MAYORAL ELECTIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15433, 20 April 1912, Page 4

MAYORAL ELECTIONS.

J»T. KILDA. CR ASHTON'B CANDIDATURE. Tlusru was a good attendance oi St. KiliLi ratepayers in tlie, Corouatkm llaJI last night to hoar Cr Ashton's iwklriso in ;.-upof bi« candidature for the petition of Mayor of thut borough /or tlie coining \'i moiiths. Cr Jlurk (iX-puty Mayor) pnwdwt in tlio unavoidable ao.'cnco ol the Mayor (Mr 11. M. Kwiu{;|. a»l briefly introduced tho candidate.

Or Ashton, who was well received ujkmi rising to speak, mid he had great pleasure in coming beforo tho burgesses of •'"•i- Kil'la again and offering himsiilf for tin; oflita ol Mayor. Mas; of tliem would remember that about four years ago he had had n really gixid light" with Cr M'iarlano for tho mayoralty, but his opponent proved just u little bit too strong lor him. Alter the l»ll was declared on that, occasion he tnado tho statement that, he would contest the seat again, ami lx> bad kept his word.— (Applause.) " Mow," said Cr Ashton, " there are one or two rather ugly rumotirs idx»ll at the present time, and I iuii very sorry to liave to refer to them. My idea is thut. a man should go into tho mayoral seal— tlio lughcst jiceition you can give him—and he should go into it w clean as is possible. He should wash las hands clean, aiid if I can't pet thoro without doing anything unclean I don't want to get there at all."— (Anplause.) " I am not liere to consider what my opponent is nor what he liiih said, but I f<«l that in justice to myself I must speak out. In the first place you have heart! that I am Mr Kwing's nominee. Inis is untrue, for Mr Kwtng as a ratepayer, and along with olJmr raU-payors, only waited upon mo and naked me to onutest tho seat. That i« all Mr Kwing's connection with my candidature. I have come forward with tho solo object of doing my host in the interests of tlie district as a whole. Then again it was also rumoured that Mr Kwing wus paying my olrolion expeii6«, hut I can tell you that whatever the contest will cost 1 am paying it myself. When I know that these rumours wero being- circulated I thought the best Ihimr for me to ck> was to approach Cr Maodonold, and 1 met him just beforo the nominations closed, and told lain that unless he withdrew tho statements ho had made I would invito him from tho council steps Uwro and then to meet me on tho platform to substantiate or withdraw his statements. Or Maodonald said lie would withdraw them." Continuing, the candidate Kiid ho did not wiiht any unpleasantness in tho contest, because whichever was defeated thoro would still be 12 months for thorn to work together in the council, and he desired to do his best for the town, and tliat could best bo done without friction.

