THE SQUARE.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 19388, 14 August 1928, Page 11

THE SQUARE.

,to the koitos or the fbsss. Sir, —A large section of our public are anxious to know why the- Mayor and Council of this City hare the power to use moneys from one of its trading concerns and divert the money to an altogether different purpose than from whicn it has accrued. I allude to the proposal by the Mayor to use money made from the Municipal electric supply to build conveniences in, and alter our Square. . In other centres the law is that all moneys made by Municipal Councils with their trading concerns are returned to' their own sources and employed for the purposes of lowering rates of oost, thereby creating expanr sion. of business in the demand for supply. In Dunedin this law pertains to all the, municipality's trading concerns, namely, "gas, * electricity, and tramways. The consequence is both gas and electricity .are cheaper than in Christchurch, whilst tram fares have been, lowered also. Gas and electricity are used together in numberless workers' homes, adding greatly to the coi6fort of wives and mothers and all housekeepers generally. The Mayor of •Christchurch has always posed as a friend of the worker. I ask, is he? I, with many othersj am anxious to haVe electricity laid on to my honie, but hesitate until I get a clear reading of our municipal. law and the powers of the Mayor .of Christchurch. If the Mayor can use moneys from our City's •trading concerns to gratify hiswhims as he wishes, then it is time our municipal council came under the same runing as Dunedin and other centres.' Some few years ago I was in Dunedin when the Dunedin City Council generously wished to give a large dona-, tion towards the erection of the Town Hall, but the Mayor and Councillors were informed the£ had not the power >to give, and all moneys accruing from their City's trading concerns must each be kept separate and used in expansion arid lowering cost of production to consumers of gas and electricity and cheapening tram fares. Now that the Christchurch Gas Company are seeking to make gas cheaper to their customers, I think it will be well for all persons who anticipate using electricity to cry halt before being victimised by our City Council and made to pay unduly for being a consumer of electricity.— Yours, etc., WORKER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir, —Is it sheer obstinacy 4 which makes our Mayor arid Councillors light so hard to get those "conveniences for women" erected in the Square. They surely have been there much too long already, and now there is a charice of remedying the evil why choose the same spot? It certainlyfcannot: be outof consideration for the women and children,,for _it is absolutely the worst, place in Christckurch for such" a pur-, pose. I wonder if any of them' have been down into the present bnes. If not, I should advise them to do so before doing anything further. I am Colonial-born, and have lived nearly all iny life; in New Zealand, but"; have travelled a little also. I have been ; in nearly every county in England, also Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and on the Centifaent, but I have never been., in any cityor town that I have found the 1 crossing of a street so difficult as our Cathedral square. Even_ London with its millions of people is easier. If one happens to be on the Cathedral . side, of the street, one has to dodge six lines of traffic to get : to' a tram going northward, and it -is impossible to do otherwise if . you come in by certain ; trams which stop at the back or side of the. Cathedral. There are two-ways pedestrian traffic, two-ways vehicular, and two-way triams. One needs to. have perfect hearing and sight arid ,the full, use of dnejs limbs to. negotiate. this crossing. Have the? > .Councillors < no Wives,- mothers, •-or.sisters whom. could. askfor'an'OpinionPThfigethings. are' of .course; necessary,:• but . why flaunt them in viotfof; eyery window overlooking the Square? I have not spoken to one ■ woman -who agreed that it was the right place. One lady, told me that she looked, at the. present tramway shelter .(when, she first came froin .England) and thought' it 'a toy railwaiy. and watclied it for half an hour to see how . it worked.-jYours; etc.,. ■. ' ' ; daughter of pioneers.