THE NORTH-EAST VALLEY MAYORALTY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12340, 30 April 1902, Page 8

THE NORTH-EAST VALLEY MAYORALTY.

A . very large .number of ratepayers attended the meeting in the Ferguslie Hall, at the North-East Valley, last evening to listen' to an address given by Mr Henry ljunca'n, one of the candidates for the Juirth-Ka-st Valley mayoralty. There were about 90 persona present, and Mr ,T. E. White was voted to the chair.

Mr White, . in introducing Mr Duncan, referred to that gentleman's having occupied a seat: in.the council previously, and to his.; having supported several movements which he (Mr 'White) considered to be benofieial to the borough. Mi- Duncan said it was not liis intention to give a long speceh, but to simply touch 011 those-matters that were of prominent interest -to the ratepayers. First of all lie would not bq a party to taking over any more- new townships until thoy were laid otf lo tho .satisfaction of the council and their engineer, and had the streets formed and metalled to the required width. Tho taking over of these, townships in . the wast liatt been a mistake, and which was felt to bo so now. Secondly, as to the water supply. This was a very important matter, and would become more important every day if they progressed at all. It was, one of 'the matters which, if returned, would occupy his early, attention in a practical form. His opponent, Mr Groen, on the day of nomination, had spoken most emphatically in regard to this matter—so much so that he .(Mr .Dunpau) had looked upon his utterances as .nothing short of electioneering dodgery and claptrap. If lie had teen at all-sincere over the-water supply lie would have brought forward some- scheme to forward the movement months ago. But lie had not done so, though there was nothing to prevent it, lie then .being 0 councillor and the' supposed leader of High Ward. His not doing so had impressed him (Mr Duncan) 5s to his insincerity. He (Mr Duncan) had made every inquiry, and had found that there. was a' minute in the books of the council—pther than at tho instance of any of tho High Ward members—the result of which was that a committee was appointed to make, every * inquiry—and Cr Green was one'of them—and to report to the council; y6t nothing further had been heard of it. This was all the reference lie desired to make to' his opponent. Then as' regarded the tram seryice. If returned he would do his .best, ; [is. a member of the council, to meet the City Council in a spirit of fairness and arrange with'them for as efficient a service, as; it was possible' to offtain. Ho had thought'by making a personal'inspection of the borough to find things ' much impupved;.. but he found the roads were anything but 'improved, and, making every allowance for tho recent bad weather, their condition-was not what it ought to be in many of the outlying parts of the borough. , Jui'.r.ydtb'e, Asostvilc, and a good portion of Maybank were sadly neglected, and required immediate attention. On comparing the condition of things in the council now with what they were some eight or nine years ago, ho found they were worse off at the present time, and upon a little reflection he came to the conclusion that the municipality was in a worse .condition titan moat of the others about Dunedin; whereas, ivith its resources, it should bo one of the most flourishing. Regarding finance, they were at the . present moment about in dolit, excluding the overdraft and the balance of loan in hand, say £1200, yet to be spent. Tile last loan was obtained under Certain conditions; and the misapplication of any moneys, by their expenditure otherwise than laid down by the schedule, was tantamount to a breach of trust. Of course he could not lay that charge to the council at present. Coining to other matters, they might have a dust-cart, details concerning which he would, not go into. Another thing, which was perhaps a -little outside municipal matters,' was a recreation-ground. When he saw the boys and giris at the sending away and welcoming back of contingents his mind was filled ivith this thought. He saw tho fine lads growing up, and lie felt tho urgent necessity for providing them with a good recreation-ground. If returned he would promise thorn that lie would do his best in the interests of the borough as a whole. Replying to questions, Mr Duncan said lie thought the time had arrived when the council, should take into consideration tho advisableiiess of doing the nightsoil contract with, thoir own men. If returned he would do liis best to find some practical method by which the council might deal with the refuse and the nightsoil. Replying to a qucstiou as to whether lie would endeavour to see that. every car that loft the Monument went . through to the Gardens, Mr Duncan 3aid ho was informed that the trams would run every 20 minutes backwards and forwards from Normanby to the junction near where , they wero, so that there would be 110 inconvenience as far as that was concerned. As to their running from Dunedin through to the Gardens, that was not settled yet. Replying to another question, as to whether he was in favour of tho trams running in the middle'of the road or at the side, Mr Duncan said he could scarcely go into that matter, but he believed the side was best. If, however, the public wanted the lines in the centro, by all means let them have it so. ,■ If the lino was a. double one the poles would lie better in the centre. With regard to lighting . the borough, ho •said ho agreed that- it was not sufficiently lighted. He hoped they would get in' the electrio. liglit for the whole ■ borough. It

would do for the. Main road aud for sonrt of.the byo-strocts, and he would 'support a movement in that direction. Asked if'ha would favour the bridge over tho Leith in George street being, built to a full width for. traffic,, the candidate said he understood that it was to bo a traffic bridge. • ' Mr D. Thompson moved and Mr R. Potter seconded-" That a vote of thanks be aecorded to Mr Duncan for his address, • and that Hie meeting has confidence in him as major of the borough."—(Applause.) l.he motion was carried unanimously, and '1. v .°' e .°f thanks to the chair closed tho proceedings.