ELECTION OF A BOROUGH COUNCILLOR.

Kumara Times, Issue 1990, 15 January 1883, Page 2

ELECTION OF A BOROUGH COUNCILLOR.

The poll for the election of one person to fill an extraordinary vacancy in the Borough Council of Kumara took place on Saturday last. The poll commenced at nine o'clock in the morning, but it was not till late in the afternoon that much interest begun to be apparent as to the result. There were two candidates only —Mr John O'Hagan, ex Mayor of Kumara, and formerly a councillor, and Mr Denis Hannan, who also had been a councillor four or five years ago. The poll closed at six o'clock, and in about half-an-hour after that time the Keturning Officer (Mr Alfred Skilton) re-opened the door of the Town Hall, where the polling had been conducted, and announced the result to be as follows :

Denis Hannan... ... 66 John O'Hagan ... ... 95 He would therefore declare Mr John O'Hagan to be duly elected a Borough Councillor.—[Cheers. | Mr O'Hagan then stepped forward and said : Gentlemen and ratepayers of Kuroara—l have once more to thank you for the honor you have conferred on me to-day. I have now been three years in your service, two of which I have had the honor of holding the position of Mayor, so that I am still a servant of the ratepayers. lam thankful beyond measure in your returning me. When I was first elected it was by a large majority, and when I was elected Mayor it was by an overwhelming majority also. I have beaten a good man, who, like myself has held a high position in other public bodies, and showed himself possessed of some abilities in so doing, and has also been a member of the Council. I have reason to be proud of the position in which you have placed me to-day, and so I am, as it is a proof that I still retain the confidence of the burgesses. The line of action taken by me during the three and a half-years I have been in the Council (sometimes involving matters not pleasant), the result of the poll has proved that the majority of the ratepayers believe I have done my duty—no more, no less. I shall continue to do my duty as hitherto. I again thank you heartily for the position in which you have placed me.—[Cheers.] Mr Hannan said: Mr Returning Officer and Gentlemen Electors I thank the 66 burgesses who voted for me to-day. It might have been my ruin if I got in—[Laughter.] Mr Seddon said on a platform that I was asked to stand for the office of councillor but refused, and accused me of coming forward for the office of Mayor because there was a salary attached to it; and had I not come forward on this occasion these statements would have appeared to be true. The result of the election of course will help Mr O'Hagan on to future ruin and save me from it.— [Laughter.] Mr O'Hagan : " I'm not ruined yet! Mr Hannan."—[Laughter.] Mr Hannan continued : There were two parties in the Council -the Seddonites and the O'Hagauites. Had I been put in, I would have supported neither party—[Hear, hear]. If it was the town on fire, and one party wanted to put it out, the other would vote against; and vice versa. In the late election for Mayor there were 33 who voted for me; now there are 66; the numbers for me are increasing, and, as I intend to try it again, the next time I may jump in. I am too old in the horn to be disconcerted. I thank you all, gentlemen, for the position on the poll you have placed me. I hope those who voted against me this time will support me next. I intend to come forward on every occasion till I get in.—[Cheers.] I have much pleasure now in proposing a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer.—[Hear, hear.]

Mr O'Hagan would say a word in explanation. It has been said that I ruined myself. I am not ruined yet. I might have been .£4OO more in pocket, or perhaps even £500; but it has not ruined me yet. I have said that the man who wanted the Mayorship another year would be a glutlon. I have much pleasure in voting thanks to the Returning Officer.—[Applause.] The Returning Officer acknowledged the compliment, and the large concourse •who had gathered to hear the result of the poll aud the speeches then dispersed.