THE MAYORALTY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 12752, 24 April 1909, Page 2

THE MAYORALTY.

Mr Muir at St Andrew's

Notwithstanding rhe inclemency of the weather there was a good attendance at St. Andrew's Schoolroom last evening, when Cr. J. T. Muir delivered an addreae. 'Mr Cr. R. Simpson, wae yots-d to the Chair x

Cr. Muir opened his address by stating that doubtless his audience had read ot tbe cutrlefish, which, when pursued, eraite an inky fluid, under cover of which he tries to escape. That exactly described the policy pursued by Mr Mackay in his recent address at the Liverpool. Street Schoolroom. In his opening address ha (Cr. JVl'iir) }-ad endeavoured aa tar 'as possible to avoid personalities, but in criticising a man who had been at the head of the borough affairs for three years that criticism had necessarily to be more or less personal. He had endeavoured to be fair and just in any such criticism, however. Mr Mackay had acciwod him of being abusive, but he denied that charge. Mr Mackay had also sa ; d that it would be easy to retaliate. Now, as a matter of fact while he (the speaker) had devoted 14 inches to Mr Mackay, the latter had retaliated by devoting 47 inches to him. Cr Muir said he would pass over Mr Markay's reference to a citizen who had nothing whatever to do with his candidature and whom he hnd not asked for a vote, and "ho^ed" that after the 28th, when he had been relieved of the responsibilities of the Mayoral chair he would have more time to cultivate better tast3.

The speaker reiterated his statement that the streets were neglected, and advised Hs heartrs to take a look round them after the day's rain they Lad had. If they agreed with Mr Mackay that they were not neglected, they should give him their votes; if, on the other hand, the evidence was in his (Cr. Muir'e) favour, then they should vote for him. Referring to Laird Park, Cr. Muir said the present Mayor did very little in connection with it. The idea of making it a reserve originated before Mr Mackay came tb Wangacui, and until he (Cr.' Muir) drew attention to it it was absolutely useless. The speaker repudiated the suggestion that lie was identified with the capitalistic claese3, aud said he could justly claim to be much more in sympathy with the-work-ers than Mr Mackay. He (Cr. Muir) promised to be fair to the workers in any dispute that arose.

Heferring <o the borough employees' wages, Cr. Muir said that, in common with other councillors, he did not know the wages had. been reduced. As chairman of the Wcrks Committee, Mr Mackay should have known, and the responsibility was his. He favoured restoring the old rate of wages, and the tame hours, if possible. Now, with the high cost of living a married man with a family could not possibly save much on 8s per day, and he thought the 6d was much more important to the worker than the ratepayers generally, and W favoured giving it back. Mr. Mackay had accused him of making a mis-statement when speaking on finance, but his figures with regard to^the borough indebtedness were absolutely correct, and were taken from the borough balancesheet. He did not touch on the asset side, as everyone knew that they possessed trams, gasworks, an Opera House, etc. Mr Mackay had charged his predecessor with having swollen the gas-works profit, which was a very unfortunate remark for him to make. During £he last year under Mr Mackay £3141 odd 'yha shown on the credit side of the ledger, by far the biggest surplus ever shown. It might only be a coincidence that shortly after the iwtblication of the balance-sheet accounts came in which swallowed up £840 of that estimated surplus. If anyone could besaid to have swelled the gas-works balance surely Mr Mackay did it in 1908.

TRAMS.

Mr Maokay claimed to be the strong 1 man of the tram project, but why did he not take the chairmanship of the trams committee. The reason was that there was too much work attached to the position, so it had been quietly dodjred by Mr Mackay. The latter had challenged him to. name any Mayor duringr the three years of whose office more important works had been carried out. To this he wonfa reply "Every Mayor who had occupiea the position for that time," and he would repeat his invitation to Mr Mackav to qdve the ratepayers the particulars of his important works

Before he (Cr. Muir) spoke at Liverpool Street he was approached re a reduction m fare,*: in the mornin«r and evening. He •was told that unless he agreed it "would lose him 200 votes. His reply was it was not fair to the ratepayers to grant this ronefwion. consequently he would have to do without those votes. Mr Mackay maintained that between X and 7 in the evening and 2 and 9 in the mominer, the cars ran only hnif-fnil. That was not so. At Wt from 8 to 9 in the morning and 5 to 6.30 ]„m several cars were aheolntelv crowded and all were comfortablv 1 filled. We had. no right +o <rive any eumwwion at present. Ec running a service on the Guvton Street branch. As a matter of fnet lie brought down the proposal, and Mr Mackay agreed with him. but in his usual "taking" way he (the Mayor )wished to claim the idea.

Cr Mmr twitted Mr Mackay with having "dodged" the chairmanship of the Tramway Committee because of the amount of work attached to it. Mr Mackay had challenged Cr Muir to name any Mayor who had carried out more works of importance in three years than he had done. He (Cr Mmr) replied, "Every Mayor who has occupied the position for that time." He repeated his opinion that no tram concessions should be given, as we could not afford it, and would stick to tbis even if it cost him votes. Ec-run-ning a service on the Guyton Street branch. As a matter of fact he brought down the proposal, and Mr Mackay agreed with him, but in his usual "taking" way he rthe Mayor) wished to claim the idea. Though he now denied it, Mr Mackay had opposed the reform of committee work proposals when first submitted. ' Cr Muir denied that he sought the position of chairman of the Gas Committee. Was it likely, he asked, that any 1 councillor would covet the position with so much trouble going on Sbbift - gas matters. " When Mr Maokay funked the position of chairman of the Tram Committee Cr Battle was appointed to that position, and he (Cr Muir) accepted the chairmanship of the Gas Committee and did his best.- With regard to Cr Battle's accusation that he had not called sufficient meetings of that committee, Cr Muir said that the commitk i. a \ met 15 in the 11 months he had been chairman, as against the six meetings under the old regime. Mr Mackay was afraid to face the real position with regard to the Gasworks, and exclaimed— We rannot afford to forego the Gasworks profits for the relief of rates." Just to show what a "Yes-No" "Facing-both-ways politician Mr Mackay was, Cr Muir read extracts from the "Herald" and • rr 1°"Ijil 1 °"Ijil" I j ile ' in whi ch Mr Mackay advocated m 1906 consumers getting the benefits of the profits, and in 1909 ratepayers getting the benefits. s

