THE MAYORAL CONTEST

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 95, 26 November 1879, Page 2

THE MAYORAL CONTEST

Mr. James Linton, one of the, candidates for the office of Mayor! of Ealtnerston, adf dressed a meeting of the ratepayers m the. Tow n IJall, on Monday evening. At the cominence.ine.nt of t^e proceedings ' tfie attendance vras not numerous, bufc" before its conclusion the Hall was -well filled; Mr: ' M'Neil .occupied the chair,- a^d- after a-few brief pEpliminary remarks, introduced the candidate, Mr. Linton oame 'forward) and said— z '' . ' - v Mb,. OHiiES^N AKDGENiuiBMBir-^lcbnie before you to-night m a somewhat unex- r pected manner to solicit your assistance m obtaining the. honorable office of Mayor for the ootmng year; , Aiew days ago I little anticipated any opposition to my Candidature; but foolishly thought I was going to have a walk-oyqr. As you all are aware it was reported that Mi?,. Jensseq inte.nde.d 'tostand m opposition to me. That proyed incorrect, that gentleman . having : refused- to allow himself to bo nominated, m spite of a very influential deputation and requisition presented to him. When this event passed; off, Iheand that Mrv Cpierharr had some J idea of opposing me!' I visited that ge.n.tle- , ! man, and put the. question straight to him—' "Do yqiij intend'stariding for the vacancy m the Mayoralty ?" He replied, that it was/a false rumor, and that he never intended taking any suoh step ;■ and, ioprd.gr to, cofl- , vince mci that 1 1 need not fear any opposition from him, he voluntarily offered to : support me with, all his influence. This naturally threw me off my guard, and when I read the nomination paper which* he: sejjt'-to the; office (instead of bringing), I felt that I was m a measure s<jld.r However, Qentle.me.n, there are two candidates for,' the. office, instead of one. I, for one, look upon that fact as cheering, because it proves that the, office of Mayor m this borough cannot b,e so easily obtained as'some may suppose." This fact will, no doubt, urge. 'those aspiring to the Mayoralty, to mind their P'g.and Q's, and do duty worthy of the "office. Gentlemen, m coming before you^ this evei\in§ to' solicit your suffrAges, 1 do 'so feeling boat 'in' the past I have registered a claim for those, suffrages, and that if -any man m Paimerstoii can p,oint to -attention devoted to the interests ot this bprough. and, steady work, ever since the first peg was_ driven into the ground, making the commencement of this prosperous settlement, I can safely claim my share of those honors. You are all aware that I am not laboring u*nder the disadvantage of claiming your votes as' a stranger. No-; I date, nyv acquaintance with this. town for the past eight years, during, which eventful time, I, .with a few others, . haye been m a marked degree identified with ite' progress, and have watched its rapid growth, with deep interest. I have known it from the tims it numbered one-solitary dwelling, and when it could not 1 find one child within its'] broad area. ; I sea it now, with: its busy «md r prosperous community; and ,with its hundreds of healthy and happy juveniles. Tliis : fact, Gentlemen, proves that m aspiring, as I do, to the v office of Chief Magistrate, that if elected I should certainly know the requirements of the. town, 'and ought to be ; able to judge, of the best means of carrying on'the" Pirosjperi^y alrjeady 'tiegutu' ' Gtentle^men, I am happy to say that there are' no burning public questions before the rate-, payers at this eleotion. Were such the case, there might be a difference of opinion on such questions between myself and my opponent, and the result of- sd'oh' differences might ensure the certainty of election for either. In the past it has been the chief aim of the Borough Council t© avoid all par.ty strife m order to distribute the revenue ■ wh^re it waa most required foij. the pviblic good. This, I'thi^^Ji^^lt^i^'lionestijr' carried into effect. Although. some members of the Council have endeavored to show; tfiat certain parts of the town . haye; been benefitted at the expense, of the other, suoh iha3 not been the case. Any streets made. Have been urgently^ required' by the resi? dents fivipg, ad jjieehV to; sj^eh streets. My j principle is to 1 fbllbwr up . settlepotem^ with public conveniences m the shape of. sunsets and footpaths' where required; As .far as i Ican see, the. Couricij, must continue : to act iii the same manner until su_b.h tjjme as" it can obtain the loan whioh'was aufch'opfsed' .by the ratepayers about two years ago. If ' tfiis. event eveir comes about, w« will then be. m a position to make all the streets within : our * boundary ; consequently, we i would have, th^n, got (jjre^, one of the greatest 1 difficulties which always accpajEafl\ed..seJ;,tlement m a new distrietsuoh as this. (Je'ntjemen, I feel that I am placed somewhat at< a disadvantage m the coutest, inasmuch as I 1 am, competed to be absent from Falmerston -^rpm," np# ujatil Ac, baj^jt-box is opened. ' if y duties are exclusively 'of a public nature.and cannot be put off until a ; n\6rft CQftYejxieht season. Next Wednesday ;th'e,Cqiunfcy.|Q!)U.ne|i m&ts for. t{lie. ; purpose ' ot s e^9p|«ig .it's: "Ouai?jn>n for. the- Sjisjiing. year^ and ast am a member of that °.9<Jyj I feel it my duty to be present at the meet- . ing. This will take me away from Parmersfcon upon the day of eleptjpn f^r. Mayor. It is not my intention to go from' adupe^^i' to house to: solicit Votes, as my opponent is ; dp.ing. I ;,am of opinion that my Palmerston cursed ka^keen oft •ujoK a -nature as should warrant my return fpr tbeoffice.l now seek. If the ratepayers are of' the' same opinion; the result is easily foretold ; j but if m their opinion I am rot the proper perso.n, for the office, then their choice will fall on my oppo^iea,t, '$& t shall bow 'to their deoision m the'matW,' The, annual election for Mayor was no doubt intended to act as an incentive : to vouucHlors to strive, tq get to^ the very top seat m the Council, and I consider it behoves every:, one to make that attempt,- as I am now doing. .If I am successful, I' shall feel it ai a tribute for past services and if\unsuccessful X sha^i. retire m the, bes.t possible manner.;'^d at' Borne future time may again meet you m #ris room with the, same object m view. Gentlemen, it too often happens that opponents stoop to the. use of abusive expressions at eleotion times. Tbio practice is bad, and qtight to be condemned by every right- miuded map. Fvt-mj fAtt }

