ELECTION EXPENSES

Evening Star, Issue 20292, 28 September 1929, Page 4

ELECTION EXPENSES

HARBOUR BOARD'S PROPORTION CHAIRMAN'S OBJECTION NO ACTION TO BE TAKEN When the recommendation that accounts amounting to £19,059 16s 4d be passed for payment camo up at the meeting of the Harbour Board last night the chairman said there was one amount which struck him as being of such a nature that the board should hesitate about the payment of it, and that was the account for £403, the cost of last election of the Dunedin members of the board.

In other words, it cost over £9O per member, said Mr Gow. It struck him that that amount was excessive. In 1923, when the board paid a quarter of the total cost, tho board’s proportion was £330 Since 1923 the cost had gone up by £l3O. Tho Act of Parliament said that the board must pay any reasonable additional cost incurred by a local authority. He was of opinion that a quartei of the cost was unreasonable. He felt quite certain that the additional cost to the City Corporation of holding the Harbour Board elections along with its own could not possibly be £463. The Act further provided that, in the event of dispute, the matter must be referred to the Audit Department, whose decision would bo final. He did not want to make trouble, but the cost was growing at such a rate that he felt the board must do something to protect itself. In addition to that cost,,the board had to pay for the election of country members. Mr Larnach said he could assure the hoard that he and Mr Dickson gave the matter a great deal of thought, and they spent a great deal of time going into it as far as they possibly could, but they had to be content with that. Mr Loudon. The point is that you (the chairman) have not given us any lead. If 1 had been chairman 1 would have gone into tho matter, and told the board exactly what 1 thought should bo done. 1 think, at the elections, there were thirty-four candidates for the City Council, eleven for the Harbour Board, and, I think, twelve for the Hospital Board. You have to get the total cost of that election, and 1 think you should have been able to tell us what you think our legitimate share of tho costs was. That is what I would have done. Tho Chairman; Well, I read you what the Act said on the matter. Mr Loudon: Oh, tho Act. You should have told us what you say should have been done. If the City Council had thirty-four candidates, and ire had eleven, we should have paid eleven-thirty-fourths of the cost, or something of that nature. There is no use bringing forward a statement unless you bring forward some constructive idea of what should be done. If 1 bad been chairman 1 would have been prepared with some propei idea of our share of the cost I think we had to pay about a £1 for every vote for the election of the country members of this hoard. The whole thing is ridiculous. Mr Larnach: I think country members are wanted. Mr Loudon: I think they are. Mr Driver: That was not so last time because there were 1,500 or 1,000 vote cast. Mi 1 Loudon: I think you, as chair man, should have given some lead as to what you thought represented a fair charge to the board of its proportion of the cost of tho election. There was a total of fifty seven candidates for the City Council, Harbour Board, and Hos pital Board, and we should pay elevcn-fifty-seyenths of the total. The Chairman; The total cost wa £1.685 for the three bodies, and the billed us with a quarter of the cost. Mr Loudon: 1 would like you to g into the question and give us a leaf . and then it can be discussed.' Mr Dickson said that the charge a. the last election was something like £3-5 more than it was two years ago, when the board paid one-third, and evi dently the City Council was the chic! body, which conducted the election and made the charge. Evidently the City Council thought that one-thir>’ Would bo too much, and they charged" one-quarter.

The Chairman; The reason why . was one-third in 1927 and one-quarte' iu 1929 is because there was no mayorn election in 1927. Mr Dickson; I am not asking for tin reason why it was done. I am stating what is a fact—that the difference last time and two years ago was something like £35, if I remember rightly; and there is nothing to bo gained by mak ing any objection to thepayment of tin account, which eventually we will have to pay, and J am satisfied we wij] have to pay it. If we had to conduct the elections ourselves it would cost a good deal more. The Chairman: The Act says “ any reasonabic additional cost.” Mr London ; Who fixes it ? The Chairman. The City Council or its officials. Wo got the account from the town clerk. Captain M ‘Donald said he could not understand the discussion at that end of the programme. If the board thought the charge was unreasonable it should give notification that iu future the board was not prepared to pay as much as it had in the past. Air Aloller thought that the only way to rectify matters was to go' to the Audit Department. There was no use going back to the City Council. The board would have to "back down and pay its proportion of the cost. It had no redress. Tho Chairauin moved that tho City Council be notified that the hoard considered the amount unreasonably high, and ask it to reconsider the claim, at tho same time calling its attention to the section of the Act which referred to the reasonable additional cost incurred by local authorities. Air Scollay seconded the motion, saying that ,if the board replied in that way it would perhaps be told tho reasons for the charge. Mr Loudon: L think your motion is on the right lines. There should be some method of apportioning the cost. I think it is unfair to charge the Harbour Board one-quarter of the cost. When the motion was put, Air Begg put up his hand as opposing it, but the chairman refused to accept his vote, Air Begg was a member of the City Council. The motion was lost by five votes t>four. ' Mr Begg: May I ask where I am placed on the voting list? 1 am not going to sit here and be a dummy. The Chairman: It doesn’t matter now, Mr Begg, the motion was lost. Tne motion for the payment of the accounts was then passed, and the incident closed.