THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 163, 3 April 1908, Page 8

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. AITKEN'S CAMPAICN. ; MEETING- AT ISLAND BAY. - ' .In pursuance of his Mayoral campaign, vi Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, M.P., addressed meetings at Island Bay and Kilbirnie: last evening- ' v i ' . Tn the Island Bay Town Hall (where Mr. :; : F". G. A. Stuckey presided), Mr. Aitken rc- . minded his hearers that tho water supply ,' Bchemo now in operation in that suburb was , initiated during his Mayoralty. Tho , next thing Teqnired. was sanitation, and if re- • turned he would do all in his power to, carry ■ i out,,-ai.proper drainago- scheme; .The culvert: running through, the middle- of - Island Bay i ■ should be closed in throughout its entiro <length, and the adjacent low-lying land should be drained by means,of side drains running : into the central one, which would need to bo .lowered. The.whole suburb would benefit by tho carrying off of the surface water by 'such a scheme. Tho proper upkeep and improvei^.;, merit' of the,streets and footpaths also' heeded 'more attention, and ho would advocate- treeplanting on both sides of the roads.. ■ - v On the motion of Mr. H. Mackay, the can- :-. didate was accorded a vote of thanks., Leavi - - ing those present -to form a committee, Mr.' ; ■ Aitken went on to Kilbirnie. . , SFEECH AT KILBIRNIE. At- the meeting in Heginbotham's Hall, Kilbirnie, Mr. Heginbotham presided, and, expressed appreciation of Mr. v Aitken's sue-' • oossful efforts in thepast.to advance the in- . terests of :that suburb.•■ He'stated that-more 1 had .been done for Kilbirnie: during Mr.' . Aitken's Mayoralty. than in recent years., I:, ; Mr.- 'Aitken, in his recalled with j ir ■ satisfaction the amalgamation •. of j (as a portion ' of Melrose) r with the city—ahappy marriage, at which he had,teen,.the j i . officiating, clergyman/ .The ' Kilbirnie'"? water £supply dated its inception from^his' Mayor- | i alty,, and if,returned ne would set about prot viding drainage, fdr Kilbirnie. and other sub- /: •;';•■ urba., Mr. Aitken,; also' foreshadowed v ■- ■ planting operations •at Kilbirnie,' and , the forming of a laTge.iiecreation ground-at the head ,iof -the bSy. ',The .existing recreation ground had not been l improved as actively as it should.have been. of Jate.';.Gasw6rks.and similar services'should;be of the : ' . municipality, and it was high .time the citi- >; "■ zens' shouldauthorise the Council to: take

