MAYORAL CAMPAIGNS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 96, 23 April 1912, Page 4

MAYORAL CAMPAIGNS

THE CITY CONTESTS. MR/J. SMITH'S CANDIDATURE, The Acting Mayor (Mr. John Smith) addressed a meeting at ihe Concert Chamber last night in support of hiscandidature for the Mayoralty. The Hon. C. M. Luke presided, and there ■were about seventy people present. Mr. Smith said he professed to be. a worker, one who would do his best to servo the interest* of the city, as he had 1 done for so many years in the past. He had intimate knowledge .of all the new public works of the city •with the exception of the water works, and that experience would ' serve him in good 1 stead, if elected. There were no works pending, non© which would tend to increase the Kites. Rather, the increased- rents from the reclaimed land might tend towards a reduction. He defended the City" CounclL'B action in purchasing the land at" Lyall Bay, which he believed would prove to be. a valuable asset, and it would be necessary in future 4o have better tram accommodation, and the Constable-street tram would have to be carried right through to Kilbirnie. He was in favour of charging a small sum for admission to the Zoo, and contended thai the City Council had done all it had been called upon to dip to support technical education. Fire insurance companies should be made to contribute towards the same object. If a Fire Board had been constituted the city would have been saved many thousands of pounds. In regard to street-widen-ing, he 6aid that the only stumbling block to the complete widening of Willis-street was the Duke of Edinburgh property, but he hoped that would eventually be overcome. The tramways, he said, were not co bad, and he dared say * the council would devise some scheme to bring about tHe increase of revenue required to balance the increase in working expenses. He thought the depreciation fund should have paid a fan- amount of interest, and ho 'had voted in 'favour of that couree when the matter was before the council. Mr. Biss -had posed as an expert in finance, bat whefl he was in the council he simply found I ' fault and complained, and Mayor Hislop told him more than once that he did not know Lthe rudiments of municipal finance.' At any rate, he (Mr. Smith) and others had dqne their best to make the position as good as possible in connection with the depreciation fund. Mr. Smith added that he had "served the city faithfully for many years ; he had had no Toward, and asked for none, and now he asked for the •reward 1 of serving the city as' Mayor for one year. .(Applause.) At the conclusion of his address Mr. Smith was accorded a vote of 'thanks and confidence, on the motion of Mr. M. Murdoch, seconded by* Mr. W. Light. MR. BISS AT NEWTOWN. Mr. A. S. Biss addressed another meeting at the Newtown Library last evening. Mr. B. Bawson presided, and about one hundred people \ve*e present. In his opening remarks, Mr. Buss took' /occasion; to reply to an assertion' by Councillor M'Kanzie, that he (the candidate)! had! cast a slur on some of the 'City Council's officers".' This he denied, as he had previously done in the columns of The Post. He said he had stated that a Mayor should be a careful administrator, and should, exercise "an efficient, control. Mr. Biss also stated that, a wrong construction had been put upon a remark of his respecting the hall in which he was then speaking. He had been asked a question as to whether he would favour the hall being used for 'museum purposes, and had replied that if that course were found advisable or necessary Newtown would have to be provided with another hall in keeping with the requirements of that part of the city. Mr. Biss £(lso took occasion: to refer to an insinuation that when he was oni the City Council he" had" endorsed the existing tramways policy so far as the depreciation funds were' concerned. As a matter of fact, Councillor Shirtcliffe and himself had worked- hard for the establishment of depreciation funds, and it was nofc until , two -years after their/ establishment that the question of their investment cropped up. . It did not follow because he acquiesced in the use of some of the funds for works at thattime that he intended such a policy to stand for ever. He ■ complained that the council had pigeonholed a Teport ' by the Engineer (for nearly twelve months), pointing out that funds would be required for renewals and replacements. This showed that there had been slackness. The candidate dealt with technical education and 'other matters touched upon in pre* viousi addresses. He said he did not claim to be a financier, but he had lived, in Wellington since he was six years of age, and the greater part of the time he had been paddling his own canoe. Und-e-r these circumstances it was imi possible for a man not to have a regard for the city's interest, and to have got some insight into its affairs. Speaking of th,e Adelaide-road properties, ne said he would have all the old insanitary buildings in the hands of the corpora■tiop, jpulled down, and until that was done people would not go there looking for business sites. (Applause.) In a reference to the demaud for better tram communication with Kelburne and Karon) he said it would be absurd fortthe city to think of taking over the Kelburne Cable Company's service on the basis set out in the agreement with ' the corporation. His own idea wa* thjit another tunnel could be made, and ■though the initial- cost would be heavy it would repay the outlay in time. ;He also said that, if elected, he would,,' go into the whole question, of tram exteii' sion, drainage, milk supply, and other matters. In regard to the milk supply, he said it was not fair to the residents of the city that their children should have to drink milk which was not pure. The candidate was accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence.' 1 , MR. R. A. WRIGHT. Mr. R. A. Wright addressed two meetings last evening, both being well attended. At Courtenay-place he dealt with the controversy which had arisen as to the number of candidates in tha field. He reminded the electors that he was the first of the group to definitely declare himself, and if other things were equal this should entitle him to consideration. He knew that many electors were in doubt as to which candidate had the largest hody of supporters. As far as ho was able to discover he believed he was the strongest man, and consequently invited these electors to vote for him. He could not help noticing the curioua fact /that in 1906 Mr. Biss, who was then a member of the City Council, and the Hon. T. W. Hielop, who was Mayor of the city, were at variance over the question of sinking funds'. Mr. Biss opposed the methods adopted by Mr. Hislop, and still did so. Yet the latter gentleman was now one of the nominators of Mr. Biss. Replying to the objection that he had never occupied a. seat on the City Council, he said that in view of the disclosures made re the tramway depreciation fund and tramway matters generally h© was not sorry that ho lacked Wellington, municipal experience. Deal-

