LABOUR POLICY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 3 May 1938, Page 16

LABOUR POLICY

LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS MR. COLEMAN’S ADDRESS MAIN POINTS ONTLINED PLATFORM OF PROGRESS

The policy adopted by Labour Party candidates ‘in the local body elections was optlined by Mr. D. W. Coleman M P before an attendance of about 70‘ in’ the Oddfellows Hall, Mangapapa last night. Mr. Coleman referred to it as a olatform of progress. Eleven points were laid down foi the • Borough Council, three for the Harbour Board, and two each for the Power and Hospital boards. They are summarised below:--Borough Council

1. Full attention to the importance of sanitation, hygiene, sewerage and refuse disposal. 2. Immediate attention to an adequate, water supply; test out various Schemes -reported upon by. Messrs. Vickerman and Lancaster, and submit at least two alternative schemes before* the ratepayers. . 3 Give every attention to maintenance and extension of reserves /or the purpose of sport and recreation, the charges on sports bodies to be kept as low as possible and grounds to be allocated fairly so as to secure the maximum satisfaction from those using them. 4. Give every encouragement ana assistance to children to make use ol the Macrae Swimming Bath, especially those learning to swim,'and the teaching of life-saving. . . 5. Retain the municipal bus service, and. expand the service as conditions warrant. (j. Seriously consider the question pi new municipal buildings. 7. Sympathetic co-operation with the various organisation for the beautification of the borough, the fullest development qf our beaches, and the building of the Women’s Res' Room. , . 8. Improved system of street lighting- a. fl. Fullest co-operation with the Government in its housing scheme for houses for Gisborne. 10. All works undertaken to be of r permanent nature, roads and footpaths as far, as possible to be bituminised. 11; All social services to be ultimately exnnded to serve every portion of the borcugh. •

Harbour Board

.1. proper attention to maintenance of the-existing harbour and its work c without undue elaboration ir materials or labour. 2. Full and immediate review of thcwhole financial situation as regard.both works, equipment and administration. 3. Constructive measures to be combined with necessity and carried out at the least possible cost. •; ' ’ ’ Hospital' Board

■ 1. Fullest co-operation with the Government in its national health scheme and free medical and hospital treatment for all. 2. Strive for a 40-hour week for all nurses and hospital employees. Power Board

1. Favour a revision with a view to a reduction in the rates of charges for commercial and domestic consumers. . 2. Prosecution of full trading activities from source of supply to realisation afiequirernents, viz., from waterfall to cqnsuming device. \ No Personalities In opening the meeting, the chairman,- Mr. J. H. Hall, said that on this occasion the Labour Party had nominated a greater number of candidates than ever befo.re, 12 condidates being in the field in addition to Mr. Coleman,’ fwho was contesting the Mayoralty. Because of that, it would not be advisable; to have every candidate speaking at the meetings. Therefore, Mr. Coleman \yould speak on behah of all the candidates to avoid irksome repetition. All the candidates were present* except Mr. and Mrs. Scott, who were absent through illness. Mr. Coleman said he appreciated the fine, representative gathering of Mangapapa residents. He wished, at the outset of the campaign, that the Labour Party would not indulge in personalities. He and his opponent, Mr. N. H. Bull, were the best of friends personally, and he trusted that at the end of the campaign they would be just as good friends. He regretted that there had been a number of personalities in anonymous correspondence. He never indulged in anonymous correspondence himself. and so far as he knew none of his friends did. The anonymous letters did noj concern municipal affairs, but private • matters —and the writers seemed concerned that he had two icbs. - No man could be Mayor of Gisborne without having another job, whether it was of a practising solicitor or merchant. The Mayor’s honorarium was £225, and he made a practice of setting that aside and giving away the whole lot. His whole time how was spent in public work in the interests of. the public, and the positibh of Mayor and Parliamentariart interlocked, so that it was advisable to have a Mayor who was also a member of Parliament. The Public Debt

