RIGHT TO CHARGE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 90, 13 October 1911, Page 3

RIGHT TO CHARGE.

ADMISSION TO CITY RESERVES tEtfGTHY DEBATE tN PARLIAMENT. ' ' COMPROMISE ARRIVED .AT. Tht Houie of Representatives "jraster'day afternoon went into committee on the Wellington ClAy Empowering and 'Amendment Sill, whit!h proposes to authorise the Wellfngton City Council to provide cool storage for food products •ad; to make bylaws fixing charges for admission to city reserves. The lastnamed clause had been adversely reported off by the tfbeal Bills Committee. ■ Mr. Wilford was in charge of the Kill, and moved that the clause enabling tile council to make charges for admis•ion to reserves be reinstated. This wa» agreed to, and Mr. Wilford then moved that the power to make* charges for admission do' not apply to the museum or aquarium. Sir Joseph Ward said the proposal to •iitke a charge for admission to reserves do which zoological gardens and sports grounds were situated was rathe? an j important subject. COST OB 1 THE ZOO. Mf. Wilford said the Zoological Oar d«ns were costing £1700 a year. The council proposed to charge 3d' a- head, the mojwy to be ear-marked for* expenditure on buying new animals for the 2bo. ■ In answer to further comment, Mr. Wilford said ifc cost the City of Wellington £10,000 to make a reserve, The council had spent £21,000 in making reserves, and the council now only •sked that it should be allowed to charge for admission on thirty instead of ten day* every year. '.Ail th« sports bodies •greed with th« proposal and there was no protest from anybody against it. PERTINENT CRITICISM. , Mr* R. B. Ro«s said-it was strange that if the people of Wellington were co anxious to get the Bill passed "they did not make any representations to the 'Local Bill* Committee. It wai the duty of those- in charge of these Billsfto make their representation before the Local Sills Committee. Mr, Fisher asked Mr. Davey- to #x* plain why it was that the pabho always went where it had to pay. Take Atick. land— the public always went to Potter's Padcfoek, where it had to pay. Take Christchttrch— Although they had the, magnificent Hagley Park, the public always went to Lancaster Park, whete it had to pay. Take Wellington—Although we had Newtown Park, Anderson Park, and. Duppa^treet, and Basin Reserve, the public went to th« Athletic Park, where it hadi to pay. The plain fact was that the best sports were, and would be, played on ground* where the spectators had to pay. A» far as Mr. Boss's complaint w*s concerned,, it had to be remembered that the Bill was 'promoted by the Wellington City Council, and that should be enough for any person of average* intoliigfluc*, • ' NO OBJECTIONS. -Mr. Wilford .said no N citiaen of Wellington had come forward to oppose the Bill which had been fully advertised. As to charging, the ratepayers of Wei- I lington found the meney to build th© tramways, yet they v»re charged for the use of the tramways. In Sydney trie Government owned; a large amount of land, and in several cases sports , grounds were leased .to trustee^ who 1 had the right to charge. There was no local body in NW Zealand that had spent £31,000 in recent years in recreation grounds, and they wanted more grounds, Mr. Davey said that so long as the grounds were public property they had no right to charge for admission. Mr. Herries : They are not objecting. Mr. fisher 1 Have you the record of • single objection? Mr. Davey ; No, but I am taking it «n broad grounds. Mf. field saidS he waa a resident of Wellington and supported the clause. ,Th« cutting out of the clauee would be to undo much of the good work which had already been done. A NAPIER OBJECTOR, Mr. Vigor Brown declared that tho House over and over again- had thrown out ciause# in bills which contained the right to charge on more than ten days. The Rugby Union* had bought ground* of their own and why should th« poor people not have the right to enter their own parks. Mr. Stallworthy opposed the clause. A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE. Mr. flogan said the* matter concerned ih« whole of the people of the Dominion. The Houss in the p*M> had set' ita face against any proposal giving the right to charge for admission to «ho people* reserves 1 on anything but a strictly limited number of days. H« had always supported the principle of tile reserves being made a* free as potjsible. He was prepared to go to the ' extent of the right to charge up to ten d*y«, but he could nob go beyond that. He regretted to have to oppose the clause. THE RIGHT TO FJREBH AIR. Mr. fisher said that it wa« an extraordinary thing that so much trouble wm being made about five acres of land which was a city reserve on the ground ithafi the people had the right to get freth air. And yet th«re were 800 acres of city reserves where <>he, people could get fresh air all the year round for nothing. The principle, apparently, was that the fresh ail' in some particular spot/ wae what was wanted. There were hundreds of people in Wellington why were not ratepayers, either directly oi* indirectly. Mr. C. A. C. Hardy considered the Wellington City Council had reason, to congratulate itself on the way it had fostered its reserves. The proposal was • very reasonable one and he- proposed I to support iff Mr. Button declared his cieed thus 1 ; Sblic recreation grounds ihould be open the public. ' AN AUCKLAND SUPPORTER. Mr. Myers said he was a believer in open spacet, but he wae of opinion that no harm would scorn* from allowing the \ City Council to charge for admission to reserves on an extra, number of days. He thought it would be a good thing to reduce the number of extra days from 30 to 20. ' Mr. Eii objected. If that woe al- ' lowed the same thing would have to be granted to every oflief nraflicipafliiy. Mr. Myers : You have already estab* liahed the principle by allowing the council to charge for admission on ten days a year. , ' j TRUST THEM NOT. f Mr. EH said they could not trust local bodies. Only » few years ago the L .Wellington City Council asked for V power to lease the town belt and' shut) j ~>fcitt the public. Parliament had to prot«rfe the ktereste of the Wellington pnbjsfaiand wa* going to do so. The rates j jpfr the city had come down. / Mr. Wright j Th«y at© the same a* I th«y were, whether they have come down or not. Mr. Ell : The hon. gentleman is talkiig wbnfch. Mr. Wright said that although the rates had decreased the* value of the ltnd had gone up, so that ratepayers

