ELECTION OF CITY COUNCILLORS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 227, 15 September 1876, Page 2

ELECTION OF CITY COUNCILLORS.

The formal 1 declaration of the poll took place at the Council Chamber at noon to-day. The Returning Officer* read the numbew as follows;— Everett 305 Gray ... 298 Levien 229 Pollock 214 Little .. ... 1/1 Pickard 135 Crewdson ... ... ng Moutray 97 Messrs Everett, Gray, and Levien having been declared duly elected, Mr Everett said that, beiug in the peculiar position of Returning Officer, Mayor, and successful candidate, he would ask Mr J. Hooper, who had acted as Deputy Returning o_acer to take the chair. Mr Hooper, having taken the chair, said that he had received a note from Mr Pickard to the effects-hat pressing business prevented his attending, but that he wished to return hia heartfelt thanks to the electors for the support they had given him, and to state that if, on another vacancy occurring, he should again be requested to come forward he would do so with pleasure, and his object would always be to obtain the greatest amount of good for the greatest number. Messrs Little and Crewdso,.., the only defeated candidates present, having briefly returned thanks for the support that had been accorded to them, Mr Everett said that he wished to thank the electors very sincerely for the honor they had conferred upon him in placing him at the head of the poll. The honor was one that he had scarcely anticipated, nevertheless it was so, and he thanked them cordially To • it, the more so that he had made no personal canvass nor taken any means to obtain votes with two, exceptions, in which he had asked two lady electors for their support. One, he believed, had voted for him, but the otber met him Avith a flat refusal. On the subject of canvassing he would wish to say a v.o dor two. He thought it not only unnecessary but very hard that citizens who were willing to undertake the duties of City Comcillors should be expected to subject t_ emse .yes to the inconvenience— he might almost say the humiliation— of personally asking for votes. Aspirants to the office s" ould be elected or rejected solely on their merits, and not beea ise tbey happened to have a persuasive manner. Shoald he ever come before them again as a candidate he wo Jid p irsue precisely the same course he had adopted oa the present occasion. He thought that they should issue addresses stating their vie.vs, but do nothing more iv the way of canvassing. A cry had been raised about cliqreism and family compacts, but he could assure the electors that during his experience as a Councillor he had ne.er seen anything of the kind, nor had there been any party feeling, but all had acted in a thoroughly independent manner. Something too had been said of the undue influence of the Mayor, but that too was a mistake. It was necessary that provision should be made for a casting vote in the case of a tie, and that power had been conferred upon the Mayor, who beyond that was no more than any other Councillor. He would again thank them and assure them that everything brought before the Council for the welfare of the City would always meet with his hearty support. Mr Gray said that he was an old sailor and not much of a hand at speechifying, nevertheless he must thank the electors for their support. As a member of the Council he had always done what he considered wa3 right, and from the position he had obtained on the .poll he thought he was entitled to believe that they were tolerably well satisfied with him. With regard to soliciting votes he wished to say he had asked for none, nor had he engaged any conveyances. He had to thank his frienda for all the influence that had been used for he had used none personally. Mr Rohert Levien returned his sincere thanks for the great confidence shown in him, and trusted that his actions and votes would always merit their support. Mr Hooper, before the proceedings closed, would like to express his opinion that au opportunity should always be afforded the electors of learning from the candidates their views on municipal matters. He had been at Dunedin when an election was going on, and had followed Mr Pish, one of the candidates, to three or four meetings. He should like to see such meetings here. The Mator proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Hooper for acting as Returning Officer. Mr Webb seconded, and said that he had been asked to undertake the office, but had been prevented by domestic reasons. Mr Hooper had had a very hard day's work, having been there from eight in the morning till eight at night, as more votes had been polled than on any previous occasion. He hoped to see the number of votes polled continue to increase. Mr Hooper thanked them for their kindly feeling, and assured them that he had had a very hard day's work, indeed he had not ) done a harder since be had been in Nelson. ,

Mr Whitaker was served with a writ (at the suit of Sir George Grey at a quarter to two this afternoon. The | amount claimed is £5000. The processserver speaks in tbe highest terms of Mr Whitaker's pleasant manner of accepting the terrible document, and the courtesy he manifested throughout their short interview.— Post, September 13. It is understood (says the Post of Wednesday) that the writ, at the instance of Sir George Grey, for the re- . covery of £3,500 was to be served some time to-day upon Sir Julius Yogel. The claim is for penalties under the Disqualification Act, alleged to have been incurred by him owing to his having received certain special travelling allowances in connection with the negotiation of the loan. Telegrams in the Auckland papers state that Sir George Grey last week telegraphed to the Imperial Goveroment to interfere io abolition, in order to prevent bloodshed in Auckland and Otago. A Melbourne chemist has prepared lozenges containing the valuable properties which the blue gum tree (Eucalyptus globulus) contains, and is finding a considerable demand for them. The odour of the peculiar aromatic oil which the blue gum contains is distinctly traceable in the lozenges. He has also manufactured Eucalyptus soap. It is understood that the Rev J. C. Andrew, M.H.R., is about to quit political life, in order to devote himself to scholastic duties in the position of head master of Nelson College. Mr Andrew, although a ripe scholar, has not been a success as a politician. The Nelson College may, we think, well be congratulated on getting him as its principal, and the Assembly may be equally well congratulated on the prospect of being rid of him. He is as well fitted for the one position as he was badly fitted for the other. — Wellington Argus. The North Otago Times says: — " A recent arrival from Dunedin informs us that traders there speak openly of the great depression prevailing; The merchants, he states, have sufficient stock, unopened, to supply New Zealand for years to come. Fresh buildings are going on with no ostensible cause for their erection. It is evident that at present Dunedin speculators are greatly influenced by future anticipations. It is also obvious that tbe decline in wool, coupled with the political .disquietude, are the most prominent causes of the stagnation of trade complained of." Mr Andrew, to-day intends to impale Ministers on tha horns of a dilemma, ac will be seen from tbe following list of questions wbich he is going to put. First of all he is going to ask the Minister for Public Works whether, as stated in papers laid before this House (A. — 5, Sir Julius Vogel's Mission to England), the words of Sir Julius Yogel, " ray own impression, or rather I should say recollection is, tbat it was aiso agreed that I Bhould only announce to the House that Mr Russell had been asked to aot for the Government, without stating the nature of the directions given to him " ; or the statement of the Hon, the Minister for Works, ** I know, from what took place in the Cabinet, that Sir Julius Yogel bad intended to oommunioate the details to the House," is, in his opinion, tbe correct account of the facts of the case ? Then be is to ask the Minister of Justice, whether the impression or recollection of Sir Julius Yogel, appearing in papers laid before this House (A. — 5), or the statement of the H^n. tbe Minister of Justice, made the Ilth October, 1875, " that there was a mistake about tbe non-statement " is tbe correct account of the facts of tbe case ? And finally he will ask the Native Minister whether the impression or recollection of Sir Julius Yogel, communicated to the House in the papers laid before this Houae (A. — 5), or the repetition hy the Hon. the Native Minister of the statement of the Colouial Treasurer for the time, on the subject of instructions to Mr Russell, not expressed to the House, be tbe correct account of the facts of the oase ? Argus.