, with the finances.. It has bean the object of the Council for some years to reduce, and to' finally get rid of, the overdraft;, :th« object,is a laudable one, and I trm^ will be still kept sin view. The ■v»lua« < tions for the year: 1894 and" 1895' ara practically the same as last year, there h»v« ing been an increase of revenue ot>only £186 from that source; while, on the other hand, our expenditure on works of a per* manent nature, beyond the expenditure on our street maintenance, has been unusually j heavy compared with several preyioni I years, therefore, if we have not reduced thg j overdraft so much as wo could have wished, it must be attributed to that cause, and wa ' have a number of substanttalworks tosbov '■•] for ib. ' The works to vwhich I. allude (not ; , taking into account the amount already expended on our waterworks improra* \ ments) are:—• ,■,'•- ',"■'.;'■'."!'':'"''.'■" :-i

For the tower clock ... , M ... £804)' Albert-street formation ...» >.'..;' £402 i Brown-ebreeb kerbing, channelling £215 < I Manning street formation, drainage £331 < Wellington aud liowe Street Gully ' drainage... ','..'. .'...' .« £688; ' Smaller contracts under £100 ... £47§ To which muct be added: works' :; execubed by Council workmen £961Making a total of »- . M £3,868 ■'.: Of this amount, £2,638 waß charged to.th« general account. Ibid only fair toinyselt . to say, thab of this amount contracts wera entered into and vorks authorised; and in; progress to the extent of over £2,ooo,,before I took omcei therefore I had no control over that expenditure. > Yefi, gentlaV men, notwithstanding} this large expendi. ; ■; ture, our overdraft on general account, ia to-day £1,706 .leas than.when I took office a year ago. Ab thab time ib, stood, al £8,612, to-dayib is ; £6,906, andthe" }6ti\ . v overdraft) on all accounts are, "£20,5901 against £22,646 this time laeb year,'a'result which, I consider, is very satUfactbry;, I have every reason to believe, ;■ thab:'; if we are a little more economical in oar expenditure, together with tho reduction)! ' I made last June (amounting to abo'ub £2,000 a year), thab the whole amount ctn'ba cleared off in two or throe years, probably earlier. Tho foberesb account'still causes us a little anxiety, and is still going behinti: ' at the1 rate of £2,000 a year,.'aud, until there ia some improvement in the revenue, it will continuo to do bo. Still, I think there ia ricccuaei for alarm,, and, 1 ■ ibelieyo, ' by carelul and iudicious manigemenb ot the affairs oi the Council,1 we may overtake ; thab in, .a very few years.; Tho^'.b^er* .draft:on ihe Domain accounb has increase^ considerably during the year; .that is to be attributed to having •to 6rect a Urge amount of nevr fencing &nd* acgujtftig W entirely new working plan^i for thrf,. Cricket <Jround. A changd was!to»dMn, lbs a&rtlament of t,h« gronudji whao w K. 5T«,t08 was placed in charge; thati 3b*D<e has oiut) with the-approval of alii I am bold tlav the ground.was never iv Letter order chin ib is this year. I h»va nob the 'sligutesb doubb the bVerdrafb on ; this accounb will • decrense, < as : th»' Ground Committee haveßlightly increased / the fogb, chargeable fpr-the uso of the ground, and the late extraordinary expendi. ture will not occur agata ; The cemetery ' and improvement trust accounts are much the same as last year.' When, we consider that the whole of, the. expenditure of this large city, including interest, sinking fund, and the large amount paid for charitable aid, ia carried on with a rate of only 2a id the pound, we have every cause'for congratulation thab pursuances are in sucji.a, eatiefacbory state, and;l'see no reasp^vftj:;, present to increase the burdens, of, thf rttapayerß by striking a charitable1.; aid rate as has been, done in. other , cities in the South. The loan issued locally to pay off the debentures falling; due in November list, was successfully';; floated, having been subscribed .threefold,■ ~;■ with a premium averaging 104/wh,ich after paying all expenses, left a.good, profit,; ana, also a reduction of interest of £119 a yew. Our streets have been ,well mamtainecl during the year, and at the present time are . in a