LABOUR’S POLICY

Evening Star, Issue 22952, 9 May 1938, Page 7

LABOUR’S POLICY

CANDIDATES SPEAK AT BOSLYN Three ■ Labour candidates,, the Rev. E. T: Cox. Dr, D. G. M‘Millan, and Mrs M ‘Mil lan, who are seeking election to the ■ mayoralty, City Council, and the. Hospital Board respectively, spoke to a large audience in the Roslyn Theatre on Saturday night. Mr D. Madigan was in the chair. As was: perhaps natural, considering the hall selected, for. the speeches, the Kaikbrai trams were well discussed by both Mr Cox and Dr M‘Millan. During the, past two years, said Mr Cox, the tramways. department had . repeatedly advised the council .to .substitute, buses for' trams on the hill routes, particularly regarding the. Roslyn,, Maryhill, and.Opoho lines. In each report there was a , good •- case on the grounds .of speed, comfort,, and economy. With those reports- in mind, it was assumed when : the question of whether the Kaikorai Company’s lease should be extended or terminated came before the committee that there would be no difficulty in operating.the route with buses. As they: would be more economical, speedier, and more comfortable, the committee'recommended to the council that the lease should be terminated at the expiration of its term. That was a unanimous decision, without any party bias whatever. When the matter came before the council some members desired further information, and Mr Cos said that on his casting vote a decision was deferred until a report was received from the department. “ This report is not conclusive,” he continued. “On it I could not undertake the personal responsibility of, changing .the system. The department is ’ hot yet convinced that buses can with safety meet the dangers of frost and snow Until this is proved without a shadow of doubt it is not fair, either to the council or to the citizens, to make. a change. The alternatives are that the lease to the company should be extended or that the.,council should purchase the plant from the company.. It is .desirable that the latter alternative should .be adopted; but unless the Kaikorai Company makes a reasonable offer to the council I would be in favour of an exterision of the lease.” Mr Cox was subject to many interjections during his remarks. When he stated that buses had been tried on the Roslyn route with results satisfactory to the managerial minds he was greeted by a chorus: •“ No, definitely not!” “ Will you listen to me?” demanded Mr Cox. “ I said satisfactory to the managerial minds.”

“ Certainly not to our minds,” came a call. ’ ’

Mr Cox: I doubt if you have a mind that would even rattle.

“ We seem to be the wrong people,” the interjector called back. Mr Cox: Yes,, and that is why you remain at the back' of the hall and-will not take ringside seats.' . ' This remark caused two men' ■ at the back of the hall to come to the front, ah action greeted with loud applause, Mr Cox:was subject to further heckling when he referred to the comfort of buses, but he again- insisted he, was speaking of departmental reports, and that he would make his own personal viewpoint quite clear. He received applause when he did so. ' " PARTY INTERESTS.” .That the Kaikorai cable car service should he Fought by the council If it could be purchased at a reasonable figure was argued by DrM'Millan., He was not in favour of renewing the lease, but he would not support paying a fantastic price for the service. The council had asked, the, company , to advise it .of the-.price at which it would be prepared to sell, and if that were reasonable he would support acceptance of it. The hose tap charge was discussed briefly, and described by,Dr M'Millan as one of the :most stupid .things , that could be thought of from a political point of view. From an ethical point of view, however, he considered it the only right thing to do. Ho spoke again also of the criticism that the council should have made a grant in a lump sum to the retiring city electrical engineer (Mr M. C. Henderson) of the £2OO to which he would have been entitled as his three months’ retiring allowance if he had not resigned. “ It has been said repeatedly. that the council should have made Mr Henderson a gift of that money,” he said. “ Mr Henderson resigned so that he could stand for election as' a councillor. Ho is standing as a Citizens’ candidate. If he had retired so' that.he could stand as a Labour candidate and the council bad made him a grant of that £2OO, would not it have been called one of the biggest scandals of all time?” Accusations that party interests were allowed to enter, into the engaging of men for vacancies on the council’s staff were ■ described by Dr M'Millan as .absurd. In the E.P. and L. department, as ' a matter of fact, it happened that not one new man on the staff while he had been chairman of the committee was a member of the Labour Party. Men were engaged purely on their qualifications, lie said, and all that the council asked of a head of a department who wished to have a man dismissed was that ho should give a good reason for such action. Quoting Mr A. H. Allen’s comments on the council’s alleged sys-

tem of making appointments, Dr M'Millan said that since Mr Allen had disclosed a committee matter, he could be excused for- disclosing another. He then described one committee meeting at which Mr Allen was present and which received a request from the departmental manager for the appointment of a young man to his staff. Mr Allen said he knew of a young man with excellent qualifications who had had bad luck, and on his recommendation that young man whs given the position. “ That is the. only instance of which I know' in the life of this council of a man being engaged without the recommendation of the head of the department,” lie' said. “ PERSONAL JOURNALISM.” Dr M'Milkn spoke briefly of several of the present 1 councils activities, arid criticised strongly the Citizens’ Association policy and its; forecasts. What he described as “ personal journalism ” in the Dunedin newspapers came in for condemnation. ‘ “ .We have had deplorable, examples ■;of this type of journalism in the correspondence columris of the Dunedin papers in the past jweek or so,”, he. said. > “.The - insinuations . that have , been made against Mr Cox are absolutely disgraceful. to the city.”. (Applause,) . He did not blame the reporters or the editors for any of, the misrepresentation and distortion of facts which were presented to the public. “ They have their jobs to do,” he’said,. “and they, have to carry out the instructions of those who own the:papers.” He returned to this subject when a question was asked about the purchase by the council of the Passmore property; “I, want to deprecate the insulting innuendoes that have been in, the correspondence columns of our newspapers lately,” he said. “ When you want to avoid a libel action, you just ask a question. Don’t make a statement. These people, who have been asking questions of the mayor know that their insinuations are groundless, but they avoid a libel action and get the dirt in just the same.” HOSPITAL BOARD CRITICISED. An explanation of the scope of the Otago Hospital Board’s ,work and the system on which it was financed, was offered by Mrs M‘Millau. She criticised the present board’s parsimony in its treatment of people in need of outdoor relief and of indigent sick who required treatment in their own homes. The speaker emphasised that the Labour candidates advocated improved treatment of' these people and of the inmates of the board's benevolent institutions. She outlined , briefly the various measures which she had been advocating throughout the campaign. At the close of the meeting a vote of confidence in the speakers was passed. 1