THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5501, 13 November 1878, Page 2

THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

MR. DRANSFIELD BEFORE THE RATEPAYERS. Pursuant to announcement, Mr. Drainsfield, one of the candidates for the Mayoral chair, met the ratepayers of the city-at the Athenaeum Hall at half-past 8 o’clock last evening. There was a very large attendance. The candidate, on making his appearance in the hall, was received with cheers. On the platform were Messrs. A. Young, R. S , Ledger. O. White, H. ALce, Marks, Gascoigne, P. Moeller, Shannon, and Madelay. On the motion of Mr, Dransfield, the chair was taken, amid applause, by Mr. J. Maginuifcy. The Chairman said that - he ' did not recollect any occasion on which he t had been called upon to preside when he felt somuch pleasure at taking the chair as ho did on the present occasion. They were aware of the object for which the present meeting had been called. They were assembled that evening by the invitation of Mr. Draua■field,: who was one of the - candidates for the Mayoral office. No doubt some of them were aware that during the history of municipal politics in this city, he (the chairman) was a great opponent of Mr. Dransfield at one time. He thought he was instrumental on one occasion in electing a gentleman in opposition to Mr. Drausfield, because at that time he was under the impression that municipal matters were not conducted in that manner whick was acceptable to him (the chairman) as a ratepayer—(hear, hear)—and ~ it was for that reason that he took the active part he did on the occasion which; he referred to.. HejpreBurned a great deal of this action was taken througß ignorance of Mr. Hransfield’a capabilities, because at that time Mr, Drausfield was the only gentleman who had occupied that prominent position, and hence there were no comparisons that could enable him to gauge Mr. Dransfield by. But other times came, and with other, times they had other means of judging of Mr/Dransfield’e career, as compared with other men, and he (the chairman) came to the conclusion that he had under-estimated Mr, Drausfield’s capabilities entirely. Having been brought into closer contact with 1 Mr. Dransfield than hitherto, being a.representative of one of the wards, and havinc worked with Mr. Dransfield, he must say that he.found that Mr. Drausfield had got the welfare and the interest of the city at the very, bottom of his heart. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) They had opposed to Mr. Dransfield in this contest a gentleman who had occupied the position of Mayor of this city for a period of two years. He was not going to say anything disparagingly of Mr. Dransfield’s opponent, but he regretted to think that an element bad been introduced into this contest of a most objectionable nature, and this was that Mr. Hutchison was brought forward as the working-man’s representative. He (the chairman) was not going to insult their intelligence by thinking that they were going to allow themselves to be carried away by that plea. He would ask—who was the working man ? He presumed every individual existing . in the colony, from the extreme north to the extreme south of it, were here for their own welfare and the welfa e of their and every man who had the welfare of his family at heart was a working man within the meaning of the term. (Hear,-hear.) Fortunately, those things that existed in an older country had not been introduced into a new country of this kind. There were elements existing in an older country .which fortunately did not exist here; and he believed that now that local politics had been brought to their very throehold, it was within the grasp of every working man to aspire to the position of representing any particular ward at the • City- Council. t Those inducements and those privileges did [ not not exist in an older country. They had wealth and influ-nc© brought into an electoral contest in an. older country, which did not ’ fortunately exist here, and.to introduce such j a class contest he (the chairman) held . was a great mistake, because it was unneces- • eary -(hear, hear)—and he thought they, could work band in hand and shoulder to shoulder, > irrespective of wealth. And when a candidate i was said to tS 1 © brought forward in the interest of ■ the working man be thought it was very, much ■ to be regretted. (Hear, hear.) ...Mr. Drainsfield's opponent made an allusion in his opening r speech at the Princess Theatre to a gentleman who was a large employer of labor in this city i —a gentleman who—(he was sure they would I all agree with him when he said it) —was the I architect of his own fortune ; he now alluded to Mr. E. W. Mills. