Contest for Mayoralty.

Patea Mail, 31 October 1881, Page 3

Contest for Mayoralty.

Mr SHERWOOD AND Mr DALE. Continuing our report of the ratepayers’ meeting held in Barker’s room, re the election of Mayor for the new Borough of Patea, — Mr Sherwood said : When it was known that I was to be turned out of the Harbor Board, by the agency of Mr Dale in selecting another nominee to represent Government interests, Mr Aitchison immediately waited on me offering to resign in my favor so that I might be nominated by the Town Board, to represent them on (he Harbor Board. Mr Adams did the same ; and I honor them for it, because they had strong convictions that I was right. I had become the Government nominee at a time when some people thought I was opposing a local industry known as the Boiling-down Co. I was then contending for a principle, and things being very critical, I got a friend to ask the Government to nominate me ; and they did so. As the Government are not now satisfied with me—or we may say the Minister of Marine (Major A.) —I did not care to be returned to represent a Town Board which was about to expire, but I preferred to come boldly before you and ask whether you approved of the way I was treated on that occasion, and whether you are now going to endorse that action of keeping me out or not. (Applause.) I want yon to clearly understand that I am asking for these two positions. DISSOLVING VIEWS, When it was given out last session that great things were to be done for the Harbor Board, two strong supporters of the district M.H.R. brought the matter before the Board, and I immediately moved that they should have full power from the Board to do all they could, in conjunction with the district member, to get the promised endowments. Well, a bill was introduced giving the Patea harbor 20,000 acres of land, and a clause enabling the County, or the Borough, or both together, to levy a rate. It was like the view in a sliding magic lantern—now you see it, now you don’t—(laughter) ; very amusing for little boys, but not a matter to be trifled with by thinking men. Then the endowment disappeared, and there remained only the borrowing and rating clauses, with nothing in tho bill to borrow on. The alternative finally adopted, so far as it went, was that of proposing to levy a rate on the new Borough, with a borrowing power of £IO,OOO for harbor works. That was very popular in the country district, and I believe if the proposal had been to put £IO,OOO on the country, that would have been popular in the town, THAT TELEGRAM; The proposal was taken up suddenl} 7 by Mr Dale on a Monday, and you were asked to meet on the Tuesday and settle the question straight off. It has been urged that that meeting did me a deal of barm. Whatever I do does me a deal of harm, or whatever I don’t do. A telegram was produced which stopped the meeting. I knew no more of that telegram than any of you did. I was asked in the room to take the chair, but when I saw you gentlemen passing resolutions which meant nothing, I then asked the Chairman of the Harbor Board whether it was not necessary to give four weekly notices in the district before that rating bill could pass the House. You know what happened ; and what did it all amount to. It was decided by eleven votes that the hai'bor rate on the Borough would be a capital thing, and that “ we, the ratepayers,” were willing to rate ourselves for repaying a loan of £IO,OOO. It has since gone out that it was not the real intention to rate ourselves, but that this pretended willingness would be an immense lever for our member next time getting a measure through the House. That is a little too thin. (Laughter.) If a rate was struck and collected, that might' be used as a lever, but the mere fact that eleven ratepayers at that meeting were willing to be rated for £IO,OOO would have carried no weight in the House, and the House would have known there was no material guarantee. ANOTHER EFFORT was made recently to raise money to carry on the harbor works, but unsuccessfully. I had stood aside all this time so that nothing might be said about my interference. I gave them a clear platform, though nothing has resulted from it except time lost. I am prepared to say this—-