sabisfaebpry, condition,,and, notwithstanding the reduction of our working »Utt:, by 15 men and* horses and c^rto,.. thereby effecting a saving, ,of abouj; £2,000 a year, we are now as far forwacq; with the top dressing of the footpatus , as last year, and wibhout again ,inc#asHiK the staff. In the early part of the;year tnfl , Engineer reported oh our waterworks,. nuggesting large alterations and improve, ~ | mentswitha view of making bhemmora; . efficient, which improvements, as youkiiofff are being carried ou*. The new : 18m.mam has already been laid and tested,; so th>t ,wa • , are now enabled to pump direct from tna Springs to the Kyber Reservoir., A contraoß has beeen let to Mr Fraaer to provide a net? pump to supply Mount Eden Reservoir. Acontracbisalsolet for lowering the exutinK 21inmaihin Karangahape Road, whichiWftW complebed will enable us to utilise 1.000.0W gallons of water in the large reeervow, which we have not bees able to do hitherw. I feel a deal of anxiety over the delay■ n. decidiue on the purchase of tie a"1"*?; pump for the Westem.Springi, seeing tM« the present pumps have now been worKw^i for over seventeen years, and *r®J,?^d worked.more and more each year.. IB»»» crease in the quantity, of water thw ye^" 1, aboub 27,000,000 more than, la"' ' J^v makine.the total amount pumped from "»< ..-.■■ Western Springs ,595,298,400. galloO^ * consider we are running too great 6^l; Ib would be a great calamiby shouW any break-down occur, I would urga upoa the Council to decide upon a suitable pnwK as early 88 possible, and get ib m P0 *"I™'.. The health of the city is fairly good ai pre. sent. In looking over the Sanitary Inspec tor'a report I find that he says only & «g" of infectious diseases were reported tor iw. aeainst 2,526 in 1893. He is of °Pf °° 7° since the fee of 2s 6d paid for each ewe re ported by doctors has been abolienea, w. fectous diseases are not reportea^ae *«. merly. Ib ovidenbly appears so. we »» . bory condition of numerous properww » the city is very unaatisfacboryr &"«. - , ■, canno* bub express my surprise w _ bhe bye-laws have nob of. late J*» been more strictly enforced; we now, as you are aware, making a no« v to-house inspection, and compelling e^r one to carry oub the bye-laws _wt>ere_ already done. I will only mention •tter suit of the inspection of the.East Wara, as that is the only ward In /bich *^,j-. apection haß been completed. i«^ is that there are 41 properties nob cong^ with any sewer, 32 defective water clowj and 52 defective drains, '"Xof This being one of the smallesb *ftrJ;,,[ the city, it is difficult to surmwe what w^ bs the result in the larger wards.. i - quite sure you will agree jjbJJJ ; . when I say tbia state of thngs^JV be remed^d, and when property P*»^

; compelled to rectify these defets, to •rt'hfl greatly conducive to the health of •VI Sty. Io Mfty laßb fche Council apinted a traffic inspector, which was a in in the right direction, as it relieved \fr6bldio from that duty, and gave him •lo^to »ore efficiently attend to the other a ties connected with his office. As show•Jtbai the-traffic inspector is doing good , r t -we hare an increase this year of Siiiles for hackney »nd borough stage 'Schfli »f 15 5 for carfcß plyin? f, or hi, re.« 39; % registered cart*. 44; and for drivers' d ■c«nducipors 1 licenses 45; added to {had is the increased safety to the citizens flm street traffic and over-crowding. I m briefly mention the Art Gallery and %tti Public Library. Both these in»titut'ons bave been troll attended and much nDrtciabed. In the Art Gallery, we have h d o» addition of a dozen valuable oil .Lintines, presented by well-known citiens to whom we return our sincere thanks. Daring the year, 1,734 volumes have been added to the Library; 1,333 were purtiased by the Council, the remainder were lies |,y various donors, among whom is cur Leemed benefactor, Sir G. Grey, who has uresented 170 volumes, and through hia influence 136 have been received f roiri' the British Museum. I take this opportunity, ((,o'behalf of the Councils of thanking Sir .George Grey and other donors for their liberality- The subscribers to the lending branch have increased by 106 since last ■year j the daily issue has averaged 111, •which gi™ * toba* °* 36,b46 for the year, wainab 29,934 last year. Our Parks and ! Domain have been well kept during the 'year and are in splendid order at the prejgntj'' time. The Albert Park has baan greatly admired and appreciated .fey'-the' many visitors to the city and* also by the citizens themselves, poring the last session of Parliament the 'Government vested in the Auckland City <(j oan cil, the Waitakerei and Titirangi forest' .reserves,! under the Public Domains Act, 1881, for recreation, reserve and public domain. We are to be congratulated on ,the acquisition of these fine reserves tor a national park, as they are mostly covered with virgin bush and kauri forest, and also In dose proximity to the Waitakerei and Nihotapu falls, and being within easy distance from Auckland, will1 be largely visited by tourists, as well as the pleasureje'ekers from our own city. Stepa will have to- be taken to protect these raiems from damage, and I would Hoggflßt that one or two settlers in the locality be appointed rangers for that purpose. The Council at its last meeting affirmed the desirability of acquiring Freeman'i Bay, to utilise it as a park and recreation ground. Should we be successful in securing that site on satisfactory terms it will be a great boon to the residents on the W6Btern Bide of the city. If we are not in a position to carry out the improvements at present, wo may be in a few years, and in the meantime it can gradually be reclaimed by the dredging operations now going on. I will ndt take up your time further, but will express my thanks to you for your support .and courteous,manner towards me during the past year. I also wish to express my thanka to the Town Clerk, and the whole xof the officials, for their help, and for the efficient and eatiefactory manner in which they one and all have carried out their 'duties, especially those who volunteered to d6«heextra work required during the abtence through illness of the Town Clerk and Mr'Gorrie. • I trust the B&ir.e good feeling will continue during the year upon which we are m ow entering. ■ . ■ Hia- Worship next made the customary declaration, the Council and visitors standins: white it was read. Ur.'Garratt said chat before proceeding further he wished to congratulate. the Mayor, although personally opposed to chairmen of public bodies being re-eloeted. Ho moved " That the Council congratulates His Worship the Mayor upon his>re-ap-pointmantto' office," '• Cr. Dignan, seconding the motion, said he considered it a matter for congratulation that the dtizenß wore so satisfied with 'the Mayor as to allow him to serve for a Becoad term. • • The motion was agreed to. The Mayor, in replying, said he must also thonk the citizens for the honour aone him by electing him for a second term. He then invited all present to adjourn to his room, where. strawberries and cream and light refreshments were handed round, together with champagne and .- : wines. When justice had teen done to the refreabBienls, Cr. Dignan, as senior member, proposed the health of His Worship the Mayor. This toast was drunk with enthusiasm, those present Binging " For He s a Jolly Good Fellow." His Worship, in responding, said that it took a new mayor about six months to get the ran of things. He had made alterations which were working eatisfactorily. He was very thankful for the. assistance given by the -Councillora during the past year. He also testified to theable way in which theOoancu Officials had performed their respective duties, and concluded by proposing fche health of the officials, coupled tftfh the names of the Town Clerk and City En-

, This toaafc was drunk, and Mr Philips, in '.responding,, said things had worked smoothly daring the pasb year. 1b was a ploaaure to work with the Mayor, as he alWay« ihowed great) consideration, while at ' the game time insisting upon everyone doing his duty. ~ .. Mr Andersonalao responded, and aaidit was a great thing having a practical man aa Mayor, for he understood engineering matters aa soon is they were laid before him. . •:..';;.' After Bpending about an hour m a conJfival manner, the gathering dispersed.