The first question that Cr Aehton dealt witJi as far as IJIO borough was concerned was that of amalgamation with the city. Ho was not in favour of this, and pointed out tW il would moan increased rules. In sup|K>rt of this ho nail I that in South Dunodin property on which the rates wero £2 13s before, amalgamation witli llio oity was rated at £5 afior amalgamation, mid tho Mine would happen at St. Kiltla if they joined tho city. With regard lo tho progriss of the htirouffh, he slated that in 1907 the population wen 2580. and at the present time it was 4Goo—mi increase of 2220 in five years. It was considered that tho borough had made morn rapid progress than any oilier borough in any part of the Dominion. The rateable valuo in 1907 was £13,641, and now il was £33,179.-|Applanßc.) Theso figures spoke for Ihcuriclves of tho rapid progress which had hern made. Cr Ashton lilaled that great slridcs hud boon made with tho erection of buildings, for in 190752 houses were created,; in.1908, 54; 1909, 67; 1910, 89; 1911, 104; !,nd 1912, 107.,-(Ap-piausc.) The question of rating on the unimproved (Value hud been considered by thp council at one time, having licen brought up by Cr Harlow. This suggestion, however, had tho effec', of bringing a number of sections into tho market, and theso wero taken up and speedily built upon. This wont on until they hail bean instrumental in getting |>coplc to build at u rapid rate ns indicated by tho figures he had quoted. 'Hie revenue' in IPO7 was £2931, and this year it was £5120. Tho roads and fool]iaths had been put in order; there was, of course, Queen's drive, which had been a soiiico of annoyance- to t-liu council owing to tho footpath being left in (lie state it wtu.. This wiu due to the fact that the council, knowing that tho Drcinagu Hoard would In: working there, decided that it woyld tin inadvisable to have it attended to before tho drainage work was completed, and preferred to. wait until afterwuidi. rather tlxin spend money on, work which would bo spoiled' by the drainage itinerations Inioounoction with Iho wr.tor supply, Cr Ashton said that "The Dunidin ' Waterworks 'Extension Act, 1875." ami tho amended net, 1876. gavo to St. KilcSi a water supply for all tin:© at tho rate of 6d for 100G gallons. This was a good a.vet, and they wore most fortunate in having it. The question cf reticulating the borough was introduced by Mr Culling, and at that timo they also hud under consideration the qucstion'of n drui:!ngu scheme. He Ihought it, almost a pity that tliu drainage scheme was not gone oil with before tlie water. However, as they all know, they had l:oeu included in the Duncdin drainage aim at a tinm when they wero seriously considering the question of a scheme of their own. and that was put an end to. The lighting of the borough liaii lieeu improved, and now they had 81 lamps, 23 of which wero electric lamps. The automntio itystem lind been int reduced in cotinccton with the gas lainj*, and this did away with the work of going round nix? putting them out, which previously was done 1 y u man on hoiselmck. The tramways had been a drawback to tile borough in that owing to tho single lino tho romco had been slow. Now. however, an Oi'derin-Couneil had been signed for Iho duplieaion of the lines, and this would, give them increased facilities. There were many Ihinp requiring atienlion, and he promised, if Heeled, to ilo his utmost to conserve tho interests of tho ratepayers They knew his record, and he a-ked them that if after 14 years' service they considered hiu: worthy to occupy tho |x>sition of M;iyor they (.hould vote for hint on Wednesday. He resumed his sent amid applm-fl. After having iinswercd a number of questions, the candidate wa* nceonkd a vote of thanks and confidence, on the motion of Mr W. 11. .KiiMell, seconded by .Mr ,1. Houston.

GREEN ISLAND. ADDRESS BY MR W. GKDDKS. Mr W, (iouMtts addressed a fair number of ratepayers in tho Green Island Hall last wglit, Mr A. KajK.- presiding. After introducing the speaker, the Chairman referred in syiniwtlietis words to the dis.-u-.tor that had taken place in connection with the hnor Titanic, and a motion of sympathy with the suffering and bereaved was pas-vil, the audience Mancling. .Mr tieddes prefaced his remarks by refer-riu-.t to lii« long connection with tiie piiblio affair.* of tho ilistrict. ami more particularly his services as a councillor ;uul fonncr nuyor of tJio iKirough. The latter oflico he had hold for six years, until (listurlxxl at th;< lait election, when Mr Limlsay was returned. Ho explained that. Ins reason for agait\ coming forward was to hinder anything in the iwiure of a plumiiiiK nolic'-. 110 was for tho proffross of tlio boroui;li, but cviuld see no n.-nso in pciuj in for heavy loans and burdiiting the ratepayers with a lit; rate, Tno lime was not ojiporttvic to pv> in for a l«\ivy loan. It was mv<-xs;i.cv to sec first how the water tvhomo (aimed out and how the place nvnt rvt. When there whs an incroaso in population they might (W in for a small loan, but not in the meantime. After roferritij; to the oxpendittuv on i-oaik and footpaths duriiur the last year, Iso stated tliat the tstimat«« sliowwl that ihe ruteablo value of the iHiroitsh tt-.w £12,860. and the aiuuial raltio iUOIS 15s lid. Allowin R for the expoiws of muitifronicnl, printing, etc., therv was only (eft tlio «tm of £Sls for mainteniuice ami works. Thu i«vcnue derive<l from water was hard to arrive at. Although there wsis a iirolit. for six montlis of over £200. tliat, could not sliow, until tho scheme- was in full swine, what it mijrht piw-o to be. and it was nis hope that it would not be Uks tjian £1000. It was to their profits from water that he looked for tlio money with whioh to metal tho roads.

