The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

001C975B A Wee&.y '.~ews&3.&ei Vol. IV $ 1.00 per year. EIGHT PAGES Circulagiagil phd Diarist of West Vancouver-Awbleside, Hollyburn, Weston, Duudarave Cypress Park, Caulfel'6/, Whytecliff, E/c. 'Aewsstands 5c per copy HOLLYBURN P.O., %VEST VANCOUVER, B.C., THURSDAY, ih)AY 23rd, 1929 No 8 Council Notes ~lany suggestions have reach- ed us recently from totally dif- ferent sourc~& suggesting that nn endeavor be made to establish a bowling green in IVest Van- couver. A fe» years ago there was one in operation at the foot of 17th Street, but this for vari- ous reasons went out of exist- ence. Nowadays a bowling green can be found in almost every settled district. It is a sport or a recreation which has a large number of devotees, and which makes an appeal to many who do not care for the more active gimes. IVe have been asked to bring this matter to the atten- tion of the residents of IVest Vancouver, and to ascertain if a meeting could not be held with the idea of organizing a bowling preen here. IVi]] those interested leave their names and telephone num- bers with the IVest Van News io that a meeting to talk over matters can be arranged. Now that the contr~et for the widening and re-surfacing of ilIarine Drive from the easterly limits to IVest Bay has been placed the contractors are losing no time in getting to work. On wednesday morning men were at work just east of Capilano bridge. The work i'hou]d be completed within six weeks if favorable » cather conditions continue, ac- cording to a statement made by the contractors. Completion of this final unit of pavement will make ilIarine Drive a uniformly modern roa0 from IVhytec]iff to the eastern boundary of IVest Vancouver and it will be one of the finest stretches of pavement to be found in B. C. Canadian Surgical Supplies Ltd. wrote oA'ering to supply first aid kits for use on the bath- i»g beaches. Approximate prices were given. They were advised that there was no organized bathing beach in AVest Vancou- ver. A petition divas received from (.. N. Cave and twenty-two other reside»ts of IVest Bay ob ]ecting to the erection and ru» iiing of a dance hall in this dis- trict. They were advised that there had been no dance hall license either applied for or is- sued to any person in IVest Bay. 0 0 0 A complete list of IVest V«n- couver patients for the year 1928 was received from the North Vancouver General Hos- pit«]. A letter from the Humane Ed- ucation and Anti-Vivisection So- ciety opposing the proposed med- i&an health unit was ordered filed.The engineer reported on: 1. George Clarke's applicatio». Three difTere»t methods of dealing with water How cost $660, $514 and $72. The mat- ~ ter was laid over, 2. Opening Haywood, 26th to Z'(th St., cost............$ uA, Opening Haywood 13th to 14th St., cost............ 300 Opening Fu]ton, 13th to 14th St., cost............ 525 Public Meeting to Discuss Boulevards on Saturday--Next Week At a meeting of the Horticultural Association some weeks ago it was decided to arrange for a public meeting to specially consider the improvement and development of the parks and boulevards of IVest Vancouver. The general impression was that the welfare of the district could be greatly enhanced by some special effort in this direction. The officers of the Association have given much thought to the matter and have now arranged for a public meeting to discuss it, The meeting will be held on Saturday of next week at S p. m. in Amb]eside Hall. iMembers of the municipal council, and of the town planning commission, as well as of the Board of Trade, Rate. payers Association and other bodies are being specially inviter]. But the invitation is extended to all residents of the district. There is no charge and it is hoped to have a representative gathering of citizens who will come prepared to offer sug- gestions as to ways and means of improving the bou]evans and parks. Mr. and Mrs. Hutt are coming up from Seattle especially to address the meeting on "Parks and Boulevards." Their lecture will be illustrated with lantern slides, which Mr. Porter will have charge of. $ 1457 An expenditure not to exceed $ 1,457 was authorized. IVinnifred Reid's application for ditch crossing, cost $ 15. An expenditure not over $ 15 divas authorized. 4. ilI. S. Pomfret's application for a fill at 811-8.4, cost $45. An expenditure not to exceed this su mwas authorized. 5. Chief co»stab]e's recommen. dation for road signs and the painting of middle line along hlarine Drive from miles 5 to 12 on the curves. The matter w«s referred back to the engineer to report the length of line painted in one day's work and the cost of same. 6. Contract 47A. Change in prices. 7. IVaterworks, general, recom- mending improvements of conditions prior to the dry season involving the follow- ing expenciitures: I(idge at 11th St., Item "A"........................$ 340 Rii]ge at 15th St., Item ~ Bl I Item 'C" . Buy from the Local Stores There are some folks ivho use the district merchant to fill their petty needs, but when he has a chance to make a reason- able profit they forget him. It's scarcely fair, is it? And if it is, it isn't very sensible. ~Ve are al] working together to make IVest Vancouver brighter and better, and to make the property of everyone more valuable. )Ve may have our differences of opinion in the matter of politics IVe may not agree on the subject of religion; some of us have notions that other folks think are crazy, and other fo]ks have ideas we think lack sound reasoning; but on one point we are «]1 agreec]; we «ll want to see IVest Vancouver grow and prosper Sustain our merchants by buying at home. Our success is depen(]ent upon their success. By supporting the local mercha»ts you ivi]] help i» the development of IVest Vancou- ver. Our local merchants give you persona] service. You take no chances on the goods you buy from them. They are here al] the time to adjust a»y differences there may be. They stand behind] the goods they sell. You do not get this service and satisfaction from most city stores svhere frequently cheap goods are so]&] and there is nothing attractive about them but the price. Too often the poor»ess of "the bargains" is not rea]ised] until we open up the packages «t home. It shou]d be remembered that the merchants a»~] busines~ houses in any locality reflect upon the who]e district. Suc- cessful businesses are « i]ecided asset to the community anil the success of our merchants ivi]] ultimately affect your ow» pocketbook by making it possible for them to sell you go+]s cheaper. Buy in IVest Vancouver ivhere you get personal service and guaranteed satisfaction. IIe]p the merch«nt «n&] help yourself at the s«me time. Keep the i]o]]srs circulating here. Once they get away it's hard to bring them back. 1.700 190 $2,230 An expenditure not to ex- ceed] $2,230 was authorized. 