WELL RECEIVED

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 94, 22 April 1931, Page 15

WELL RECEIVED

MR. LUCKIE AT ISLAND BAY

TRAMS AND BUSES

"There seems to be very little interest in the Municipal elections," said Mr. 3. 0. Sborland, a former city councillor, ivbo presided .at-.tho mooting of Mr. M. I. Luekio, the independent Mayoral candidate at the Masoniy Hall, Island Bay, last,■night, "but tins, is, ,a little better. The. last time we had a meetiag here, there were eleven present; to-night there are thirty." Councillor Luckie, he said, had. attended to the ratepayers' business for many years, and had attended to it well, as was shown by the fact that his attendance at both committee meetings and council meetings, from the published reports, ranked high amongst his fellows. His long service in. many capacities to the city ontitled him to .look'for the position of Mayor, Mr. liiiekie said lie appreciated the fact that ho proposed to undertake the position of Mayor at a very critical time. He stressed the fact that much of the expenditure in the past had been unavoidable, and, with few exceptions, ; fully justified, while the peculiar position of the city, both ia original laylout and natural configuration, had made | the .undoubted progress which had been made very costJy. Some of the services had a utility and health value quite beyond their money costs, such as the recreation grounds and tramways.

LONG DISTANCE FARES. , Much had been said of tramways and buses, but lio claimed that they liad been run to the greatest advantage ck the public generally, and with the greatest efficiency in comparison with running costs. Although this year had shown a material reduction in the numbers carried, due to the very general unemployment, the running costs had been kept down, and the trams had been able to wind up with a credit balance of some £8000. The difficulty with the buses was that they had to run in areas where it was impossible to run trains, where tramways could either not be laid or could not be run economically, and in t^lcu1 to serve the people in the outlyii" districts they had had to run buses. Tlio fact that they had lost on the bus services should not be held to be a condemnation of the transport, systom. The return was not the only consideration. It was the duty of. the city to supply moans of transport; The expense per car mile was more in buses than in trains, but the fact .that the net loss on the combined services was less than £4000 on au expenditure running into £500,----000 showed, efficiency and economy. There was not the slightest probability of the long distance fares being increased. Whatever loss was made on the universal/fare, was for the benefit of the city, <md this feeliug was. shared, he believed', by every member of the council. -.It-was-the short distaiico fares that paid, it was true, but the vital importance of inducing citizens to Jive in the outlying districts coiild not be ov.er-estimatec?.

Congratulating the electric light and power department on efficient management, Mr. Luckio said that while provision could be made, and ultimately no doubt would bo made, to reduce charges in the electric lighting department by applying profits to that purpose, it was necessary to keep a very strong reserve in these departments. ACCESS JPEOBIiEMS. "Uoalmj; with the eastern and western .leee&^pioblems, Mr. Luckie said that the authouty to procoed with tho tempoiarily delayed works was of the gieate^t- importance, both to the citizens, and to the tramway system, as thesome and non-paying sections would bo'cut out. In the wea.t they would cut out the Moleswortfr'street-Tinakori rond section, a long ride on a non-pay-ing (section. The western scheme provided for .i duplicate route to Karori cemetciy. It would not be a burden on the latopayers, as the: bulk of the c.\penditme would come out of the tiamway funds, and it would give con- \ enienee to a very large section of the city population, which had been promised it year after year. There would be a similar saving in the eastern tiamway proposals, as the tunnel would piovide more convenient access than either of the two rontes at present existing, and besides providing a saving of time, would mean a saving in running. It was the strong advice of the tramways manager that these two lines should be gone on with, and, in fact, the position that had arisen was one of the reasons that he was standing alone there that evening. In that respect he wished to point out that he was in a very different position from that, which he had occupied when he had, in common with half a dozen others, addressed them before. It was difficult for him to cover all the ground in the electorate singlehanded, just as it was difficult for him to fully discuss all the questions he would have liked to. Instead of enlarging on several subjects, as he would have done formerly, he now had to try to cover all. , He hoped: some of those he could not reach would appreciate the fact. ■ After questions had been asked and answered, Mr. B. Dawson moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Lnckie for his informative address, with a vote of confidence in his ability for the high office to -which he sought election. He had known Mr. Liickie since he was a boy, and knew that he had worked for many years in the interests of the citizens. His knowledge of affairs in the City Council was calculated to make him a worthy Mayor. Mr. John Mackay seconded the motion, which was carried -unanimously.