HUTT AND PETONE NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 467, 27 March 1909, Page 7

HUTT AND PETONE NEWS.

(FIIOU OCR SFECIAb REromEn.). i * - LOWER HUTT MAYORALTY. MR. RUSSKLL SPEAKS OP FINANCE. Mr. \V. 11. Russell, who is contesting tho Lower Hutt Mayoralty election, hail a wcllallcndud meeting in tho Municipal Buildings Inst Droning. The candidate. spoko chiefly of tho financial administration of tho borough, comparing tho work of tho present council for which ho is a member) with past results. Mr. Q. Chapman was in tho chair. Turning directly to financial matters, Mr. Rnssr.il expressed tho opinion that the present council had observed a sound policy. Indication of tho cirectivo work of tho present council was given in tho revenue figures:—l9os-6, .«)(»; IMC-7, .C 5572; 1007-8 (present council), .£975.'); 190S-3, .£9023. There wero several instances in which tho expenditure had been unavoidably raised between the years 1905-fi and VJOB-U:—Sanitary account, .£SOO to 0:881; chanfahlo aid, .£O.ll to ,£SO9j interest charges (in four years), .£,885 to .£3382,' An increase of .E35i2 over tho reyenuo of 1907-8 had been observed, and in addition JCSOO had been paid olf the overdraft. Going on lo tho balance-sheet for 1908-9, tho caudi-hifc stated, that general receipts had been about .£BOO less than tho year before, and the expenditure had increased bv .£IOOO, tho principal items beingi-Rciit of new building, .£150; charitable, aid, .£150; main road formation, ~'™ ; ""''cation street improvements, etc., £ta: street lighting account, .£200; sanitary account ,£150; waterworks account, j£2SO. Oil March 19 last, l.ho general account showed a ncrn ' ,ali "} co oC included in which was .MmIJ lor the gasworks' site acquired in West-' em Hutt. An offer liad been mado for the sito at the pneo the council paid for it, but tho majority of tho council saw fit to hold it It is a case of tho overdraft having become a ■landed proprietor," said Mr. Russell, "and having joined tho Western Hutt artistocracy." (Laughter.) Tho debit balanco on paper in tho gas account was JM79 12s. Bd. on March 19, but, when tho plant account was token into consideration, they would find it nearly .£3OO to tho good. At his meeting recently, Mr. Bunny had been reported as expressing dissatisfaction' at tho amount of tho loans for which tho borough was responsible, but, said Mr. Russell, when tho prDposals were before tho ratepayers in October, 1905, Mr. Bunny had moved! and Mr K. Mcvenshad seconded, a motion endorsing tho proposals and authorising a poll. Mr. Bunny sp^ibilitf o™'0™' aCfept a Shal ' a 0f °» - Tho candidate- went carefully into tho amounts ot other loans and the sinking funds, and referred to loans witli no sinking funds attached. For theso latter, ho declared, tho borough council was no moro rcsponsiblo than for tho building of tho German Navy. Tho »Hn ► B m. pws ?£ i ?, offico had not addcd a penny to the public debt of Lower Euit. They would plead guilty lo adding a couplo of hundred pounds to the overdraft, but they had laised no loan for two years. Motion after motion to raise a loan had been defeated in the cojinci . Apart from loan works, tho conntin W a , dded « I ?,P<"'?<l. 'ho gasworks site, and tho Moiling Bridge (value i' 2000). Tho real estate at present amouuted to nearly £16 COO and ho assets were .£52,000, leaving them with ?,] f fT° ! 0f llablliUes "ver assets of «tI • 1S wero called "!'• It is a painful task to me," conUnued Mr been 50 1' to ° f th ? ak ™ s which have S , c ? st i I P° n tho engineer. I deeply ref?re t lhat Mr. Bunny gave Mr. Rk-Trott no cmli or the excellent work he has done for tho i„° l 'S i"-• i 1 am • of , °' >inion th «t H'o work in tins borough earned out by Mr. Rix-Trott will stand after his tradueers have pas 4 away. I have s«n his work, and fay that better voik has never been done in tho Hutt Borough than is being done now/' Dealing minutely with the state of.tho -£52,000 loan, Mr. Russell said that the water supply, the estimate for msn t! been r lW \ l md act,,a,1 >' c ° st «ni "• ' the P resent CQUn cil having spent .£l2B JJie increased expenditure hero was dim (1) to i nso of Is: in tho mon's wages (as fixed bv ho Arbitration Court), (2) to enlargement of the pumping engines, and (3) to increased dudes (JCSOO) brought about bv the „„ tariff inc amount for sewago works was .£lO 719 machinery .£5329, and sewage disposal .£I7OO a total of £17,838. Twenty-one miles of drain pipes had to bo laid. The heaviest of (ho drainage work was going on now, as pipes wero being laid in Ahcetown in 3ft. of water Concluding, Mr. Russell said that he was'in favour of settling tho gas agreement with 1 atone, but wqnld like to see the term fixed at fivo years instead of seven. Moreover, a .clause should be .included permitting withdrawal from tho contract if tho qualitv of tho gas was not maintained. Adding a word on amalgamation, ho advocated the holding of a public meeting at which it would be resolved , to ask for tho setting up of a Royal Commls-1 son. Their report should be submitted to ™,u°T° rn - I T lt i ln , th e hopo that legislation would bo introduced effecting an amalgamation of the boroughs of Hutt and Petone After several questions had been answered, a vote of thanks and confidenco was carried amid applause. '

A SEND-OFF. Some 30 or 40 Petone business men met in the Mayors room last evening to show their appreciation of Mr. Cowan, stationmaster. Mr. M hwan tho Mayor, spoke of the good feeling that had always existed between tho residents and Mr. Cowan. Messrs. Lodder, Austin, Short, and Lynskey also boro testimony to the. good qualities o Mr. Cowan. On behalf of tlioso present and others, Mr. M'Ewan presented Mr Umnn with a gold watch, bearing tho following inscription: "Presented to Chas. Cowan, fcsq., by the business peopla of I'etone, as a token of esteem after 11 years' servico as stationmaster." Accompanying tin's was a poldmounted walking-stick. Mr. Cowan feelingly thanked ono and all for their good wishes and present. Tho moating concluded by singiii" ' Hes a jolly good fellow," and cheers for Mr! and Mrs. Cowan and children. A meeting was also held in St. An<rustine Schoolroom to bid farewell to .Mr. and Airs Cowan and family. Tho Her. J. 1). Russell said that ho desired to bear testimony to the splendid example which Mr. Cowan "had set them all, mid he was sure that, for tho eleven years ho (the speaker) had been inTetono, Mr. Cowan, when,'off duty, was always, found in his place in church. Tho speaker also referred to tho nblo assistance which ho had always received from Mrs. Cowan in Church work, and also from Miss Cowan, who was a teacher in tho Sunday School. Mr. Russell then presented Mr. Cowan with a dressing-case, Mrs. Cowan with a gold cable chain and bracelet, and Miss Cowan with a Bible and a gold watch, tho last presentation being on behalf of tho Girls' Biblo Class. JOTTINGS. A first offender for drunkenness camo boforo Mr. W. lnglis, J.P., at a sitting of Petone Police Court yesterday morning, and was convicted and discharged. At a meeting of Petone Junior Club (Athletic Branch), last evening, tho secretary, Mr. G. Finlay, reported that about ,C 5 had boon cleared at their first sports meeting last Saturday. "This is a sample of tho gnspipos for which we paid Petone .£1500," said Mr. W. 11. Russell at Lower .Unit last evening, as he held up two feet of rusty metal network. "It is not my grandfather's sword." (Laughter.) Mr. Russell remarked that the piece of piping hail conio from the Hutt Wesleyan parsonage. "We often notice tho smell of gas in the streets," he continued, "and I believe a quantity of gas is escaping into tho ground. Tho people here have really to be satisfied with a feeble light from gas that, floats in at their front doors." (Laughter.) Mr. Russell recommended that a sum of money should be spent in examining and repairing the gaspipes.