MUNICIPAL MATTERS BUSINESS AT THE CONFERENCE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 27, 31 July 1912, Page 2

MUNICIPAL MATTERS BUSINESS AT THE CONFERENCE

VARIOUS AMENDMENTS.- . The Municipal Conference got through a good deal of detailed business yesterday with the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. D. M'Laren) in the chair. On the motion of the Town Clerk or Palmerston North (Mr." W. H. Collingwood) a resolution was adopted in favour of securing the legalisation of travelling allowances up to £1 a day for members of municipal bodies, and also that travelling allowances for the servants of th* local bodies be deemed lawful expenditure. A remit, moved by Mr. J. A. Nash, Mayor of Pabmewston, North, to empower councils to pay to a band or bands a sum not exceeding £100 for supplying music' for the recreation of th© public, was carried. On the motion of Councillor A. E, Hindmarsh, the following Wellingtori remit — "That council be given power to construct as public works, lifts and tunnels for the carriage of foot passengers where there are steep declivities in streets, to raise special loans for such works on special rating areas, and to, rate such areas not only in respect of the charges for the loan, but in respect of loss on working, and that the couu* cil be authorised to charge suitable fares and tolls for tho use of such tunnels and lifts," was adopted. Reference was made to. the proposed Wellington-terrace Jift and also to one suggested in' Wanganui. , The question of public transport I came up in « remit from Palmerstori North: "That tho Municipal Act, 1908, be amended to permit a local authority ,to establish aay system of traction in addition to tramways as at present defined." The mover, Mr. Nash, said there were nowadays other forms of traction which might advantageously be adopted, such as the trackless trolley car and the trolleyless train on the EdLsou-Beach system. There was also the motor 'bus^ The remit was adopted. A proposal to empower municipalities to ♦ license and control advertisement hoardings, moved by Mr. Gleeson (Auckland) and seconded by Mr. R. Fletcher (Wellington), was . carried. • " Mr. F. J. Foot (Wairoa) moved— "That the annual fees for a publican's license be increased, and that the amount thereof be proportioned directly to the population resident in the borough, and within seven miles _if the licensed promises be situated within- or without borough respectively; and inversely to t>he number of licensed houses in the area of population." The mover declared that in some districts the licensed houses had vastly appreciated in value and diminished substantially in number, so that the revenue derivable was considerably less. The motion was seconded by Mr. G. V. Pearce, M.P., who 6aid it was only fair that the boroughs which had made values bigger should get some return. Mr. W. J. M'Grath (Napier) opposed the motion, saymg he thought that the publicans paid enough already ■ and should bo left alone. Other delegates spoke strongly against the remit, which was lost. The following remit from Now Plymouth waa also defeated :—: — "That the Licensing Act be amended in the direction of increasing the license fees for hotels, the amount of tho license fee bdtng, in the opinion of this conference, not commensurate with the value of -the monopoly created by the granting of such licenses." Th» conference then adjourned: TO-DAY'S DELIBERATIONS. Tho Municipal Conference held its third session to-day, the. President (Mr. D. M'Lrtren) in the chair. The deliberations were chiefly confined to matters of detail in the various statutes . governing civic administration. ' Mr. F. W. Lang, M.P. (Onehunga) moved : — "That tho necessary steps be taken to amend tho law in respect to the pulling down of condemned buildings by throwing the onus of doing same on to the Public Health Department. Under the present system the Health Officer condemns a building, and the local body has to go to all the trouble and expense (often entailing heavy legal fees), of carrying out his wishes." Tho motion was adopted unanimously. Mr. R. T. Michaels (Auckland) moved that the principles contained in the Bill prepared by the New Zealand Federated Plumbers and Gasfitters' Industrial Association of Workers bo approved of. The Hon. T. W. Hislop said ho wondered why the inspector of schools j should be the controlling authority. There seemed to be a feeling at tho conference in favour of centralisation among local bodies, which should oppose' such a scheme. He regarded the Bui' as perfectly unworkable. There was no provision for the withdrawal of liconses in cases where the holders vrero incompetent. Ho did not think the conference should adopt the Bill in globo without seeing it or discussing it. Mr. Henry Davis (Ashburton) agreed with the view of tho previous speaker. Other speakers took the same attitude and the remit was strongly criticised. Mr. John Wilson (Dunedin) moved as an amendment that the conference approve" the principle of a Dominion, certificate for registration of plumbers and gasfitters, with the right of the local authority to suspend or endorse such certificate for 'any breach of the bylaw. The amendment was adopted practically unanimously. Mr. A. H. Hindmareh, M.P. (Wellington), moved — "That the Conference be urged to ask for power to enable local bodies to resell land dedicated to widen streets under section 117 of the Public Works Act, and which land is not necessary for such a purpose, subject to a condition that buildings must bo set back 33 feet from the centre line of euch street." Mr. Wilson (Dunedin) characterised tho remit as foolish, and the Hon. John Barr described it as 100 dangerous for the conference to touch. The President said such a remit was necessary in Wellington to secure proper alignment of streets. Mr. J. Crump (Eltham) said that in future tho question of widening a whole street might rise and the remit would only complicate such an issue. He would advocate instead the total Tepeal of section 117 of the Act. Mr. Hindmarsh said local bodies could be trusted just as much as Parliament — perhaps more so. Councils were not 6uch fools and rogues as not to be | allowed to sell land such as this, described in the remit. A lot of land now going to waste would be turned into gardens. Who would think about Wellington of making the roads sixtysix feet wide? The provision would always be that buildings must be thirtythree feet away from the centre of the road. The more power local bodies had the better. There was too much centralisation and the result would be handing over to a small clique of men who might stay in power for twenty years or more, control over local matters. And such Governments might appoint their creatures to the Upper House. The president : Order, no reference to general politics. The remit was carried 'by 26 votes to 19. The conference adopted unanimously a remit from Ohakune: — "That the Land Act bg amended tg provided fol 1 i^ds

which hay© been forfeited for non-com-pliance with th© conditions of occupation shall, on being re-offered for sale or lease, be weighted with unpaid rates, particularly those for interest on loans on the security of the said land for improvements by the local authority." On the motion of Auckland, it was resolved :— " That tho Government be moved to take into consideration the position of those insurance companies doing fire risk business in the Dominion, though not domiciled therein with special reference to their present non-liability to contribute to the maintenance of fire brigades through the fire boards." On the motion of Mr. E. M. Liffiton (Wanganui), iUwas agreed to authorise th© councils to guarantee' the loans from Government to workers on houses built on corporation leases. It was decided, on the motion of Mr. G. W. Browne (New Plymouth) to provide /that the bodies of animals dying within the borough should not be buried there, but should be removed to a digester for destruction. ,„ A proposal from Ashburton to disqualify for membership of councils di* rectors of incorporated gas or electric power companies supplying gas, etc., to the corporation* wa* rejected.