THE MAYORALTY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18162, 26 April 1921, Page 5

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. OAKLEY BROWNE AT MARIA. PLACE. Mr H. Oakley Browne addressed a very largo open-air meeting in Maria Place last evening, Mr C. H. Burnett presiding. Mr Browne said he was fighting a hard campaign. He had practically all the old Council against him and r.citln r of the local papers was giving him support. The ‘‘Chronicle” had been agitating for a change of administration, and welcomed the.advent of Mr Sigley in the contest, but Mr Sigley had not stuck to his guns but turned tail and fled when he (31 r Browne) fired the first shot in the campaign. (Laughter). He made no excuse for being in the contest. He based his candidature on the fact, that ho was a young New Zealander and a. payer of heavy rates. It was charged against ’him that he, was a stranger, but that was a bogey put forward to injure his candidature. He had been approached by a very large number of citizens to contest the Mayoralty long before he had consented, and had told his friends that he. would stand down if they could suggest the name of anv prominent citizen who would come forward with a chance of ousting the present administration. Quite a number of prominent men had been consulted, but not one had had sufficient public spirit to step into the. breach, and wht n a large deputation of promin. ent .citizens, including councillors, excouncillors and business men had waited upon him he had consented. He had always held the opinion that a. man should not wait until he wa.s grey-head-ed and had spent all his energy and vigour in. making money, before he contested a public position. Our puuhc life needed young mop with energy, vitality and vision to carry the country through the troublous times ahead. The election of a Mayor should not be made a question of sentiment —it should be a question of business. He was glad to say he had so far accompiished what he had set out to do — arouse in the people a civic spirit, and it was gratifying to him, a-s a young man, to find that there was more interest being taken in the present contest than had been the case for years. (Applause). The feeling of the public was for a change. Wanganui had got into a rut, and it wanted a young man with experience, breadth of mind and a humanitarian outlook on life to pull the town out of its present awkward position. (Applause). He reminded his audience that he had placed a construe-; tive platform before the people—a com-; moiLsense platform, which combinedcaution with progress We had gone through our fat years and had failed to do necessary works, and now that the lean years were on hand whoever held the Mayoral chair had a hard row to hoe and had to be cautious in his policy. I‘or years we 'had carried out a spendthrift policy because money was cheap and could be easily obtained. We had been living in a fool’s paradise, and now everybody had to be brought to a realisation of the fact that “things are not as they were.” There was a financial stringency, the money market was hard, and the spectre of unemployment was in the land. There was no need for pessimism, but the 'municipal ship needed a steady hand, a cool brain, and a. measure of foresight, to steer a course through the breakers ahead. (Applause*. Administration based on broad lines and not on narrow views was essential He hated to refer to religion from the public platform, because that, to his mind, was for the home and for the conscience, but iii self-defence he must answer those who were canvassing from door to door saying he was a Roman Catholic, and say that he was not. He respected every man’s religion, and was seeking a high public position with one thought only—to do the best in the interests of all classed. If elected he would do bis duty courageously, and realising that his future public career would depend largely upon the conduct of the important affairs of this borough. (Applause). He deprecated the introduction of “tickets” by persons and sections of the community. They were caluclated to “cloud” the issues and good men would go down at the polls on: account of public resentment of such I tactics. He was tied.to no person, and) no section of the community, but would stand or fall by the policy he had enunciated. (Applause). That policy had never been attacked. His financial criticism had not been challenged, the reason being that the indictment he had levelled against the* borough’s financial position was Unanswerable. (Ap-i plauise). The Majvor had placed no constructive policy before the burgesses, and it was safe to presume that if Jlr Williams were re-elected he would be content to allow the present “drift” to continue. There was never a time in the history of the borough when a. strong administrator was so urgently needed. Mr Williams had given certain figures! to the public, but had shrouded the real : position in darkness. He had given the | public, to understand that all the finan-i ces were arranged, when in reality there were commitments over and above the' £90,0'.X) he had obtained from the bank, | amounting to over £lOO,OOO. How didMr Williams propose? to raise that; money? The Council must face the question courageously, and a consolidat-| ing loan would have to be raised, even if an Empowering Bill had to be put; through the legislature. There was aJ duty to the temporary depositors at call, and that duty had to be faced. It was all very well to say “things will right themselves,” but how could they? Bank notes did not grow on trees, and the Council had to make provision to pay its just obligations. He had carefully perused all the Mayor’s speeches osr published in the daily papers, and the only proposal he. seined to have of a. constructive nature was to run trams to Fordell in the future. (Laughter). Referring to tramway matters, Mr Bro wne said it was essential that we should erect the steam plant at the earliest possible moment. The reason was not far to seek. The present plant was breaking down every' day, and it was essential that the Council should arrange a. tramway service that would be reliable. It was nonsense to talk about selling the steam plant now that, it was on the ground. Hydro-electricity was still some years off,* and we could: not rely on the gas producers and Na-1 pier engines until that scheme was! consummated.

