MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3625, 22 August 1901, Page 4

MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS.

His Worship the Mayor having promised to give an address to the Congregational Young .People's Union at their meeting last evening, it was arranged to hold the meeting in the Sophia street Hall, and to.in-' -rite the public to attend. There was, .however, a. very small attendance, only about twenty present. The Rev. G. Burgess presided. Mr Macintosh began by saying that the duties of a Municipal Council are not very generally understood, as most people seem to that the Council is " some-

thing outside of and independent of them- ~---- tffilves, -as if the >Council's business affectedthe Councillors only. If a meeting of; shareholders in :any local company had been called, there would have been a much larger attendance, though the interest of the shareholders ia a company are only financial, while .the interests of the burgesses of-, a. borough include .health and comfort and general well-beings .as well as financial interests.' They ought to feel that they had as much interest in borough affairs as a shareholder in his .company. The duty of the Council, as representing the residents, -was to serve the best interests of all. Unfortunately the interests of all were op- ' posed to the interests of a few, and the power was in the hands of the few, the property holders. It was the duty of a Municipal Council to provide the public necessities, at the minimum of cost, in the' public interest. Some of these services all municipalities undertook : The provision of streets, drainage, water supply; some supplied also gas or electric light, -tramways. At Home baths, gymnasiums, recreation grounds, markets, houses for the poor, laundries,- were also, run by municipalities in numerous cases. The most progressive city in the United Kingdom, Glasgow, carried on all these services, and so successfully as to furnish. reply to the. objection that a- municipality cannot manage a manufacturing business. He. referred to the municipal franchise, and contended that it should be made the same as the Parliamentary franchise. Thnaru was very backward in the municipalisation of public services."'* It was only within four or five years that any real at- j tempt had been made to provide necessary drainage; the one outstanding instance of good service being- the water supply. There should be the same readiness to adopt improved systems of municipal management and working as is the case in a private . "business., Manufactures, and transport by land and sea, had been immensely improved, whilst in municipal matters, what ■was good enough for the past is considered good enough for the present, and for the future. There should be more looking ahead, seeking to make fit in with -what must be done later on. A great many seemed to +>ihiV that a municipality should not -undertake any service for itself, exxxpt such as were not directly charged for, such as streets, drains, fire-prevention, «tc, as if the corporation must be a spending but not an earning machine. He made some remarks on the value of the waterworks, saying these had cost £60,000 of borrowed money; the town had paid £126,000 in interest, and still owed the £60,000; but the water supply had been worth the money; and the works would sell for £120,000 any day. The gasworks -were in a different position, a valuable property which had been" built up by the public of Timaru. The gasworks had cost between ,£12,000 and £13,000, the shareholders had drawn £26,000 in dividends, and now asked £33,000 for. the property the-people of Timaru had made -valuable. The borough and the hospital ietween them pay from £7OO to £BOO a -year to the company. From these two instances, the water and gas supplies, they could judge of the comparative values of municipal and private ownership of pub?ac serivces. The comparison was all in favour of municipalisation. The Timaru Gas Company's Act forbids the starting d a competitive gasworks, and an effort should be made to get that Act repealed. TSo one had a right to tie the hands of pos"ierity as is done by such statutes, that give no power to revise a bargain when fresh -conditions arise. Free public libraries, recreation grounds, gymnasiums, should also be provided by the municipality for its people. The Mayor next referred to the different systems of taxation, and ] spoke at some length in favour of rating i «hx unimproved values. Taxation of! buildings discourages the provision and improvement of houses, and taxation of in.dnstriil buildings tends to drive industries away - from the towns,. and therefore is I against the best interests of a town community. The owner of a small house is apt to object to the change of system, be- ' cause the owner of the larger house would Lave his rate reduced. The objector, however, overlooked the fact that the large bouse provided him or the owner of some other small house, with' perhaps a large portion of his livelihood in keeping it in order. A number of recent writers and speakers were quoted in favour of a tax on land values, and these being eminent men at Home, their words should prove that the idea is not the fad of a few. Some facts from the history of ancient empires were'quoted, to show the national danger of land monopoly. At the close of the address, which occupied about three-quarters of an hour, -the pharrman moved a hearty vote of thanks to the Mayor for his instructive and persuasive address, and expressed re- j " gret that it had been listened to by so few. ] Mr W. Bourne seconded the-- proposal, and said the principle of rating on unimproved values was finding favour in Australia, it 'was compulsory in British Columbia, and optional in many parts of Canada, and throughout the United" Kingdom great interest is being shown in the subject. It would reduce the price" of vacant ( -sections, and mean progress,.for more and better houses would. be buijttf. The Mayor said Mr Bqaxne had struck the key-note of progress/ the removal of the greatest obstacle to building. And he believed that if workmen were rendered better able to acquire a home, by means «f the reformed system of rating, it would be of greater benefit to them than all the labour laws that could be passed.