9n9 n , t 5 c uest ion of reserves Mr Mackay had left hirh nothing to reply to. He noted, however, he had promised a whole

area between London Street and St. John's Hill, but as a promiser he was not entering into competition with him.

At his meeting at St. Paul's Hall Cr Battle had disclaimed any intention of having ever advocated his (Cr Muir's) scheme. Mr Mackay first said his storage tank would hold a two days 'supply, now he claimed a. week. If so it would have to be a very big one.

After answering several questions, the candidate was, on the motion of Mr Jas. Laird, unanimously accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for his actress. A similar compliment to the chair concluded jthe meeting.

Mr Battle at st John's (pampbell

Street),

Last evening Mr T. H. Battle, a candidate for the Mayoralty, addressed a meeting of burgesses at St. John's Presbyterian Sehoolrom, Campbell Street. The inclement night and short notice of the meeting no doubt accounted for the verymeagre attendance. Mr G. Carson presided, and in introducing the speaker paid a tribute to the assiduous, and capable manner in which Mr Battle attended to the work of the Council. He considered him the hardest worker of the retiring councillors.

Mr Battle, after thanking those who were present at such short notice for their attendance, went on to outline his opinions regarding the

OKEHU WATER.

The "Herald" had remarked that he had not given any estimates of his scheme to purify the Okehu water. That, said Mr Battle, was a hazardous task, as one, in' guessing the cost of filters, might easily fall in. There was only one way to keep the water clear, and that was by preventing the silt entering the delivery pipes at all. At Westmere there was a site for a reservoir, but that should only be for a storage for water already clear and pure for consumption. To cope with the clearing of the water at Westmere two or three tanks would be. required, so that one could be used for clearing the water while the other or others were being cleared of silt. This, however, was almost impracticable, as there were no streams to lead off the scouring water. The best way, therefore, was to instal filters at the present reservoir, as was done with success at New Plymouth. There was also the alternative of constructing a channel to conduct the water from the sujply streams past the reservoir during h< avy rainfalls, so that the silty water wouid not come in contact with the water in the dam. Of the cost of this, however, ne could not give estirjj it,»s without taking measurements, etc.

Referring to the Gasworks, the speaker advocated more committee meetings, in the nature of a board of directors, where reports of all branches would be considered, as the manager was anxious that the committee should keep more in touch with the works. A3 regarded finance, the speaker reiterated his views as previously reported, holding that unremunerative works should not be done out of loan moneys.

REFUSE DESTRUCTOR.

A better system of dealing with refuse was required, and judging 4 from reports of authorities he thought a 'destructor to meet local requirements could be erected for from ,£BOO to .£IOOO, apart from the appliances to generate electricity, etc.

Mr Battle dwelt on the position as regarded Sunday cab fares, and outlined his opinions about

ROADS AND FOOTPATHS

The asphalting of the latter, he thought, should be systematically proceeded with. In laying the main streets (Taupo Quay and the Avenue) Mr Battle thought the best way was to put down a, solid bed of metal, then layers of different sizes of broken stone, which would make streets that would last. The water channels on the sides of the roads should receive more systematic attention.

AMALGAMATION.

In reference to the "Herald's" suggestion that more light should be given on the amalgamation question, Mr Battle said that the arrangement with Durictown was * that the residents should pay the same rate for water as those in town, and pay od all the loans, the Borough, in compensation, to raise sufficient funds to do the works required, such as drainage and water. They would pay an extra drainage rates. This same basis would not be practicable in all cases, as in the case of Gonville the Board there had already raised a loan, and put in drainage and water. He favoured a reasonable adjustment between the district wishing to come in and the borough, and thought any borough ratepayers should be given the opportunity to protest against any district being joined.

GUYTON STREET TRAMS AND EXTENSIONS.

Mr "Rnitio contradicted llu- statement that he had stated that five cars could be run on the present power, thuo a] J owing a car to go to Guyton Street. He hoped that five cars could be run on the present power, that is, with one engine working, when the traffic was at its heaviest, and would like, when the fifth car is completed, to give the proposal a trial. He did not, however, think the line would pay yet on a 10 minutes' service, and considered a 20-minutea' service would not pay, as the conductor and motorman would be idle half their time. He reiterated his opinions regarding extension to Gonville, and in reply to a question later in the evening said he thought the line would pay if taken to the borough boundary (Hospital corner), which should meet the needs of Gonville for some time to come. Such a line he thought would be payable. The cost of stationing men at the railway crossing was prohibitive, and the question of taking it over the line on a bridge could be considered. He thought the cost of extending the line to the borough boundary would be covered by .£7OOO.

On the motibn of Mr A. Laird, Mr Battle was thanked for his address, and a ybte of thanks to the chairman closed the meeting, > ? .