MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Evening Star, Issue 14038, 20 April 1909, Page 1

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

MORNESTGTON MATORALTT Cr A. H. Bridger, a candidate formayora' honors, addressed a fairly large audienct in the Mornington Presbyterian Hall las*, Mr P. M. Shortt presided. Mr Bridger, who- was well received, said that' he had been requested by a large number of ratepayers and-.. residents : to allow himself to he nominated', for the mayoralty. It gave him pleasure to place himself iu the hands of the electors, and he trusted that the manner in which he the duties of councillor in the past would merit their confidence and sup- -- He had at all times interested himself in the details affecting the works of,, the borough, but he had generally taken a special interest in v * —Roads and Tramway Matters.— His policy had been justice to every part of the borough and to all concerned, always trying to look at everything from an unbiased point of view. Whenever any. money was to ho expended on improve--ments, his vote had gone in the direction of giving it to the streets that required it the most. At the same time he recognised that judicious economy was necessary m order that the rates should' be kept down to a minimum. In order that they might fully understand the present position of the borough, he proposed taking the: various sections in detail. . Touching municipal finance,; the' debit balance on April 1, 1908, was £2,253 16s. JOd, and on March 31, 1909, it was £2,747 2s, or £493 6s 2d worse than last year. He had taken these figures from the balance-sheet. The actual i esults of the municipal departments, .leaving out water and lighting,, were Debits, £3,426; income, £2,932, or £454 to the bad for the year. This’ could be accounted for by Matthews's claim for street widening (£484) and the increased chaige for charitable aid (£236), making a total of £l2o, which, subtracting £454 f ™m £720, would have left the Council £286 to credit. It should he borne -in mind that the £484 was not a recurrino charge, but the charitable aid chaige, ho was afraid, would continue, and, therefore, the expenditure for the incoming year would need careful supervision. As to* the road widening claim, they would know that the Council had been trying to settle this claim for three years. There was a clause in the Act forbidding the reduction of a road after it had been dedicated to the Government. Therefore, after all their trouble, the money had to be paid. The Council had not a great stock of funds to come and go upon, and at the present time there was —A Great Deal of Work to be Done.— In regard to roads, he estimated that about £1,600 would be available for this work, and it would be made up by (1) money derived from revenue; - (2) money derived from the water department, making altogether £1,600. Of course the whole of this amount would not be available for i new work, as a portion would be required to keep weeds in subjection, and a further sum to keep the asphalt paths in order. As to the £7OO due from the water department, it had been arranged that the Connv cil were to get this money to compensate for the damage done in putting down the mains. However, so far the money had sot reached the roads department. .When the drainage was completed, £SOO, at present' payable for sanitary contract, would be available for this department, .but this; . could not take place for about twelve, months or more. Speaking of tramways,. their main line was a really good asset to: , the borough. The receipts above the ex-' ; penditure amounted to £2,767 14s 4d, equal to 27 per cent, on the £40,000 originally borrowed. Unfortunately, the branch lines fell off considerably from a paying; point of view, and, taking all the tramway system into account, the credit balances, as; at March 31, 1909, was only £lB4. Concerning Elgin road tram line, he would like the question of electricity gone into thoroughly, and he had already had a : rough estimate of £2,800 given to him. The interest of this could be taken out of the rope account, hut he would refrain from touching further upon this matter, as it was one requiring a very great amount of consideration. He thought, however, that everyone recognised that something should he done to make this line a paying concern, as the lags was at present considerable. A portion of the Maryhill line was in a veqy bad state, but when Unbalance of rails on hand was in position the line would be in very fair condition. He was sure that the ratepayers would appreciate the fact that the Streets qf the Borough—would shortly be lifted out of the darkness of the past and brought up to date by means of the electric light The cost of this would work out at about a 4d rats. The chairman of the Lighting Committee and himself had been appointed to rearrange any poles considered to be in an unsatisfactory position. As to water, this department had been carried out in the most satisfactory manner, and the chairman of the Water Committee and all concerned in carrying the matter through deserved considerable credit. The rate for this would work out at about Is butas soon as all the houses were connected there, was every, tqason to expect either a considerable reduction in the rate or a fair profit to the borough. Reverting to the subject of charitable aid, Mr Bridger said it directly concerned everyone in the borough. The rate with which these charges were advancing made a very serious call on the finances of the borough. So that they might fully realise the magnitude of this item, he would lay before them the. amounts for the last two years. That of 1907-08 was £266 Bs. while that of 1908-09 was £502 15s 2d, showing an increase of £256 7s 2d, and there was every appearance of the amount still increasing. —Concerning Drainage—the speaker said this question would receive his close attention if he were elected. It was a very important matter, touching, as it did, the health of every resident. Of the monevs available, £7,500 was allocated for this district; and some pressure would be required to get the works pushed forward. There was still a further sum of £18,600, estimated to complete the work, but'this last amount had yet to be arranged for. The work so far completed-had been a main sewer np the Glen as far as the bottom of Dalroy street. The sewer that had been put down in St. Anne’s road for some long time was not connected up to the main sewer. The proposed course to be followed by the Board in respect to the £7,500 was to continue on from Dairy street in the direction most necessary, also from Kaitnna np Gladstone street, to Windle Settlement. As he had previously stated, when this work had been completed, it would relieve the borough of about £SOO. which it now paid for sanitary contract. The rates paid were—General rate, Is 3d; drainage rate, 4£d; lighting rate, 4d; water rate. Is Id. After Cr Bridger had answered several questions in a satisfactory manner, it was moved by Mr J. P. Simon, and seconded by Mr John Hope—" That this meeting heartily thank Cr Bridger for his lucid and able address, and that all present will do all in their power to secure his election for the ensuing term.” The motion was carried hy acclamation.