CITY FINANCE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10688, 7 September 1920, Page 5

CITY FINANCE

THE LOAN PROPOSALS I HATAITAI VIEWS. DISSATISFACTION AT MAYOR'S ATTITUDE. A meeting of residents of Hataitai and North Kilbirnie was held last evening to consider tho city loan proposals. Mr A. Leigh Hunt presided, and there were about forty people present. Mr Hunt said the, meeting was for the purpose of considering tho loan proposals the council had placed be-, fore tho ratepayers. Tho idea was to complete the works in live years, and the meeting should give, consideration to which wero the most important works. All the ratepayers should go to the poll, and he urged all" present to do their best to see that the people of Hataitai district voted. "PULL TOGETHER."

Mr C. Blake, president of the East, ern Suburbs League, said that a» things stood there wae nothing the meeting could very well take exception to, and tho matter might as well be left to tho good, sense of the City Council to carry out the work. He thought the be6t thing to do now was to support the whole schedule. How. ever, the stand taken by some ox thoso intere'sted in local affairs probably would cause the City Council to consult the ratepayers before publishing .a schedule, T,he fact that the League was not taken seriously by the Mayor could not be helped, but to pour cold-water on their efforts was not conducive to a good civio spirit. Mr H. A. Hugguiß said it was in the interests of all the, suburbs that all hands should turn out to vote. This was an occasion on which the separate suburbs should combine, although the Mayor had almost invited them to vote against one another by the manner in which the schedule had been framed. If Hataitai ' wanted its tunnel, the people of the suburb would have to put as muoh energy into the poll as theyjwould put into a general election. He did not'think it would be useful to attend tho meeting called by the Mayor for TSureday night, but he urged all to do their best to carry the poll. TALK OF RESULTS. Mr A. C. Batt said he did not remember a man who got up Sit the recent meeting who was not insulted by the Mayor.' He took .exception to the - Mayors _ calling the associations nebulous bodies. ' ' A voice: He.did not "know what it meant! Mr Batt suggested a big monster meeting on this side of the tunnel. Tho attitude of the Mayor was a big factor "ft the present opposition to the tunnel. ' Mr Blake said he had been surprised when he had seen that the Mayor was calling another meeting, .after the reception the people hacL got on the last occasion. Even the jMayor would find next -March that these associations were not nebulous bodies: he would find they were very solid bodies. Perhaps the Mayor' had relented now, and regretted the manner in which he treated the people on the last occasion. The league had decided not to say much about tho Mayor's attitude at the meeting, but to show its resentment by action. AN UNCOMFORTABLE TIME. The chairman said those at the meeting certainly, had a very -uncomfortable time, but he supposed everyone was trained in the tender art■ of courtesy. The most objectionable thing was for tho Mayor to stand up, in front of his council and give vent to his personal opinion. A voice: He only carried out the wishes of his boss! The chairman: His bos3? Another voice : Mr Morton 1 The chairman: We were not there to hear the opinion of the Mayor, but of the council as a whole. Mr Huggins: He was not loyal .to the council. Mr Batt said that in all the circumstances the people wanted to know more about tho works of the city engineer. When the Morton dam was huilt ten years ago, Mr Morton had said it would supply Wellington with water - for 50 years. Now Mr Morton had another scheme which he would guarantee for only 20 years. Mr Huggins moved: —"That this meeting of the residents of Hataitai and North Kilbirnie agree to support the carrying of tho whole of the loan schedule.*' 1 Mr W. J. Gaudin seconded. Tho resolution was agreed to. It "was also agreed to raise a small subscription for propaganda purposes. SUPPORT AT NEWTOWN , ■St CITY COUNCILLORS ADDRESS MEETINGS. There was only a small attendance at the meeting caCted "by the Wellington South Progressive Society to. dis, cuss the city loan proposals. Mr W. J A. Worth, president of the society, who was m the chair, in introducing and thanking Councillors W. H. Bennett, C. H. Chapman, J. M. Dale, L. McKenzie, dnd R. A. Wright, M.P., for their attendance, said he trusted that all the proposals would be carried. Money, he added, would not, in his opinion, become cheaper, and it should be the desire of every citizen to make Wellington a city to be proud of, and unless tho proposals wore carried progress could . not, be made. , ~ , Councillor W. H. Bennett said that he had watched the city grow, for many years, and was convinced that it was destined to become the largest centre in the Dominion. In speaking of the work that was being done in respect fc "tho exTenslon of the water supply at Wainui-o-mata, Councillor Bennett said that the reason the council decided to allow co-operative labour to undertake tho work was that the condition of the country was sucb that no contractor would bo readily induced to tender for it. He explained the nine points for which tho loans were required, and added that tho council could, with advantage, spend a much larger sum . than the ratepayers wore asked to sanction on necessary works. Councillor J. M. Dalo touched upon the necessity- for the extensioh_ of the tramway- service to cope with the growing population and to relieve the traffio in some of the main streota. If the loans wero not carried, some of tho works would have to go on and their cost would ha-ve to be provided for out of revenue, w>ioh would mean

that the ratepayers would be called upon to pay moro rates. Councillor R. A. Wright said that .£964,143 of the loans would bo repro 7 ductive, and would not affect the rates. In respect to tho non-produc-tive portion, the rates could not be moro' than ljd in the £l._ Councillor MoKenzio said that the city should not bo allowed to stand still. Progress was essential. It was a heritage left by tho pioneers, who were responsible for the founding of tho citv, and the citizens who enjoyed the fruits of tho labours of those early settlers had a duty placed upon their shoulders to gee that the work so nobly begun was not allowed to bo retarded through lack of enterprise. Councillor <?. H. Chapman also impressed upon tho ratepayers the necessity to carry all the loan proposals in tho interests of progress of tho city.

Mr J. Caetlc, in moving a vote of thanks to tho councillors, said the citizens wero indebted for the gratuitous work that members of City Council gave in the interests of the city, and trusted that the loans would receive the sanction of the ratepayers. The motion was carried unanimously.