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He did eay this—that he believed Mr. Mills was the largest employer of labor in the city, j and engaged, he believed, from one to two bunI dred men. He believed the wages he paid away amounted to between three and four hundred pounds a week ; and as a proof of the harmony and that kindly feeling which existed between the employer and the, employed, he might state that on the occasion of his son’s return from the mother country, his son wrs magnanimously enter- [ tained by his father’s employes, and he thought the allusion which was made on that occasion was of a kind which made the remark of -the, opposing candidate unwarranted. vHear, hear.) ’ He (the. chairman) would not detain them much longer. He would merely crave for Mr. Dransfield a patient hearing. There was a time he remembered well in the City ol Wei- \ Ungfcon when politics ran so high that it was ; almost an impossibility to obtain a fair > hearing at a public meeting; but the progress ; of the city (and likewise their intelligence . he presumed would account for the fact) was i such that public meetings now were as a vnlo . very orderly, and supporters and oppositionists . were prepared to give a fair hearing to the re--3 spective candidates. (Hear, hear). Ho would say no more now, but begged leave to introduce Mr. Drausfield, and he was sure that he would give them a fair opinion upon all municipal matters in the city, and would also acquaint them with his past services as Mayor of the city. With these few remarks he begged to introduce Mr. Dransfield. Mr. DiuirsriELp was received with loud cheers on coming forward to address the meetI ing. Ho said : Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, i are so many of the citizens of Wellington gathered together to-night to listen to what I have got to say in reference to municipal matl ters. It augurs well for the future welfare of the city to find so many 6f you taking an into. ! rest in its doings. (Hear, hear.) -I had hoped at the commencement of this contest that at any rate the candidates would have treated each other in a kindly and respectful manner, whatever the Press might do. (-Hear, hear ) The Press, we naturally expect, will hit out very -hard on both sides, but still I think there should have been some little more kind feeling between the candidates. At any rate, that was my own idea. I am not sufficiently versed in politics . to enable me to give an opinion on-the subject, but this I may say, that whatever action X have taken in municipal matters it has never been taken with a view to raise myself I into any other position. (Hear, hear.) 1 will explain what I mean. When I tell you that I I have had a connection with the municipal affairs of the city, and have occupied the chair

for something like seven years at a time, I may fairly claim that my object has not been to use my position in the city simply to raw*myself into a higher position in another House. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I shall ' naturally be obliged to refer considerably to the speech of my. opponent, because he ha made some very severe remarks with regard to myself, and he has yen tured to make statements which, if my temper was so bad as it is made out to he—- , “that confounded temper of mine,” as it is spoken of—-I should be making use of strong - language; but I shall co tent myself, when speaking of my opponent’s statements, by say ' fug what the Yankees would say—that he ha« , economised the truth a little too much (Hear, hear.) At the opening of his speech I notice ’ th t he adopted what I believe is considered , the proper course in endeavoring to get his audience into good humor. He commenced bv amusing the audience with the fact that my name happens to be “Joe.” (Laughter.) Isn’t it a pity that the representative of the aristocracy of the upper ten was not Montague, or some other aristocratic name? (Ke Dewed laughter.) It would have hit more his fund of humor. I think that is a very small way of attacking an opponent. It would do very well for the larrikins in the street to shou f out “Hot for Joe.” (Laughter.) And then he goes on to chjff, as I am told, and says, “ He did not mean to say anything severe or sarcastic about the great iron merchant of . .Wellington. I '-. I don’t think I need refer fur- • tbertotbat. I think our chairman ban very properly put it to you. It svas in bad ta*te, as he happens to be a larger employer of labor » 1 than any other in the place. I do not know what object mv opponent could have in md-c-------.Jug .the remarks ho did with regard to Mr Mills, except to lower him in the respect and esteem of bis fellow-men, and possibly his employes. That appears to me to be his object. His object is to create an ill-feeling between the two. classes —employer and employed ’ Now, I thiukthat if there is a contemptible man in a community it is a man who endeavors ti* get class against class, and I will say so more especially with reference to Wellington, because up to the present time I think we have got on very well amongst each other. