MIRAMAR.

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

MIRAMAR.

ADDRESS BY Mil. RICHARDS. 'Mr. 11. E. Richards, candidate for the Mayoralty of Mhumar, addressed a meeting oi electors, at Wyatt'r» Hall, Worser Bay, last evening. Mr Corner presided, commending the candidate for his past services to the borough as a councillor. • Mr. Richards, in his opening, referred to his work in borough matters for a term of seven years. Ho had had no a;;e to "grind. The welfare of the borough was his hobby, and it was because he felt a claim upon electors for their support that- he now came before them. He was absolutely independent of any party, and was" free from bias. The borough as iv wholes-net merely Seatoun — had engaged his attention at all times. He was not tied hand and foot to the present Mayor (Mr. Brodie). What support ho had given tho Mayor had been given because, in his judgment, it was .deserved. On the other hand, ho had differed from the Mayor on seveial occasions. The. candidate said ho was no mere speculator, but had his home and interests in the borough. He had also won the Tetpect and confidence of a. large number of the ratepayers. He had been as cloeely connected with the various improvements and worlis as eve) 1 his opponent had been. Had lie been on tho council at tho time it was proposed to alter the standardisation of tho roads—a measure he had introduced in the beginning — then something yvould have been heard about it. ; "My opponent," said Mr. Richardf, "claims to have had something to do with tree-planting, but I can tell him that 1 was tree-planting in the 'borough while he was digging up Maori specimens and drawing fanciful pictures of life her© a hundred years ago, and what this borough will be like when we are all . angek." «(Laughter.) | . Mr. Richards said ho had advocated the lire brigade, and to fur as the band was concerned, Mr. M'Leod had '"tried to put the 'kyebosh' on bands coming into the borough." Mi*. Richards asked "What harm in»there in bands, I should like to know? They are an innocent form of amusement to those who take part by playing in them. Thore are I some. people who would prefer a band to going to Church and hearing the organ. lam one of these. 1 have always held that bands should be encouraged." Ho referred to the tramways, which should have long distance care running, so that Seatoun and Minimal* passengers should not be crowded out by Kilbirnie and Hataitai. The City Council seemed !to regard the Miramar borough a« a \ happy hunting ground, from which [ £6000 was to ha derived, and so nothing was done to 'relieve tho pressure on tho cars from which the- Miramar people Buffered. The finances of the boi'ough were in a generally satisfactory condition. He thought another {d in tho £ would have to be paid on the rates to meet extra | expenditure — the Town Hnll, for instance, and the tramway through the cutting, accounting for the overdraft of some £700. If elected he would see whether some benefit fund for employees of the council could not be established on mutual lines. This would give the men an interest in« the fund. The telephone system rmould i be «.\ tended, and that was whero tho liio brigodo could be helped. The present Ju*& j-i'yjjosgl jhojga \£ yigorjijwly

prosecuted. Although ho had to work for his living> i he felt lie wa« quite capable of doing the work of Mayor. He knew what the duties wore, and his employer had warmly approved of his candidature. A vote of thanks and confidence was Eroposed by Mr. J. H. Meyer, seconded y Mr. R. Douglas, and carried unanimously. Messrs. A. Qrigg, H. A. Smith, P. Palmer, H. Griffiths, and J. G. Phillips, candidates for the council, also addressed the meeting. PETONE Mr. J. W. M'Ewan spoke afc Korokoro last evening, in connection with the Petone Mayoralty contest. There was a. fair attendance. Mr. Scroggs presided. Mr. MiEwan's address was on similar lines to that at Potono. He dealt specially with Korokoro troubles, and pointed out that there yet remained a sum of £57 to be spent on the- approaches to the settlement and on the settlement itself. He recommended the settlers to appoint an advisory committee to confer with the engineer or council from time to time in retpect of requirements, and suggested that a man might bo constantly employed in attending to roads and drainage. On the motion of Mr. R. H. Jones, Mr. M'Ewan was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence. HUTT Mr. Hi Baldwin,, a candidate for the Lower Hutt Mayoralty, addressed a meeting of ratepayer*, at Alicetown last evening. He criticised 'at some length the remarks made by Mr. Bunny in reference to the raising of loans. In regard to the two £10,000 drainage loans, he pointed out that the rate of interest was fixed by statute, and that no persons should claim credit for raising the money a,t 4i per" cent. As to amalgamation with the Hutt River Board, he stated that he Was strongly in favour of it. but he thought tho lime for bringing the question forward had been too long delayed, as the River Board had in hand now several ' im-' portaut works, and it was best that the board should complete these. At anyrate, the board would bo abolished if the new Local Government Bill became law. In spite of what Mr. Biinny had said, Mr. Baldwin contended that before any more money was spent on the present water supply an estimate should bs framed to see what it would cost to use the Belmont' Stream. He was accorded a vote of thanks.