MUNICIPAL AMALGAMATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12934, 29 March 1904, Page 2

MUNICIPAL AMALGAMATION.

f MEETING AT CAVERSHAM. o ■ —— , Mr W. S. Bedford, of t!io Cavoreham Borough Council, liold the second of a series of meetings in connection with, the question of municipal amalgamation last Ovening, H'hcii he addressed a mooting in tlio s Oavcrsham Hall. Mr .1. Wilson (Mayor of Cavc-rshain) occupied the chair, and there , Mere about 50 guntio-mun present. Mr Bedford, whose address was largely j a repetition of that delivered at Soufh Duuedin, referred to, in tlio first place, J ihc community of interest between the city and ftiburhs, and atked, Would anyone dwiy that there v.'ae absolute community of interest between the suburbs and the city? iliidgin?; by tlio way things wore, carried on now, and the potty parochial jealousy displayed, one would think they had nothing in common, instead of which they lvoro absolutely partners in ono lnije business concern, and whether the suburbs likod it or not they could not lieip tliemiiea'us, and had better make tho best of it. It was not only a question :ia to whether they will take an acrivo part in tho managenioiit of this business, or vrliethor t'hoy ] would leave it to others, but it was also a, \ question as to whether tlie sovcral depart-1 mont'3 of t.his business ehoiild continue to '■ bo managed antagonistically to each other. Take a firm liko Jit.tsre Hoes and li'.on-! (lining , . , ), for instance: They had a factory j for tho manufacturing of tweeds, another for yarns, another for hosiery, anothor for hats, another for slop clotliing, and so on, and would it not be tho height of folly foi the heads of this firm to allow tho various departments to bo run in antaßO. nism to each other? And was it not tho bright of folly for the City Council and the various suburban boroughs to bo continually fighting and squabbling, instead of hcroniing one strong combination and conducting the municipal affaire of the district ill tho interest and for the good of tlio whole eaniinuuity? What was the nocition of tho average conimercul mi'.n as regards i the city and suburbs? liis business was in the city, but his liomo w;is in the suburbs. His wife and family spent the greater part of their lives in the suburbs, and it wan in the suburbs, surrounded by refreshing home influence, that the tired and wearied business man spent bis hours r<! rcet, relaxation, and pleasure. It was in the house whore, tho bast part of lira nature war-: developed, where bis artistic tavte was oxorciscd, and should be gratified in t!io intoroit of tho true advancement of civilisation. Ho had sent his wife, and'family into tho suburb so that (hey might he out of tho din and bustle of tho city, preferring tho open space, with its purer atmosphere, to tho crowded d reels ami closc-ly-paeltcd and inconvenient dwelling-bouses of tho city. Tlio working man iv:i3 in cxnctlj the samo position, lie earned his livelihood in the city, and built "iis licute, surrounded by ptardtn and gross plot, in tlio suburbs, so that bis children might be reared in.fclio midst of kcaltliy surroundings. Wmo' not tho intercuts of the busiuc-s man and the interest"! of the working man equally bound up ill both city nntl suburl*-, and were not their interests in the city and in tho suburbs absolutely identical? It was also in the intc-roils of the suburban shopkeeper that the suburbs bo made a', attractive r.» possible, f.o that he migiit obtain a larger share of tlio inonoy earned in tlio city. If the eit.v v.'iis prosperous, that prosperity must of necessity be reflected on the suburbs—in f;ict, so iasc-panibio were tho fiitiurls and the city Hint they formed as it woo one l;cul;.\ to injure any li'r:l> of which iMist be just as acutely felt by ovovy otiiiYpait as was felt bv tlio individual limb injur-xi. It was |jcwr!i]!}- contended that it would bo a most urbusiiiwflikn proceeding on tlio pa it of the siiimrbs to amalgamate with the city on account of t!:o heavy debt with which the city was burdened. Ho could assure them, however, that the "swallowing up " theory was tho merest bogey, and if any swallowing up was to bo done as a result of amalgamation tho suburbs would swallow up the city, and the city, not tho suburbs, would suffer. If the suburbs amalgamated with the city, and had representation on tile City Council on a population basis, they would have absolutely nothing to fear. Ho thought that at tho present time the suburbs had a larger population than the city proper, and tlio former would hi! able lo outvote the city if tho latter tried to perpetrate any injustice. As tho city frron , it must oxionC\ into Ilio suburbs, and must itself practically stand still in the future while iho suburbs increased. Another reason in favour of amalgamation wan that many important works innild have, to l>3 carried out in the near future, nnd (ill the suburbs should pay a share cf tlio taxation. In this ho included si'cli works as tho widening of Hillside road, because the wid-aiine; of the roads on the Flat gave the citizens of Duiicdin bolter access to the beach. At present every time a storm nrn;r the S6;v was a serious mennco to the Fint; but there was plenty of stone at the second beach, and it would not be a very great undertaking for a Greater Dunciin to construct a light tramway and run stone along to prevent the encroachment of the sea. This was, however, a. national work, and a Government grant should be secured, because it was lo the interests of New Zealand that the work should be done. If amalgamation were effected the suburbs would have the use of tho city's appliances, such as the steam road roller, fire brigade, cheaper gas, and tl.cy would then be ablo to pay a salary that wonl.d induce an up-to-date and thoroughly competent engineer to look after the affairs of th« whole district. The suburbs would also nliare in the huge profits 'll;«t v/ero being made out of the coinupreial undertakings which tho City Council had taken up, and they would pet a fair share of the income from the rich endowments which the City Corporation held. Theso endowments bad Wn vested not for the city alone but for the whole district. Tlio financial rtntcnicnt that was being prepared by the Greater Duuedin Committee would In , ab-olntley necessary when it esmo to a question of the ndju;t:n»u{ of accounts between the different boroughs, but it would only be needed afler amalgamation had taken pii'ce. He should like lo draw attention to ivl/at would be the composition of the first council after amalgamation had been effected. Kach of (he uniting; suburban bodies would send all its 12 councillors and Dimcdin would have only its 12 councillor?, and that would bo tlie time when the accounts would be , adjusted. After ninelgsin.ifion special rating areas would be created, and tho areaa that were deriving the greatest benefit would be specially rated. This system would! be applied to the widening of Hillside road, and after the properties had been acquired a special area would be created taking in part of both sides of Ilie road and also portion of Sonlli Dimcdin, and a special rate would be- struck for that particular area. Ho aho maintained that part cf.thfi cost uuc'jr amalgamation should be charged to the tramways department, lie thoroughly endowed the* action of the Government in refitsiinr to allow double lines of rails to bo laid in narrow streets. If double lines bad been laid in narrow streets it would be found ill the near future that they were unsafe for traffic, and it would bo much move expensive to widen the str?°ls later o:i than it would bp now. He hi-ld lluil before the. Ordcr-in-Council was signed all Die property necessary for street widening uliould be acquired, and ho roul ended that tli-> tiuestion'of amalgamation should be settled before anything else was done. Atliouch lie might be accused of r.sgravating tli- difficulties of lbs South DitiiP'iin nnd (Wrsliam Councils, he asserted as emphatically ss he could tkat tho wliold tramway nucdtion should he renp"iie;l, because the condition'! were entirely ililferiMit now from what they were when the city's ajrrcmcnt was placed before the suburb.Mi bodies. If the Caversham Council had 1,-noivn thai iliev would have to spend £12.GC0 in road widening, would they have given wav to the eitv on some of tho questions before thwn? lie did not think thev would li'ive given wav on the f".isoii lickel f|iie n )ion, brenii-e the season tickets we're the very life of tho borough, which would go nheaxl by leapa and bounds if it !>ful them. There were only two ways of tackling the tramway (|uestion properlv— one was bv amalgamation W ;lh the cilv, and the other wn.i bv amalganmling with the other F!,-.i borough.-- am\ lakinS comlimed action, as they should have taken in fho (i.ist. A Inm'vays board should be demanded, and il should be insisted upon that (he tramways department pnv some of the. cost of street widening. The TramwaVii Act of lGOfl provider! that thn City Corporation should have Iho power to acquire land for the construction of tram-

