THE MAYORALTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 234, 12 March 1915, Page 5

THE MAYORALTY.

REQUISITION TO' THE EX-MAYOB,' ¥R G. W. BROWNE ACCEPTS NOMINATION. 'j 1 Indications point to the mayoral election this '-ear being iought out by, the same two candidates as contEstc'd; the position last year, viz., Mr J. a Wilson, the present occupier of the .mayoral chair, and Mr G. W. Browne* whom he defeated last year. This year, for the first occasion, tihe election will be for a term of two years, and the effect will he that the Mayor and! council will go "out of office at the same'' time, a s for gom c years past the courw cillors have been, elected for a term of two years. Yesterday a 'deputation consisting of Messr S j_ AghCTj j F _ H * j, iCattley, J. H. Frethey (FraukieUrS Park), Geo. Colson (Fitzroy, l ) and G .W„ Lawrence (Vogeltown) wailed on Mil iirowne with a numerously signed re-> , quisition asking him to allow himself , to be nominated for the -osition of Mayor. Mr Asher presented the requisition-. . which was worded as follows:"iWe, the undersigned electors, ran spectfully request you to allow voui-t . self to be nominated for the position , of Mayor at the coming election.. :We , are sensible of the great benefit* you , have already conferred on the boroligjbl . during the Deriod you held the important office of Mayor. The borough! . being engaged in carrying out the invpow tant works initiated by you, we feel that the interests of the citizens would! ■■> be best served by the election of perv sons of knowledge and experience of * ' . borough matters, such as you possess* in so mariied a degree. If you can see. your way: to grant our romest, we pledgo f ourselves to use every endeavor on youtj behalf at the coming election." The requisition bore 199 signiturtß l , and there is another list out containing 40 additional signatures. In presenting the requisition, Mb Asher referred to Mr Browne's good and! clean record. Tim- all recognised hitf faithful service in th e interests of the; borough, and his indomitable persevere ance in all matters pertaining to its; welfare. They pledged themselves to . do all in their power to secure his re* turn. a " ,; la replying, Mr Browne expressed his| +'ianks for t'lia trouble they had taken in getting the, requisition signed by, such a large number of burgesses to ask' him to contest the mayoralty. Eft pointed out that it meant, if nc waal elected, that he would have to sacrl-. flee his private pleasures for two; years. If elected, he would, as in the .past, devote the whole of his energies! to the advancement of th e town. A* any time, ratepayers or burgesses rei quiring information could approach him* and he would willingly give all the information in his power. He would not have any set time to meet ratepay-srs. There were many, intricate questions that were bound to arise during the next) two years in carrying out the heavy cxipendituro that the borough had under-i taken, and that in itself would mean a, tremendous demand on the time of anji one occupying the position. At the last election, he had been referred to as "a glorified overseer." He did not t. know if it was a defect to look into thet various departments with a view to finding out if ratepayers were securing good value for the expenditure of their money, but if it was he was going to continue it. He was satisfied that any. (business in which the details w!ere neg-; lected would be a failure. He thanked; th e deputation for coming to him, and he firrnl- believed that if they worked! as they had pledged themselves to doi there would be no doubt whatever as tff 1 the issue. During the past twelve months he had been frequently approached by residents of the town, and as a. matter of fact had actually nledeed himself six months ago to contest the pres-* ent election. In conclusion, he added that he was only too willing to come forward in the interests of the towni and its people, and therefore lad wleas-' Jure in accepting nomination.—<(Ap•plause.)'