THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 38, 3 August 1870, Page 5

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

0 NOMINATION OF COUNCILLORS, Tho nomination for the vacant Councillorships took place last Wednesday in the Council Chamber at noon, Mr G. W. Goodgor, Mayor, presided ; and there were about twenty poraona present. Mr M. Fraor was asked to read tho nominations which had been handed in, and which wore as follow : FOR BRIDGE WARD. . Mr Patrick Kelly, proposed by Mr Joseph Harding, and seconded by Mr G. W. Goodger. Mr James Dawkins, proposed by Mr Edward Lindsay, and seconded by Mr W. H. Whetter. FOR KAWARAD WARD. Mr William Shanly, proposed by Mr Owe* Pierce, and seconded by Mr James Taylor. Mr Robert Brown, proposed by Mr James Nicholas, and seconded by Mr R. E. Dagg. J (The Mayor then called upon the candidates IfrisHont, Messrs Kelly and Shanly, to address the •Ratepayers. Mr Kelly said he stood in a rather anomalous position! he came forward to represent the Ward in which he did not reside. But he considered that in a small town like Cromwell, the of each Ward were alike, and he dtl oimiit he need have very little diffidence in oU the ratepayers of Bridge Ward to elect hj riKfcs their representative. He had a considerable amount of property in the Ward, which great deal more than the first candidate ho had been brought forward against him could r-t vy ; for Mi* Burres had nothing but his tbol>basket to recommend him. A great deal had i said behind his back by people who had not the courage or manliness to apeak before his face. He had been called a Fenian and everything that was bad ; but he defied any man to stand before him, and say that he had ever done or said anything disloyal.to his sovereign. (He was an Irishman, and, in the eyes of some (people, to be so was a crime; but he sawmo[thing criminal in it. He had always in the past fsibna his best to forward the well-being of the town, tho evidence of which was to be seen in the minute-hook of the Council, and he asked every ratepayer to examine that book. As he had aohe in the past, so he would do in the future. I^hefe ! was one thing be wished to refer to before he sat down. It had been said by his calumniators that he had influenced Mr Goodger, when that gentleman sent in his resignation as Mayor about a year before ; but Mr Kelly wished now publicly to declare that he knew no more than the unborn child of Mr Goodger’s intention on 3Uat occasion. He himself had also sent in his as Councillor at the same time ; but neither Mr Goodgor nor anyone else knew aught x>i that resignation before he had given it in. He had consulted nobody, and had sent it in entirely for reasons of his own. If the ratepayers thought fit to ; .elect him, he would do his ' duty in the same conscientious manner in which ho had always striven to do if; and if they did not put him in, he could not help iff there was ' nothing so extremely pleasant in the office. Mr Shanly then rose and said that he had ;*sleived a numerously and influentially signed •requisition, asking him to stand as a Councillor for Kawarau Ward ; and in compliance with that request he put himself in the bonds of the ratepayers. He did not claim to be the “ oldest inhabitant," but he had lived here for a considerable time, and he was sure no man could accuse him of being a bad neighbour or a bad citizen. If he was elected ho would do his best for Cromwell ; and if he was not, he would be just as well pleased. ii of tho other candidates were present, fJThe cause of Mr Dawkins’s absence will be best on reference to a paragraph under the hpad (if marriage, in another column. (»)T lio Mayor remarked that if any of the ratepayers wished to ask the candidates, any questions, he had no doubt Mr Kelly and Mr Shanly J&mW bo very happy to give them any iuformar|W|uthey might wish for. n/af Ta y lor Ea * ( l> M Mr Stanley’s seconder, he lvttH«Lto saya few words. It was very evident 'M°a ‘new-comer to the place like himself,. there had been a great deal of party r spleen in the. Council, and he thought that Sir Shanly would leave all that behind, and go in for the advancement of the town and district. Mr Dagg, as the seconder of Mr Brown, said that he thought that gentleman was the .best ‘ man. However, he would be very happy to sit, in his position as Councillor, with either Mr Brpwn or Mr Shanly. Barry rose, and was proceeding to say a in praise of Mr Kelly, who, however he hoped Mr Barry would ait down, SjWaa only wasting time, and was doing no Mr Barry begged Mr Kelly’s pardon, i dus ne had always spoken his feelings, and he was always going to. Ho proceeded to tell the I ratepayers that if they elected Mr Kelly, they i would never regret it, ;. The Mayor called for a show of hands in . of tho respective candidates ; but a rate--1 WyWmterrupted him by saying that there was for such a procedure : the OrdiuaKSS distinctly declared that when more than one candidate was nominated there must be a poll. The Mayor said the custom had been to call for a.show of hands, and ho saw no reason to deffeStffsom the custom in this instance, A show was accordingly takou, with tho foli iimiftg result Ward : Kelly, 3 ; Dawkins, 5. r SißoffJOkwarau Ward : Shanly, 5 ; Brown, 2. : Mr Kelly demanded a poll in his own behalf ; and Mr Dagg made the same demand in behalf of Mr Brown. A vote of thanks to tho Mayor for presiding, proposed by Mr Kelly, and seconded by Mr ,sJufly, concluded tho proceedings. a tlhol it —p— Sit DECLARATION OF THE POLL, result of the poll was declared, in front of W Council Chamber, at four o’clock on Monday afternoon, by Mr W. Smitham, tho newly-elected Mayor, and was as follows :

