MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 18255, 20 April 1923, Page 5

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

ADDRESSES BY DR MACDONALD AND OTHERS. Five candidates for seats on the City Council—Br R, Gordon Macdonald, Messrs H. A, Le CVen. H. T. Sanders, J. J. Bardsley, and Mrs Leech —addressed a fairly largo number of ratepayers in Smith’s Hall. Hanover street, last evening. Air J. H. Wilkinson presided, and brieflv introduced the candidates. He said that it must be very to the candidates to see such a keen interest being taken in civic affairs. It was to be hoped that the citizens would exercise their wisdom by electing the best candidates to the council. Dr Macdonald was well known to them all, and_ be need say nothing about bis capabilities. Mr Lo Cven was at one time a member of the Mornington Council, and Mr Sanders was a well-known business man. Dr Macdonald spoke first. Ho said be wanted to advance Dunedin commercially, socially, and morally. He also wished to see a wise administration of civic affairs. He was not an extremist, and ho believed it was useless to make foolish promises. When previously a member of the council he had found that lie could pet nothing dono because the council was composed of a clique or cliques. The mayor had the power to select the chairmen of his committees, and he took care to select men who were more or less subservient to him. Ho had objected to that procedure, and, of course, there was nthing more said about it. But they did not want Macdonald on tho council at tho time. The present councillors proclaimed themselves to be wonderful financiers, and they were out to make the accounts balance at the end of tho year; but when bo, was a member of the council he found an account for £70,000 or £BO,OOO about which nobody knew much. He was told that it was an overdraft. Lately the overdraft amounted to £152,000, all through bad finance by the experts at the Town Hall. The sum of £BO,OOO out of that £132,000 had been floated into a loan, nnd would hang round their nocks for the rest of their lives, and tho balance would be, floated into a loan shortly. He had pointed out that that was done without the knowledge of the citizens, but bis opinion was disregarded. Four years ago the city wanted a new water scheme, and a number of councillors were anxious to bring in. the Lee .Stream to the Southern Reservoir. This reservoir was capable of holding only 22.000,000 gallons, and the result of that proposal would be that they would have dirty water in their taps. Tho Leo Stream scheme was to have cost £60.000, but it had cost £200,000. The speaker contended that they had an abundance of water at their doors if they would onlv take the trouble to collect it. On March* 31, 1922, the total debt of the City Council was £1,955,874, and since then- about £400.000 had been raised in loans, while in tho near future another £400,000 or more would he raised, with tho result would be a debt of about £2,COC 910 for a population of about 65,000 people. There were certain assets in the shape of gasworks, electric works, waterworks, drainage works, and certain buddings, the value of which was unknown. He knew numbers of people who had left Dunedin on account of the high taxation. Up to the present he had devoted himself to destructive criticism, but he had some constructive ideas also. Ho then referred to the food question, and said that the council should license everyone who sold food. The housing question was next dealt with, the speaker remarking that houses in lanes were not a good thing. Their erection in such places was the result of people grasping for money, but such a policy was not wise or right from a municipal or social point of view. The city required a destructor, which was absolutely necessary for the health of the people. Ho then referred to the purchase of the Waipori plant, which, he contended, would bo one of the best schemes the city ever had. He i asserted that he had done more for tho city than any man at present sitting on tho council. Ho had spent twenty years at the hospital, looking after the sick for two or three hours a day, without receiving a, “copper.” If that was not worth something, then he would like to know what was. If they sent him to the council he would carry out his part to the entire satisfaction of the ratepayers. MR LF> GREN. Air Le Cren said that two years ago he had unsuccessfully contested a seat on the council. If he could not get there on his own merits, he would not get in by hanging on to someone else’s coat tails. He had been a member of the Drainage Board, Harbor Board, and the Benevolent Trustees. He referred to several minor matters at the outset, and then said that shelter sheds should be erected at every tram terminus where they were not already in existence. In referring to the cable cars, he said that the gripmen should be thoroughly schooled in the art of driving cars. The control of the street traffic should be in the hands of the police. It was more dangerous to cross the streets of Dunedin, at a busy time than it was to cross the streets in Wellington. Certain streets should bo set aside for the parking of motor cars, and all cars not belonging to the people in the city should be registered if they remained in Dunedin for more than three months. With regard to playing areas, it should be the duly of tho municipality to see that sufficient spaces were available. _ So far a fish market had not materialised, and in his opinion it would be advisable to leave well alone. The people would have noticed that in dry weather the water cart was not out, whereas in wet weather it was always out. He considered that there were too many stopping places for the cars, referring specially to the stops at both sides of the Octagon. He was very pleased to see that there was a move to get a new post office, and he considered that a building was required for all Government offices, as at present many people did not know where a particular office was situated. In referring to the streets, Air Le Cren stated that Cumberland street and the Anderson Bay road were in a disgraceful state He believed the authorities were going to take up the whole of the tramway rails on the Anderson Bay rea l and relay them. The Alunicipal Act should be amended so that the people would have absentee votes, the same as they had at a General Election. It was quite unfair that a man who had a big stake in the town should he unable to vote if he happened to bo away on election day. He expressed the opinion that it was a pity that the ward system had been done away with, and concluded by saying that he bad no axe to grind. He was a free agent, and if returned would serve the ratepayers to the best of his ability. AIR SANDERS.

