. I i a | tion on Monday. jy good crowd im attendance and for the most part they gave the speak- - present were quite evidently the Chamber of Commerce, ' THE eee er ee cee ayo ar eer ROR : No. 29 STRATFORD, ONT., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1926 Vol. 4 Candidates for Municipal Honors Address Meeting Stratford citizens had the oppor tunity Wednesday night of listening to the slate of candidates seeking municipal honors in the coming elec- There was a fair- ers good attention and quite appar- ently were more interested in hear- ing a good account of the steward- ship of those seeking re-election than having the facts presented to them, _ interrupted by heckling from the aud- ience. There was considerable of it done during the early part of the evening but it gradually quieted down andthen only at infrequent '®- tervals was there any interruption -* from the crowd. Mayor D. R. Marshall and Alder- man William Newman, condidates for the mayoralty, as well as many of the candidates for aldermanic seats and the Public Utilities were present. Those who have held office during the past year endeavoured to give a Ssat- isfactory explanation of their stand on various matters, while those seek- ing election, having nothing to ac- count for, were content to appeal for support with the assurance that they world serve the city to the best of their ability if elected. Outstanding among the matters that were discussed and which those inter- ested in, was the question of the oper- ation of the gas plant, the grant to the as- Sesment of the Arena Company, the re-organization of the assessor's de- partment, the assessment system and even the old matter of the disposition of the fire horses. Perhaps every- thing that came up in coun- cil during the past year was re- called im some way or another, John Medland. actéd as chairman of the meeting. ' D. R. Marshali, who presided over the council during the past year and who is seeking re-election, was the first speaker of the evening. In open- ing he spoke of the offer of the Great Lakes Utilities Co. of Chicago to bur. | OL | $75,000. The city, he pointed out, had | chase the Gas Plant at a_ price bought it for $65,000 and he thought this was a good piece of business. The audit of all city property, the retention of the Globe Wernicke Co., and the management question of the Public Utilities Commission, were each dealt with in detail. Mayor Marshall told of his efforts to have a manager appointed, in spite of op- position. One had been appointed on @ commissién basis and he felt more Money was being made by the com- mission under this system. Mayor Marshall also told of how he had per- Sonally visited every farny in the country supplying milk to the believing that it was in the interests of citizens to do so. In reference to the surplus of the | Public | Water Department of the Caly; | Utilties. he promised if returned to | make every effort to have this money turned over to the city, contending | that this was the proper place for it. | In conclusion he appealed for port. best of my ability," he said. sup- | "JT have served you to the very Alderman William F. Newman, who | is also in the race for the mayor's chair. said in opering he felt that a mayor should have executive ability and be capable of directing the coun- cil board. He presented various charts. demonstrating the growth of the' mill rate in the city since 1912, when it was 26.5 mills with an in- Crease in assessment over the pre- vious year of $224,811. In 1926 the miJl rate was 36.5 with an increase in assessment over the previous year of $237,878. He also presented figures : showing the taxable total for all pur- Pertinent Patter About now the thing in which all good citizens should be chiefly inter- ested in is the municipal elections. There is a very real reason for more than ordinary interest in this election for without being a calamity howler or anything of that kind it can be truthfully said that a time has come for a showdown in municipal affairs. The city has been living in a fool's paradise, so to speak, for.some time and is now feeling the pinch. The loss of 1,000 people this past year iS a serious thing when at the same time the property of the remaining citizens is being taxed to raise double the amount of money that was needed say ten years ago for approximately the same population. Each year has seen a big boost in the total expenditure of the city, Some of it was covered up a few years ago when the assess- ment of the city was boosted over $2,- | 000,000, but that kind of relief is not what is needed. The only way to bring down the taxes is to reduce the | sary to relieve the situation. expenditure. Monkeying with the tax | rate or with the assessment will not do it. It is simply plain business. If the city sets out to raise so much money, no matter what the assess- mentis, that much must be raised. Raising the assessment may reduce the rate, but it won't alter the fact that if the expenditure increases the citizens must pay more. It has now come to the point when the increase in expenditure must be halted and it is up to the citizens to see that this is done. ' than hold down Members of this year's council read- ily understand that there are condi- tions which should be altered, but for one reason and another they have nothing to alleviate that condition. True, they have reduced the engineer's staff by one and added one to the as- sessor's department. It is claimed that this will mean a saving of $1,800 to the city. It will in this way, a man who was hired for a few months and who has been on for a year, will