and you will remember I told you two years ago that the passing of the Borrowing Bill was worth £BO,OOO TO THE HARBOR. I say that if I am backed up now as I have been backed up in the past, I can guarantee I am making use of words that are being recorded—that within three months from the present date I will have the HARBOR WORKS RESUMED at Pafea, without the assistance of Government at all. (Great applause.) lam not saying this for the purpose of catching your votes, for I firmly believe I have them already' ; but I want to instil into you the same feeling I have for this place —an unbounded confidence in it and in its progress. I tell you also that this is only part of a carefully devised plan I have had in my mind for years past, and I can only cany it out piecemeal because the power which ought to be exercised is exercised only piecemeal. A few words about the harbor and what has been done. There is the same party always saying “We must have the harbor works as if nothing had been done. Some three years ago you paid some £3 to £3 10s per ton for goods, and frequently you could not get goods in at any price. Now you are never delayed, and your freights are something like 12s a ton. That difference has revolutionised the place. Had the harbor not been improved to make this great change possible, this would have been the most miserable place on the West Coast. To those who are deriving the benefits, this is a matter of great congratulation. (Applause.) I don’t run away with the idea that we are to have large English ships coming in here. I shall be quite content to see such boats come in as will serve for the FROZEN MEAT TRADE : serve to convey carcases and other produce to large vessels loading for Home in the great ports. That will be achieved in a very short time. It is now come to this, that CATTLE BOATS have offered to come here and convey freight from this port at the same rate as from Wanganui. That is another thing we ought to congratulate ourselves on (Hear, hear.) Live stock and frozen meat will be the chief staples of export from the district, and we have the facilities for getting this export away. The question of a STAKE IN THE PLACE has been raised in this contest. I don’t think that argument should be employed, because I have observed that when people have a stake, and when they are fond of talking about that stake, if ever they get into a position they take good care to improve the stake at the public expense. (Hear, and laughter.) Mr W. Williams —What about the £IO,OOO ? (Laughter.) I heard a gentleman say he could get £IO,OOO by sending a telegram !for’ it, but it has never came. (Laughter.) Mr Sherwood —Yes, about the £IO,OOO, you may compare this place with others, and find that where they have had money and great political power, they have not done so much as this Harbor Board has done with less than 4,000 acres of land, which was all that was ever given to the Patea harbor. That was the lever which moved it. (Applause.) And if anyone wants to know more about the £IO,OOO. he can take it out of that statement. (Laughter.) IMPROVEMENT SCHEME. There is nothing new, nor is there anything startling, in this so-called scheme of mine. The town wants certain things, and this is a proposal to do those things. The town requires drainage and a water supply, and its streets formed ; and it requires what is looked on as a minor requisite—something to be done on an extensive scale in the way of tree-planting for sheltering the place. These are the four main things necessary for the town at present. Mr Williams : What about lighting ? Mr Sherwood : I dare say we shall get that when the electric light arrives in the place, (Laughter.) WHERE IS THE MONEY to come from ? We have here an exceedingly valuable endowment over and above our rates, which is in itself quite sufficient to enable the Council to borrow £5,000. That is a sum I named three years ago, and I have no reason now to lower the figure. If I could induce you all to believe and look ahead as far as I believe I can look ahead, I would not talk of borrowing that amount, but would borrow £20,000, which could be procured, and at a low rate of interest. DRAINAGE. The first work requiring immediate atten-

tion is drainage. That should be carried out on a system ; therefore I would say at once lot ns have a scheme of drainage, and hj i us start that scheme and carry out the fiist part of it as far as our means will allow. Looking at the formation of the town, the drainage is not difficult, A scheme has ahead)' been devised for carrying the drainage of the upper part of the town out to sea, and the lower part of the town to be drained into the river. I should endeavor to put a scheme before the Council in all its details. WATER SUPPLY. As to a water supply, the two things arc so essential that it is absolutely imperative to have a good and pure water supply in this town as early as possible ; and I would not lose one day before taking the preliminary step for securing a water supply. Flying levels were taken in several directions two or three years ago, but it was not deemed advisable to make this matter public, as it was considered better to secure these rights without going in against private individuals. I can quite imagine that everybody knows where they are, and I take leave to inform you that there are several places round the town where water could be secured and brought into the town with a pressure sufficient to throw water over buildings twice as high as the highest building in Patea. That will lower your fire insurance, and give an additional security, besides giving vou better water to drink, and improving the healthiness of the place. (Applause.)

STREET FORMATION. As regards street formation, I do think there are three requiring attention. The main street now is a passable thoroughfare, and requires little more attention. have but the one approach to the town from the wharf and railway. I say make that approach worthy of the town, and make it at once its full width, and make its paths from the bridge to the top of the brow. I believe in no patching about that. Those who say we cannot get the money have not considered the question in all its bearings. The work ought to Vie done, and can be done, and we should go one one step further and say it shall be done. POVERTY FLAT. There is a despised part of the town known as Poverty Flat. I propose to change that to River Side. I do not think there is much poverty on that flat. There are a sufficient number of ratepayers now who are entitled to the consideration of having at least one road into the town from that place. ROAD TO THE HEADS. We come to another road I should be in favor of making. It is the continuation of Egmont-street straight to the cliffs. The difficulty is not great. Lying under the surface there is abundance of clay. That street lies through harbor reserves, and the making of that street would, by a comparatively small expenditure, enable the town to assist the Harbor Board to an extent which few hardly dream of. Those sites will he available for securing money from time to time. In this direction the Borough may at once assist the Harbor Board, and it can do so by simply making one of its own streets. Some of the newer buildings are a credit to the town, and the streets should be made a credit to the buildings. BOROUGH REVENUE. That is not a very elaborate scheme, and the means are very simple. The Borough revenue will shortly be something like £2,000 a year at the least ; so wo may say that by extending the expenditure of £5,000 over a year or so, we should have a considerable expenditure of public money going on in the Borough ; and that together with money to be expended in the harbor work would be the means of keeping the town going on flourishing until that time arrives which we have been so long looking for—the extension of the railway to our own port. (Applause.) BOROUGH OFFICERS. I am now, as I have always been, strongly in favor of employing the best services for the carrying out of any work, and particularly of this Borough work ; therefore I would employ the very best officer in every capacity. There is one who, as the executive officer, has to carry out important functions. I allude to the Inspector of Nuisances. (Laughter.) I would employ one of well-known integrity and industry, and one who had proved by his former life that he would carry out those duties strictly in accordance with his instructions and the letter of the law. (Voice —“ Beamish.” Laughter.) There will need only be two officers : the Town Clerk and the Inspector of Nuisances. On them will devolve the onerous duty of carrying out the machinery. MAYOR’S DUTY. My own duty will be in having the byelaws so framed as to meet the requirements of the town, and to endeavor to keep down the legal expenses as much as possible. (Laughter.) We have had a great deal to do with legal work, and-I don’t know that we have been involved in any law-suit from the first, and I don’t think there is likelihood of our being involved in one now. That is provided we take care to put some one in that does not know too much about law. (Voice : “ Law’r.” Laughter.) VETO ON BORROWING. - When the question of borrowing is to be taken into consideration, you will all have an opportunity of voting on that question, and then I shall be careful to lay before you all the details at meetings specially conContinued on Fourth page.