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I have never heard that there has been an attempt at unfair dealing on the part o! the employer towards the employed. The pleasant reunions that take place from time to time between the two classes fully testify to this fact, that no unfair dealings have occurred op th© part of tho one towards the other. Mr. Hutchison ’ “was good enough to say that he would not have come forward bo early in the day had it not been that Mr. Dransfield took time by the . forelock, and had already commenced a vigorous “ touting ” amongst the ■ electors. Now, gentlemen, is it not a fact that he has " been “ touting” for the last twelve months — (hear, hear) —and on every occasion it has been “ Mr. Hutchison for the Mayoralty ?” Even the great O’Connor meeting with reference to the poisoning case, —we all know very well that he got up that meeting for the purpose of advertising William Hutchison for the “Mayoralty. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I notice there is one thing which he endeavored to impress upon the ratepayers _ as a thing which should be apoken of very severely. He referred to a great ’ banquet that had been given by the Mayor to the delegates who had come from other provinces. “ And at whose expense ? At the 'expense of the ratepayers !” Now, you would hardly think that this gentleman had done precisely the same thing himself, and in a little worse manner, —(bear, hear) —for I find in the auditors’ report, in tho year 1877, the following. This is with reference to the dinner / that was given by his Worship the Mayor, Mr. Hutchison, to the municipal delegates in 1877The auditors eay:—“ Dinner to municipal delegates, £77 11s. 6d. We can find no trace of this amount having been passed by the Council; and iu»til this ia done we hold that the money has been paid without proper authority.” Now, gentlemen, you would fancy that he would not have dared to throw atones at me with such a statement as that before his eyea, but he appears to have been the impression that he co Id gull the gentlemen he bad got there as an audience to any extent; that, in fact, these things would not be inquired into; but these matters have been very carefully looked into, and I intend to-night to expose about twelve or fourteen misstatements of his, and I shall give you , chapter and verse for every statement X make, so that he will have a fair opportunity, when he meets the electors again, of replying to my statements. (Hear, hear, and cheers). I notice the next dinner he refers to—which, by-the-bye, appears to me to have been the sorest thing he has had to deal with,—the dinner given by the members of the City Council unanimously to myself, I imagine as a mark of respect for the cordial manner in which we had worked together ; and as a matter of coarse at this dinner, as u*ual, many kindly things were said, that is attempted to be made a dinner got up for tho express purpose of foisting upon the public of Wellington myself again a* Mayor.. There are a great many m-mhers of the City Council now present, and I think they will agree with me that it was got up as a mark of respect towards myself, t<» show how amicably we had worked together. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) So much about the remarks that have been made in the papers, , that I never could get on with the Council at all. Mr. Hutchison very kindly said, in winding up his few sarcastic remarks about myself, „ when he supposed be bad got his audience into a good humor, —“ He had not got one single, word to say against Mr. Dransfield, only this that bis ways and modes of conducting the business of the City Council were not the and modes that he (Mr. Hutchison) would think best for the interests of the city.” • Now, on that point X am prepared to join issue with him, and to fight it out. I agree with him at once that his mode and mine are not the same. (Hear, hear, and cheers) He next opens his heart and become'* very candid. He says, “ I will tell you all about this Te Aro reclamation, and I 4 will tell you the whole history. The first thing I did when I got Into the Mayoral chair last year was to get the Crown grant of seventy acres of land, or rather water (as he says), for ; the citizens of Wellington, inalienable to them for all time, for ever.” Now would you believe that Jail he ever had to do with that was to tell Mr, Hester, the then Town Clerk, to go into the Land Transfer Office and ask for the Crown grant, which was obtained four years previously, which was signed on the 24th June, 1874, by hia Excellency the Governor, c0n- .... veying