THE LYTTELTON MAYORALTY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2389, 29 November 1881, Page 3

THE LYTTELTON MAYORALTY.

A meeting, convened by the Mayor of Lyttelton at the request of the ratepayers, was hold in the Colonists’ Hall at Port on Monday night. Both the candidates for the Mayoralty —Mr Harry Allwright, the present Mayor, and Mr 8. E. Webb—were present, and, on the motion of some one in the hall, Captain Hugh MeLellan took the chair. The hall was crowded to excess, and Mr Allwright, in coming forward, was received with cheers. He said he had no lengthy speech to make. Ho would not have contested the election had some one of more municipal experience than Mr Webb come forward, but, as one whose whole interests wore centred in Lyttelton, he could not allow Mr Webb a walk over. Mr J. W. Smith and Mr Adam Chalmers, besides others, had been asked to contest it, and had declined, and it was therefore left for the ratepayers to decide whether his work in the past for the town merited their support again in placing him as the chief magistrate of the borough. Whichever way it went, ho would hope that it was for the welfare of the town, as the voice of the people was always right in such matters. Ho was so well known to the ratepayers that any talk of his could hardly affect the result, but he would like to say a word with reference to a report that he was told his opponent had circulated. It was to the effect that he had advocated the reduction of the wages of the men employed by the Council. [Cries of “No! no! no!”] He had, ho said, done nothing of tho sort, nor was he present when the subject matter was discussed in the Council. He then referred to the solvent position of the borough as compared with others in the colony, and attributed their success and freedom from debt to the assiduity of the Mayor and Council, past and present. Whether elected again or not, he would continue to take a strong interest in municipal government, and they knew sufficient of him to assure them that ho would set his faco against running tho borough into debt. Ho looked forward with pleasure to a few years hence when Lyttelton would set an example to its neighbors by making its income from properties meet all its expenditure, and dispense altogether with tho necessity of rating its burgesses. Mr Allwright resumed his seat loudly cheered. Mr 8. it. Webb next came forward and was loudly applauded. He denied in toio having circulated any report whatever about Mr Allwright, and said that ho had done his utmost to get some other candidate to come up and contest the mayorlty against Mr Allwright, in which case ho himself would not have ecoopted the nomination. ’Twas true he had been in the Council but fifteen months, but from what ho saw of it longer experience was unnecessary to qualify a ratepayer and an old resident of the town for the office of Mayor. As against Mr Allwright’s aversion to borrowing money for the Corporation, he had not always set his face against it, to wit, the proposal to buy a certain piece of property some years sirce. [A Voice—“ The G-asworks.’’] Koferring to affairs that had come up in the Council, Mr Webb said he thought that it was only fair that the carting work of the borough should bo distributed amongst all tho carters instead of leaving it in tho hands of one. His experience as a councillor and as a ratepayer was that there were too many sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts involved in the work of tho town. [Laughter.] He then spoke of his act in endeavoring to repeal the swine by-law, which was virtually an impracticable, and indeed a dead by-law, and should have been repealed long ago, or rather it should never have been passed at all. Ho had also endeavored to get the charges to small vessels for water reduced, and in that connection ho wished to sey that Mr Allwright deserved credit for casing the matter by instructing the water tender to allow small vessels supplies by instalments until 500

gallons were raaohed. Ho had opposed, and always would oppose, spending tho town’s money on private roads, to wit his opposition to the proposal to make a road to some property of Messrs Harman and Stevens, and he had set his face against the £2O, or thereabouts, which was spent on a bridge up in that direction. He thought the lease of land granted to Mr J. Sowden was an improper transaction, as tho town should receive a larger revenue from such properly. At all events, if tho Council wore disposed to meet Mr Bowden so liberally as they had, why did they not do tho same in respect to a second application v/hioh had been sent in to thorn. Of the lighting rate ho said ho found that the borough was paying more per IOOOTt for their lamps than the shopkeepers, and for his part "he hoped to have such information respecting tho electric light shortly as would justify the town in dispensing with the gas and using the electric light, which ho felt certain was better and cheaper. Ho was opposed to tho way deep cuttings were made on certain streets, and instanced Ripen street cutting, saying that a very much less levelling down would have done as well, and not have been so disastrous to property owners there. Ho was not much in favor of running into debt, but would rather that tho town should have completed the sewerage works, oven though a little money hud to bo borrowed. Tho drainage of Joyoetnwn ho instanced as a neglected work. He was opposed to the manner in which tho Council had dealt with the proposal to put up a bathing place, and he thought that Mr Stinson's suggestion to havo an excavated bathing place at Simoon Quay a mistake. Beyond the graving dock site was a much more desirable place. Ho believed u bettor or rather greeter supply of water was needed than they had at present, and would advocate sinking a few tnoro artesian wells. As to tho Colonists’ Hull ho had advocated some time ago that tho rat< payers take it over altogether, and use tho upstairs for a public reading room and library, and the lower flsor for municipal offices. An application had been lately made to subsidise tho society from the borough funds. Ho would oppose such a proposal firmly, and he was pleased to say that ho thought Mr Allwright, though formerly opposed to the town taking over the hall, had since fallen in with it. Ho had come forward more with a view of preventing tho present Mayor having a perpetual lease of the office, and if they returned him, as he expected they would, he would do his best for their interests, Mr Webb was loudly cheered when ho stepped off tho platform, A vote of thanks to the chairman brought tho meeting then to a finish.