The Wanganui Chronicle. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1944. MATTERS MUNICIPAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 94, 21 April 1944, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1944. MATTERS MUNICIPAL

| 'HE Labour Party decision to put Mr. Bogers in the field for the Mayoralty, despite the difficulties which have handicapped him in the carrying out of the duties during the period of office now drawing to a close, offers a challenge to Wanganui. The question which is now presented to members of the. publie is whether they are prepared to allow the office of Mayor to be but a pawn in the party game, irrespective, of the situation in which the individual candidate as such will be placed. Mr. Rogers would have been wiser had he refrained from entering- into a contest which must he very embarrassing to himself and which throws upon the electors the awkward task of ignoring some very germaine facts. Mr. Rogers should have spared the citizens that difficulty, but he has decided to put his party before the interests of his city. There are many positions available to him to employ his undoubted abilities. When accepting the nomination of his party he also declared that the fight would be a clean one insofar as he is concerned. Why mention that? Has he ever had to complain of the character of his opposition? He would have been more correct had he assumed that the past conduct of his opponents would continue throughout the forthcoming campaign. In bringing the matter up in the way that he has, he insinuated that the opposition would no be clean. Mr. Tustin’s campaign during the last mayoral contest was impeccable; in fact it was kid-gloved. There is no justification for Mr. Rogers to convey even the slightest hint that DT. Adams would in future aet in a manner contrary to that in which he has always acted. The members of the City Council should also be prepared to meet the public and to give an account of their stewardship. Too little lias been done in open council for the public to have gained a full understanding of the business of the city, and it is the absence of these full-dress debates in the Council Chamber which makes it imperative that the public be now informed from the platform. This applies equally to those members of the City Council who art not the nominees of the Labour Party, and to those who are. When city councillors are not members of a party they cannot thereby absolve themselves from making plain their position in respect to various important matters touching the management of the city.. The condition of the Wanganui Harbour and Ihe diversion of shipping to other ports have created problems in respect to Ihe Harbour Board’s finances upon which the public needs to be informed. ■ How came it that the town wharf has become decayed? How comes it that the refrigeration chambers have become dilapidated? Why—if they have not done so—have the members of the Harbour Board not checked up on these matters? If this process of deterioration was known to members, why was not attention drawn to the subject beforehand? As matters now stand, it appears that the members of the Harbour Board—all of them—have not paid sufficiently close attention to the business of that. body. It is to be expected of the candidates for the seats on the Harbour Board that they will place before the electors a policy for dealing with the problems of the port. ■The business of the Hospital Board also calls for a full explanation. While the members of the board are drawn from a wide area and the city members do not dictate the policy, it is necessary that, the work of that board shall be the subject of a lull-review. The board, despite the heavy payments made by each individual in the community in respect to social security, which was intended to nationalise what had hitherto been a local service, still finds it.necessary to ask for more and still more money from Hie local bodies which carry the burdens of hospitalisation.' Why is this? What methods have been adopted to conserve the money placed at the disposal of the Hospital Board? What steps have been taken to ensure that the money has been spent to the best advantage? Where wasteful expenditure has been authorised, where there has not been a consistent close regard for the interests of the ratepayers, the public should be resolute in refusing to support any candidate who has failed in his duty. In respect to the Power Board, the situation is satisfactory from a financial standpoint, but what of the future in respect -to the supply of power? What efforts are being made to ensure that sufficient power will be available to the new industries that are to be established in the city? All of these matters require to be given a full exposition.