that property to the citizens of Wellington for all time. (Hear, hear, and cheeis.) Now, sir, I say. thl*—that that is what a Yankee would call a mean man who would go In a sneaking manner and endeavor to take from other men the just dues which they were entitled to, after having . strenuously worked for years to get that object carried out, I have no doubt there are many gentlemen here who will remember the public meetings we bad at Te Aro on this subject a very long time before ho came from Wanganui; and he dares to tell you ho ia the man who did this. As the Yankees say, a man who attempts to do that is a mean man. (Hear, hear.) Let him answer that. Then he goes on to tell us what was done with the owners of the foreshore. He has the—(l must not use too strong language, I must be careful) —I was actually going to say the audacity, but I wont—ho goes on to tell us that he had ' nothing at all to do with arranging with the f foreshore owners for this compensation. Ho had nothing at all to do with it was sent in to the Council by the foreshore owners themselves, and ho had nothing at all to do ; -with it. For your information, X will just read to you what actually did take place:—. “ Agreement made at meeting of foreshore owners called by Mr. Hutchison.—At a meet' ing held on the 14th day of November, 1877, ■ called by circular of his Worship tho Mayor, W. Hutchison [mind you, a meeting called by • himselfjm tbematter# the reclamation of foreshore the Mayor wished the proprietors of water frontage in the line , of WiUn-street to - make a proposal as to tho terms on which they would give up their claims to compensation. Wo the undersigned proprietors agree to pay . for- the reclamation at contract price of the land situate between tho frontage of our present holdings and the proposed new' - street to the eastward, as shown on the plan, and also fifty feet beyond, being half the width of said new street, and to give up our claims to .cgmpenMation .cn receiving a grant of the said land. This offer is made without prejudice J.,Compton, O. W. Schultze, K. Miller, Jacob Joseph, Jacob Lichtscheihdl, John McLean, David Auderson, Samuel Rowley, John Chew, .: JCdward Pearce (pro W. H. Meek), Walter Turnbull (pro C.- Capper), George 13. Tolhurat, for Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency i Company, F. Aug. Krull, A- P. Stuart” Now, gentlemen, I think you have beard very often that Mayor Hutchison had never anything at all to. do with this. It was got up by hiiQHelf. Ail this was done at a meeting at - which he presided, ; He was the firatrto get it up, and.when I came into office that was the state of things I • found existing. I have repeatedly said that they were not entitled to

anything in addition to their own property, but simply to a water frontage; that is, that vhen their laud was reclaimed they should have the means of ingress and egress to their properties ; and I maintain openly that that is >ny conviction —that having had a water frontage for the last forty years nearly you cannot ake that right of-way from them, and I ft’ supported bv at least three nolicitors in the cry. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) So much for my being the party who was anxious to get all that I possibly could for the owners of this land,- It ia a wilful misstatement. I have never done anything of the kind. All I wished them to have was the land frontage for their water frontage. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I shall endeavor, gentlemen, to go step by step -in the statement that I have to make, because my opponent has, to use Scriptural language, which, by-tho-bye, he ought to know something about, for I am told that he visits every place of worship within the city. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) He is so liberal in his religious views that he treats all men alike: we are all of one denomination, all the same. Well, with such an odour of the city about him, you would hardly think he would make these statements. I notice also that he very properly and very kindly advertises his very good henchman Mr. Charles O’Neill. Mr. O. O’Neill prepared apian of this reclamation, which was laid, before the public, and by-the-by Mr. Charles O’Neill was never appointed by the Council at all; he never had any fixed salary from the City Council; he was Mr. Hutchison's engineer. That is the sort of despotic manner in which Mr. Hutchison ruled the city. It was not necessary for him to adc the Council to sanction that appointment. I have cirefully looked through the records, but cannot find any authority for that appointment, Possibly Mr, Hutchison will be able to give ua the time, tho date, the minute, and the resolution when this appointment was made. (Hear, hear.) But I think Mr. Charles O’Neill is a