Mr Browne pointed out in the course of 'his address many things which he characterised as borough blunders. The ratepayers’ money had been squandered, and there had not been a fair deal to the public. The roads, channels, foot-

paths and lighting system did not do i credit to the town. The people had been referred to as conservative. He did not, believe that. They had certainly been apathetic, because our City Fathers 1 had done nothing to arouse a civic spirit. There was a flutter in the dovecotes at present. He would ask those who were so strenuously opposing him; “what they were afraid of.” He believed in throwing the light of day on the business of the Council. Ho appealed to the people to exercise t'hc franchise in the interests of the borough. They should not Im? led away by the cry that 'Browne was a publican. Some of the most public-spirited men and some of our greatest statesmen had been either brewers or publicans; for instance. Sir John Logan Campbell, Hon. Arthur Myers, and Last but not least, the late Mr Seddon. In the present contest the public had to choose between two men—a young publica.n and an elderly ex-brewer. In referring to Anrrac Day Mr Browne regretted that a soldiers’ memorial had not Ixcn erected.! It should be one of the first duties of I the new Council. He did rot want tosee it take the form of a utilitarian' building, but would like to see a solid monumental structure standing in some prominent position in the borough, which would, like Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Sqnare, London, perpetual ate for all time the magnificent services and devotion of our troops to their country’s cause. Air Browne received a most attentive hearing and his remarks were frequently applauded. At the concluson of his address he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, which was carried by acclamation. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Mr Ohkley Browne addressed the patrons of His Majesty’s Theatre in the interval last evening and there was a crowded audience. Air Browne dealt briefly with the borough affairs and stressed the necessity for a change of, administration. He was warmly applauded for his speech. MR WILLIAMS AT GONVILLE. VOTE OF CONFIDENCE. An address on municipal matters was delivered last evening at the Gonville Town Hall by the Mayor (Mr T. B. Williams) before a small audience. Air W. A. Veitch, M.P., who presided, said that Mr Williams had served the people faithfully and capably. He was present to justify his position and reply to the criticism that ‘had been levelled against him. Mr Williams said that his opponent claimed that the speakdr persisted in making personal attacks on him. He had not been personal but he reiterated that Air Browne did not know the Borough’s affairs and accepted statemietits prepared lor him by Cr. Burnett. The statement made by the speaker at his Opera House meeting and published, was a true statement of the Borough’s; finances. Speaking generally the Bor-, ough was in a better position than most ! oi the boroughs in the Dominion. Proceeding, the Alayor read a letter I by C. H. Burnett which had appeared; that evening in the “ Herald,” in which! Cr. Burnett said that lie did not visit the Council office to demand or even ask for the list of temporary depositors. Hix desired, to peruse t'he list to see if any amounts were repaid since the passing of the Moratorium Act. One would have thought that Cr. Burnett, a member of the Finance Committee, would have be-eh satisfied. Instead, CT. Bur-! nett asked for a written reply. To the speaker’s mind it appeared to show an! ulterior motive in writing again and: not accepting Mr Murch’s answer. Th©: names of temporary depositors should ' be treated confidentially as a bank would treat them. Cr. Burnett did not scorn to realise his responsibilities to the ratepayers. It would be a graceful act if ho admitted that he had made a mistake, Air Williams said his opponents al-1 leged that the Council had no policy and that their policy was to raise £150,000 to pay off the Council's indebtedness.! They did not know that a loan could not be When the speaker first became Mayor in 1913 there was £210,000 loans maturing, and a consolidating' measure was necessary. He considered that the gradual adding of deficit to the general account was wrong in principle. I That was the reason of special legisla-l tion.