ing -with the future, he believed that ultimately the corporation would become a very wealthy body. In land alone it possessed a inosb valuable asset, and every year this land becoming more and more valuable, the revenue of the city would increase. He had no doubt that in years to come Wellington -would become one of the finest cities for its size in Australasia. If elected he would favour a cautious policy for the ensuing year, with no increase in rates, which already were sufficiently high. He would oppose reckless experiments and assist in placing tramway affairs on a solid basis. An effort should be made to put to useful account any waste lands owned by the corporation, and the que&tion of the establishment of hot salt water baths was "worthy of consideration. The candidate also expressed a hope that the effort now being made to establish a. National Art Gallery in Wellington would prove successful. ' MR. D. M'LAREN Speaking, at Brooklyn and Berhampore last night, Mi*. 1). M'Laren said as this was the last chance he had of addressing the electors he wanted it to be known that before the Labour party asked him to stand, he was approached by many citizens and urged to come out. The first principle of city government should over be to place the collective interests of th© city as a whole before any private or sectional interests. That was the rock on which he stood, and any who could call that class representation were welcome to their little conceit. Th© people who were behind him were tha ekcioTß of Wellington City, as was shown at the last municipal election, when he polled, nearly 8000 votes, notwithstanding that the Citizens' League, had then appealed to the people to vote against M'Laren. The people had told that august body to mind ite own business, which they were likely to do again on Wednesday. After being eleven years on the council no single instance was given where he had acted against the city's interests. He stood for the sound policy of the Mayor and council, dealing only with matters of policy and Holding the officers responsible for the carrying out of all defcada of administration. He opposed the filling of billets by methods of influence and patronage, and upheld free and fair competition for all corporation -work. The city's business for supplying light and power would have his full attention, as he bdieved that department should be made a strong competitor •with the Gas Company, in order that th© people might secure cheaper light. Farther tramway extensions, such as to Boeeneath, shortening the route to Karori via Hill-street, and the Constablestreet extensions must be dealt with soon. 'but only on. the line of raising a loan -for these works. All such matters as encouragement of onr local industries, technical education, improving reserves, gmrdtana, and sporte grounds, libraries, ■museum, art gallery, and free public lectures*, .had his hearty support. He could only, promise that if returned as Mayor he would' place Hhe city's interests ever: Bret, devote" Ms full time to the' duties, and " trso the 'same' care" as' he had exhibited -as cooncilka', whfch even his critics acknowledged as praiseworthy. This was hie duty, and he could do no more than that. Votes of thanks and confidence -were accorded the. candidate. KARORI, MR. CATHIEtS POLICY. There wAe a large attendance at the Parochial Hall, Karon, last evening, whan Mr. C. Cathie, the present' Mayor, gave his final address prior to the election. Mr. L. Dairies was voted to the chair*' . . , MX Cathie, referred to the. quastion' .of water and drainage, and took credit for hairing introduced a scheme whereby two separate areas would be formed, so that people on the eastern side of the borough could get water and drainage, and those on the western side, when they -wanted it, could, have it without interference with the other. Through the exertions of the owners of the Evelyn Estate to get drainage to the city, a survey had been made, and as soon as Parliament met an Enabling Bill would be gob through. A septic tank would probably be constructed, during the present year. As to electric lighting, they had the city installation, but when the Government perfected its hydro- electrical scheme would probably be the best time for Karori to get its own service. As to the gas question, the council had shown its contract with the City Council to the Gas Company, and the latter's Jawyecs had -advised that there was nothing in it to preclude a contract being- entered into with, the Gas Company. But, said Mr. Cathie, there was the question of prudence, as when they were dependent on the city for many services, and when they were so well treated by the latter body, the move might be an injudicious one. As to the tramway extension, there had been a loss on it of about £700, but the exceptionally bad, weather experienced had been, a big, factor in this. This should be a warning to them not to incur any more expenditure which might prove unprofitable, such, as the Kelbttrne route, -which, he considered, it would be a mistake to meddle with further. (Applause.) On the motion of Mr. Pennington, seconded by Mr. T. Campbell, a vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Cathie, and "confidence in his wisdom and capability -of filling the position of mayor."