ways in any adjoining borough, but no aot gave tho City Corporation power to charpo such adjoining borough with the cost after the land was taken. If (he suburbs wanted to progress on right linos their trno policy was to amalgamate with the city, and to share, in nil the. things the city possessed. All tlie material benefit from doing this i lay nith the suburbs, which had overythini* to gain. Ho thought the tramways would prove a huge success, and the suburbs had a right to share, in !hy n>".,«, „„,] as tllc \--y life of the suburbs depended on the way tho trains won; run ii h.u uec'ssary that they should he part owners in tho (rams mid havo them run for the interests or all.—(Applause.) With reference to tho profits from tho abattoir.', tho speaker stated that ho had been informed by a member of tho City Council that a correct balance sheet of ilia income and expenditure on tho abattoirs had never been presented to the council, because if correct statements had tain submitted the butchers would demand an alteration in the proson charges. Tho sneaker aho slated that ho spent the whole of last Wednesday in linking a house-to-hoi!-:<; canvass at St. Clnir, and ho found the people not only willing but eager to sign in favour of amalgamation with tho city. Only one expressed himself in favour of single boroughs, and another- did not show siiffiI cicnt interest to vote at all. .' At Hie co.'itlusm.-i of hh address Mr Bedlord handed round voting papers, and I when tho votes lad been counted the. result I was announced as follows:—IV (ircator Dunedin, 34; for amalgamation of the Flat boroughs, 12; for remaining as at present, On the motion of Sir V, 7 . Bavron seconded by tho Kcv. J. T. Hinton, a hearty voto of thanb was accorded Air Bedford for Jiia address.