THE MAYORALTY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 99, 30 April 1935, Page 6

THE MAYORALTY

MR. FALCONER’S CAMPAIGN STRAIGHT TALK TO LABOUR. MEETING AT GONVILE. In his address to the electors at Gonville last night, Mr. Falconer, who is contesting the Mayoralty free from the ties of party, dealt with several of the matters raiseo by the Labour candidates at their meeting in St. Paul’s Hall last Wednesday. He stated emphatically that he did not belong to a party and that there was no room for party politics in local body affairs. Mr. Rogers, he said, had quoted a little bit of Shakespeare and a little bit of Kipling in his address. That was of little use in municipal affairs. He challenged Mr. Rogers to tell the electors his policy by getting down to tin tacks. The speaker made reference to Cr. J. J. Scott’s criticism of the London loan, and considered that the electors were entitled to know what Cr. Scott would have done under the same circumstances as Cr. Robertson was placed in when that London loan came up for renewal. Mr. Falconer also replied to Cr. Scott’s criticism of the Kai Iwi pump by reminding the ratepayers that that pump had saved the city from a water famine this year. .In this statement the speaker wa« supported by Or. J. D. Crowley, chairman of the Works Committee, which had been the first body to grapple with the serious position the city faced in regard to its supply of water.

Mr. A. G. Bignell presided and ou ihe platform were a number of candidates for seats on the City Council — Messrs. J. Siddells. J. D. Crowley, O. Hales, P. Doull and G h E. Bennett. They each addressed the electors, defining their respective opinions with regard to civic management Mr. Falconer referred first of all the question of party. He said he had been tilted at on that point from various sources. A gentleman who signed himself •’Citizen” was one and had written—‘‘Mr. Falconer seems to think that to have a Parliamentary political opinion constitutes a crime against local body politics.” ”1 do not think anything of the <orr.” Mr. Falconer stated, “but what L do say is that it is wrong when political opinion is brought into local body affairs. I hold that there is no room for political opinion in municipal matters where you must have men who I are capable of running the business of ihe city according to the arguments • brought forward at rhe council tabla and not dominated by caucus rule and political bosses elsewhere.” The speaker went on to say that it had been charged against the present council that it was a party and that it went in pledged to support Mr. Armstrong and had never voted in any other way. The minute book of the council would show that such a statement was untrue. There were occasions when the speaker had voted with ihe J/abour members of the council. There were limes when the Mayor ha J done so. In fact the councillors had '•oted in nJ) directions, but there was not one occasion the speaker could remember when the two Labour members had not voted together. Not Pledged to Party Tne speaker gave the lie direct to rhe statement Uiat he had been elected as a member of a party pledged to support Mr. Armstrong. He maintained that there would be good government only so long as ihe council was composed of men who were able to exercise their own judgment and vote accordingly, and not according to preconceived ideas. ‘‘There is no party behind me,’’ Mr. Falconer continued. “A deputation of citizens, and a representative deputation at that, waited Gii me and asked me to stand. As for their political opinions, 1 don't know i hem and 1 don't want to know them. The members of my committee number round about 75 and if anybody is interested enough 1 will supply the names of every one of them at my office. But the other side seems determined to create a parry and seems to be at a loss if we are not a party. Well, let us consider we are. If we are a parly our only common ground is that we stand for the fair and independent management of the city’s affairs from the council table and not governed by a "gang’’ (if I can use ( ‘r. Scott 's term! of political bosses somewhere else. This talk of party is the old “red herring” drawn across ihe track, it is nothing else but that. Mr. Falconer dealt again with a letter written by one of the Labour candidates comparing Christchurch with Wanganui, and staled that fitfie writer could not have chosen a worse example for comparative purposes. “Mr. Kogers has quoted a little bit of Shakespeare - and a little bit of Kipling, but he has remained perfectly silent on the policy he would adopt if he was elected. 7 ’ Mr. Falconer proceeded. “Shakespeare and Kipling are all right, iu their places, but they are not much use in municipal affairs. What we want is tin tacks, and Mr. Rogers has not given them to you. 1 have told you in my opening address where I stand, and I will tell you again to-night. Mr. Rogers has mentioned the question of rating and has claimed that he was responsible for the introduction of rating on unynproved values and that I was opposed to it. Quite correct. But Mr. Rogers knows i perfectly well that the question of rat- ' ing has nothing to do with the City , Council. It is a matter for the ratepayers and them alone. Mr, Rogers and I have our own personal views on the question of rating, but they are the views of individuals. I have one vote and so has he, but when he says that the reduction in rates was largely brought abou* by the change to the system of unimproved values, could anything be more ridiculous! The CityCouncil must collect the same total rate levy whether the basis is on annual rental, capital or unimproved values. The change only means that the incidence of the taxation is differently pread.” Mr. Falconer staled that the present council had not reduced rates because unemployment funds had. been expended in Wangr-nui. He. said that the city owed a grew debt to the unemployed, because work had been undertaken in the city which could not have been contemplated out of revenue—work on the airport and at Castlecliff. But no man had been dismissed from the council’s employ to make way for a relief worker. The reason vhy men had been put off the council was that loan moneys had run out. While lhere was loan money there to spend those men could be employed. bi,t ojic.e the council was down to bare revenue they had to go. Last year the

