THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1903. THE MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12270, 14 May 1903, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1903. THE MAYOR'S ADDRESS.

The inaugural address of the new Mayor of Auckland, delivered yesterday to the assembled Council, will be read with that interest which its importance -and moderation deServes. The Hon. E. Mitchelson has very wisely avoided debatable issues and has confined himself to a summary of the great questions which vitally affect the prosperity of the city and the safety and comfort of the citizens. The work carried on under the Mayoralty of Mr. Kidd is deserving of praise and recognition, and will long be remembered to the credit of that energetic chief magistrate. But it has largely consisted of the very necessary] drawing together of the loose ends off municipal administration, a process] rendered imperative by the posi-| tion of affairs when Mr. Kidd took] office. The municipality may now,' with safety, consider and ccjnnieijce works of. a permanent and extensive character, having for their purpose not the tiding of the city over temporary crises, but the- "consistent building up of a modern and civilised centre of increasing population. With the paving of Queen-street, this policy was really inaugurated, and the result is one which every citizen must feel to be more than satisfactory. Under the intelligentguidance of Mr. Mitchelson we may confidently anticipate that finances

will not only be economically guarded, but that our civic expenditures will be consistently directed to the true development of the city. We have no fear that in his designs he will lack the support and cooperation of the Council, for if we have a criticisni to make upon the attitude of that body in the past it] is that it has too often allowed itself to be swayed by the unfortunate bias of occupants of the Mayoral chair. Mr. Mitchelson has been promised! the support of the Council, as he has found the support of his fellow citizens we are sure that promise will be cordially and loyally fulfilled.

In his address, the new Mayor laid particular stress upon the need foil careful financing "as the rapid pro] gress~of Tjße~city compels our atten-j tion to certain matters that will not brook delay and cannot be settled without very considerable expenditure." This is an axiom. We have had so-called financing which yields a surplus by neglecting imperative public necessities. We have had, as an inevitable reaction, the exhaustion of the '"municipal funds in overtaking neglected work. What we all agree in desiring is such a business-; like reorganising of the financial] situation that the city revenues will; not only keep the existing machinery in sound working order, but enable] further municipal "plant" to be ac-j quired without unduly burdening the! ratepayers. "Water, drainage and! air" are essentials, says the new' Mayor, and to this every citizen can give most hearty acquiescence. For these are common essentials, needful

for the health and happiness of every man, woman and child in the

I fair city of Auckland. But to make | our water supply sufficient for approaching requirements is, as we have pointed out over and over again, a costly because a great undertaking. Our drainage system, in spite of recent improvements, is most lamentably defective, and lays upon us a heavy toll of sickness and death from which again we can only ransom ourselves by a costly because great undertaking. And in the matter of parks, those " lungs" so necessary for the full breathing of crowded populations, we are hardly less supplied. It is true that we have various parks, but we arc pleased to hear Mr. Mitchelson tell us that we neglect the most important of them in a manner which "is not creditable." Those who can withdraw from the city to suburban homes may not realise the present situation, but the many thousands whose leisure hours as well as working hours must ordinarily be spent within the c' ; boundaries will agree with us in saying that the question has not been rated too highly. To make the Domain and Western Park the resort of orderly and healthseeking citizens, drawn to them by the freshness and the beauty which should mark them, will not be nearly so costly as the other great works referred to, but will require greater consideration and expenditure than the Council has been accustomed to give them. There are other civic problems mentioned in the Mayoral address, but we may pass them for the time being with the comment that a civic government which attends efficiently to the securing of water, drainage and air for :

its citizens may be trusted not to become lost in the mazes of streets, hospitals and abattoirs.

But to finance, -which "is after all the root of all difficulties as its successful solution is the basis of all administrative triumphs ! Upon this the new Mayor makes no statement, contenting himself with setting up the standard of "sound and economical administration." We do not presume to go further than this, until Mr. Mitchelson has had sufficient opportunity to draw up what will practically he his "budget." Yet we may say, with the assurance of unanimous agreement, that the opinion of the Mayor when formed and announced will carry great weight with the ratepayers and will receive friendly consideration from the Council. Nobody likes to pay. rales. They would be avoided altogether"!? that were possible. Since they must bo paid if] m desirable that, they

should be as low as possible and very undesirable that. they ■ should bo raised. But rates or-no rates, increase or ho increase, the health arid security of the city is the first consideration. We object, most strenuously to the saddling of local authorities with extraordinary charges inspired by pseudo-scientific caprice. But we cannot and do not object to the institution and maintenance of great sanitarxreforms—those affecting water, drainage and when the necessity for them is plain to all eyes and the manner of them is advised by a trusted Mayor and a reI presentative Council. As Mr. Mil--1 chelsoh asserts, as this journal has emphatically asserted, " the most! that can be said for our present water supply is that it is an auxiliary ami temporary one.''' Our drainage problem is even more pressing, for if our water supply is insufficient for the near future our drainage is defcctire for the actual present. These things must be attended to. and they can only be attended to economically and effectively if we possess that civic spirit which sees in the great Auckland silently growing up around us a municipality that will be " far and away the moat important and the largest city in the colony.'' There is economy and economy: a peddling economy which ignores the common weal and grudges every penny spent in making the city healthful and beautiful for all time; and a patriotic economy which to the full extent of its ability makes pure water to flow as in a river, banishes foulness and disease, makes streets easy and pleasant for those who live and work among them and rescues the public lands from ugliness and disrepute to become the garden-grounds of those to whom they rightfully belong. The inaugural address of the new Mayor tells us plainly the nature of the economy he advocates. By so doing he claims the support and the forbearance of all those who love Auckland as he does, a claim that will be most heartily and sympathetically accorded him.