MAYORAL ELECTION.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1081, 3 September 1883, Page 2

MAYORAL ELECTION.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — The election coming off on Wednesday, I wish to make a few observations on the relative merits of the candidates. First, I think that win'll ; Mr Taplin found that the Council were unanimously against his candidature, he ought to have showed better sense than to cause the Borough . the expense of a contested election for . the small period that remains of the present term. Bull am afraid that I am expecting too much from him.' Looking over Mr Taplin’s address to the electors, if I thought that he did not : write it, I should have fathered it on some satirical enemy. First, he alludes to his connection with the P.S.S. Company. We all know how patriotic he was in that matter. Having parted with his shares, he attended the annual meeting of shareholders, and voted, for raising . the, qualification: for Director from one to five shares-, which caused the Company -' to become,. instead 1 of a blessing, a ciirse to Patea, throwing back our prosperity years,, and loosing to us all the ontsidq.trad.c. .Next, Mr Tapiin alludes ■to being the god-father of the Cemetery and Domain Board. To Mr Sherwood is clue the entire credit of of establishing our Cemetery 1 Board, and Mr R. A. ; Adams had a deal more to do with establishing the Dpmajn Board than Mr rTapliu had, and !iis.(Mr Tap]ih) manage- . nient of the affairs of that Board is anything 1 but creditable. Another .rather satirical passage in his address' is his kllnsiori to liis connection with the Sfirbohr Beard. Well! well! that’s good. He Mr Taplin was only ejected once, to that important Board, and the

Council tookrths first opportunity they had to replace him by Mr R. A. Adams (Mr 'Taplin being at that time a' candidate), be (Mr R. A. Adams) being reckoned by the Council as by far better qualified to fulfil that office, and the best of it, Mr R. A. Adnjns has been unanimously re-elected to that loffice- ever since. We all know his value ns member of that Board. Mr Taplin’s allusion to his Harbour Board connection is peculiarly his’, own mode of .reasoning, ho says in substance to ns ratepayers that we must elect him Mayor because the Council think his .opponent, Mr R. A. Adams, a more fit and proper person to represent Uicm on the Harbour Board than himself. As one of the ratepayers I am sorry that I cannot follow such subtile tyain of reasoning, and I. am afraid that Mr Taplin will loose a vote through my thickheadedness. The logical conclusion in my mind is that there is something very 'dense about the whole of Mr Taplin’s addresses, and that we cannot do better than rally around Mr R. A. Adams, "who has always voted straight on all questions regardless of consequences.. Mr Taplin’s best friend could not accuse him of doing anything so stupid and unbnsiness-like as to vote straight.—Yours &c., Ratepayer. Patea, September 8, ISB3.