weie paying na much a« in the past. Cricket, in Wellington, he added, was in a very parlous condition, and sports clubs generally could not flourish ufilew something was done to assist them. If the rates were increased to make up for the expenditure the rates would i£crea.se proportionately. Mr. Luke said thafc last year the rotes of Wellington were £153,000, and the yea* before they were £139,000. He supported the Bill, in the belief that it was the best way to keep up the recreation ground* of Wellington, as the council could nob get by way of rate* sufficient funds in enable it to supply recreation grounds for Wellington. Mr. Isitfc said that the thirty days proposed meant Saturdays, and h« (thought that th» member in charge would do well to accept a compromise. A proposal to insert the word "And," with a view to excluding museums and aquariums was carried By 40 votes to ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS EXCLUDED. ** Mt>. Ell then moved to exclude " Zoological Garden* " from the clause. He wa« surprised at Mr M*Laren supporting the proposal—a, man who waa sup' pMed to represent the interest* of the worker*. Mr. M'Laren «aid he had never pro* posed Anything but a charge of 2d for adult* and Id for juveniles. Wellington had a large floating population, tt wa« a gross exaggeration of his views to eug* ge«t that he wanted to charge adult* l« and children 6d for admi&um to tho Zoo. , Mr. Wilford ' announced at 5.10 p.m. that ho would agree to » ct«npromi«e. Me would reduce the days to which ad' mission could be charged to twenty, Mr. Taylor i Will you undertake those twenty day* will not include a public jioliday, a Saturday, or a> Sunday? - Mr. Wilfordj No, beeauwf we now hay© the right to charge for ten Satur* days. On a division, Mr. Ell's amendment wa« carried by 37 votes to 26. , "WELL-MEANING FADDISTS." Mr. Ell moved an amendment to pro* ride that the council shall have power to charge foY admiftion on only ten days, instead of thirty. " 1 wonder -what well-meaning faddists like the member for Christchurch South cost the countw," said Mr. Herries, "and what incalculable mischief they do in the pursuit of their fads. Here," he added, "was a Bill to which everyone in Wellington agreed. Not a single objection had come before the House or the Local Bills Committee or from the council. .No one objected to it, and yet because the member for Christchurch South had some fid in his head he was going to 'stonewall ' and prevent the Bill passing. He thought it would be better if Mr. Ell kept his fade in the background instead of obtruding them, where they were not wasted." WHAT THE PRIME MINISTER THOUGHT. Sir .Towph Ward said he had voted against the inclusion of the Zoo in the Bill. He urged that every member ha-d a right to conserve the reserve* to the public, and should n«t b« called a faddist because he used' Sis privilege in that respect. He wae prepared to support » proposal to have the thirty day* reduced to twenty, tie did not believe that sport coald be carried on unless there was -the right to make a charge for admission. Mr. Maasey objected to the interference with the affairs of Wellington that had come from the Government side of the House, and to the' time that- had been wasted in discussing it. MORE ABOUT COMPROMISE. Sir. Myers suggested that the Bill should be amended so as to provide, that' the council be allowed to* charge on ten Saturdays and on ten other days. ' Mr. Wilford saul he was not pre« pared to accept that compromise. Mr. Stallworthy contended that Mr. Ell's " fads " had been productive of great benefit to Wellington— the acquisition of Wilton* Bush, 'for instance— in addition to the amendments he had al< ready had carried in the Bill, further, he was of opinion that very few people in Wellington knew what the Bill pro* posed. Speaking later ? Mr. Wilford said he wae supported in hie proposal by a number of sports bodies, and not only the Cricket Association. Jii present the council could charge for admision on ten days during the year. Wellington required at least £10,000 to make a recreation ground, and already £30,000 had been spent in that direction. The only place to make recreation grounds was on the Town Belt. If it was wrong for the local authority to have the right to charge admission, then Sydney absolutely negatived that idea. Grandstands and other conveniences would be provided, and there were plenty of- reserves which would be open to the general public on the days that a charge was made for admission to one reserve. He contended that the people who looked on at a game should contribute something towards the upkeep of the ground. REACHING AN AGREEMENT. i x At 8.30 p.m. Mr. Wilford agreed to 'the word "thirty" being struck out on the voices, and Mr. Ell at once moved to insert the word "ten." This was defeated by 46 votes to 17. The word " twenty " was then inserted on the voices, with ths added words "provided that not more than ten of such days in any year shall be fixed on Saturday." Other aspects of the* measure were discussed (as reported elsewhere), and the Bill wa« reported with amendments.