Mr Sanders at the outsat referred lengthily to the original planning of the city and the developments that had taken place since. Ho said that it had occurred to him that the council of the_ day was not carrying out the original design. Mr Tannoek had made a beauty spot of the Town Belt, but beyond that there were areas of land which were eminently suitable for building on, and which had come in as part of the city property. These lands were surveyed in the expectation that they would come in as part of the city area. The council had not done the best that might have been done in regard to some engineering work about the city, the speaker referring specially to the George street bridge in this connection. The Leith canal was a very necessary work, but it would have four or five bridges, with stone piers, which w-oukl probably encroach on the footpath on either side. It had been said that the work of the council was left entirely in the hands of the town clerk, and that the councillors were merely catspaws, but he did not think that such was the case. MR BAEDSLEY.

Mr Bardsley said he was a native of Dunedin, and took a keen interest m the affairs of the city. His platform was progress, and he was pleased to say that the city was “not bad as regards finance.” The city had! one of the finest assets in New Zealand in the Waipori power scheme. The time was coming, ho said, when this country would have to supply abundance of coal, water, and, power, and

as a manufacturing centre Dunedin was going to be one of the foremost cities, of the dominion, as it would supply moat of the people’s needs. He would l , if returned to the council, endeavor to keep down the small expenses. It was the gleanings they wished to gather up and place in one heap. It would also no his duty to try and reduce taxation. Accoid-» ing to reports, all the municipal industries were paying concerns. Ho strongly advocated tramwav extension, especially to Anderson Hay, bpoho. and Maori Hill, and ho was in favor of electrifying the KosIvn services. There were numerous beauty spots around the city, but those places needed to be -.tended and thus provide additional playing areas for the children. He. was in favor of the appointment o a council appeal board, whereby the employees could brine their grievances forward and he sure of getting a square deal. He concluded bv saying that in his opinion the law should be changed to enable a retiring mayor to take the position of do-putv-mavor, and thus give the new mayor the'benefit of mature advice and expencnco' MRS LEECH.

Mrs Leech said she was a free woman. Rho had no family, possessed a comfortable home, and had plenty of leisure time, She was sure a lady councillor would be an acquisition to the city. There were la y councillors in London and Liverpool. Sie referred to the want of playing areas, the pavement of the streets, and the re-estab-lishment of women policy patrols. If the Government would not give them women police, then she hoped tho corporation would give them women patrols for tho safety of the women and children. They should huvo town planning if they wanted to avoid slums in the future, and they should also do something to get rid of the smoke and dust frorn the city. It was oulv after careful consideration and at the request of many of her friends that she had consented to offer her services. Tf returned she could assure them that she would give her loyal co-operation with the other councillors in looking after the welfare of the ratepayers and the city generally. At the conclusion of the addresses a vote, of thanks was accorded tho candidates. MEETING AT NORTH-EAST VALLEY. Cre Begg and Wilson addressed a meeting of electors at North-east Valley last evening. Mr Geo. Calder presided over a small attendance, and apologised for the absence of Cr Taverner, who was to have been present, but who had, owing to a bad throat, been unable to attend.