very wise man, for if report is true his appointment will be a very •roficable one. They even say he is to get £IOOO a year as Drainage Engineer when my friend goes into office, and more than that. You may remember that Hr. O’Neill obtained a patent for some Caithness flagging, and if the ex-Mayor be returned then happy Charles O’Neill is to get 3d. foeach one of these flags laid down. Lucky Charles O’Neill, I would like to be in your nlace. (A laugh.) There is another matter I might just mention in connection with dr. Hutchison’s declaration that my ways and modes of conducting badness do not accord with his, and that is. that this time last year our bank overdraft was £21,377, and it was a very unpleasant thing for some of us. We thought we had overrun the constable, and that it was time to begin to look out, so that we had to pull things down a bit and consider a little what public works it was advisable to go on with, till we could get out of the difficulties of the position. Well, we did- so, and I may tell you that to-day our overdraft on the general account is about £ls 600. (Hear,' hear.) But although we had to draw In a* little we managed to keep things going, and I think we have got on tolerably well. (Hear, hear). We have been able to carry on and complete all necessary works, and yet at the same time to so reduce our expenditure an to gather up lost ground. (Cheers.) The next subject I wish to touch upon is the Thorndon reclamation, and in connection with that I would say that if Mr. Barton had only done his duty individually it would have been carried through. (Loud applause). Now, I don’t wish to make any rash statements, therefore I will give my reason for saying that had he done his duty as an individual I believe the Bill would have been carried through. I am told on very good authority that Mr. Barton’s speech turned four votes in the House ; so that if he had not spoken we should have been four votes the better. But is it not reasonable to suppose that if he had spoken in favor of the Bill, as he ought to have done, he would have got four votes tho other way ? Is it not fair to suppose so? (Hear, hear.) Mr. Barton says his reason for so acting was that he did not know what this Rill was about. Why, it appeared on the Order Paper for a long time, and the Bill said really what it meant. Hut I was under the impression that a member of the House of Representatives for the city of Wellington, or any other city, had most important duties to perform, and that chief among these duties was that of seeing to the interests and welfare of those whom he was supposed to represent. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, was it not Mr. Barton’s duty, if he did not know what was in the Bill, to have gone and inquired all about it.? Whoso duty was it if it was not his ? I am no more a servant of the public than he is. Did he suppose I was to run after him and explain things to him ? Why should he not have coma to me as well as I have gone to him? The Bill was there for him to read, and he must have known all about it juat as well as I didf because there was nothing more to be told than was in the Bill itself. So much for such paltry excuses as those made by Mr. Barton. (Queers.) Mr. Hutchison takes great exception to this Bill because of the changes it underwent between one giveu date and another given date. He says it was changed from a BUI authorising the Council to borrow £90,000 to one authorising them to borrow £120,000, and that without any appeal to the ratepayers; and that for that additional sura of £3o,o'>o we were to get nothing; but I had better quote his speech, as I should like you to hear bis exact w-nD, for he has the wisdom of ■■■ ahem. (A laugh). He said “The Corporation had taken authority to borrow £120.000 instead of £90,000, and this had all been done without the burgesses being consulted, or without the Council knowing anything about it.” Now here there is a little more economy of the truth. I called the Council to--gethe/for the express purpose of asking their opinion as to the advisability of our agreeing to this alteration, because the Government, who had charge of the Bill, weregood enough to consult me on the matter, and told me that the Hospital trustees would with their friends oppose the Bill unless arrangements were made to enable them to complete the contracts they had entered into for the building of the Hospital. (Cheers.) Mr. Hutchison says, “All they were to get”—(and he is very positive here)—“ from th© Hospital for doing this was £BOO a year.” That is very clear and positive—£Boo a year, and no more. Now I have got a return prepared which I think will put the matter on a different footing. It appears the rents arising from the Hospital trust now amount to £l3Ol some odd shillings a year. Then