KARORI CONTEST.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 94, 20 April 1912, Page 3

KARORI CONTEST.

MR. W. A. KEUOW'S PLATFORM BUSINESS METHODS ADVOCATED. ■Mr. W. A. Kellow, candidate for the Mayoralty of Karori Borough, opened hi* campaign by delivering an address to the burgesses at the Borough Council Chambers, last evening. There were about fifty persons piescnt. ■ Mr. J. W. Henderson was voted to the chair. Mr. Kellow said he had the honour to again solicit the votes and interest of the burgesses in- a Karori Mayoral election. As most of those present knew, this was the third occasion on which he had been a, candidate for local' government honours — onco for the council and twice for the Mayoralty. He Mould like to state at the opening of his campaign that he would not, under any circumstances, inako.ujso of any personalities about his opponent, as he considered that such weie only the- vapouriugs of a mean and narrow mind. In fact, if he could not win an election in a straight and manly manner he would bo quite content to loese .it He would criticise his opponent's work dmring his year of office, &nd that was only fair criticism. TRAMWAY AFFAIRS. With respect to the proposed Kel,bumo route he might say thai, he had been several times asked during the past week why he now supported the Kelbumo route. The fact was that he was not supporting the Kelhurne louto. tic was not pledged to either route, but he was m favour of a. shorter. .route to the city, whether by Kclburne, Sydneystreet, Aro-street, or Hill-street, and he vould, after the most careful, enquiry, support what was found to be the best route in the interest* of Karori. He favoured the full light of day being shed upon ail .the business of the borough. Unless things were worked in a, busiuoss-like way in the district Karori would never go ahead. He would be prepared, if elected, to carefully investigate the question of the advisability of cheapening the tramfares. He went into town and returned at different times during the day and his experience had often been that after the tram passed Northland there were only two or three- passenger!*, whereas between the hours of 5 and 6 o'clock m the evening the tram accommodation was quite inadequate. He would attend to these and other matters effecting the tramways, and would/try and get the anomalies remedied. He considered that many improvements were" still required. The present state of things could be greatly improved, and he intended, if elected, to devctu his attention to thefeo matters. At cordiny to a fctatcment made by ths .Mayor it appeared that they were losing tibcmt £12* per week, phis the inieiehl on tlio luiiii iinioui)t»_, of which .31430 was i'or inteveit, which cquitMcd -Id in t.li a ilUSJl&'.tt .USLfflMißl

to make up for the running losses of the extension, making v, total of over £40 per week. Not considering that a sufficient drag on the borough, the Mayor had introduced a achemo for getting rid of the surplus of the loan saved to the borough by the economic construction of the tramway. He referred to Mr. Cathie's suggestion that the balance of the money should be taken up and expended on a local town hall. They would not find such action as that coming from him (Mr. Kellow). That was. to say, that the money borrdwed for a, specific purpose, namely, to put a tramway through tho borough, was to be allocated by the Mayor^for a pet scheme of his own. outside tramway extension and outside of the authority given by the people. CAREFUL ADMINISTRATION. Mr. Kellow then alluded to tho importance of closer attention being given to the question of a more economic, administration of the affairs of the borough. For a long time, past nothing had been done in that respect. It must be apparent to all business people that the borough's affairs were being run at too great an expense. If elected, he would go carefully into this matter. With respect to gas, he knew from experience that a great many people in Karori wanted gas for both cooking and lighting purposes. That question had not been gone into sufficiently. GAS, DRAINAGE, AND WATER. Gas should be brought to Karori free of all charges, in which case there would be no extra rates to pay ; and he thought it was in tho interests of the burgesses that that should be done. Dealing with the questions of drainage and water, Mr. Kellow said he was afraid that these improvements would have to stand over lor a little while, but he ,would endeavour, if elected, to bring down during his term of office a scheme suitable to the borough. Such a scheme would be a carefully-thought-out one, and it would be placed before the people for their approval or otherwise. Any proposed work of magnitude should first be submitted to the burgesses before any money was expended upon it. It was only during an election that they heard of anything being brought forward, and it had been the case in the past that it was dropped until the next year. . He would like to say that anything entrusted to him in that way would receive every attention, and what ability he possessed would be devoted to haviug such undertaking brought to a satisfactory conclusion. ' LAX ADMINISTRATION. There had been a tendency in the past to allow things to drift back to a state of laxity. This contest was not one of the* Kelburne route or no Kelburne, but it was a fight against the- lax administration of tne past. . If -elected, he would carefully examine any proposal put before him. He would act in a conciliatory spirit with "the members of the council — he would work with them in the best interests of the borough, and not be always fighting against them. He would put the interests of Karori before every othsr consideration. As a result of his policy and administration; acting together with the council , he was sure tho municipal affairs of Karori would be in a much improved position in the course of a short period. He had travelled over most districts of the .Dominion, and he had not seen a place that he liked so well as Karori. It wfis near the city, and yet was in the country. There was no reason why Karori should not be in a flourishing condition. Whoever was elected Mayor for the next year would haVe a hard time. Tho affairs of the borough had been allowed to get into such a state that it would take some time to put them on to a sound businc&s footing. Ho thought that his twenty-five years' business experience was a guaranteo that he would be able to successfully carry out tho duties of Mayor of the borough. At the conclusion of Mr. Kollow'b address he answered several questions, and a somewhat animated discussion took place between several persons present as to come past phases of the tramway question. A vote of thanks for his address, and of confidonce in Mr. Kellow as a fit anfl proper person to occupy tho Mayoral chair, was carried. ■ j