I bari^ nothing^fco^iay iigainst my friend, Councillor Ooleihan; with 'whom I havo been intimately acquainted for some years, and during which time I hare always found him to be one who took a deep interest m the welfare of this town and its inhabitant*. > My opinion is that should he carry away' the present honor, for which we are both striving, he will carry on the business of the Council to the best of his ability. : < TheCHAiKHAK asked Mr, Linton if b. hod noticed $hat m Weatgarik'a Auttraliao „ Circular that as small sums of money could nob he successfully -floated on the London* market, it was suggested that a number of Councils should amalgamate together, and bo put forward a claim for snoh a sum aa ' wou'd mate it worth the' while of th« capii .taliats. He wished to ask Mr. Linton if $• / was favorable to such a proposition. Mr. LiNToy said m reply that an exactly; ' -similar oourse had been already under, odnt 'sidejsatiat* hj the. Council. Circular* had" ■ been pa^3ing;be|tweeh the Palmeraton, Ma*-- - 'terfcon, and other, Councils with a ,Yiew' to an: amalgamation, and} the reason 'why ' the project had not been put m execution , was because the present was by no means *• . judicious time m which to go into that money market. ; its he had before^tated, about two years previously the^CforporatMn,' ;'. had sought to" bo^o^"£l^QOC| but owing ~ sto the fact that according to law, "Councils weire not permitted to give, more than seven per. cent, interest for 'the }oa.n of .•■ monoy^ :;.. they had not been able to get the require^ sum. Had they succeeded \n securing that sum, it would hate heeo. &.nap)j ■ufscie,ht to . make, the streets of the tow'nj— the, purpose! to whion it was intended it should hare been devoted. Howeyer, ha believed a Bil^ *' \?ould Bh'outly Be v^efpro/:'thy;'^QUwy*'ito>^ : ' remedy this drawback, m expended •,: borrowing pp^reijs' would l^i given to municipal bodies. There was 6n« other mattes upon which ■ he wished to say a few words, and that was upon a Brc^gosgd diTiaion o£ the town into wards. .Some two : years agbj a .proposition was made to that effect, but upon examination q^ vita, feasibility, it was' found that' if the courae. pi^pospd were pursued, it would b^ almost %n to 'get a representa^tivfli' with! the "njßceXsarjJ qualification for some, p^oytions of the town. Since, then, however ' Pi|merston had made an almost wonderful progress, and if it were the wish p_f ihe'is(tepayesra that ifc should be diyided i^to wards, he. irouTd'bV": happy '■■to give the. pyojec^ bis" s^pporj; jat \ the same time it waji 'his opinion that tha, ! weaker portions of the town, would be the( loser by the step. ■: Under t^e" present "wgd«v* lafcion, the money was fairly expeDdidd where it was considerea most necessary, inde* . £*fpendently.' of wheire^ it/mi raised, but once the divißioi^ took place, "the rater ".of t each war ; d should have tq' bet expen.ded there, so while wards which had not many' residents, and consequently did not yield, much fates, would receive but a small; p»i\ centage, the lioa's^sha.r^ would go to th« more populous portions of the io^vn. \ The l Cfflrai^hayinjg ykfld; v^ thgyX \rer,e any question^ to be pi^t to the o»ndi« date, and there being no responie, ■' Mr. \Tkk3BBIS" moved, and Mr.. THOMAS ■- slN^ Becopde'di m the opinion -of - tne meeting', Mr. -Linton wai a fit a^d pro^ per peraon to fi^' the. Mayoral oliair cturing the ensuing "yejir^." "'■• ■- • [.' ; ;\ -;*■' .'., '•'_";> ".'■;•■' JJpon being put to the meeting, the^ motion was carried unanimously, the result being bailed with acclamation; Mr. Linton briefly resrjonde^; and- a vqto, of thank* ■ brought the' meeting to a close. ' "'"- r ' >