MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 104, 30 April 1903, Page 2

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

; NEW PLYHOUrH. ! 1 MR A COOK BLKOfKD MAYOR. i FOUR NEW COUNCILLORS. 1 The advocitts of a change in the e personnel in the Borough Oouncil have s every reason to be satisfied with tb.3 re - •. suit of Wednesday's el ction, as every a new candidate nominated has been rey turned, both as to the Mayoralty and if Council. For soaie time past thera d have been indications that the election e would be fought with more than usual ,s inttrest, the result being that Mr e Dockrill was defeated in his oandida:r ture for re-election to the Mayoral g chair, while M' s?rs Carter and Leahni 'h failed to bo returned as Councillors. !'' Messrs Webster and Stohr did not seek d re-election. Th<j new Council will e therefore have a fresh Mayor, and four >s members of the Oouncil who will take *, their saat for the first time, in company ie with five of last years mpmbers. d THK MAYORALTY, iS So far as could be ascertained the u voting during the forenoon was coi--0 sidered to ba about equal for each of l * the During the afternoon Mv Dockrill's suppirttrs were thought „ to be rolling up well, especially at the ■ Bast End, where a very large numb&r °of the voters wtra ladies. It wa<i e;ti- *■ matad that Mr Dockrill was leading by about lOOvotss, and if this was correct the polling for Mr Oook must have been 16 very heavy during the last two hours e " of the day. Opinions were greatly ? divided as to how the contest Would end, but it to be generally conre. sidered that the fight would be a close one. The actual result came as a surs' prise to most people, Mi Cock being re*|iturned by a majority of 214, or four more than his lead at the central pjlliog ' e station.

At about 8 o'clock tha Retuaniog Officer (Mr F. T. Be'.lringer) dsehred the result of the Miyoral election as fallows:

B. Oick .. ..717 E. Dockrill .. .. 503 Informal .. . / 7 The details are as follows: Bast Central West Total Clock .. 221 406 90 717 Dockrill 256 • 196 51 503 luformal 4 2 17

The result was received with cheers. Mr Cock thanked the electors for the great rooour they had conferred up in him, especially th r >Be ladies and gentlemen who had worked so hard to stcure his return as Mayor, which was a position he had coveted for a long time. He was born iu New Plymouth, and he was not ashamed of the place of his birth. A. report had been circulated that he intended leaving this district, and it wa9 true that some time ago he had such a notion, but, after visiting Wellington and other parts, he found there was no better place to finish his di»ys than in New Plymouth. Thu electors would always find him barracking for New Piym-.uth. As far as Mr Dockrill was concerned, he had bce v i his fHead for the list 30 years, and he hoped that friendship would continual to the end. He then called for three cheers for Mr Djtkrill, which were heartily given. Thr.o cheers were then given for Mr dock. Mr Dockrill s u'd he desired to thank the ratepayers for the confidence they had shown in him in the past. H-s had always taken a deep interest iu Borough matters, which he wou'd continue to' do. He had to compliment Mr Cook on the fur and equitable manner io which the contest hud baeu eondu ted, but fie must complain that the eveui.ig journal had misrepresented him aod the Council all through. He a'so referred to an inset published, in which he said there was not a scintilla of truth. He pointed iout the absurdity of expecting to borrow at 3| per cent wh a n a'l locil bodies have seen piying 4| per cent. The only exception was the Health Department where locil bodies wi:r<t forced to comply with the Departments orders for buildings, but then the term was 41 years. There was no doubt that one prominent member of the committee was responsible for the whole thing, and he did not think the bulk of thfl member* of the committee knew anything about it. Kuowing the absurdity of the statements he lwd not replied, but trusted to the unselfish manner in which he had dis charged his duty, but eventually a great number of his friends bad baen misled. He hjped that in the future Mr Cbck would have a successful time, and concluded by thanking his supporters for the minner in wbieh they had worked for him. (Applause).

At the previous contested election on 24th April, 1901, when the same candidates competed for the Mayoral y, Mr Doidwill secured a majority of 227 the figures be ng Djckrill 630, Oock 403. lo will be sean th »t the numher of votes recorded in 1891 was 1033, while iu 1903 it hsd risan to 1220, the position of tbe candidates bwing practically reversed, Mr Oock securing a; majority of 214 or 314 moro than ho polled in 1891.