council had found £3750 for unem« ployed, for subsidies on wages, supervision and tools. Somebody had said that it would have been better to have used that money to employ more men. His reply was that while that would have found employment for 15 to 20 men it was better to use it to lift money from the Unemployment Board whch would give something in the way of wages to 500 men. That £3750 was all the City Council could afford out of the municipal till. “If Mr. Rogers is going to take more than that he will either have to borrow money or raise the rates, 7 ’ said the speaker. “That £3750 is the maximum the city can afford. If more is wanted it will have to borrow or raise the rates and I am opposed to doing either. Will Mr. Rogers tell you exactly what he means when he says his attitude on wages and towards the unemployed is well known! It ig up to him d,o Jet you know just what he means and I am asking him to-night, does he intend to borrow money or to increase the rates?” One-Man Tram Bogey, “Mr. Rogers says he was opposed to the one-man tram.” Mr. Falconer proceeded. “1 was on the council at that time and I supported the introduction of the one-man tram and Mr. Rogers opposed it. Let me show you just what that means. By the introduction of one-man trams the city was able to save the employment of two men per car per day. Their average wages at that time, including overtime, was £a per week. That meant £.lO per week per tram, and with nine trams to run the service that meant a saving to the city of £4680 per annum. (Applause). If Mr. Rogers was opposed to that saving, and the service is as good as ever it was. wftere do his interests lie? Do they lie in the direction of serviug the city as a whole or of one particular portion of it only? It is fairly evident where they de lie, and 1 leave it to

The London Loan. Mr. Falconer dealt briefly with the Loudon loan. Cr. Scott’s utterances with regard thereto were quoted in which he said “He had never seen a ‘financial agent' in a team of bushmen play such a dirty trick on bis males as the past council had done iu the mess it made of the renewal of that Joan.’ ” “Now let me quote you Cr. Robertson’s statement,” Mr. Falconer went on; “I admit, openly and frankly that I did not oppose the renewal of the London loan, because 1 was assured tnat every avenue had been explored and that the London terms were the best that could be got-" “That looks to me like a split iu ibe Labour camp,” Mr. Falconer added, “but if Cr. Scott is such a genius as he would have you believe, will he tell you during this campaign just what, he would have done, and how he, would have gone about the renewal of that loan? 1 ask him tonight to give his idea c«f how be would have done it! Cr. Robertson has given his. The Kai Iwi Pump. “Cr. Scott Has made some cheap and clownish, remarks about the pump ar. Kai Iwi, 7 ’ the speaker went un, ’and some two years ago be referred to the springs al Kai Iwi as ‘those wretched little springs. 7 Let me tell you that ‘ those wretched little springs’ saved you from a water famine ihis year, and ’those wretched little springs,’ or the portion of them which has been har-

