TRAMWAY ELECTION.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 927, 23 November 1933, Page 9

TRAMWAY ELECTION.

Mr W. J. Sim Explains Why He is Standing. In support of his candidature lor the \ Hills-Sumner sub-district seat on the ! Christchurch Tramway Board Mr W. .1Sim, Independent, gave an address at : St Martins last evening. Mr YV. S. j Newburgh presided over a fair at ten- j dance. Air Sim stated that he came forward | with certain reluctance, but in response | to a deputation of leading business men j in the city and the sub-district. He \ respected Airs M’Combs’s abilities and i six months ago would not have con- ; sidered seeking office, but since then : two important events had occurred i which, seemed to alter the position.: One was that a Parliamentary election j had taken place and along with many ; other electors he felt that there should be a distribution of public offices it effective work was to be done by local bodies. The other reason was that it had been represented that an attempt j was to be made to alter the board so j that the unfortunate strike of two ! winters ago could be brought up again, j As a citizen he could ’only look at the ] findings of the arbitrator, who was ; recognised in the city as a fair-minded | man. and if the speaker were elected ; to the board he thought there could be no alternative but to see that those findings were loyally carried out. To qualify as a candidate and possible member he had investigated the affairs of the board with a view to criticism, but recognising also that the board was entitled to have its actions considered fairly. He felt’ obliged to state that on the larger issues affecting the board it had put up a creditable' performance, entitling it to rank with any of the other leading businesses in the city. Along with every other city of importance in Australia and New Zealand it had suffered the inevitable decline in revenue due to the slump. In 1929 its passengers had been 25,000.000 and last year they were 22,000,000. The consequent reduction in revenue has been from £276,000 to £203,000. All the other cities were much the same, including Melbourne, where the drop in passengers for the period was 60,000,000 and in revenue £506,000. To overtake that the board seemed to have grappled in a determined fashion with its operating expenses, so that whereas they were £71,000 belo.w revenue in 1929, in 1933 the figure was £57,000. Interest charges had been more or less fixed, but the board had already submitted to the Local Bodies Loans Board its conversion scheme whereby a saving in interest of £14,000 would result. Its performance during the last three years compared favourably with all the other cities in New Zealand. Cheaper Fares, Better Service. He did not accept the view that improvements w'ere not possible in the service and he was prepared to bring to the board an energetic point of view, having the end desired by everybody, namely, cheaper fares and a better service. The candidate was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence. Socialist Candidates.

The Socialist candidates for the Tramway Board, Alessrs L. F. Warburton, F. H. Grant and H. H. Dunkley, addressed a fair attendance in the Beckenham Hall last evening and outlined their policy. They advocated a complete review of the ticket system and the introduction of over-lapping penny sections, which, they claimed, would make the service more popular and increase the number of passengers. A review of the whole of the services as at present arranged was urged by the candidates. They stated that they were in favour of the introduction of a feeder bus service for the benefit of residents in outlying districts, and were of the opinion that seaside residents should be granted concession fares to the city such as were offered to city residents going td> the seaside. With regard to suggestions that the former employees of the board who lost their jobs as a result of the tramway strike should be re-engaged, the candidates said they did not for one moment suggest that members of the present staff should be dismissed to make room for them. That was a most impracticable proposal. At the same time they believed that the services could be so improved as to attract more passengers with the result that additional employees would be required, and reliable men who had done good work in the past were available for re-employment. a

The candidates answered a number of questions to the apparent satisfaction of the audience, and a vote of thanks was carried.