COUNCIL BY ELECTION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 116, 14 May 1912, Page 5

COUNCIL BY ELECTION.

— «-— — I VIEWS OF .M!R B-. J. COOKE. | . * I« Contrary to .expectatitftt, a consider ! able amount -of* interest is being tak«*j ! in the forthcoming by-election to Ml •;.. the position of ■•Councillor rondeau vacant by Councillor Corry's elevation ■■ to tho Mayoralty. The contest is »c-< tween Mr B. J. Cooke and Mr A. j Curry, who contested unsuccessfully,; au election so me. yea v& ago. > Mir Cooke, in conversation with a ; pressman yesterday afternoon, gave •■ his views on Several questions of vital j importance ?to the Borough. Mr j Cooke stated that 'he was entering yao , contest-purely-as-a citizen and a. iree j lance, having no "axe to grind' shoukl he foe ejected, or was he Hhe supporter of any particular -section. j H^j was standing purely in the irI terestc? of the. Borough, which, he ! considered, could, be more advanced | than it is at present. . , He recognised that , tho duet problem for solution during the ooiuinj; year was the drainage scheme, w'hach needed -expediting. He was entirely at one with tho Mayor in Jp.s ■ suggestion tlnit a resident engines•",. capable of carrying out the work +o the lest, interests of the-. Borough, should be Appointed.. The amount' to be expenc|p oii the scheme was large, and the utmost care should be taken in its expenditure. The suggestion was on lines ; but although it was so.it made for efficiency in tho supervision of the scheme. In tins direction the Mayor had struck a right note, and one which, should h^ b© elected, would have his support in iti- furtherance. He thought that perhaps it would be wise for the Council to consider tho idea of ~h:'.ving a. sewerage farm, say on some unprofitable, stony, and therefoVa cheap land in, the .vicinity of the town. By the establishment of such a farm the laying of miles and milos of pipes would be saved, consequently •there-would be less cost for labor, and all / round it would be more econonr.-. cal; besides, there would always b<?some income from the form. He instanced the case--of some towlis 11: England, -where ;..frbm such farms were* produced: five crops of rye-grnc-s per year. In more ways than one it would'; bs: a;; valuable,basset, to; the town.■: ' ".-■"! '■-.• ■ ';%'/] '■■■■- '-.--■■ • . '.'■'-. ■-'•■/■■.■■■ i In his opinion the; system of gravel- | ling nowiiii vogne in theßorough \xvr> not a, success, and' in this connection | there wiis.••iunplei, "room , for drastic .changes. The' soft metal which was .'carted from the-.Taylor river-bed and other localities arid put oii the streets., was not conducive to good roadsl, as ihe metal, which was, in most crises, put clown in winter,'.was,blown along the streets as dust in summer, and in the next winter was carted away us mud, mid tKen more- gravel was.' needed. Was. "this oconomical? ' No1; for although it wasi-cheap, in the en 1 it proved a decidedly, costly method. In his opinion a better system wo'jld be to procure a. supply of hard flint from the Picto-n road, or hard ro.■>;<'. from the Taylor Bass, that,metal b'lvihg been need in tlie foirmer locality with beneficiMl md well-nigh ey<:"- , lasting results. Perhaps there might be a. littlo extra outlay at ihe v-itv set; but this would be compensijted for ultimately by good, "hard roads, which would be ov long duration, a:id would not necossitutO' the frequent patching -which now obtains. v ; Another schema in the potentialities 6i which Mr Cooke said ,he has great faith is-that of aspalting the gutters of the main thoroughfares. This would have :j._, dual purpose, firstly for the convenience of cyclists, who would be able to use these.tracKs in bad weather instead^ of having literally to -plough■■•through mud :uiri filush. The s-econd. purpose w:)s tlvat. less labor would, be nec.essa.ry in the maintenance a«nd rcpiiiring of those gutters-, which' would require pi-acti.-xjally no attention except occasionKl sweepings. For an example cf th«.. efficacy or thisi' sclieme he' quoted 'Grove Read, along one:sidte' of -which there wv.s an excellent:' cj^cle-trnck costing almost nothing for attention The result would then be, Mr CooKe asserted, that all the labor which.h.id preyioufily been spent on''-frequently cleaning out the guttei-s could be con-centi-ated oil t!ie ;baob rf streets,' thel footpaths, un 4 of which t-f----qttired^a considerable riinount of at-= ;terntiion.' One of >th%; mftiii^plsjalis:1 oi v: '"life/ platform'.:;*'y^svCi:fh«it'-'.-.''-.the-«; bn^k* streets ;inor©-;;ia^entw^v "■th'an;--li;i*':p^h-r;me'"'' r ea-se.' v" ■'"• Continuing, Mr Oodke .sa'i-i that one of the worst features of Bleuheim w.is the absence of ':?. cuif«%..blc piark. Blenheim was one of the m«it bockwfird towns hi; the pominiori iti' this respect, arid' it.'•iyas time that tho Council took a forward, -progressive step to procure a. siiitable property for conversion, into a -'much -needed •'hxng. of the city." .The" Domain, .which comp'risod lo pcres, and was lying practically dc'iina.nt, should, in his opinion, be taken over by the Council if possible, and. be.made into a suitable recieation ground at le-i&t. It would 'be wise, he thought, _ for the Council to oonsidipr the advisability of either bartering or leasing the Railway Reserve, with a view to p'ir'chasing'a property tibout ten times 'the size, but perhaps*;.of the same value, although not so central, svy, in the vicinity of Mr A. McCallumV residence, Islington, or 'Batty's form. for a recreation ground and p;».v-k.-He esp-aciy.lly favored the -'-procur'n:? of propei-ty near Mr McOallum's residence; owing to its contiguity to town and the sjehool. If this eventuated there would be no extra burden cost upon the ratepayersl,, while it would show some active movement, ;nni. supply the needs of a long-suffering community in this -respect. Regarding the Pest Office question he considered the present site undoubtedly the , best-, and- one that should be retained. A solution of the difficulty of congestion in the (Government Building;; would be to readjust, them for the purposes of the Post and Telegraph Departments, and that jif ijmi.v removal were necessary it should be on tho part of the other, brs'.nches of the public service. If a' . whift .had. to be mr.de: from the presp.it site, he -thought thai the Railwayfßo'. 'jjerve was undoubtedly' the best site. : In conclusion, Mr Gboke s.-^id th.»•■:■. if ho were elected, lie would alwiys ~pa.y . s^eci; tl .attention; to-.-■ the;: nece:>3? -. 'ties of Mttlers. in tire ibo.ck .street-!..' and would do-all in hi:;, power for mo general progress and prosperity of the Borough. . - -.- .