Continuing t'he Mayor said that the Council did not ask for the Moratorium Act. The night before the ?.loratorium legislation was known there was a cheque for £lOOO in the Council office to be placed in the temporary account, i S-’hey knew if the money was placed in the bank they would have no power to take it out. The Borough had no power, to pay tlie temporary depositors under; existing conditions. More money had ’ been ottered than was necessary to repay; those wanting to take out temporary loans. The bank had informed them if a chejque was written to repay uunporary deposits the cheque would not be met. The speaker had two sums in the' temporary deposits which he could not get. The Council, however, realised that there might be considerable hardship, but the Council could not repay temporary depositors. In regard to the balance of the £120,000 loan it had been arranged to issue frosh debentures' at par aud six per cent, to be issued' with a Government guarantee. Other local bodies in the Dominion were making similar arrangements to carry on. When the arrangements were being made the speaker and those associated with him had to keep their mouths shut until everything was completed. Now there wdre allegations of star chamIjer metluxls. When making financial arrangements they could not go on the street corners and’ discuss it. Tlie arrangements had now been practically completed, but unless the arrangements made were carried out they might yet fail. He did not say that as a threat, but if certain people got control they might find themselves up against it. Wanganui had to thank Mr Massey and Mr Veitch for the assistance given. The speaker personally did not ask for any credit. (Applause). He could claim that he had the ability to deal with the Borough finances if given the opportunity. He was in London when the Harbour Board's loan of £150,000 was raised. There were considerable difficulties in the way at the time, but the information given by the speaker was regarded as so satisfactory that the loan was raised at par. He mentioned that to show that he had some knowledge of finance.

The Mayor dealt at some length with statements made by Mr Douglas on Saturday evening in support of Mr Browne’s candidature. Mr Douglas had referred to the Borough accounts, and had laid stress on the fact that there was not a renewal account. By

way of illustration of his point Mr Wil-l liams said that tlie gasholders were estimated to List 100 years. Why should ( they provide a fund to re-erect something in 100 years’ time? He considered that all that was net'cesary was to keep the plant in a proper suite of repair, and provide a sinking fund to wipe out the debt. They had the Government auditor's statement that the Wanganui Borougli’s system of treating account* was second to none in the Dominion. Air Douglas was put up to insult the speaker, the councillors, and the citizens. As he was not a candidate he could make staU-UneuLs that Air Browne would not make. As Air Douglas had compared Dunedin and Wanganui, Air Williams read official figures to show that Wanganui's finances compared more than iavourauly with Dunedin. Referring to the water supply Mr Williams said that thqiy already had Mr Alestayer’s report ou the Wanganui. Raver, and going on he reiterated his previous remarks in regard to tlie Alexander bequest and the Sarjesaut Gallery debt. His opponents liad tried to make capital out of the tact that a soldiers 5 memorial had not yet been? erected. He wanted to sec a fitting 4 memorial erected, but it would be bet-j ter to wait and do it properly. (Applause ). Proceeding, the Mayor said if Afr Browne wanted to serve the ratepayers he should have ottered iiimsclf as a councillor and demonstrated his tor the position of Alayor. in Wellington AB’ Browne ottered himself for Parliament, but the electors conbideredl that they had a better man in somebody elne. he asked the ratepayers not to be misled by the chaff and utterance* of a few platform speakers. Mr Wil-| liams asked the ratepayers t-o judge’ him by his past records. He urged his supporters to use all their influence to return him as Alayor, and lie would hope at tlie end of the period to meet them and say that he had (“arried all the that he had made.: (Applause). Cr. C. J. Sharpe dealt with the fin-, ances of the Borough and refuted the statements that the linances of the Bor-i ough Were in an unsound state. Crs. Green and Aitken also tlie meeting. Mrs Cornyns, who is a candidate for the Council, stated that she had heard that her name was ou a ticket. She disclaimed any connection with a. ticket. In moving a vote of thanks and con-, fidence, Air A. G. Bignell said that iV would Im* almost a calamity if a change, in the Mayoralty was made. If Mr* Oakley Browne was returned he would; simply be in the hands of the officials and the strongest minds on the Couticil. It was unfair to ask an in< xperienoed man like Mr Browne to take the posH tion. The vote was carried unanimously.