Continuing, Mr. Coleman said that the Labour policy had been drawn up by the candidates and endorsed by the party. ,t If their policy was put into operation,, it would spejl progress for the borough. His opponent had criticised the administration of the past councils. Mr. Coleman had nothing to say to that, apart from that they referred to councils of 20 and 30 years ago. Mr. Bull had quoted the public debt of the borough as £600.000, and that was true. Mr. Bull’s speech at the opening of the campaign was a repetition of his first as a borough < councillor, and he was then asked how he was going to remedy the .position, upon which Mr. Bull had admitted that there was no remedy. Mr. Coleman said that he was proud of the fact that not one penny piece of the £600.000 of public debt had been added during.his administration. He claimed that since he first became Mayor, he adopted the cautious policy that had meant progress to the Bofough without adding to the public debt of the town, and he was Mayor ■during the most difficult times. The borough had only one source of revenue, and that was from rates. Last year the council struck a rate of £64,503, and collected £59,784. Interest and sinking fund cost £34,465,

leaving only £29,319 for works, so that the fact that the council-had to strike a high rate was not entirely the fault of the present council.

The Labour Party would give full aiiention to sanitation, hygiene and refuse disposal, which were very importants aspects. Refuse collection was the most obsolete and unhygienic system, a'nd this would be given full consideration. Recreation and Sports

Consideration would be given to the extension and maintenance of recreation grounds and reserves. Gisborne had nothing to be proud of in the facilities offering in this respect, and Ihere were very few places so poorly equipped with sports and recreation grounds. He felt very keenly on this point. Some people did not think it a responsibility of the council to provide sports grounds and air spaces for the young people, but the Labour Party wa r not numbered among these. Gisborne was crowded for grounds. The council had just' completed putting the Childers Road Reserve into order, and with the assistance of the Government the council had made it into a very fine ground, but even then .here was insufficient space. Mr. T. Todd had given a ground at the top end of Aberdeen road for a playing area for children, and yet some of the councillors were averse to accepting it because it meant a few pounds’ expenditure in levelling it off. It was the responsibility of the council to maintain the municipal grounds, Mr. Coleman continued. Up to now the council had done very little in this direction, practically the whole cost being thrown on the young people who used them.

The Labour policy was to give every encouragement to children to use the Macrae Swimming Rath for the teaching of swimming and life-saving. He regarded the Macrae Bath as a social, service and he wished to see the social services used. If the bath was used by the young people in teaching them to swim, any expenditure was,well worth while. The bath would be available to school children at a purely nominal cost, of say,’ls for the whole season. The public was startled by road accident fatalities, yet there were more drowning fatalities in the five months of the swimming season than road accidents for a full 12 months. Retention of Buses

The Labour Party aimed at retaining the municipal bus service and extend it as conditions warranted it. There was a very grave danger of the municipal bus service being closed down and handed to private enterprise. Mr. Bull was a strong advocate of private enterprise being allowed to take the service over. There was a necessity of the service paying its own way, and it did. but even if it cost the council something it was worth while carrying on.

Private enterprise would cater only for sections which were profitable. People in parts of the borough who never had a chance of a ride in the old trams were still paying for the tram loan, anc! they were entitled to a service from 'the municipal buses, ff private enterprise took over the service, there were sections which would be eliminated.

“A Standing Disgrace”

The Labour Party would consider the necessity for new municipal buildings. The present buildings were a standing disgrace to a town of this size. There was no convenience for the staff, and no private enterprise would be allowed to carry on under such conditions, yet the body which made the by-laws was breaking them every day. If a fire broke out in the building, documents that could never be replaced would be destroyed. A few years ago the council went into the orospect of housing the documents in another building, but that was not feasible.

