THE MAYORALTY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18163, 27 April 1921, Page 5

THE MAYORALTY.

THE LAST SHOT THE £90,000 ADVANCE. ; Mr Oakley Browne concluded his : Mayoral campaign last evening, when he • addressed a very large meeting in tlie ; Opera House. He was accorded a splendid reception. Mr J. H, Bowater presided. At the conclusion, the following resolution was carried :—“ That this meeting tenders a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr Oakley Browne for his very able .address and expresses its confidence in hm as a fit and proper person i io occupy the high position as Mayor of | Wanganui.” i The many matters of Borough interest I —or Borough blunders as he termed I them—were dealt with, but special rei ferenco was made to the Mayor’s state- ! ments in regard to Borough finance. Mr , Brow ne dealt in detail with the question ol the advance by the Bank of New Zealand of £90,000 towards the £120,000 I loan monies authorised by the ratepayI ers for the steam tram proposals. The i speaker quoted the Mayor's statement j to the burgesses in the Opera House as follows: —“ I am pleased to state that I before long'expenditure in these directions will revert to normal conditions. ' The unprecedented financial stringency i has given the Council much serious thought, and I am pleased to be able to I report that the Councils finances have ! been most satisfactorily arranged. Arrangements were therefore made with , the Bank to advance £90,000, w nich will , be available as required, and there is -mo possible chance of the Borough not bajng able to meet all the obligations it hasV“tered into.” Tins statement, said Air B?V" 11C > clearly indicates that the Mayor definitely arranged the adv ance of and no other construction could bXp' a<?e d upon the deliberate and clear- st;ist>i ncnt made in this connection But thw sequel came from Gonville on when his Worship, speaking at tw'“- L suburb, said; “When making financial arrangements i they could not go on theP^” corners and discuss it. The arrangS™ o ?- 18 “ad ■ now oeen practically “ ut u “‘, less the arrangements made we£? ried out they -night yet fail. ir£ “id not say that as a threat, but if cent 1111 1 people got control they might find thenJ" selves up against it.” He wanted thX jxxiple. to realise how serious was tliis ' statement. If Air Williams had the money arranged then it did not matter who was Mayor the arrangement would stand. If when. Air Williams said* at his Opera House meeting that he had the money and m reality ‘he did not have it, then he told a- lie. If the money had not been arranged as Air Williams told his audience at Gonville, his statement made there could only be construed as coercion in order to get votes, the threat being if they did not put him (Mr Williams) back the borough would not be able to get the finance. AVere the ratepayers going to put up with that sort of thing? It only showed that his (Air Browne's) criticism of tbe muddlement was correct and was confirmed by 1 the Mayor's own words.

ADDRESS BY MR WILLIAMS. AN OPEN AIR MEETING. Last evening the Mayor (Mr T. B. Williams) gave an address at Maria Place. Mr G. Spriggens presided. There was a large attendance in the closing stages of the meeting. In opening Mr Williams said it was practically the last opportunity ' that he had of addressing the ratepayers before the election He rgretted many of the questions that had been raised:, particularly the sectarian issue. He had hoped that the war had wiped that all out. (Hear, hear!) Once the result of the election was known all differences as far as the speaker and his opponent were concerned would cease. He wanted to say that the old Council had been faced with many difficulties and no Council could have done better.

The statement made by his opponent that the Borough finances were in an unsatisfactory state was not true. There were, however, some difficulties ahead, and there-was the possibility of unemployment during the coming winter. It was for the Council to do its best to see that men had employment. Referring to the drainage question at Wanganui East the Mayor said that they had no power to form a drainage board in the Borough. They had approached the Wanganui County Council to see what could be done, but so far without result Dealing with finance the Mayor said the proposal to. raise £150,000 to repay loans would never come into force. Continuing Mr Williams said he went to the Council table in 1885. Soon after that time the Borough had greater financial difficulties than at the present. At that time ihe Council had assisted men to find work. Similarly, if the coming winter was a difficult one it would be the duty of the Council to do all that was possible to provide work. Mr Williams dealt -with the water supply, and the need for developing, as far as possible, sports grounds. In conclusion the Mayor said that if the ratepayers did not return men who would faithfully conserve their

interests then the responsibility woula be theirs. If Mr Browne had been willing to serve them he would have gone to the Council table to prove his worth. The question for the ratepayers was: would they elect a tried man they knew or a i comparative stranger. Success or failure depended on the ratepayers* votes. He reminded them that he had worked conscientiously on various local bodies for the development of the i ''w’ nnd district and he would . continue to do so. He claimed that no other man could have handled the ' finances of the Borough as he had i done. He feit that, he could claim the support of the ratepayers. : (Hear, hear!). He was not out for personal gain. He believed that he ‘would be returned, but if not he would take it in the best spirit. He would place himself with confidence ] in their hand-, i '-tear, hear!) I At the close three cheers were given for Mr Williams. ! Cr. C. J. Sharpe, chairman of the Finance Committee, said that one of Air Browne's planks was the finances of the Borough and they had been represented to be unsound. The finances of Wanganui were quite sound. The proposal of their opponents to wipe out the liability with a £150,000 loan was impracticable according to the law, and could not be done. If it were possible the difficulty would be to raise the money. Mr Browne’s scheme at the best would mean a big loss to the ratepayers. They all knew Mr Williams was a steady, cautious man and should support him. He urged the ratepayers not to be misled by platform promises which could not be carried into effect. Crs Green and Spriggen.~ also spoke, the former dealing with the question of the steam plant.