DECIDED BY LOT

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2142, 7 May 1914, Page 6

DECIDED BY LOT

—.—« , HARBOUR BOARD CHAIRMANSHIP MR. FLETCHER ELECTED . TALK OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE BOTH SIDES BLAMED Tito annual special meeting of the Harbour Board for the purposo of electins a ohairman was held yestorday, nnrt the election was singular in njoro than ono respect. Thero was some, ac'ri--1 lnonious talk before and after the' voting, and in tlio end, the- voting being equal in favour of Mr. R. Fletcher and Mr. J. G. Harkness, the election was decided by'lot. Fortune favoured Mr. Fletcher,- and ho was elected. There . wer.o present: Messrs. R. Fletcher (tho . Tctirruß chairman), J. G. Harkness, C. i AV. JOnes, H. L. Nathan, A, MacFar--1 lane. A. D. Kennedy, J. W. M'Ewan, ■ A. H: Hiiidmarsh, J. G. Cobbo. M. Cohen, J. Trovor, C. E. Danicll, H. A. iWright, and Captain D. J. Watson. The , election of chairman i was proceeded with at once. Mr. Fletcher Proposed. Mr. J. W. M'Ewan proposed Mr. Flotchcr for the position. It was desirable, ho said,'that when tho board was'elected for two years, tbo chair- • man should hold office for the whole- life j)f that board. This principle was endorsed in the recent amendment to the Municipal Corporations Act, and ho thought it a very • good principle- in- \ deed. Ho did not believe in "swapping horses , in. the- middle- of, the stream." Further, ho held tbo' opinion tha't the chairman ought to be a representative tho peoplo as a> whole, elected by their vote, and not the representative of any section, or interest. It was hardly necessary that he should refer to-the work Mr. Fletcher had done. Mr. Fletcher knew the wharves from A to i!,| and he was fully, acquainted with tho board's affairs. In fact, there wore very few chairmen of harbour hoards who had so thorough a grasp.of harbour business as had Mr. Fletcher. During his occupancy of the chair, Mr. Fletcher had shown that he was eminently fitted for the position, and , he thought -Mr. Fletcher should be allowed to icniain in office during tha remainder of tha lifo of the present boast'l. ■ . .' . '. ■ Captain 'Watson seconded the nomination. •'■■ :'. - V '~ :: .Advocaoy of a Change; , Mr. A. MacFarlano proposed Mr. Harkness; Hchad known Mr. Harknoss for .16 or 17 years, and believed him 'to bo eminently fitted to hold the • position of' chairman. Mr. .Harkness 4 had'been, a member of the board previously, and he had also the' qualification of being a representative, of" one of the ■ greatest of the Dominion's primary industries. Ho considered, furthermore, that no member of the board had a right to hold for a long period tho position of chairman Mr.-C. E. Daniell seconded the nomination: •'■Ho referred to certain influonco that had been brought to bear on Hum'**'concerning this election. "The total result is," he said, "that I am glad I am not a pai'ty politician or a Freemason." It was dishonouring to a .body of business men, he .continued, to '■ have brought to bear upon them influences such as had been working. He thought it very unfortunate that politics should dominate-, local affairs. Mr. . Fletcher was an able' so able that tho hoard had almost become "a superfluity. What business had been initiat- . Ed by an. individual member during the year with any hope of success? The - members of the board, it seemed, were simply called together to legalise the actions lof tho chairman.. As a body ol business men they should have had all the facts relating to the board's affaire before them, and he did not think thej had had that; It was assumed that be- ■ cause a chairman was a. good chairman f ho. should he allowed to hold office, but if a community was to be dependent or ono man, what was to become of the community when that man died? Ii was wrong to suppose-that anybody hat a pre-emptive right to the chair, and lu must vote against Mr. Fletcher retaining it. In Mr. Fletcher's ability lie hat tho utmost faith, but lio did not th'yil ! that members of the board'who happen- ! Ed to disagree with him should be char ! acterised by Mr. Fletcher as "stupid. , ■i This term a Press report attributed t< . 'Mr. Fletcher as having been made at i t meeting rccentlv. • \ . i Mr. Fletcher denied having over mad« ■Use of any such term. Mr. Daniell'at once withdrew his "re- ; mark. Ho went, on to say >. that al ' though personally he had every respec for Mr. Fletcher he thought that it the .administration of its affairs -thi ' board should be- allowed to go on witl ' its business without outside influence such as those to which he had referred ■'As a protest, he. infeiifled to suppor Mr. Harkness. .'.-■••• Mr. Hindmarsh on Politics. Mr. Hindmarsh said that he intendei ito support Mr, Fletclior. Nobody lia< ; asked him to support anybody,' and h , ' would have strongly resented anythin :of tho sort. " There might bo men o j tho hoard —weak creatures —whoi peoplo thought they could sway one wa or tho other.'' Ho had been sorry t hear Mr.' Darnell say the election wa ideally a political one, for nobody ot .jected to bringing politics into loci affairs more than he (Mr. Hindmarsl did. Tho reason ho would support Mi . Fletcher was that in a most diffica period, October, November, and Decen bor, Mr. Fletcher had had a most difl ■ cult position to fill. Probably not ar other member of tho board would hav liked to bo in liis shoes at tho timi . Although to somo extent tho publ misunderstood Mr.- Fletcher, membei of tho board on all occasions defend*