KAWARAU WARD. Mr R. Brown - . . ' . 24 Mr W. yhiinly - • • 20 BRIDOIi WARD, Mr J. Dawkins - • - « 14 Mr P. Kelly • . . .• . 8 Mr Smitham therefore declared Mr R. Brown to bo, duly elected as Councillor for Kawarau Ward, and Mr J. Dawkins for Bridge Ward. Mr Dawkins said ho most cordially thanked the ratepayers of Bridge Ward who had placed him in Such a position. He was a man of few words, but perhaps he thought all the more; and ho would always try to work for the advancement of the interests of the town and district. , j •‘•HIMr Brown, in a few words, also thanked the ratepayers of Kawarau Ward. Mr Shanly said that, although defeated this time, on some future occasion ho might bo more successful Ho hoped Mr Brown would give the ratepayers satisfaction. He thanked those who had voted for him. ■ After receiving such a numerously-signed requisition, he certainly had expected to get in; but perhaps a better man had been returned. Mr Kelly supposed he was expected to say something. If he had known before he issued his address to the electors that a citizen of the Ward was to he brought forward against him, ho never would have stood. .He hoped that the “little clique” would find a more pliant tool in Mr Dawkins than they had found in himself. He thought that the ratepayers of Kawarau Ward had made a mistake when they elected; Mr Brown. Mr Shanly, by his position in the town, was entitled to their votes ; but, because Mr Brown was a working man, he had. none the less good opinion of him : he thought Mr Brown was a very honest and straightforward man. Still, he thought Mr Brown was hardly in the position in which a Councillor ought to be. The fact of the matter was just this, and that day’s polling proved it: in Cromwell, “no Irish need appty-” ~ Mr Burres wished to say a few words to tho ratepayers before they dispersed. While he had been in tho Council he always did his best to serve his constituents ; and when, after a requisition from them, ho had come forward seeking to represent them again, he was deterred from going to the poll by the petty spite of a single member of the community. It had been stated by Mr Kelly that the only property he possessed in the Ward was his tool-basket; but he was perfectly certain r he had never disgraced the tool-basket, uor’ liad it' ever disgraced him. Perhaps in a year or two he would be able to solicit their votes again ; and it would give him the greatest pleasure if ho could then beat tho gentleman who had so meanly taken advantage of his not being a naturalised subject to try to step into the Council over his head. He Was glad that the electors had shown their detestation of such conduct by placing Mr Kelly at the bottom of the poll