there are some unlet sections which it is believed will bring in £l9O a year. We will call it in round numbers £ISOO a year. Then then is the present site of the Hospital, which is estimated to be worth at least, if Ipt for a period of 42 years, £SOO per annum, which makes up a total of £2OOO, as against this positive statement of Mr. Hutchison that the only sum to be received was £BOO a year. (Hear, hear.) But I have not done with that yet. We have hitherto had deducted from the subsidies paid to the city by the General Government some £I3OB per annum for the support of the Hospital ; and tho Government now said to us, “ If you will agree to this alteration we will give you an equivalent for every penny that yon subscribe,” so that we should have had nothing at all to do but to give a cheque for half this £I3OB, say, £654, and that would clear us of our liability. Wo should have got off paying £654 a year, and should have had given to us £2OOO. I think that explanation makes that clear, and let Mr. Hutchison twist and turn tho figures as he likes, be will not make one penny difference in them. (Cheers.) But I have not yet done with him on that point. Ho actually dares to eay that we had also agreed, and that it was in tho Bill that we agreed to take over the maintenance of the Hospital. Now, that is a deliberate no, it is an economy of tho truth. (Alangh.) Youseethero are a good many of these. (Alaugh.) For this £30,000 added to the coat of the reclamation we should have had to pay 6 per cent, per annum, which you arithmeticians, will easily calculate to bo £lßoo a year, making a saving to the city of over £BO9 a jear. Let him also correct mo on that matterif ho can. Ihavo given him chapter and verse,-which are at his disposal. By-tho-by there has been a good deal said about informal meetings, and I may just explain a little. X am frequently called upon on the spur of the moment to give an answer on a particular subject, and not being a despot like my friend I have been actually foolish enough on different occasions to call informal mootings of. Councillors and consult them as to what they thought it necessary I should do. It is these informal meetings of which so much has been said, and it was one - of ■ those informal- meetings - which I called before I gave my answer to the question put to mo by tho Government. I did not take it upon myself to give an answer. I did not think it was right I should do so. (Hear, hear.)- I shall consult the Council on all such occasions, ‘ That is the answer X have to give him as to the hole-and-corner meetings. Then he says no attention was paid lo tho recommendations of an influential meeting, of which he of course was a member, as to where was the proper site of the Hospital. No doubt he thinks himself a very influential man, but it strikes me ho will not long remain so. ' The

people of Wellington are beginning to find him out —(Hear, hear), —and will have done with him before long. (Hear, hear.) Then he tries to curry favor with the ratepayers by telling them the Council attempted to borrow money by means of this Bill, instead of going and asking the ratepayers’ consent. But, gentlemen, the ratepayers had no power to authorise the borrowing of this money for such a purpose as this without the sanction of tho Legislature. I say that advisedly. I state it as the opinion of tho lawyers, and not as my own, that the ratepayers have no power to borrow monev for purposes of public utility, and that the section in the Municipal Corporations Act giving borrowing powers does not contemplate the borrowing of money for purposes such as that of purchasing the Thordon reclamation. The 139th clause of tho Municipal Corporations Act runs as follows:—“If at any time it is desired to raise money for the purpose of constructing or establishing public works deemed necessary for promoting the convenience and health of the inhabit ants of any borough, aud for promoting public instruction, it shall be lawful for the corporation of a borough to borrow same by way of special loan, subject to the following conditions.” The Thorndon reclamation purchase does not come within the wording of that clause certainly, so that where is the use of .trying to “ bam.” people by saying it was only necessary to go to nhe ratepayers, when he must have known deuced well it was nothiug of the kind, (Hear, hear.) There is another reason why I believe that Bill did not pass. I heard one of the staunchest supporters of the late Mayor chuckling over the fact that he had succeeded ia persuading four members of the House not to vote for the Bill. Now, does it not naturally follow, ou the principle that birds of a feather flock together, th it the exMayor was not a warm supporter of the Bill himself. It appears to me a natural sequence. The fact is, aa this