Cr Begg touched briefly on the operations of some of the trading concerns of the corporation, making particular mention of the insurance venture and of the water supply. He defied any ratepayer to come forward and prove that the administration of anv department had been a muddle, as hacf been alleged by certain newspaper correspondents, and ho quoted figures to prove that the council s administration had been very successful. Referring to the tramways, he said that, us a councillor, ho had at all times adyorated the pushing on of extensions. The Opoho extension work would be comrrnmeed very shortly, and ho criticised the council for not having proceeded with the Forbury extension before now. They had the matter of the Maori Hill electric service well in hand, and, _ though there were a number of engineering difficulties to be contended with, it was likely that the work would be pushed along with other works now in hand. Cr Begg stated that the electric power and light°deuartment had come in for a good deal of‘criticism lately on the delay that had occurred in the completion of their last unit. The delay was largely caused by the manufacturers at Home not beum able to fulfil their contracts up to time? When this work was completed there would be ample power for all. Cr Begg referred to a scheme which the department had adopted that allowed house holders to connect up on the pre-payment system. All they had to do was to apply at the Town Hall, and the work of in stalling the power would be clone, the department being paid on the time payment system. , Speaking of the work of the water department, of which he is chairman, Or Hew said that the consumption of water in The city ran from 3.000,000 gallons to 5,000.000 gallons per day. This worked out at seventy-five gallons per head of the population. He touched on the work being carried on at the Southern Reservoir, and said that it should be completed towards the end of the year. _ Cr Wilson spoke, dealing mainly with the Works Committee’s operations A vote of thanks was accorded the speakers for their addresses. LABOR CANDIDATES. Three Labor candidates—Messrs Moss and M‘Donnell (for the City Council) and Murrow (for the Harbor Board)—spoke in the South Dunedin Town Hall last evening. , , . , . Mr Murrow said that m making bis debut ns a Labor candidate be wished to make it clear that in his firm belief the Labor Party was the only party that, stood for progress. They were satisfied with the existing state of affairs, and they believed that if Labor representation were secured on the various nubile i.odies of Dunedin then the interests of the workers and the interests of progress would bo secured. In opposition to Labor there had been set up, or revived, a body called tbo Citizens’ League. Formerly it was the “ Loyal ” Citizens’ League, but whatever its name was he did not intend to waste much time on it, because no one knew who the members were — apart from the candidates who had been nominated for office. The Dunedin, ho continued, did not get fair treatment in any respect, and as one instance he would like to state that the rolls were such that a full 10,000 of the workers were disfranchised. Dealing with Harbor Board matters, be expressed his disappointment at the lack of information which the official reports of the Otago Board contained as compared with the reports issued by the Wellington and Auckland Boards. It was"not hj.s intention to indulge in any very drastic criticism of the present members of the Harbor Board, because they compared more than favorably with the present members of the Citv Council, and also because he was quite well aware that they were faced with serious difficulties in the matter of finance. At the same time one could not but be struck by the extraordinary discrepancy which existed between tbo cargo handling facilities provided in Dunedin as compared witli those in Wellington, for instance. His own view was that in this and every other way Dunedin should be made the port of Otago, and although that view might not be accepted by some of his friends at Port Chalmers, he was sure it would be supported by the majority of the people of Dunedin. Another matter that required attention was the provision of proper railage facilities to the wharf. He understood that the board had considered this matter, and that plans had actually been drawn up, but the whole thing, he believed, had then been turned down. Dealing with the large reclamation area owned by the board at the back of the wharf adjacent to the railway, Mr Murrow stated that the term of fourteen years was not approved by those who desired to take up this land, with the result that the area was lying idle and was not producing any revenue. The sooner this land was brought into use the better for the board and the better for Dunedin; and if he were elected he would advocate an extension of the term of the lease provided that was shown to be the best way out of the difficulty. It was contended by the board that land values were rfclng, and that fourteen years was a sufficiently long term, but even at the risk of incurring a slight monetary loss he would be in favor of extending that term in order to get the land opened up and occupied. As at present constituted the board contained a certain number of representatives of the people, a Government nominee, and three members representing the payors of clues on ships and the payers of dues other than on ships. That was to say it included a privileged representation on behalf of about 240 persons of one particular class. He had it on reasonably good authority that those three gentlemen practically controlled the board. Another direction ,ia 'which the harbor could effect a great improvement would be in removing the present casual element

!in connection with waterside labor, and if elected he would endeavor_ to have a remedy provided in this direction. What was wanted in connection with all their local bodies was a percentage of men who had ideals to live up to, and the interests of the people at heaf'u. (Loud applause.) A resolution of confidence in the party was carried. BOROUGH OF KAITANGATA. That the scene has changed in the Kaitangata Borough elections is evidenced by the contest for all the positions, tho following nominations having been received : For mayor; Messrs Robert Aitchison (retiring mayor) and John Wm, Fenton. For the council: Messrs R. D. Welsh, A. Stewart, Gordon Smaill, Wm. Morrison, Jas. Donaldson, Ernest Richardson, John Ramsden, Wm. Braidwood, Robert M‘Gillivray, Jno. W. Finch, Wm. M‘Dongal I, and Arthur C. Brown. The first five are the only sitting members seeking re-election. Nine members are required for the council. For one member on South Otago Hospital Board Messrs Robert Aitchison and John W. Fenton are nominated.