be released and a stenographer drawing a small salary will lose her position. The change real:-y amounts to dismiss- ing a $680 stenographer and adding on 'a $1,700 clerk in the assessor's de- partment. That is hardly the kind of reform that is needed and what this city wants is a council with courage enough to take hold of the situation and make drastic cuts where neces- There are many ways in which expenditure can be reduced if the council will take a firm stand and really do some- thing. Voters should see fhat the men returned are the type to do more a chair and O. K. somebody else's figures without know- | ing whether they are right or not. | There has been too much of this tak- | ing things for granted in Stratford's | municipal field in past years with the result that the city now finds itself somewhat pinched. Economy must be the watchword for the 1927 council, but the first duty is with the voter to use his vote intelligently to see that the right men are returned. poses and the population statistics from 1912 to 1926; as well as the chief divisions of money since 1915. With these figures before him he made a strong appeal for greater economy and the cutting down of unnecessary expenditures. He felt for one thing there might be a saving in the fire department, which costs $30,000 a year to run although he did not wish to reflect on the fire chief, who he believed to be a very effictent chief. Next, Alderman Newman touched on the City Hall. He thought it was over-staffed and a considerable reduc- tion could be effected there. In con- clusion he stated if elected he would pursue the straight course and let the chips fall where they may. Just as he was about to take his seat, Alderman Newman was ques- tioned by E. J. Eglinton as to whether or not he was one of the pro- moters of the present taxation sys- tem. Alderman Newman replied that a special committee was appointed to look into it but he was not a member. They thoroughly investigated it and after hearing them Alderman New- man stated he had decided to support the plan. He felt that if the asses- sor's department was cleaned up citizens would realize that the sys- tem was a vast benefit. Mr. Eglinton commenced to talk about his home, which Mr. Newman had built for the Housing Commis- sion, but after a few remarks the crowd age org was not in sym- pathy with his continuing and he was forced to take his seat. Alderman C. E. Moore, chairman of the Fmance Committee of the 1926 Council, was the next speaker. He gave assurance that the finances of the city were in good condition. He spoke of the work done by the Board of Works during the past year and mentioned the fact that a saving Of $500 had been effected in the clean- up this year. He told of the showing of the Gas Plant since it was taken over by the city. In six months of civic operation it has shown a profit of $578 in spite of various heavy ex- penditures that will not recur again next year. These were in con- nection with the taking over and starting of the plant again. He felt that gas users might look for a low- er rate, from present indications. Touching on affairs of the Finance Committee, Alderman Moore said that at the first of the year the counc# owed the Bank of Montreal $390,090. At the eng of the vear it is owing $300,000 less, he pointed out. He felt that the new system of tax col- lection was a good one. Mayor Marshall reported Market and Hall Committee. ed the committee was about $1,000 to the good this year. Someone asked about the fire hall horses but the question apparently was un- heard for it went unanswered. (Continued on page 4) for the He stat- | Popular Stratford Lawyer Newly Appointed Judge Popular with all classes was the recent appointment of W. G. Owens, City Solicitor, as Judge for Bruce County, in place of Judge Klein, re- tired. Of a genial personality, Mr. Owens has endeared himself to a wide circle of friends by his ready wit and his keen sense of humor. he ee The appOintment came as a very agreeable "Christmas box' and Mr. - Owens has been kept busy receiving messages of congratulation by tele: phone and wire. He expects to resign - his position as city solicitor inimed: ~ jately and will probably take ovér his ~ new duties early in the new year. « His new appoimtment will nécessi-~ tate his living in Walkerton, bit he' will not move his family there wnti¥ the summer. Mr. Owens is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. P. B. Owens, and was born in St. Catharines in 1870. He began his education in the public schools in that city and in 1883 moved with his family to London, where he continued his education in the London Collegiate Institute. In 1887 he commenced the study of law in the office of the late P. K. Cowan, in London. In his law examinations he took first scholarship in his intermediate exammations and a second scholarship in his second examination. In 1892 he was called to the Bar and admitted to practice. On both tests he stood first. He commenced practice in Forest and was Town Clerk there from 1896 to 1904. In 1908 he came to Stratford and joined R. T. Harding in the firm of Harding and Owens. Mr. Harding left in 1916 and a new firm was formed of Owens & Goodwin, W. E. Goodwin joming Mr. Owens. In 1917 Mr. Owens was appointed City Solicitor and he has remained in that position until now. Mr. Owens has been a_ public- minded citizen, taking an active in- terest in aquatic sports, and was in- strumental in forming a boat club here some years ago, which club ar- ranged some very fine regattas. He will be greatly missed in the life of the city. PHONE _» ZOOS _ BA2 ALBERT ST.