MUNICIPAL POLLS. CITY COUNCIL AND HARBOUR BOARD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 84, 10 April 1911, Page 2

MUNICIPAL POLLS. CITY COUNCIL AND HARBOUR BOARD.

DR. CAMERON'S VIEWS. Dr. Cameron, an independent candidate for municipal honours, addressed a meeting at the Sydney-street Schoolroom on Saturday night. There was a email attendance. Mr. E. Arnold, jun., was voted to the chair. The candidaie commenced by referring to the increased cost of living which has taken place of late, and urged that unless they could keep the coat of living down they would never be able to compete in industries and manufactures. There was only one thing sound in New Zealand at present, and that was farming. The only way to keep down the cost of living was to watch" monopolies and trusts. Lately the price of timber had been going up, and there was ateo in the city what was practically a brick trust, and the price of bricks had gone up about 12s per thousand in the past six monthe. Then they were to have a pipe trust, and to a certain extent there was ako an oil trust. The City Council should co-operate with the Government in keeping down the cost of living, to the extent of acting ac a brake on monopolies and trusts. The question of municipal markets was one of considerable importance, but he was of opinion that the proposed site in Maaoere-etr-eet was unsuitable. It should, however, be eitaated somewhere on Te Aro flat. Hewas also opposed to the council erecting expensive building 6 for a market. They could put up very good shelters at a cheap rate, and that was all they should do if they wanted to' make the markets pay. He felt sure that if a market was established they would find people starting gardens and bringing in their produce for sale. He considered that the City Council waG not managing its property properly. In Adelaide-road, for instance, the council had a very valuable property ; and it put a very nice road through and did nothing more. That property was lying idle for three or four years, and he felt that the council was not making proper use of its property ; it had empty houses in Adelaide-road wholesale. A private landlord could not stand it; he would have to "go bung." Then they were told that the trame were being run on business lines; that was, in his opinion, all bunkum. He criticised the Karori line as being too 6teep and with too many curves^ and aleo complained that the Wallace-street line and the Constable-street line had not been earned far enough to tap populous neighbourhoods which would ensure them paying. Also the trams themselves were getting into a v-ery rackety state, largely due to the numerous curves. If he went into the City Council the first thing he would do would be to ask for a return of all the men. employed in connection with the tramway, both inside and outside tho office. In connection with the hospital, he urged that the coiHiciil should have made better use of its land in the vicinity. It was worth £30 or £40 a foot, and yet it was lying idle for three or four years. As to finance he considered there should be no issuing of short-dated 'debentures, and the council should avoid dabbling in things that it knew very little about. In regard to the labour question, he was a believer in fair play, and in. inducing qualified men to stop in the employment of the council. That, he thought, could be brought about by a proper system of promotion. Later on they could consider tho establishment of a superannuation scheme. "Do yon consider Ss a day is a fair wage?" asked one of the audience. The wage question, said the candidate in reply, is a very difficult one. His idea was that the council should be a good employer of labour, and if it was proved that the men's wages were insufficient he would be in favour of giving them more. From what he had seen on one occasion, however, he was satisfied that some men did not earn 3s a day. The menhe referred to certainly needed a superintendent. Day labour should ac far as possible take the place of contracts. The council should by this time have sufficient good men to superintend the work without letting contracts; that would save the contractors' profits. The candidate went on to urge the necessity of improving the sanitation of the suburbs, improving the condition of the slums, preventing overcrowding in trams, and clearing the streets of undesirables, and drunk and rowdy people. Amongst the latest to announce themselves as candidates for the City Council are Messrs. A- R. Hornblow. and Charles M'lntyre. The Citizens' League will meet this evening to select candidates for the Harbour Board and City Council elections. The Labour candidates addressed several open-air meetings on Saturday night at various places in the city. The speeches of the candidates followed the lines of previous utterances by the "Labour eight." A meeting of persons interested inthe return of Labour candidates to the Miramar Council was held at Worser Bay on Saturday. Mr. D. M'Laren, who attended on behalf of the Wellington Labour Party, said it was not the policy of tie party to interfere with the local affairs of another borough. The branch of the party formed in Miramar-would have to take the responsibility of selecting its own candidates, who would work along progressive lines in accordance with the party's principles. Another meeting will be held shortly. In reply to a correspondent the names of the "Labour eight" have been furnished as follows : — Messrs. D. M'Laren, E. J- Carey, I. Hazel, E. F. Reyling, A. H. Hindmarsh, W. J. Jordan, M. J. Reardon, and T. Smith. The Labour candidates for the Harbour Board are Messrs'. Hindmarsh and Young. Speaking at Courtenay-place on Saturday evening, Mr. D. M'Laren dealt at length with the question of municipal markets. He pointed out that the formation of a private company for the establishment of markets was proposed on a capital of £4000 — the estimate of what would be required to start such a venture. If, Mr. M'Laxen argued, that sum were increased to £7000 the city f-honld still be able to find the money. Some time ago Mr. Hindmarsh had moved in the Council that the rents receivable from the market reserve should be allocated for the establishment- of markets. The money from this source now totals about £1000 per annum. If the total rents had be&n earmarked for markets, the speaker said, it would have been possible to ha.ye established several in the city. Mr. M'Laren combafcted the idea that mar' ksts were a highly expensive proposal, and emphasised the fact that the City Engineer, in a repoit which he had-pre-pared on tbe question, stated that a very light structure, with little more than roofing and paving was all that was required. An appeal for solid support for the"Labour eight" was made by Mr. E. J. Carey at Courtenay-plaoe on Saturday night. He warned the electors not to be misled by candidates calling thenisgivji is^gende^te. The Labour fight

war* bound to a platform which had been before the public for months now and which had not yet been criticised by any of Laboor's opponent?. On the contrary features of it had been appropriated by certain other candidates, and in the end it appeared that they would all adopt the Labour party's platform. Even if the whole of the Labour eight were not returned' to the Council, he claimed that their candidature had. forced upon the incoming Council reforms in accordance with the principles of the Labour party's phigorm. In conclusion Mr. Carey urged the electors to support _ the movement for a Saturday half-holiday, "which was initidled by the Trades Cooneil and was an illustration, of the broad view Labour always took of public matters." Speaking at Newtown on Saturdayevening Mr. Thomas Smith, a Labour candidate for tie city, urged that an amendment of the municipal law was required to provide that the city's bal-ance-sheet should be made- public at least a month before the, City Council election takes place. This, be thought, was necessary for an intelligent handling of the city's affairs. As things were, the financial statement was given just when tie election was on, and. neither councillors, candidates, nor citizens were in a proper position to say exactly how the finances stood.