THE TRAMWAYS MANAGER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22832, 17 March 1936, Page 7

THE TRAMWAYS MANAGER

ATTENDANCE AT CONFERENCE QUESTION OF EXPENSES The question whether the city tramways manager should he sent to a tramways conference in Melbourne at the expense of the City Council or should pay his own expenses came up for discussion last evening, when Cr D. G. M'Millan submitted the report of the Tramways Committee to the meeting of the. council. The first clause in the report, which gave rise to the discussion, read as follows: “At the instance of the Finance Committee, the committee had given further consideration to the proposal that the tramways manager be authorised to attend the next meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Tramways Conference in Melbourne. After further reviewing the whole matter and also an alternative suggestion, the committee desired again to report that in its opinion the manager should be authorised, as in previous years, to attend the Tramways Conference in Melbourne. There appeared to be no doubt that such conferences were of great value to those taking part and incidentally to the tramway undertakings which they represented. Information which the tramways manager had brought from previous conferences had already enabled the department to effect substantial annual savings.” Cr M. Silverstone moved as an amendment that the clause relating to permission being given the tramways manager to attend the conference in Melbourne be deleted. He did not think the council would benefit if the manager did go to Melbourne. Cr J. W, Munro seconded the amendment. Cr A. H. Allen emphatically disagreed with Cr Silverstone’s contention, expressed the'opinion that the council would certainly be the gainer if Mr Mackenzie were sent to Melbourne. Cr W. A. Scott and Cr D. C. Cameron supported Cr Allen’s remarks. The Mayor (the Rev. E. T. Cox) said he was firmly convinced that a visit to the conference would be of value to the city. From the files Mr Mackenzie had brought back from the last conference the council had got information that had benefited the tramways to a considerable extent. As a matter of fact. Dunedin was the only big city in Australia or New Zealand which had not sent its tramw T ays manager further abroad to gain new ideas. Cr W. Begg moved as a further amendment manager be given leave of absence to attend the conference.” Cr Mitchell said that if the report were adopted, leave of absence would be given in any case. The Mayor pointed out that if the report were adopted, the council paid Mr Mackenzie’s expenses. If Cr Begg’s amendment were carried, he paid his own expenses. Cr Silverstone supported Cr Begg’s amendment, and expressed some doubt if much gain would accrue to the council if Mr Mackenzie went to Melbourne. If when he returned he could show a saving in the department’s working expenses, the council would not be niggardly and would recompense him. Cr Munro momentarily brought the discussion to a halt by intimating that the conference had been cancelled, but Cr Allen maintained that the matter should be settled once and for all, aa a precedent for future occasions. It would bo very niggardly on the council’s part to send a man away and, after getting information from him that would assist in developing its transport system, expect him to pay his own expenses. Both amendments were defeated on the casting vote of the Mayor, and the clause was adopted.