CHURCH ON ELECTIONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 10

CHURCH ON ELECTIONS

REV. L. B. FLETCHER’S ADVICE MYSTERIOUS COMMITTEE At the morning service in the Beresford Street Congregational Church on Sunday, the Rev. Lionel B. Fletcher referred to the forthcoming municipal elections. He said that at the last elections the people had honoured Cr. Brinsden for his fearless and consistent stand against Dixieland being granted permission to have baths at Point Chevalier, placing him top of the poll. Since then, to their great sorrow, Cr. Brinsden had died, but fortunately there were those in the council who had carried on the good work of watching over the interests of the people of the city, and they must not forget these next Wednesday. He would draw their attention to the fact that certain people were taking upon themselves to select candidates and to advise the people to vote for certain groups whom they had selected. But in many instances these “tickets,” as they were called, were chosen because the selectors had some axe to grind, and he would warn them and advise them to make their own selection, and let the men and women they chose be chosen because of their fine character and fearless principles. He would particularly draw their attention to the so-called “Progressive Citizens’ Committee” which had put forward a group of people for them to vote for. Some of these were excellent people: one of them was a prominent official and worker in their own Church. But who constituted this committee? What were they endeavouring to do? It was very significant that this self-constituted and mysterious committee had left out of their selection the four members of the Parks and Reserves Committee who had served the city faithfully and well. These four were Miss Basten and Messrs. James Donald, J. B. Paterson and E. J. Phelan, and there was not much doubt that the reason that they had been left off was because they had continued to oppose the granting of the right to Dixieland to have Laths. “AMERICAN METHODS” Let it be said quite candidly and frankly, there was a certain set in the city who were trying to gain the exclusion of these four from the City Council so as to punish them for their honesty in safeguarding the interests of the people. If Cr. Brinsden had been alive, they would have sought to have him thrown out of the council, too, but the people must see to it that this vested interest, seeking its own interests, must be shown that the people of Auckland who loved justice and righteousness would not permit their city to be run by any vested interest, nor would thejr allow their foreshores to be taken away from them by any private concern. The harbour shores belonged to the people and they would not allow pri-

| vate groups to imitate American methods of civic government by engineering elections for their own benefit, i He therefore urged his people, and all ; Christian men and women, to vote for ! the best men and women, irrespective | of any party or ticket, and to be sure and honour these four members of the | Parks and Reserves Committee by ! giving them their vote on Wednesday.