Women’s Rest Room The party would give sympathetic co-operation with the various organisations to the beautification work of the town, and the fullest development of the beaches and to the bui.ding of a Women’s Rest Room. The Labour Party w.und no* only give sympathy for the building of a Women’s Rest Room, but financial support as well. The council should subsidise the money already raised for the purpose of c-rectri? a buikiuig for the use of women.

They favoured an improved system of street lighting, but at present he could not say what form it would take. The lighting system oi the .town was obsolete, and motorists would agree that driving conditions on a we! night were positively dangerous. He and his colleagues.were not prepared to say what system would be the best but they would consult the Powei Board on the matter.

Housing Scheme

The fullest co-operation would be given to the Government in its housing scheme. He had met with hostility to the Government’s housing efforts. Certain councillors were hostile to any suggestion the Housing Department made, just because those suggestions were not made by a Government to which they belonged. The houses that were at present being built were a fine type, and the Under-Secre-tary for Housing, Mr. J. A. Lee, had promised to build as many houses at the place needed. That being so, he would give the Government his fullest co-operation.

All work to be undertaken in the borough would be of a permanent nature. He had always stood for that, and the work done had been accomplished out of revenue. He had refrained from going to the people for a loan, but it was a matter that must be given serious consideration. The days of the gravel, shingle ana metal roads were those of the past, costing an enormous amount of money to maintain, and even then they did not have good roads. A Labour council would investigate the cost of the roads to maintain them, to find out how much a loan would cost to put the roads dowi. in permanent material, and if thcdifference in the cost of the present method against a permanent and progressive policy was not great they would place before the ratepayers a scheme of bituminising the roads throughout the borough.

Social Services

All social services should be extended to serve the whole of the borough. Mangapapa and outer Haiti were not receiving the full benefits from water and sewerage. When those areas decided to join the borough they agreed to bear the cost of sewerage and water, but it was iound latei that the cost was too great, because they had no highly valued properties. He maintained that the borough should assist the outer portions. He knew the legal obstacles, but there were ways in which the council could assist. He could promise that the Labour Party would give very earnest consideration to the possibility oi giving those services. There were also portions of the old borough which were paying lor lull services and which did not have them. A loan would be necessary to give such people the service, and some oi those people which the loan would assist no doubt would vote against the loan because it would mean an extra id on the rates. Referring to the 40-hour week proposal for nurses, Mr. Coleman said that most hospital employees had a 4<j-hour week, but the section of the staff, the nurses, who required it more than anyone else did , not have it. The wage was a miserable pittance of something under 15s l a week. The Power Board had done good

work, but the time bad come when cheaper power should be available. There were no direct labour representatives on the board at present, although there was one staunch Labour man there, but it was hoped that at the next election there would be good support to the full Labour ticket.

Borough Administration

Proceeding, Mi-. Coleman maintained that the affairs of the borough had never been administered better than when he was Mayor.

“Many people admit to me,” he continued, "that 1 have been a good Mayor and that they could get no one better for the position, but I am a member of the Labour Party. They say they do not believe in party politics, but they do not vote for me because I am not of their party.”

The policy of the party submitted would spell prosperity for Gisborne, ff ‘the party’s representatives could not do all that they advocated, then ihey would do a portion. There would oe no reactionary effect, and progress would not be retarded, but the platform would be a means of pushing the borough ahead. “The Labour Party has never wrought party politics into municipal Party politics have been brought into the Borough Council, but never by a Labour representative. The Labour Party is something more than a political organisation, jecause it enunciates principles that ire for tire betterment of the people. At the close of the address, only one juestion was asked. It was a written question, asking why only eight candiiates had been nominated for nine /acancies on the Borough Council. In ■eply, Mr. Coleman said that Dr. A. L. Singer was a candidate, and they would like to see him a member. Therefore, the Labour Party was not ipposing him. (Applause.)

On the motion of the chairman, a nearly vote of thanks to Mr. Coleman for his very able address was carried ay acclamation. A vote of thanks to he chair was also carried by acclamation.