•him, and no member had stood out for liini so much as Mr. Danioll. Mr. Daniel!: For his individual actions, VO3. _ ■ Mr. Himlmarsh said it might be thai Mr. Fletcher , , liko other strong men, liked to get liis own way, but in that Ih> was jiot peculiar. But at any rain they must admit thai in'those most trying times Mr. Fletcher did conduct liimsclf with a. great deal of independence and judgment. Notwithstanding Iho fact that an agitation was worked up by tho powerful Press arrayed against him, the board stood by him, miduoiio wevo stronger in their defence of him than Messrs. Danicll, Cohen, and MacFarlane. On this occasion ho (Sir. Hindmarsli) would support Mr. Fletcher, but, ho did not say that ho would support him if ho stood again next year. Perhaps he would say then thai ■■ it was Mr. Harknoss's turn, becauso he did not believe in these offices being held too long by ono man. According to His Conscience, Mr. Cohen said lie would not havi spoken but for Mr. Hindmarsli haviiif •dragged his namo into tho controversy He would draw Mr. Hindmarsh's atten to tho fact that ho (Mr. Cohen Iras the only one member of the boan »)o call Mr. Fletcher'3 action into ques ihn. He disagreed with' some of th members who had spoken. He had give: tho miestioli very serious consideratio: and hud felt very keenly tho respons ihility upon him to do the square tliinp Ho liad frequently, in his eight years a a member of the board, expressed ak hcrreneo of tho political atmospher whicli invaded the board,"and tho'at tempts mado for political consideration to embarrass the hoard still furthei Tho present occasion was oue in whic