man said, he would do anything to spite Dransfield, and to ensure that the thing should not be carried through during bis term of office. I am not saying that the ex-Mayor said this, but that this strong supporter of hia gave expression to such views. We come next to the unmade streets. - Mr. Hutchison thinks it is unnecessary to borrow money for making these unmade streets, (and I think , so too), aud he says that as soon as he gets into office he will move in that direction. But, gentlemen, would you believe that on the 10th or 11th October, 1877, Councillor George moved a resolution to the same effect, that it was carried, and yet that it was allowed to remain in abeyance for ten weeks afterwards while Mr. Hutchison was Mayor. If he ia so anxious on this matter why was he so inactive during those ten weeks*? (Hear, hear.) That is a pretty good test of his great anxiety, I think. I don’t propose to touch upon what are strictly personal matters with Mr. Hutchison. I don’t propose, for instance, to touch upon the great cheque business for instance. I will leave that to the newspapers. I have confined myself, and intend to confine myself. to a few of the misstatements he has made, and which I have a fair right to criticise. (Hear, hear.) Referring to a matter which is unfortunately termed roll-stuffing, the Evening Chronicle says very properly—l quite*agree with it—that the only person who suffered by that was Mr. Hutchison himself. That is quite true. I don’t think that the ratepayers suffered much. He was the only sufferer. Probably it will be found out eventually he was the only sufferer. Now there is the great and very important question of drainage ; and let me say, in connection therewith, it is not always well to be in too great a burry. Look at what occurred in Dunedin the .other day. The people there were in a great hurry with their harbor works, and gob in for a very heavy contract, which they were soon glad to get rid of by sacrificing some thousands of pounds. I don’t want to see Wellington make a 'serious mistake with its drainage works, aud therefore I say, let us be slow and let us be sure. (Hear, hear.) Up to the present time I do not thing any serious harm has been done. We have decided, and I think wisely, that, neither Mr. CUmie’a scheme n<»r Mr. Clark’s scheme for pumpkin growing shall be carried out. I never believ d in it myself. I agree that the sewage had better be carried straight out to'sea; but then comes the difficulty of bow we are to get it out to sea, and to get over any claims which may be mule on account of its passing over laud. That is the difficulty at the present time. We have an idea for an outflow which will not interfere with any propertyowners, but that by taking a small quantity of land we shall be able to take the drainage direct to sea, and I think if we succeed in doing this, and at less expense than ha* hitherto been expected, we shall not have wasted our time in thinking this matter over as carefully as has been done. (Cheers.) Another great question is, who is to be the engineer? 1 may say at once I have made no selection. I am feeling my way, and I am open to advice. I wish nothing, nor have I any ideas bn these matters to be carried out without reference to the Council ; but I hear that my opponent ha* fixed upon Mr. O’Neill. My great endeavor is to get such a system of civic government for the city as the people can understand ; and £ have endeavored to get every department to work iu its own way and on its own responsibility. I don’t go to the Town Clerk aud tell him to do this or that, but I wish him simply to do hia duty. I don’t receive letters, pub them in my own pocket, and answer them in my own time, at my own convenience, and in my own way. Every letter received at the Council office, addressed either to the Mayor or Mayor and Councillors, goes through Mr. Graham’s hand*. No matter how insignificant or hovr important the subject may be, he knows everything about it as well as I do, and all the correspondence is duly attended to alike. (Hear, hear.) . Another thing I have done with reference to the conduct of business in the Council. In no single instance have I—there are several Councillors present, and they will correct me if I am wrong—iu no single instance have I moved resolutions myself. (Hear, hear.) I feel that were I to do so 1 should be so anxious to carry what I proposed that I should possibly overstep my duty as chairman. I have always endeavored to hold the reins as fairly and justly as I could between any rival sides in the Council. Neither have I endeavored to be City Solicitor as well as Mayor. (Hear, hear.) No doubt many of you will recollect the number of disputes there constantly were between the City Solicitor and the late Mayor. Whether Mr. Travers is a good or a bad