8. Comp]ai»t of L. G- Sellers against seepage 557-2-9. No municipa] responsibility. Ap. proved. 9. Annie Pretious, 1055 S.E.i,.'q B-S, Cost of culvert $38. An expenditure not to exceed $38 was authorized. 10. I'.]sic Robbins, cost of 28th St. grade, $45. Laid over. 11. E. Cartwright's application for sigiiboard sign 10 ft. x 25 ft. The applicant was or- dernl iiiformed that the by- 1«w does not permit signs. IVORK TO START ON NET DOIVI.ING GREEN IIARIN E DRIVE ROA DIVA Y I ROI OS ED FOR lVEST VAN. Three-Fifths Majority for Money By-Laws The following editorial appeared in the 4 ancouver Daily Province of 41ay 17th, 19 9. IVe are reprinting it in full as we are in thorough sympathy with the views and remarks made by the writer, and as we believe that every taxpayer in IVest Vancouver should have the opportunity of reading it. The condition complained of was demonstrated at the recent by-law voting in Vancouver and the editorial was written for Vancouver people, but the same condition is found in 4Vest Vancouver and in every other district. The suggestion to have the three-fifths clause eliminated is not without precedent. Some years ago its working was responsible for so many money by-laws being turned down in London, Ontario, that it was ruled out by the Ontario legislature so far as that city was concerned. ~layor Ma]kin and the members of his council have gone on record as being in favor of its being abolished in Vancouver. The three-fifths requirement should be eliminated: THE THREE-FIFTHS VOTE (Vancouver Daily Province- Friday, May 17, 1929.) Vancouver has a population approaching 240,000. Of these 240,000 persons, 25 per cent., or about 60,000, have the rightto vote on money by.laws. Of the 60,000 so qualified, some-thing over 19,000, or less than a third, turned out to marktheir ballots on wednesday. And the vote was an unusuallylarge one. Of the 19,000 or so ivho presented themselves atthe polls, any forty-one were empowered, under our charter,to defeat the wishes of any fifty-nine, and in four importantinstances something very much like that actually happened.The decision on these capital projects, all of them importantto Vancouver, and some of them vitally important, was in thehhni + uf ct lui»oi it/ of a minority of a fl&iT)ority. Th thl ee-fifths requirement, as it operates in our by-law voting, hasthe effect of reducing some aspects of civic government inVancouver very nearly to an absurdity. The three-fifths requirement was placed in our charter, ofcourse, to put a check upon reckless expenditure. The sameclause is in the 4Iunicipa] Act. Checks, when not too severe.are valuable artifices in government, and have been used fromtime immemorial They act as brakes on the govrnmental machine, and prevent the attainment of a speed in the wayof expenditure or innovation that might prove dangerous. Butwhen brakes begin jamming or tighten so that they preventnorma] and necessary movement, it is time to look to them. There is some evidence that our three-fifths brake is pullingtoo hard against the engine which is driving Vancouver forward. On wednesday, 10,632 people said they wanted the Bur-rard Bridge and 7996 said they did not ivarit it, and the ivi]] of the minority will prevail. Near]y 11,000 people said "yes" to the question, "Are you in favor of branch libraries," and 7311 were able to upset their wishes. Abnut the same number voted to buy the English Bay foreshore and 7304 were able to veto the scheme. The fire alarm headquarters won the votes of 10,815 ratepayers but 7627 were able to negative the plans and render civic administration in an important field more expensive and more difficult. The defects of the three-fifths requirement are p]ain enough; the merits are not so obvious. There seem to be checks enough ivithout it. There is, first, t].e limitation in our charter. ~Ve are a]]owed to borrow for capital purposes on]y up to 20 per cent, of the assessed value of the real estate in the city, and the bond houses that purchase our securities are careful to see that we live up to this ~uirement. In the second place, we have a corps of trusted and long-tried adviser. at the City Hall. These men are not reckless. Their reputa- tion depends upon care and sanity in the administration pf civic affairs, and they lean, if anything toward the conserva- tive side. There is also the City Council, the product, under our charter, of two elections a year apart. Every alderman is a check on every other alderman, and the public has an op- portunity, each year, to discipline six of them if it thinks they have not p]aye'] the game according to the rules. Still another check lies in the we]].known lethargv of the ratepayers. It is practical]y impossible to get more than a minority of those out to the polls, and it has been noticed that those favorable to expeiiditure are more lethargic than those oppo.ed. Indeed, »o great lethargy is apparent among the antis. They seem to be a]ivays on the job. Lastly, there is in our community, as every by-]aiv vote has shown, a very considerable nucleus of ratepayers who consistently oppose all expenditure. \Vhe» a city can boast a deadweight of more than 2500 ratepayers who will vote even against the provision of sewers, there is very little need to go about looking for adequate checks andri balances. The three. fifths requirement appears to have outlive i a . u. eful pu»ose it ever had, and it is suggested that the City Council might be well advised to give serious consideration its elimi»ation from our charter before a»other year round.