CONTROL OF THE E.P.S.
City Council Not Satisfied The opinion that too much of the control of the Invercargill E.P.S. was vested in persons other than councillors was expressed by councillors at a meeting of the Invercargill City Council last night. The following motion was carried: “That the Minister of National Service be advised that it is the opinion of the Invercargill City Council that as the cost of the E.P.S. must be met by the ratepayers, too much control of the organization is vested in persons other than councillors." Cr R. T. Parsons said that tire council was responsible for finding the money for E.P.S. work and yet it did not have a say as to how it should be spent. The opinion that the council had been passed over was expressed by Cr A. W. Jones, who asked why the Mayor was passed over as the controller. He submitted that the councillors should at least have some say. He felt, he said, that there was some undercurrent fritting away the powers of the council and this should be nipped in the bud. He felt the council had been slighted. It was the only place in New Zealand where E.P.S. work had been taken out of the council’s hands.
The council had not been slighted, said Cr J. Pickard. The Mayor had been asked to take charge of the E.P.S. and had refused and he (Cr Pickard) had also been asked.
Councillors also referred to E.P.S. work undertaken in the city. Crs Parsons and G.- B. Orbell deprecated the manner in which trenches had been dug in the city. Cr Parsons said he considered that some of the trenches were nothing more than death traps, many of them being far too close to buildings. Returned soldiers had told him that they would not dream of entering the trenches in the event of an air raid. Cr Orbell said he considered that in many cases the trenches were far too close together. He thought they should be spread out as far as possible. If a bomb fell on the ground at the rear of the war memorial, he said, practically everyone would be wiped out.
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Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 24648, 21 January 1942, Page 4
Word Count
365CONTROL OF THE E.P.S. Southland Times, Issue 24648, 21 January 1942, Page 4
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