COUNCILLORS. As already st»tcd 'lime was no con-;e-t lor the Wes f . Wttril. In tbe Central YP >H Messrs Brookng, Carter and Colis, all old members, lought ro-electiot. and Mr Onnnett, was a m> mber for the East Ward ilso became a candidate for 1 he Central, rhis, of course, meant that ote of the! ate Councillors must fail to be retimed and Mr Carter was po uriforunate as to be las* on the poll. Mr B:o'k'ng in the first instance had decided not to st&nd again but was iniuced to reconsider his decision with :he result that he be.it Mr Carter by 23 votes. In the E tst Ward, Messrs ujd Lealand sought le election, whilst ;wo new candidates, Messrs Wood and Stanley Smith, both of whom had previously sought election, were agiin in :he field. Mr return was i foregone conclusion, but there was jreat <liv. rs'ty of opinion as to which if the other candidates would succeed, rhe result shows that the ohingt wave carried the day, Mr Lealand b. ing 59 rotes behind Mr Wood. The following is the result of the poll: CENTRAL. *Oollis, W, A., .. 247 ♦Oonnett, J. B. .. 224 ♦Brooking, W. F, .. 219 *Oater, 0, (uuekcted) 196 BAST WARD. •Bellringer, 0. E. ..349 Smith, Stanley .. 306 Wood, A W 291 *Leiland, A.(utelected) 232 west ward (re'urned unoppo.ed.) ♦Tiscb, G. Alexander, L. W. Edmunds, A. J. *old members. At the east end the voting was said to be very peoaliir, plumping for ft particular ctndiddte being fairly common, while the cross voting was peculiar. All the candidates were io evidence, and seme of them were at times subjected to severe questioning, especially over the building bye-laws. The election was conducted quietly, cibs and other vehicles being busy throughout the day. Ths Returning Officer (Mr F. T. Bellringer) had made most satisfactory arrangement?, which worked well. The proceedings of the new Council, which holds its first meeting on Monday, May 11th, will,be: watched wi"h the keenest interest by the rate-payer?, an interest which it is { hoped will be well sustained.

PEE PBEBB ASSOCIATION, Stratford, April 29. The Mayoral'.y election resulted : Kicg, 284; Monkhouse, 197. Westpokt, April 29. Captain Riley was returned, the voting being Rilny 434, Lirsea 340, Marshall 328. Greymouth, April 29. Unusual interest was tak?n in the election. A. Mit.heson (present Mvpor) secured 480 votes and J. St«er 779. Palmbbstos, April 29. Major Djnk was elected Mayor de faa'ing Messrs 8. Abrahams and K. Edwards. The following Councillors were electei :—Haydon, Jack, Armstrong, Pc'nc.i, Bunting, Pringle, Johnston, Goodger, and Foley. Auckland, April 29. Hon. E Mitchelson was elected Mayor defeating Messrs Stioabury, Richardson, and Hewson. Wanganui, April 29. The following Councillors were elected: LiflLoo, Bignell, Perrett, Btttle, Joh-s, McLeod, Griffiths,! Bridge and Bell. Three members of I the old Council were defeated. Napisb, April 29. i Messrs Lscelles, O. H. Edwards, McGratb, Thomson, Cohen, Eagleton, Wilson, Oranby, Spsroce, were elected. , Hastings, April 29. Messrs Maddison, Roaob, W. H. Smith, Thompson, Scannell, Broithwaite, Beecrofc, Ebbet, and George were elected. j Dunbdin, April 29. Dunsdin City Mayoral election resulted : -T. Soott 2890, Maitland 872. Morniogton. —Mr Annaud, an exMayor, debited Mr Gow, the retiring Maror, by 104 votss. South Duaedin.—Ohstwio, retiring Mayor, was ro-eUcied. Masterton, April 29. Mayor: J, N. Uondine. Councillors Heswy, Keith, Eliot*-, Mignmson, McEwen, E f ou, Orosswell, Pragnell. Waihatb, April 29. John Manchester was elected Mayor by 151 vo'es, O. V. Clark obtaining 149. Councillors elected were: Heo'.t, Birchy, Francis, Ctltman, Morgan, Freeman, Jones, Inkier and Sinchir. Wellington, April 29.

All the cutgoin" Councillors, with the exception of Tolhurst, w*re reelected, his plajo being taken by Wiltshire, late city engiueer. Winder was r 'urnod at the bead of the pall for Melrose ward, Jorgenson, Frost, and Keene were returned at Karori. Tiaddll defeated the sitting Mayor, F.trr, by 91 votes in the borough of Oaslow. Atkinson, M.H R, and John Hutche son, ex-M.H.R., wer* at the bottom of the poll for the South Ward. Waihi, April 29. Mr W. Phillips was re eleotad Mayor.