nessed. are capable of supplying one and three quarter million gallons a day. Cr. Scott indulged in some cheap sarcasm about the pump, but L put ii. to you that the only pump he knows anything - about is the parish pump. (Laughter.) Apparently, in his view, the opinions of other members of the council are not worth anything, nor de rhe views of the council’s technical advisors count for anything. J leave it to you. And what about Cr. Robertson’s view? Be supported the pump. That looks like another split in. the Labour camp. Cr. Weott referred to a Punch and Judy show in which the “puppets we dancing and they were I beating ihe drum- 7 All I can say is that Cr. Scott has missed his vocation in life. It would have been better if 1 he had stayed with his Punch and Judy show. He has filled the city up with destructive criticism. There was nothing else in it, and there are too many of that kind in Wanganui.'’ Mr. Falconer also dealt with Mr. Rogers 7 reference to economy, iu which it was stated that economy could be had at too great a price, at the malnutrition of children. The only inference io be gained by such a statement was that the City Council, by reducing wages had brought that about. Mr. Falconer had asked the town clerk to give him the average earnings of members of the city outside staff, excluding salaried officers. Jt worked out at £4 4s 2d weekly, which was not bad in times like the present. The speaker, dealing with a suggestion thrown out by Mr. Percy Tingey that municipal ciedit be introduced, said that if legislation was amended he would be prepared to “give it a go 7 ’ if he was Mayor. The first thing lo- be done, however, was to amend the • legislation. There was not the slightest use the council saying it would accept Mr. Tingey's guarantee and give the scheme a trial until the Government amended the legislation. It was up to Mr. Tingey to get the legislation and then come to the council.

“Mr. Bc-gers has told you that he has not had the benefit of a University education,” Mr. Falconer went on. “Neither have I. He says be has gained experience in the school of hard knocks. 'Well, I have had manyhard knocks in my young days. I started work at 16 years of age and paddled my own canoe. I was able to save a little to attend night school and equip myself to get to where I am to-day.” (Applause.) Concluding, the speaker again stressed the need for electing a strong council and commended the electors to five of the present council who were seeking re-election —<Crs. A. E. Halligan, .T. D. Crowley. G. I- .Tones, «T. Siddells and G. H. Trott and six new candidates who l were offering—Messrs. F. C. Atkinson, George Bennett, Peter Doull. T. L. Sparring, O. Hales and L. W. Chisholm. Those men, he said, were all free from the ties of party and would administer the affairs of the council for the good of the whole.

THAT PUMP AT KAI IWI OR. J. D. CROWLEY EXPLAINS. Tn a quiet, forceful manner. Cr. J. D. Crowley, chairman of the Works Committee of the present City Council, stated last night to the meeting of electors at Gonville. that the installation of the present pumping unit in the Kai Iwi Stream had saved Wanganui from a water famine during the past abnormally drv season. It had been out

of commission 48 hours only, and, like any other piece of machinery, was liable to go wrong if not cared for. He said that, originally, the pump had been put in as a standby. It was well-known that the tunnel portion of the pipe line to Okehu was liable tn collapse at any time, and the pump had been put in as a standby iu case that happened. Since then, the position had changed somewhat, in that the Okehu as a source of supply was fast becoming a diminishing quantity. That was due partly to climatic conditions and partly to the fact that the bush in the catch ment area was getting less and less. Instead of being a stand-by the pump, during the abnormally dry summer, had to be brought into action continuously. People knew that if a motor-car was allowed to run without water in the radiator or oil in the crank case it would soon seize up. Something of that nature happened to the pump and it was out of commission for two days only. “It was put back into action after 48 hours,” Cr. Crowley stated, “ and it is there to do its work to-mor-row if it is needed. I don’t say that it is the best pump we could have got, and it is certainly not doing, in the way of capacity, what it was supposed fo do. but it carried this city over tfie abnormal summer. It was stated in the Press report of the Labour meeting that the repairs to the pump cost £5OO. That is entirely wrong. The cost of repairs was only £5O. The actual cost of the pump unit was £297. There was other electrical gear attached to it, o? course, but the pump itself cost £297, and it was worth that. Even if that pump had to be put on the scrap heap I would say that it had been worth the money and that it did not owe the city a penny.” (Applause).

Mr. Crowley said that a committee comprising Crs. Halligan, Jones and himself had chosen the extra pump which was to be installed. It was similar to those used at Hamilton, where all the water was pumped from the Waikato River. “Labour says it has always been aware of the danger of the city’s water supply,” Cr. Crowley went. on. “What have the Labour members done to cope with that danger? ’l’he two councils of the past four years have tackled the problem and have dons something to avert the danger. The pipe line over Capon’s flat was straightened and duplication of the pipe line from the Westmere reservoir to the city is in hand. Those councils have done something.’*