A Family Party.

Patea Mail, 19 October 1881, Page 3

A Family Party.

W. Dale, junior, a candidate for the office of first Mayor of Patea, has drawn up a list of candidates for Councillors, and has sent it round by his aide, George Beamish, in the form of a requisition for ratepayers to pledge their support to these candidates as forming Mr Dale’s family party. They are:—Messrs Milroy, A. Black, C. F. Barker, and another who was included improperly in that list. How Mr Milroy can have consented to join this clique is more than his friends can explain. Probably his name is bracketted with Mr Barker’s-.without any knowledge that it tvould be so used. It remains to be explained also why Mr Dale did not include other members of the Town Board whom he knew to be candidates for Councillors. He excludes them, on the face of it, because they won’t tit in with the clique with which he wishes to surround himself as Mayor.

Now this attempt to form a Dale clique, by patting forward certain candidates and excluding others known to be candidates, is a mischievous and wretched practice which ought to be stamped out. Let Mr Dale stand for Mayor on his merits, and the ratepayers will deal with him accordingly." But to form a party who shall be guaranteed to vote with Mr Dale is too much. He has a claim now before the ratepayers for £49 19s lid, which he wants as damages, for what ? For a work the town has never done, and for consequences which cannot therefore have been caused by a town work. His family party are to go in and vote this claim.

The borough officers are to be selected on the family principle. W. Dale to be Mayor ; J. Black to be Borough Clerk 5 G. Beamish to be Nuisance Inspector; and other vacancies to be carefully filled np by members of the family. If there are not enough of them, Mr Barker will import to order.