THE MAYORALTY.

Evening Star, Issue 4178, 18 July 1876, Page 3

THE MAYORALTY.

MR WALTER AT THE ATHEN.RUM. Mr H. J. Walter addressed a meeting of the city ratepayers, numbering about forty, at the lower hall of the Athemeum last evening, -Mr Guthrie occupied the chair. i he candidate commenced by saying in again seeking the electors’ suffrages he was not doing so at a great personal sacrifice. He had served the city a number of years as councillor and Mayor, and if they thought he had conducted the ofiice in the past°in such a manner as to reflect credit upon it and himself, then he asked for a continuance of their favor. A very erroneous impression seemed to prevail that he had said that the office of Mayor should be a rolling one, They knew the nature of the contradiction which he had given to this, and that he would not have given that statement the contradiction he did if it was not verified by truth. Referring to his term of office as Mayor, the candidate said it was one of the most eventful in connection with the history of the city of Dunedin. In the first place, a few weeks before his election, the then hire Brigade gave notice of their intention to disband, and a new one was formed which comprised many of the old members’ The new Brigade was quite satisfied with the Council, with th«; exception of some slight differences that took place at onetime through an oversight of either party. Then, again, the largest loan that had ever been floated in New Zealand by any City Council had been floated during his term of ofir C e and with what success they all knew,- fhe Gas Works had also passed into the, possession of the Corporation since ho hid the honor of being Mayor, de then referred more especiaHy to this rolling offi, Ce> abont which they had heard so much No •doubt many of them would as.fc rolling office, and bow docs £ T" 2 hiß experience was ‘ m of dhcc who advocate that toOMtnro * olllv / 0 ao when t hey cannot mak office a permanent one. It is so with one ca dictate, who is al f ? Harbir Board. In rcfcrnngtothQ flarbor Board, be wished it to be distinctly imderstood that he was «t opinion, from the knowledge which he •possessed of tho gentlemen composing that Hoard, that the Mayor of Dunedin ought to be a member of it. Now. a member of the l/ouncii who is now aspiring to the rodtion ot Mayor, and who has a seat at 1 hat Hoard, IT <i:cl not, m hie capacity as member of it, and nt a time when Mr Gillies made a statement, Jbe object o. which was to provide that the Whan es and Quays Reserves were the pro perty of the Board, show tho error of that statement -The fact of his remaining silent •eemedto show that he acquiesced in what Mr Giliics said, the gentleman (Mr Reeves) bemg as fond of speoch-making as anyone; The candidate here read sections three ami W ° f the Dunedin Municipal Ordinance of 18G7, and said the Superintendent had given his sanction.to these, and they weie thrro™r™': aa P U ’ J1 as, possible that the Harbor Koerd was not in a positin'> to claim theeo reserves. It requires no cunning to interpret these Ads, as any lavman can do so. Finally, his contention was that tho ge.itleman who is now a candidate should have 'oat to the Harbor Board what ho had now done. If not elected

! as Mayor he {Mr Walter) would become a j candidate for either High or South Ward. He mss not going to keep in the back-ground and aay, “I must be Mayor or nothing.” Referring to financial matters, the borrowing power of the Corporation in regard to the City loan is L 300,000, of which amount L‘20’,200 have been raised. The b dance in the Bank from the last loan is L 73.712 6s 7d The authorised Waterworks Loan is L‘200,000 ; debentures isssned, 1120,300; ha lance yet to issue, L 79,700; Gasworks Loan (authorised), LI00.000; debentures iir.ued, L 49,200; balance yet to issue, L 50,800. The municipal annual income is L‘23,500, and the subsidy for last year was L 3,051 5s sd. The rent roll of the Corporation per annum is nearly LB,OOO The annual present valuation of City properties is L 200,000, which, at a rate of 15d, produces L 12,500. That, they would admit, is a satisfactory position for them to be placed in. As to the Waterworks, they were able to show a balance of L 1,612 10s 9d. He knew that gas consumers had for a long lime past been very much dissatisfied, but Cns would not appear so strange when he told them that for some time past great TOf.rations were being made at the works. From a communication which the Council received from the Gas Engineer they learned that many of the fittings in the town required being looked to. The number of consumers had increased to 830, and mains would be Laid throughout the c ity, according to the Gas Engineer’s schedule. In the course of another six months, kerosene would be a thing of the past. The old gasometer had also been newly covered, and large sums of money had been expended on the works in order to meet the necessary demand. Referring again to the Water Works, a report from Major Gordon would be published in the course of a few days. Major Gordon advised that the water should be got from the Waitati, in order to feed the present reservoir. For if that were not done before the middle of next summer they might find themselves in a serious predicament. Referring to the Fever Hospital question, Mr Walter said he believed that the Town I'elt should remain intact; but their solicitors advised that no case could be established against the Council for building the Hospital upon the Belt. He thought that in a City like Dunedin they would have been acting in a most mercenary and most miserable manner if they had not attempted to stamp out disease when it made its appearance. The building itself cost about LI,OOO, and there had been expended on it about L 2,000 more. It had had about 139 patients in it altogether. The medical officer of that establishment had been most painstaking, and the councillors had also been at the Hospital, axd they could say that the e-tablishment had been as well and as economically kept as possible. After alluding at some length to the new Municipal Bill, and to a recent article in the ‘ Daily Times ’ anent his candidature, Mr Walter concluded by saying that if the ratepayers thought him worthy of a continuance of their favor, he hoped they would vote for him.on Friday.—(Loud applause). A number of questions were then put and answered to the satisfaction of the meeting, and the proceedings terminated by the passing of the following motion, proposed by Mr Hildreth and seconded by Mr J. Price : “ That Mr Walter is the most fit and proper person for election as Mayor of the City of Dunedin for the ensuing year.”

MR REEVES AT THE MISSION HOUSE. Mr Reeves addressed about sixty ratepayers at the Mission House, Russell street, last evening ; Mr A. Mercer occupying the chair. At the conclusion of his speech several questions were answered by the candidate, and Mr Beveridge then proposed, and Mr Elliott seconded, a vote of confidence in his fitness for the position of Mayor, which was carried unanimously. MR WOODLAND AT THE CALEDONIAN HOTEL. Mr Woodland addressed a large meeting of ratepayers last evening, at Cotter’s Caledonian Hotel, Mr Thomas Johnstone in the •hair. After the candidate had given a lengthy address, a hearty vote of confidence in him was moved by Mr Swan, seconded by Mr Bring, and carried unanimously, Mr Woodland afterwards addressed a meeting at White’s Hotel, Albany street, when a similar vote was passed with acclamation.