the samo political atmospliero was winding itself and enmeshing itself in the doings of tlio hoard. He would not allow himself to ho assimilated with it, and he would not ho a party to anything which savoured of political tactics, to work •an injustice on tho rrescnt chairman. He was going to vote acecrding to his conscience. Ho was aware that in doing so he would not vote in accordance with many who' had sought to influence liim, but whatever happened ho would at least retain his manhood and self-respect. With regard to the strike, Mr. Fletcher's actions had been called into grave question. He had heard it said that Mr. Fletcher's actions had cloctrified tho country districts, but when lie had tried to discover something serious for tho chairman to answer, lie had not found anything grave enough.. Whatever Mr. Fletcher's sins of commission or omission might ho tho influences which lie (Mr. Cohen) believed to exist on the present occasion were such that it would be too drastic a slap in tho faco for anything ho had dono to refuse now to 're-elect Mr. Fletcher. He would vote for Mr. Fletchor, but he did not wish to dotract, for one moment from the merits of Mr. Harkness. "Certain Things Had Taken Place." Mr. Cobbo said it was apparent that certain things had taken place which should not have taken place. He felt that tho chairman had had a very bad time during tha past year. Possibly he could not agree with everything the chairman had done, but having gone •through the year with a. measure of success ho thought Mr. Fletchor ought to be given another year of office.", He duTnot-intend, however, to support Mr. I' letclier if lie stood again for the position of chairman. Mr. Fletcher said that the question ot politics had been brought into tho election. Ho had not in one instanco introduced politics into the business of tlio board, He had never used any political influence ho might possess, but he knew that a great deal of power nad, been used against him. Ho added that it was l not his intention to stand again for the position of chairman. Air. MEwan: I only wish to say that no 0110 has troubled me in this mattcv. Mr. Trevor said that his impression was that the agitation about political influence was got up for a purpose, because Mr. Harkness had supplanted Mr. Hildreth. Mr. Fletcher had, nc doubt, done good work, but lie (Sir, Trevor) did not beliove in 0110 man occupying the chair for a' number ol years. Ho would support Mr. Harkness. Mr. MacFarlane denied tho, allega tion that politics were being introduced into the election. He added: "As fai as politics on this board are concerned I think wo have had too much of ii already." The Voting and the Lot; . ' The yoting was ea.ual, seven vote; being cast for each candidate, and, ir accordance with statute, the selectioi of chairman had to be made by lot The operation'.of - drawing lots rai conducted by the secretary (Mr. Nicli oils) and tho assistant-secretary (Mr Barnett). ■ Tho lot favoured Mr Fletcher, who was therefore elected. Following was tho'voting:— For Mr. Fletcher: Fletcher, Cohen Kennedy, Cobbe, M'Ewan, Watson Hindmarsh. For Mr. Harkness: Jones, Nathan Harkness, Trevor, Wright, MacFarlanc Daniell. Lots wore drawn in exactly tho sain way as art unions are usually drawr Mr. Nicholls wrote on slips of papc the names of tho candidates, folde each slip up, and placed, both ill til ballot-box. The box was turned roun a few- times, and Mr. Nicholls die* from it one slip of paper. After he ha looked at .it,. ho said: "Mr. Fletchc is elected." ' ' Why the Agitation? Mr. Harkness\ said that he had ii cepted tho position offered to him c tho board by the Government, and 1 did 'not think the Government kne . what side he supported in politic i This agitation had been, got up for mirposo, and the purpose was not f; to seek. He had been in Wellingtc for many years, and ho did not thii ; there was a member of the board wl i knew what his politics were. He hi ! accepted nomination on one conditio: ■ and that was that he was to be fr< [ to act as he chose without interfcreni > by the Government. If ho had be< • elected to tho chair; lie could assu i members that politics would have tak< ; no part in the management of t! ■ hoard. He thanked those who hi ■ supported him. Ho did not feel all east down. Ho hoped- to he < ' tho board, for two or three years, ai 1 ho would give his undivided attenti to tho affairs of the board, even mc 1 than ho had ever dono in tho past. Mr. Hindmarsh Has His Say. l Mr. Hindmarsh rose, and spoke ve ( loudly. "I object," he said, "to tl s board being made an instrument j politics. (Cries of dissent.) ( 1 obji 3 r (crescendo)—l very strongly resent 3 Fisher. Minister of Marino, malting t] [ a political body. Mr. Hildreth was very good member of the board, he tended tho meetings, and ho took intelligent part in the business of t! , board, but Mr. Hildreth's opinions wi j well known, and for political motii jj of the baser sort ho was removed fr< ® the board."' = Very soon after Mr. Hindmarsh gan to speak Messrs. Cobbe and M Farlane rose to a point of order, 1 0 Mr. Hindmarsh simply shouted : a louder, and their point of order t H unheard. Mr. Hindmarsh said, trii: j phantly, when ho had finished sho a ing, "I've had my say." Momb / had, however, begun to move out of [J room.'and if ho had gone on mi longer the table would probably h: j. been, vacated by all save those who i- jectcd to tho "introduction of politic