THE TRANSPORT BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20251, 10 May 1929, Page 12

THE TRANSPORT BOARD.

ME. ALLUM'S RESIGNATION.

ACCEPTANCE REJECTED.

COUNCIL DEFERS ACTION.

! DECISION AT NEXT MEETING

No action is to be taken by tho Auckland City Council for three weeks upon the resignation tendered by Mr. J. A. C. Allum, chairman of the Auckland .Transport Board, as one of the council s nominees on the board, following his dofeat at tho municipal election. After a debate of some length the council last evening carried a motion by tho Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, that further consideration of the matter should be deferred ■until the next meeting on May 30. An amendment by Mr. T. Bloodworlh that Mi\ Allum's nomination should bo withdrawn and his resignation sent on to tho board, was defeated by 13 votes to 8.

The council has power to replace any of its six representatives within the present month only; otherwise they hold office for tho next two years, after which tho board becomes a directly-elected body. The council had before it a letter from Mr. Allum tendering his resignation as tho council's representative on tho board aiid stating that ho loft himself undeservedly in the council's hands. He enclosed a second letter conveying his resignation direct to the Transport Board, should the council desire to forward it. There was also on the agenda a notice of motion bv Mr. W. H. Murray, that under the terms of the Auckland Transport Board Act, 1928, the council should remove from membership of the board all its sitting representatives and appoint six others to hold office under the terms of the Act, until May.3l, 1931. Notice of Motion Out of Order.

A lengthy debate which was to traverse much of the old history of the transport legislation was launcJied when the Mayor rose to say that he must declare Mr. Murray's motion out of order. However, it could be advanced again in proper form in time for the nest council meeting, and he moved that the question of Mr. Allum's resignation should be held in abeyance until then. The council must determine its representation on the Transport Board within the current month, but the nest meeting would be time enough. "We have just come through troublous times,' said Mr. Baildon. '"Some old councillors have received upsets, the tramways extension loan poll has been carried by a huge majority, and the publie is in such a nervous condition that we should take things quietly and calmly for a week or so."

Mr. Murray: I am sure J am quite calm. We all are. It is the calm after the storm. He demanded to know why his motion was ruled out of order. The Mayor: When you put it in you ■were not a councillor. You did not become a councillor again until you made the statutorv declaration yesterday.

Recall of Nomination. Mr. T. Bloodworth moved as an amendment that Mr. Allum's nomination as a representative of the council on the Transport Board should be recalled, and that his resignation should be received and forwarded to the secretary of the board. Were the council merely to forward the resignation the board might or might not accept it, but if Mr. Allum's nomination as the council's representative were withdrawn that would end Mr. Allum's position as a link between the two bodies. A large number of electors had clearly desired Mr. Allum's resignation, and not to accept it would be fair neither to Mr. Allum nor to the people. There were those who said that the result of the loan poll was a vote of confidence in Mr. Allum, but Mr. Bloodworth personally believed that the result of the loan poll would have been veindifferent had not, Mr. Allum previously proferred his resignation. If Mr. Allum said that the transport undertaking was now paying it was entirely due to the passing of the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act, to which Mr. Allum had been definitely opposed. Mr. F. N. Bartram supported Mr. Bloodworth and recalled the tenor of Parliamentary debates on the transport legislation issues. Hoots from the Gallery.

Mr. Grey Campbell gave his opinion that if Mr. Allum's resignation were merely forwarded to' the Transport Board < there would have to be a by-election. On the other hand if the council recalled him it would be entitled to appoint someone else in his place. He considered that the power of recall should be exercised and Iho resignation not forwarded. In ins view the loan poll had been carried largely on a sympathy vote because the works so authorised would provide much work and help to relieve -unemployment. It had certainly not been a vote of confidence in Mr. Allum. "Mr. E. J. Phelan said he had always believed that the board should be elective from the outset. The intention of all parties bad been that the personnel of the board should be reviewed in May, He had a great admiration for Mr. Allum but he held that his resignation ought to | lO accepted. If he {Mr, Phelan) had been defeated like Mr. Allum he would immediately have resigned his seat on the board as a representative of the council. Mr. A. J. Entrican warmly praised Mr. Allum's work for city transport. He said that the commission had considered that four years should elapse before a board was elected by a direct poll in order that the ill-feeling prevailing might have time to die down. "Although we the privilege of removing a man, he asked, "why should we remove him .just because the mob thinks so ?' This remark drew hoots and murmurs of dissent from the gallery. The Mayor rose and threatened to have the gallery cleared if there was any more interruption. In spite of this there was a little stamping of feet in approval of remarks by the next speaker, Mr. Murray, who declared that the council was in duty bound to r.ccept Mr Allum's resignation. Present Change Not Favoured. Miss E. Melville quoted a passage from the commission's report giving reasons •why the first Transport Board should be selected judicially by the local bodies and rot "on the hustings." One of the reasons stated was that the board had to take over and manage a large business concern, and the fittest persons only should be appointed. With regard to taking the voice of the citizens —or "the mob"—she felt that the power of selection had definitely been delegated to the council. Many business people, to her knowledge, noped that the council would retain Mr. Allum in office. Personally she was opposed to any change at present. Mr. J. K. Lundon caused laughter by referring to his recent Town Hall meeting, which Mr. Allum had addressed, as "probably the finest and most enthusiastic meeting ever held in Auckland." Mr. Bloodworth's amendment was defeated by 13 votes' to 8 on the following division:— Ayes.—Murray, Phelan. Campbell, Hasten, Bloodworth, Lundon, Bart ram, Hutchison. Noes. —Donald, Coyle, Patcrson, Bennett, Bagnall, Brownlee, Melville, DernpKey, Burton, Ashley, Irvine, Entrican end the Mayor. The motion was then carried on the Toices.