THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1415, 24 November 1886, Page 2

THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

PUBLIC MKSTING, List evening a panic mie’ing was heid in the Town Hall in order to afford the candidates f r the mayoralty an opporiuni ynf etpressiug th«ir views on municipal affairs. Thera was a g jod attendance and thd Mayor, Mr R Fnedlander, presided. The Chairman explained the object for which the meeting had been called, and atid that it had been arr-mred between the candidates—Messrs Harrison and Sealy—-th-t Me Harrison should speak fist. Mr Harrison, who was received with applause, afte>" roforriu/ t' the circumstances ih*tledh:m to on in* forward, said there were very f w sa-jects which had bef .Te f he C ntn ii Utterly which were impor.a; t iiougn or special m muon Perh»ps the ch'ef was the p opes'.! to borrow irom me Government, and ne staled the reasons be had for opposing it. It seemed very pleasing at first sight to be able to borrow from Government at five per cent vrheu they were prying the bank per of.'.it. But he thought the high r-ta of interest they were now paying would cause Councillors to be careful not only not to incur further liabilities but dsn to pay •ff those that existed at the present w:weaa ff they oon’.d h.ir ow at a ratt tod ucemwi's wn"ld an h before th-mv and it «a* poss ! h|- ; > she> might *-,d iu the 1• < g uu hy uicra«ong the hurdsn of taxa in >► xplau ori hi i reason? f o, p „ing hi swiramin, bah p" p i-al sttd h* l no one ri'isir. d t- see rwimming batns here mo- th ii he did, bu a th«> pr.-se; time, it w mid no< yield en - gh revenue to justify ttie O >unoil in embarking in he venture J.. addition, the hA-tb .t h d been pro used to erect at a cos of 4350 would b ■ much too small ior anything like a swnn. If, at any future time, the Council t.'ere in a position financially to undertake the erectio i of baths he would gladly gt e his support to the proposal. Mr Harr iron went on to speak at * me length i f some >f id? actions in the C unoll, which he said had been miar. presented by ih iso opposing him He oonoluled by stating that he h.d faithfully served the burgeseer for over six years and he hoped they would show their confidence in him on the following day by electing him to the Mayoral chair. Mr Snaly, who was also received wi h applause, made a lengthy ata'eme t with regard to the recent loan prop sal He said he wed with the principle of the proposal, but not with the amou n sought t<> be raised, as he thought it f r too large The Council’s overdraft amounted to £I4OO, and be made a suggestion, which, however, had not been adopted, that t m am mat to be boirotred should be £ISOO, thus effecting a saving of over £6O annually in Interest Mr Seely then went on to speak of how the overdraft had risen to its present dimensions and how he thought it should be reduced. It had been estimated thst the revenue for the ensuing year wouid bo £2600 after making ample allowance for any {ailing off there might b« The annual charges amounted to £ll4O, thus leaving a balance of £I46J if they decided to devote the rents of reserves, which amoumed to £450 per annum, towards paying eff their bank ovardraft they would stM have over £IOOO for expenditure on the streets He thought the Borough Council should, In conjunction with the County Council, do i>s utmost to streu then the nauda of the membe s tor the district in their endeavor to obtain a separation of this c only from the remainder of the United Charitable Aid district, for it could not be dou ted that any charitable aid expenditure required here could he admims ered much more economic* Jy 1 >cally. He also thought the 1 c-4 bodies should excercise all their influence to induce the Government to acquire land in the vicinity of Ashburton to be cut up Into small allotments, because were this done it would do much towards ensuring pro eperily. Mr vealy cm c.u led by expressiu? a hope that if the ratepayers ban confidence in him they woo d return him at the head of the poll. A number of questions many of which were of a rather itrolaveuc natrre were disposed of, Mr Dimant proposed a vote of confidence in Mr Htrrlaon, Thu Chairman said if it was the wish of thj meeting he would put the motion, but in his o«a opi-don he thought it would te some extent interfeie with the secresy of t o nailoi. Mr Oaygill moved as an amendment, “ that tub meeting tenders a hearty vote of thanks to both candidates, and begs to assure them that the best man will be returned to-morrow ” This was seconded by Mr D. Thomai and carried almost unanimously. A vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor who, in ack> ow ledging the compliment, said that as he would piobably not officiate a", any more public meeiings he docired to express his gratitude for the consideration woich had always been ex ended to him by *shb i ton au'iienoes. The proceedi g th n terminated.

THE KL CriON,

The polling has been taking place today and up to the time of our going to pieti j good i umber of vot«a was rtcorded The result wdl be declared about o’clock this t reeing.