ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Waikato Times, Volume 194, Issue 22354, 22 May 1944, Page 4

ELECTION CAMPAIGN

ADVANCE HAMILTON GROUP DISMISSAL OF ENGINEER Eight members of the Advance Hamilton Group contesting the Hamilton municipal elections were introduced to 50 electors at the Maeroa Hall on Saturday night Six of them delivered addresses which were much ' on the lines of those given at the first meeting addressed by the group but some new ground was covered. Mr W. R. Shattock, a councillor for the past six years, said he was a member of what might be termed the Left Wing in the present council, having by his advocacy of certain j reforms and his opposition to the i majority of councillors and the Mayor placed himself “off-side. ’’ As a member of the special committee appointed to investigate the dispute between the late engineer, Mr J. R. Baird, and the present town clerk, Mr W. L. Waddel, he had differed with the majority, said Mr Shattock, especially in the summary dismissal of the engineer by the council after the special committee had found by three votes to two that the engineer had no charges to answer and that the engineer and town clerk could work harmoniously in* their respective spheres as servants of the council and the ratepayers. Councillors were elected, he maintained, to work sincerely and honestly for the ratepayers, and if the duties entailed too much of their time they should make way for others. Women’s Usefulness Mrs H. C. Ross said there was no valid reason why a woman should not be a councillor, and remarked that in war efforts the women of Hamilton had responded splendidly to the call, giving the men an example. She had decided to seek council honours long before what 6he termed “the Baird incident,’’ and was a member of the Advance Hamilton Group because she was thoroughly in accord with the planks of the group’s platform—to rescind the ~T927 resolution and substitute for it something more practicable, and to demand an investigation of the dismissal of the former engineer, in the confident belief that that engineer’s services could again be availed of for the benefit of Hamilton. Mrs Ross went on to advocate provision of women’s rest rooms in Hamilton, Hamilton East and Frankton. Heartily in Accord Mr T. Parker declared himself heartily in accord with the group’s policy of rescinding the 1927 resolution and securing the services of the late engineer. He said also that the provision of rest rooms was an urgent matter. Much had been made of the claim that as the ratepayers had rejected loan proposals nothing should be done, but he pointed out that the loan proposals were sandwiched with proposals affecting Garden Place. Had a separate loan proposal been submitted he was confident it would have been carried. Mr Parker said the first duty and objective of every man seeking public office was to foster the war effort. The war had yet to be won. Only 35 per cent of the eligible electors had voted at the last council elections and most of the others had since growled about conditions, but it was largely their own fault for neglecting to take a healthy interest in choosing representatives. Credit for Assets The credit of £144,000 of liquid assets made so much of by the Mayor clnd other councillors in their campaign, said Mr Parker, was really not much to “crow” about, for the council could not spend those funds for lack of material required for the war effort. It was sound policy to defer certain works, and thus the credits mounted up. The Hamilton Borough Council had no plan for post-war work, Mr Parker claimed, but the late engineer, Mr Baird, drafted a truly remarkable and comprehensive plan—one that would do credit to any engineer in the world. .

Other speakers were Messrs T. H. Melrose, D. C. Street and R. Braithwaite, and at the close the candidates answered several questions.