steps whereby the supply of gas sh'ould bo' in tile hands-of the municipality.' . Ho. li'ad no !, v ■ interest wh'atev.er in the Gas Coinpanyj'.'and the company ,had piledup; such large re-' • : serves as had, boen stated, the -money ha'd. -: . v been taken/from the pockets' of 'tho; pebple 1 • by charging more than a ; fair and reasonable i price for: the gas./ One of the things that any ! Mayor and Council would, haro to/face was \ tho question of acquiring the 1 plant and.busi T * j': •.■;■■■ ness of the Gas Company,' and, if returned; j. - : ... he would take what steps were necessary, so that tho gasworks might bb taken.over by .. the city,' and any;'profits or goodwill: that might be'heaped up in ; the future would then .. belong to the community, and not- to/pri-' f ' vato persons. > .special; reason why, the • ,gasworks should be taken over by tho Council J was tho osistencejof ,Gas' Company's large i .■:■■■. i powers, in breaking up tho streets,, and the " consequent: injury to'tho formation, a'nd'fiej' . quent- conflicts apd' disagreements' between [i tho Corporation and tho company.. !;.-, A ,vote of thanks to tho candidate was passed, and a • committeo was • subsequently j formed. I 1 — __ | MR. HISLOP AT WADESTOWN. • ; V' ' GAS "WORKS MUNICIPALISATION. ■ i, ■ The Wadestown schoolroom. was crowded 1, last evening at a meeting of Mr. .Hislop's t •, • - supporters. Mr. ( W.'Lambert presided,.'';t j. . . Mr.. Hislop though ino.haiia^ery, j.::■ formidable opponent';, he 'tnought-thai' his' f could show very good reasons why they,, |. . , should retain his services as Mayor. The, f- gentlemen'who had waited on.Mr.-Aitkeil'iri f tho Chamber of Commerce, and . who' rcf . garded themselves, as tho elite of the com--1: . ■ munity, whose example all would,follow; had f : .' <■ said that'-'tt^/wm^ia. v j... the office. Well, he had no hesitation in comparing his , administration ,wit^''-"'that f. ~ Df Mr. Aitken_in regard to business'methods! i ■ /rl'ho, Council in his'predecessor's time had ] j . tried to build a , tramway oyer a drain that j ■ . ■ would not carry. it, and. their ; route; for' another line had to be altered during.his own [_.•. '• lerm. During'the present mayoralty works :. jad always been carried out . within the;.exv :. ; .v oenditure'.set '.dpwnj .'or with the i full "know-' | ledge of where the money ,was to come from.' | • He. denied that. he had : accused' Mr. Aitken |: jf being interested in tho Gas Company.' 1 -.Mr. Aitkeri, in"his term of office,-had failed I ■■■■.• to carry 1 , through a number of schemes which ' required fight. Thero were the two Miramar :- . : v s'chemes, i: one for the purchase of. the whole i : ... of Miramar for £75,0b0,iand the other,' under which y 500 acres would have .. been given _ :to - the\ Council,' on ' condition that it, constructed two tramways.'' -MrlHislop referred to his own achievements in respect, of the 'provision- 'of r,grounds;* and the taking over of'the elec-: trie-lighting, service'.; "^ith'regard to' tho last ; matter, Jlr.; Aitken had received V.an , ,Dffcr, but had done nothing.. At.tho. end : "of' the' present -year, the "Council's , income' 'From the Electrical Department would have exceeded tbe income of the syndicate'by at least. (£4OOO. . They : were . likely ;to' earn' at- ; ■ least', £22,0.00 net. by the end of the -year, and, after' paying £6600, for ' sinking fund . ... and they were, likely to have ,a ( : .. . surplus of-£15,000 for the purpose of carry.l'-' t ing 'on other wofks' in addition: Each year they would enlarge the money-making capai city of tho concern.' 1 He thought that tho -people who had invited Mr. Aitken to be a candidate for the Mayoralty vwere afraid. I' : , that he (the speaker) would be as successful.. 1 in. regard to the gas. works, scheme as ho i had been with the .electric/lighting. If the f: ' Vv present/Mayor .was still in office- they',would | aavo a very tough fight to prevent municii ■ ■ palisation, but if Mr. Aitken, was 'Mayor' i - they would ;not have anything liko the same !; : V:' - fight.'.; Mr. nislop also 1 , suggested that polij-' : tical, motives underlay his opponent's candidature, and deprecated such motives .in a !• - municipal contest; /There was an extreme j Tory party in .'the community, the extreme.' j '-"- part, of:the.Conservative.party, and the prej , . sent Opposition, which could only look on things from a property point- of view, and j resented ' anything in the ! nature . of treat-, i■ ing- people' simpiv : on tho broad lines of i" . humanity. He believed that, tho gentlemen [. . who had come forward to nominate Mr. AitJ: ken were actuated very much by the feeliug C .■■■'. that during his (Mr.' Hislop's) term of [ : office he had been too ready perhaps' to recognise leaders of,humanity as apart from leaders . of, the property side lin : politics. Nothing of a valid nature had been advanced against his administration, duiiDg the past : i three years. During tho last-year of Mr. Aitken's term the General Account showed <■ an overdraft of £12,000. -'Was .that a business method? His own Council had man--1 - aged each' - year "to keep -their expenditure I .- -. about £2000 . within their- income. There i >. were no differences of opinion- between" them j on the subject of public) works. The quesi tion of. .a J tramway to Wadestown, which i Mr. Aitken had : referred to, .had already 1. been under consideration for some' time, and i. the'reason for.'delay'was that new sugge's- ! tions as to route were continually being j made. .'lt was desirable that every possible !suggestion should be considered on so im- : portant a subject. The Council were doteri mined that Wadestown should bo provided j with : all modern services, but the question [ • was how to do it. As regards a water , supply, they wanted to bring up as far as possible by ordinary gravitation to ■ ■ avoid expense. . The Engineer had been working on a drainage' scheme, and in ro- - gard to both these . matters they hoped very soon to lay proposals before the ratel" . payers.'., ' , ■ ' ' . , . ' After various questions had been answered, r a vote of thanks and-confidence in Mr.'Hisi lop was carried with acclamation, f . ' A committee was then set up to advance 'r the interests of'the candidate.

of,the Trades Council. After somo consideration of the matter, the'following resolution was carried' unanimously .. That of the' two candidates for the Mayoralty, Mr; T. WvHislop is the more ; pronounced in ; favour of the niunicipalisa'tion of tlie gas arid , milk supplies, and . . definitely .declared for municipal ■ markets, :;,and . tnis/ jCounoil recommends • all 'workers the favourable consideration ' of his candidature. : It was expected that the Order-in-Council authorising' the ' amalgamation of portion of ■'Karon with' the', city of Wellington would .bo' gazetted this week.' It does not, howriver", appear in last "night's Gazette. :After the 'stetement made by the Minister for the Interior, it may confidently be looked for ,hoxt' Thursday; which will; still be in time for tho mayoral' elections. In answer 't<j atjuestionthat many people are asking just now, it.'may.be stated that lodgers and boarders; .'as such, have no, .vote.Jor ..mayoral .and municipal elections. The roll will close on, Wednesday, April 15. Mr; : Aitken will address'his supporters as follows .-—The Hall, - Palm, Grove, Berhampore, 8 to-night; Wesleyan Mission Hall, Aro 'Street, .8.30 to-night. " Mr.' Hislop will address meetings of. Blipporters as > follow .-—O'Doniieirß Hall, Kilbirriie, ;,8 - to-night ; . New Century Hall, Kent, Terrace', Monday, 8 p.m. Committees will meet as follow:—Brooklyn Committee, in.« Masonic ' Hall, . 7.45 to-night; Wellington Central Committee, Richards's Hall, Cuba Street,'-8 to-night; Newtown Committee, at 3 Riddiford Street, Monday; 7.30 p.m. • .'