Ho dwelt at lroiijtJi on the pari he h;ul played it) procurinp Hie Town Hall for tbc district. It was one of the Ivst things iliat the Iwiwisrh ootilil have gono in for. It would iwy its wav. and. tutl'out hinderiiij tlio metalling of the roads in any wa>. prove a irrotit eoimviieneo to iho residents. with regard to tho <|ix<tion of he thought ihe council should jo on with an extension of tho a-hente and lierht tho whole borough at one s\w»>. If (be ratepayers honoured him t>y cleciinc him to tho mayoral office they could rely r.n his usinj lib wliolo influence to accompltth rfiif.—(Arpkiwo.) After a short roforenoo to the question of i ntinc and tho oxprcs'ion of his own opinion that the district! would Inw to wait a considerable lime for anythuu; in ihenaturo of a boom, tbo <poa!;cr proevvdod to discuss the mtuKijwmont of the council, and kMtd that «ottiothinu would lmvo to bo done to oxtond tho Iwundarioj. Uo then mated that overv ratepayer had an interest in land. Tlms>- had on endowment of 485 ions at

Wnipori, and it was let at tho low rental of 4Jd iw aero. Tho land was of fino quality, but they could not got more for so long as the acreage was so small, but if the endowments of North-East \\illev, lionlyn, ,«t. Kildu, WcsC Hnrbwr. Morninglon, ami .Maori Hill could be thrown in together making a total of 32C0 .'ten's, iiioro could bo got, '""I ho proposed I l.at a bill should be prepared, if iiceossaiy. so that the i)]i«c]il. leases oouM lie terminated arxl all the pro|»orti<'s grouped together i:toixi run. Then if Rood substantial buildings wero riveted and the place re-let ho Miovcd that they would ron;> a profit o| from £50 to £100 a your a.s compared with tho sum received at the present time. If ho wero elected and he saw any chance for in Endowments Hill being brought forward that was one of the things he would bring fnn\*ard. It was necessity and for the good of the district. Ho referred to the water scheme at some length, and oxpained that bo would do hi* best to i!o away willi an injustice he had noticed in several cases where thr mains had not liein continued nniil opposite tho connecting houses. whereby owners were compelled to go to greater ex|>oti?r< than it was right they should liavo to do. With regard to liublic baths, while be had always advocated school baths, he did not favour tho undertaking of public bcllis by the borough so long as they had so many linmotnllod roads whore tho fundi were required. lln dealt at {(Teat length with the question 'if recreation grounds. Ho was in favour of a large central one, and about three of lexsnr extent in the outlying parts. Ho was distinctly in favour of leasing sueh places as might bo chosen preferably with a |/irrchasing clause, because then they could see where Hwy wero going to land. Ho mentioned tlie piece of loud lying between the railway line to Walton Park ajiil tho Covornment lino as a very suitable placo, and though it coidd not bo purchased ho understood that it might bo had at a peppercorn rental. Ho also advocated the immediate traction of a public pound, arrl tho providing of a refitso tip.

After rofom'ng to the matter of railway bridge-: and crossings, the tpenker referred to motor traffic on Iho borough roads. He was strorurly of opinion that the speed should bo limited to 15 miles an hour at the utmost, or 12 if it eoul.l be carried. He would also recommend that a good stiff lieonse foe bo imposed, and advocated the placing of all license fees in a general fund to be apiwtioiiod out among tho various local bodies, so tihat strict justice mijibt 1« dealt out to all. At fho present time the Rreot majority of the cars using tlieir roads were registered in Dunrdin, and the lwroiHi did not gel a iiomiy out of them. He understood lliat thn system he advocated was the one obtaining in the Old Country and ho thought it a fair and a just pro|iosal. Ho also advocated new by-laws, and failinc the introduction of a "Local Bodies' Hill he thought tho council should proceed with the framing of a now sot. lie would also endeavour to do somethin? towards establishing a firo brigade, but even failing that, he advocated Iho immediate purciha.--e of a hydrant and reel fdr tho purpose of doing something towards the protection of pro]>eriv. He dealt at great lcnpl.li with t.lu> Dunedin Draina-go Hoard and the Kaikorai drainego question, and condemned tho action of thn board with great warmth ms a mere attempt to rniso money h- enclosing the outlying districts between its rating boundaries. If elected he would nee every endeavour to get Roslyn re-instated and have the drainage area all in one, as it should lie.

'At llio conclusion of the address n. number of questions wiro nsked, and tho meeting closed with a vote of thanks to tho speaker.