vened for the purpose. I will now put it to you broadly that for the purpose of securing a water supply, for the purpose of initiating a drainage scheme, for forming and improving streets, and for the purpose of tree-planting, I propose to borrow a sum of £5,000. That is the scheme, such as it is. The details I have matured in my mind, hut I do not think you want figures to-night. TREE PLANTING, Very few people recognise the importance of tree-planting. Had my recommendation been acted on three years ago, we should now have a fine belt of timber growing up that would soon have converted the town into one of the pleasantest places in the colony. Ido not propose to throw away a lot of money in treeplanting, but one of the most material things for the comfort of this town is tree-planting as a break-wind and a means of beautifying the place. Had there been one or two belts of trees round the town, it would have been much pleasanter during the recent stormy weather. HARBOR WORKS RENEWED. As to the harbor, I will carry out my promise to the letter if j r ou elect me. But I do recognise that there must be o material alteration in the constitution of the Boaid before any good can be expected to be done ; and I do hope that when next you have the opportunity of exercising your vote in the matter, you will wake up a little more to the importance of the harbor, and see that yon have men on that Board who will work intelligently, and that you will not return men who will meet for no other purpose than to cavil over an expenditure of money for benefitting private property. (Voice: ‘‘ The public did not put in Pawky.”) If you do find an old snag sticking in the river, it must be removed before there can be any progress ; and I give that to you in its strongest terms. That work has got to go on, by your united assistance. Without your assistance I never could and cannot now do anything. (Applause.) I would also endeavor to promote a better feeling between town and country settlers, and I believe this formation of the Borough will assist in that, for we shall not be in the anomalous position of the town rating the country settlers, while they rated us in return. Wo ought to cultivate that feeling, and endeavor to re-establish the unity of the County. (Loud applause, renewed.) QUESTIONS. Mr H. I. Davis ; Would you be in favor of settling the claim of £49 19s lid ? (Laughter.) Mr Sherwood : No; I have already given sufficient evidence of that. I was rather surprised to see that because I opposed that claim, a letter should appear the following day, signed by my present opponent, saying I was raising the question for the purpose of injuring him in his candidature for the Mayoralty. I never knew lie had an idea of seeking that office. If I felt certain that my opposition to that claim would put me out of the Mayoralty, and out of everything in the district, I should still lake the same course. So far as the Town Board is concerned, that claim is settled. Let others take their own course. No ; I would not be in favor of settling that. (Laughter.) Mr I. Baxter : The railway route being now fixed along the Const, would you be in favor of asking the Government to cut the mud flat in two and make a dry dock ? Mr Sherwood : No ; but I would go, and have already gone, to the extent of urging on Government the necessity of assisting the Harbor Board to make a wet dock. (Laughter.) Mr D. Williams proposed a vote of confidence in Mr Sherwood. Mr H. I. Davis seconded. Vote taken. About two-thirds held up hands. Only one hand in opposition, and that disappeared suddenly. Motion of confidence declared carried unanimously. Great applause, and imitation of cockcrow. Laughter. M.H.B. FOR THE BOROUGH. Mr Sherwood : I thank you for the unanimous vote. If you should require any additional guarantee that I will carry out the office I am now seeking, I will give it now, and I have waited till this stage. The time is not far distant when the Borough of Patea will claim its member in the Parliament ; and I shall then, I venture to predict, have the pleasure of coming before you to seek your confidence in that direction. (Applause.) If you require any guarantee, you will see that, having this ambition, I am likely to assist all I possibly can to push the place ahead. I have submitted myself to be questioned, and have met you face to face. I wish you to make this answer to those who attribute various writings to me which 1 deny—that I stood on the platform, and why did they not meet me there ? Let that be your answer. (Applause.) Thanks to the chair closed the proceedings-