lawyer is nothing to me. While the Council employ him as City Solicitor, he muse be rQsnonstbld for legal matters, and I must accept his law, I have no right to cavil with him. And I have occupied the same position with reference to the City Engineer; and so in all that I do. I have discharged my duties to the best of my ability, but I have never given orders for great works on my own responsibility, or acted generally on my own motion. I state that distinctly and openly, so that I may be at any time challenged if it can be proved that I have made a statement which is contrary to the truth. There is another thing which I wish you to understand also. Applications are made to me time out of number for employment in the City Council work. I have never yet employed a single man on my own authority. The men are all employed by the head of the department, who is responsible to the Council, and to the Council only, for the proper discharge of their duties, I toll you that if I am elected again I shall do th© same thing this year too. Again I repeat it is tho Council’s duty to assist the Mayor in carrying out such matters as they may deem necessary for the good government of the city, and when resolutions are passed by the Council it is my duty to see that they are carried out to the best of my knowledge and ability. It will bo necessary for me during this contest to hold several more meetings, and I must not entirely use up every subject at this one, which I may deem it necessary to touch upon, and therefore I do not propose on the present occasion to go further. But I think I may fairly say that 1 have at all times treated with proper respect all persons brought into contact with mo on public matters, and I , intend to adopt that course if re-elected, and to continue it for the future. (Load cheers.) The Chairman said that as usual if any ratepayers had any questions to ask, Mr. Dransfield would be happy to answer them to tho beat of bis ability. A Voice : I see they want a Mayor for Wanganui. Would it not bo well to send Mr. Hutchison up there ? (Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. Carpenter said Mr. Dransfield had spoken with regard to expending certain sums of money in making unmade streets—be presumed in To Aro. It would be a great hardship if tho ratepayers of Thorndon and Lambton had to contribute to the making of these streets, while there was no money expended within their own boundaries. He would like to know whether it was intended to pay for the making of the streets iu To Aro out of a general or special rat© ? Mr. Dransfield was very glad Mr. Carpenter had put this question, as it was a very proper one, and no doubt exercised tho minds of a good many people. It was Intended to

levy a special rate in the particular district where these improvements were made.' A calculation had been made of the cost of every one of these streets that had to be made, and on each street a rate would be levied for the making of it. The people iu Thorndon aud Lambton not going into this would not have a penny to pay. \Hear. hear, and cheers.) Mr. Carpenter : That explanation is perfectly satisfactory (Hear, hear.) Mr. Carpenter then proceeded to say that he had served witji Mr. Dransfield ia the old Provincial Council and Town Board, and had always found him to be au honest, straightforward, good man. Ot course, they had frequently differed, hut this he thought all the better in public matters. There was an old adage that “Wnen city councillors : fall out honest men get their own," . (Laughter.) He had forgotten the exact words of the proverb, but he thought they were synonymous. Differences in public matters were necessary, and often productive of good results, and although he had formerly differed with Mr. Dransfield, he w«uld cordially support him on this occasion. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Hutchison was too good to be a Mayor, and if he wanted a billet he should go 1a for that of city chaplain. (Laughter.) Mr. Carpenter was proceeding to speak in a most eloquent manner, but the chairman diew his attention to the.fact that there were others present who might, wish to put questions to Mr. Dransfield. Thereupon Mr. Carpenter resumed his seat, remarking that he always obeyed the ruling of the chair. There were no more questions put. Mr Charles White moved, —That having heard Mr. Dran-field’s views, this meeting considers him a fit and proper person to occupy the position of our first citizen—that is, as Mayor for the ensuing year, Mr. Madelef seconded. On the show of hands being called for, a large majority of those present responded in favor of the motion, only two being held up against it. The motion, amid cheers, was declared to be carried, and the meeting terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman.