ESSENTIALS OF CIVIC GOVERNMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 108, 10 May 1938, Page 8

ESSENTIALS OF CIVIC GOVERNMENT

Speaking at Brooklyn last night Mr. T. Forsyth,. a Citizens' candidate for the council, stated, that the essential thing was sound and economical working of the city's affairs and of living Within one's income. The municipal housing scheme of the Labour Party was advocated from their platform three years ago, but what had any of the Labour councillors done to imple-. went, their policy. The story had been exposed by the May Or. , The administration of the last three years had not been seriously criticised except in regard to the tramway dispute. Mr. Broadley, a Labour candidate, stated that the tramwaymen were the lowest-paid men employed by the City Council, but the motormen's average drawings were approximately £325 per annum, and as a matter of fact the tramway employees were higher paid than other branches of the City Council employees. , The tramway accounts for the year showed a net profit of a little over £10,000. The men were offered increases totalling approximately £15,000, but this was definitely refused. Councillor McKefin, a member of the electricity committee, had stated that anti-Labour councillors would take profits from the electricity department to telieve the large ratepayers or commercial users, and that no benefit would be given to. domestic users who helped to make profits. In reality the net revenue was £98,000 from domestic users and £157,000 from commercial users. The net cost to the domestic user was about Id per unit, whereas the commercial user paid more than three times that rate.