MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 20779, 29 April 1931, Page 1

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

LABOUR CANDIDATES Messrs F. Jones, P. Neilson, Mark Silverstone, and Mrs A. Herbert, Labour candidates for municipal honours, addressed the electors of North-east Valley in the Town Hall last evening. Mr A. Morrison occupied the chair. The first speaker was Mrs Herbert, who outlined Labour’s policy on hospital matters. She congratulated the medical institutions on the work they were doing, but expressed the need for a greater extension of the service. Sho contended that there was insufficient accommodation in Dunedin for maternity cases, stating that many mothers had been unable to gain admittance into either St. Helens or the Batchelor Hospitals. In such cases a trained nurse was sent to the home of the mother; but she maintained that ■ when the mother needed the greatest attention the services of the nurse were not available. The speaker maintained that many of the unemployed girls should be trained along scientific lines to step into such homes when the services of the trained nurse were no longer available. After putting in a plea for the establishment of a municipal milk supply, Mrs Herbert attacked the policy of hospital boards in curtailing expenditure on hospitals. It was once said that Labour had no right to be represented on public bodies, said Mr Neilson in opening his remarks, but the success achieved by Labour candidates, on public bodies iiii England and other countries had changed that idea. He contended that the workers constituted 80 per cent, of the people of a municipality, therefore they had the right to have representation on the public bodies in that dis--trict. Mr Neilson attacked the City Council’s inactivity in regard to the protection of the residents from another Leith flood. He also emphasised the need for good housing for the people, and stated that the council should have spent the money required to build the palatial new Town, Hall in this direction. To-day they were attacking the high hospital rates, but this was due to a great degree to the bad housing of a large number of people. The speaker outlined the building up of the municipal trading concerns, which were at one time in the hands of private companies, and stressed the necessity of these services being municipalised. If jt was beneficial to have good water,electric light, gas. and tram services, why not extend these services still further ? He stressed the need for a better milk and also bread service. The munjcipalisation of these services would eliminate the great waste that was going on daily, in addition to increasing the quality of the goods being supplied, thus reducing the risk of spreading tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and dyptheria, in addition to providing better conditions, for the man delivering the good,-,. 'i , ■ V , Mr F. Jones attacked the" council’s work fit Waipori, and stated that the new dam which was now being built had every possibility of proving _ a “ white elephant.” This was costing the publis £200,000, and he considered that it was a sheer waste of public money. What was going to happen when" the Waitaki scheme was linked up with Waipori? he asked. He also attacked the council’s methods of undertaking works on the road. He said that he was in favour of council work being done by the council and not by contract. Mr Jones supported the previous speakers’ remarks in regard to the milk supply, and stated that vt had been found in Wellington that 295 pallors of water was being put into the milk every day before the council took over control. “I wonder how. much is being added in Dunedin?” ho , S Mr Silverstone confined his remarks to answering hjs critics, and forcibly urged the workers to vote for the unimproved system of rating. A motion of confidence in the speakers was carried unanimously.