A MUNICIPAL REFORMER.

Evening Post, Volume LVII, Issue 31, 7 February 1899, Page 4

A MUNICIPAL REFORMER.

The election of Mr. R. M. Tolhurst as the representative of the Thorndon Ward on the City Council should strengthen the hands of those who desire the municipal progress of the city. In his address on Friday night, the newly-elected Councillor announced himself as the friend of a Greater vy«llington and the supporter^of municipalising public conveniences. So long as he adheres to the programme ho then set forth, he can rely upon the cordial support of this journal— that is, with the single exception of the Sydney-street gully scheme, but this, as has been stated before, is a minor matter in comparison with the expansion of the City and the collective ownership of its trams, its lighting, and other public conveniences. There is a great deal of hard work before the Council. The streets need much improvement, and the incipient slums require to be removed. There is opposition to be met in the absorption of the suburban boroughs, and there are sundry vested interests forming powerful obstacles to the progress of municipalisation. Mr. Tolhurst, we are glad to observe, represents the hopes of young Wellington. H© is anxious to do away with the slur that lice upon us for our past civic mismanagement, and wisely advocates reliance upon the expert opinion of a skilled enginser. The congestion of traffic in Willis-street, a notable instance of our municipal backwardness was brought under public notice at yesterday's meeting of the Public Works Committee of the Council, when it was decided to recommend that permission be granted to the Tramway Company to make a " lay-by ' line -in Mercer-street. It is to be hoped that the new Councillor, and such of his colleagues as are in sympathy with his progressive ideas, will take into consideration the creation of the alternative tram line along the reclaimed land, letting the present company's rights lapse at the expiry of their lease. Mr. Tolhurst will find much scope for his energies at the Council Board, and unless we are mistaken he will not allow old abuses to pass unchallenged.