THE MAYORALTY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 172, 14 April 1908, Page 8

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. AITKEN AT NORTHLAND. Mr. Aitken addressed a very largely attended meeting at the Primitive Methodist Schoolroom, Northland, last evening. Mr. Fin lay McLeod occupied tlie chair, and brielly referred to the amalgamation with the city and the necessity for that step, touching also upon their requirements in the way of water and drainage.

Mr. Aitken congratulated tho people on their union with the.city. Ho was the first person to call a meeting held in Northland since-it joined the city, and his hearers formed the first meeting to deal with their affairs. They could not expect a watersupply from the Karori Borough Council, but they should, get it now, and this matter should have early consideration at the hands of the City Council. The Northland people came'into the city without making terms, and this was greatly to their credit, and it was only just that they should bo well treated at the hands, of the City Council. Having obtained a water-supply, the next work to be undertaken was that of drainage. -Ho was

110 engineer, but in that department in the City Council they had as capablo a man as any in the Southern Hemisphere, and the Council should be guided by him. There was the question-of the adjustment of rates,and the people should only be rated for-what services, they received the benefit f of. - If elected, he would not be in favour of increasing tho rates, knowing how heavily they bore on those who had to meet them. TRAMWAYS. There was also the matter of tramways and tramway fares. It was tho ,Council over which ho presided that-was responsible .for taking the system to tho railway station and up Tiiiakori lload, and the meeting would allow that this was the right' and proper thing-to do at that time, but since then circumstances had altered, and thoso living at Karori should really' not .have to go through Molesworth Street, and hp thougnt that tho time had come for a connection via Sydney Street. With regard to what ho had said about the Jielfcurne Traniway agreement, the Mayor had'charged him' with being responsible for malting tho terms for the inception of that traniway. He (Mr. .Aitken) had not' descended to personalities, aiid if ho lost the election thirty times .over, lie would not descend to that sort of thing; but when the Mayor, who professed to be' very superior and as near perfection' as possiblo', made a glaring mistake and a very grave blunder in that statement, lie ' thought tlio Mayor should havo thought twice and been more careful. j " I was not Mayor," declared Mr. Aitken, "when tlie agreement between the City of Wellington and tho Kelburne Tramway Company was made. I was not Mayorvuutil tho last Wednesday in 'November,; 18'J!), and 1 did not assume office until' S(jme date in December of that' year. . Thoj agreement between tho Kelburnc Tramway Company and the Wellington 'City Council' ;was Signed, sealed, and delivered a few morii-.is ' before I was elected Mayor of theJ?!' 1 - of Wellington. (Applause.) lam conscious of tho fact thit I do'not think that as'good a bargain was mado for the city as should have' been made oil that occasion.- .I'remember wfell when I bccamo Mayor of tub city, looking up' tho. documents in reference, thereto,' and , I remember when'l camo, across tho agreement I thought, thi) bargain wfis somewhat, onesided, and I think, tho concessions given by the city were a littlo .mdre Ulan ought to have . been given. The ' whole . matter was ended, and the city had to keep faith with the Kelburnc Company. ' I, at all events, even to-day, would not attempt to break faith with them, for .if an attempt was mado, it. would only lead to complications, which.would go further and further, and end in disaster, and tho city would have ito pay a very big bill. I toll you plainly and emphatically that I had nothing, .absolutely nothing, to do with tho agreement. that' was entered into on the one hand by tho City of Wellington and on tho other by thc'lvelburno Tramway Company." (Applause.) The time had come, continued Mr. Aitken, for a connection to be made with tho present head of the Kclburno Tramway .and Northland, reducing tlio clistanco and, saving time. Ho could not get away from the fact, that tho Kolburne tramway through tho . tunnel could never .carry a very largo number of people, such as would be required on holidays,' Saturdays, and Sundays. . .Tho probability was that tlio present tramway' could not' carry tho pe-oplo fast; enough to the head line, therefore, bo thought,* that, not' only should .the system be : connected 'through-tliat point, ;but it was also necessary for tho'furtlior. development of the district that a connection should be mado by way'of. Sydnoy Street.

PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS. ~ Mr. Aitken also referred to parks arid playgrounds; and 'said that' there was only 0110 park in this neighbourhood, which was Anderson Park, and'it . should bo completed'at as early a date as possible. Tho Botanical Gard-ens had-been improved cesthetically, but they should be improved still more in that-re? ifpect. Their main l'oad had been improved, but there was plenty.'of room for further "improvement. * Properly asphalted footpaths, also, wero. very' necessary. ' All these works could not be done at onoe, but 'they should be represented to "the City Council, and if he were Mayor he would do his best for them. WATER MAINS. /- Referring to the recent fire in Coufjtenay Place, Mr. Aitken said that the flames got a strong hold, because a main burst at Ngahauranga. He did not think that ■-Wellington' should be at the mercy of ofie line from Wai-nui-o-mata, and tho'citizens should ask the Council to'lay down a duplicate lino.. ' It might be argued that there was no by-wash whilo there was only one line of 1 pipes. B.ut there was a proposal to construct n largo reservoir in that vicinity, and if it had been in existenco, "and had been filled with water at the time, there would have been no shortage in "Wellington. i. ■

CLAIMS FOR ENROLMENT. The activity of canvassers in the Mayoral election is., causing numerous-* arid hurried claims for enrolment, on the : City Burgesses' List. Enrolment forms have poured in thick and fast on the Returning Officer (Mr. J. ;Ames) during the past few days, and ho and five extra clerks are working long and busy hours. Enrolment will proceed until 5 o'clock' on Wednesday afternoon, and on Thursday morning tho_names will'bo'forwarded to the printer. Twice, so far, the Returning Officer has run out of enrolment forms, and additional supplies havo had to bo printed. A good deal of extra checking work is being entailed by persons making (application whose names- are already enrolled; though perhaps not on the main'roll. Since the main roll was printed, a supplementary; roll was compiled, and after that a second.'supplementary for tho Harbour' Board election. Tho names of riiany who are now applying are on theso supplementary rolls. It is expected that in tho next two or three days the onrolment will bo completed of electors living in tho portion of the Karori Borough which was recently added to the City, boundary, j ' Mr. Aitken's committees meet at 8 o'clock to-night as follow:—Thorndon —Sydney Street Schoolroom; Newtown—Room opposite Public Library; Bqrhampore—Tho Hall, Palm Grove; Kilbimie —O'Donncll's Hall. On Wednesday night Mr. Aitken will address tip. electors of North Kilbirnie arid Hataitai in tht Stato School at 8 o'clock. Mr. Hislop will address meetings as under: Primitive Methodist Schoolroom, Northland, 8 o'clock tj's evening ;. Kolburno—To-morrow at 8 ; o'clock Mr. Hislop will moot tho ladies ot Biooklyn at the Baptist Schoolroom, Ohiro Road, at 3 o'clock this afternoon.

If tho Germans are beating us in tho world's markets we. must get rid of many antiquated ideas.; A nation which her soldiers of commerce and has her commissariat full of bounties will win many 'fights against a nation which considers an education in tho classics an excellent preparation for pushing hardware ,or piece goods.— "Morning Post," Hong-kong.