THE MAYORALTY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 374, 18 July 1874, Page 3

THE MAYORALTY.

MB*. PBBGTTSOH'B MEETING.

On Wednesday evening about seventy of the .ratepayers meb * n tne Commercial Assembly, Room", Lawrence, in response to an announcemquf; made that Mr. Ferguson, who is a candidate for the Mayoralty, would review the financial position' and future prospects of the municipality. jlr.,George Walker, who was called to the chair, briefly introduced Mr P Ferguson, who said that in appearing before the ratepayers as a candidate for the highest civic honor in their power to confer upon him, he muat confess that nothing wasfurther from his thoughts two or three weeks ago than occupying the position he now did. Had he not received a numerously signed and influential requisition he would have been the last person to have came to the front on this occasion. Considering as he did that it was the duty of every ratepayer to place his services 'at the command of his fellow ratepayers when necessity demanded it, he had acceded to the wishes of the requiaitiouists, and nowTplikced his services at their disposal. Although., his time was pretty fully occupied with. his own private business, still he had found in his, journey so far- through life that the' more work he had to do the more he could do and the better he did it. He found the * people who had most leisure on their hands as a rule were lazy, and did'least for themselves or for the good of society in general. Since he entered the field certain objections had been urged against his candidature ; but, »o far a« he could judge, these'-eo called objections were his strongest recommendations. For instance, it had been eatd that, as he was the conductor of the local paper he would have too, much power placed m'jia hands ; but he would ask the ratepayers if Uwas possible to have too much power for edo& 9 fl* thought not, and as his interests jrfre bound up roth the interests of the town.

he thought it very unlikely that he would be found advocating any measure or scheme that would not have the welfare of the town chiefly in view. An objection of an extraordinary character had come to his ears. He had heard it said, that certain gentlemen thought him unsuited for the position of Mayor because he was narrow-minded and illiberal. This rather amused him, and revealed the kind of opposition he was likely to meet with, and the people wh o were likely to be against him. But he defied any person, friend or foe, to place his finger on a single article which had appeared in the columns of the Tuapeka Times since its commencement, nearly seven years ago, which could be said to breathe an illiberal or narrow-minded spirit. If it be .illiberal and narrow-minded to expose abuses ; if it be illiberal to denounce liberality run riot in any of their local institutions, then he was content to be called illiberal, but not otherwise. No doubt during these years he had, in the peculiar position he occupied, made occasional mistakes and errors of judgment; but he believed very few could have held a similar position for the same length of time and have made so very few enemies. The candidate stated that during the past few days he had been making some investigations into the financial position and future prospects of the town, and regretted to say these were not of a very encouraging description. The present annual revemie of the town from rates and licenses amounted to a little over £800, against which sum there was a fixed animal expenditure of £500, mado up of the following charges : — Salai-ies, commissions, interest on -water debentures, rent of water, incidentals, surfaceman, &c, which left the paltry sum of £300 out of the £800 for public works and town improvements ; and if they took into consideration the burden the Town Hall had the prospect of being on the town, that £300 would be reduced by another £100. He did not wi3h to bo misunderstood ; but he felt confident that the great Town Hall about which so much had been said would be a burden on the rates of at least £100 a year for some years to come. He estimated the building would cost close upon £4000 before it was finished, thus necessitating the borrowing of another £2000 to complete it. Somewhere j about £650 had already been paid towards the building, and he made up the balance as follows : — extras for chimneys &c, for the shops, £44. Provision had not even been made in the plans for fire places and an exit to the back of the shops ; then there was a balance still due to the architect of £88 ; the difference in price between colonial and Oregou timber sanctioned, £40 ; inspection of building, £60; furnishings of Hall, council chambers, and shops, say £500 ; amount still due 'contractors £2315, making a total of £3700, and if allowance were made for contingencies lie thought he was not ore? the mark when he estimated that the Town Hall would cost £4000 before it was completed. Then as regards the ways and means. There" was in hand on June 30th, £1100. The rates and licenses for the ensuing year would amount to say £850; revenue from the Town Hall say for sixont of the next twelve months he would put down at £60, making a total revenue of £2000. No doubt there would be revenue derived in the course of some years from certain reserves recently acquired by the Council, but at present they could not be calculated upon. Well, then, he would ask them to consider what the likely expenditure would be during the year ; and first, he would refer to engagements already entered into by the Council, and which as a matter of course would require to be met. First, they had the ordinary or fixed expenses of the Council, which, includingsalaries, water rent, interest, &c, would amount for the next year to £550 ; then there was the sum of £3350 required to complete the Town Hall ; added to these there was the sum of £150 for a weighbridge. . These sums gave a , total expenditure of £4050 which must be paid by some means or other during the next twelve months. As he had shown, the ordinary revenue, consisting of rates and licenses, together with the amount of cash in the bank, would only amount to £2000, which would leave a deficiency of £2050 ; and this, be it observed, without making allowance for any puplic works or improvements -in the town. There would be a sum of about £100 required to complete the Corporation's share of the Wetherstones Creek embankment, and doubtless some of the streets would require gravelling and other matters require attention, so tbat it would be necessary to add say £500 for these purposes to the £2050 deficiency. Then in the event of extending the Water mains to the corner of Whitehaven-street he calculated a sum of £300 would be required, and the purifying of the water according, to Mr. Blair's report, would take another £300, which added to the sum already mentioned gave a total of £3150, and if they add to that the £1200 for water debentures falling due in May next, they had the sum of £4350, which weuld require to be borrowed during the coming year. He believed very few of the ratepayers had the slightest conception of the financial position of the town. There was no use winking at it. The sum he had mentioned would require to be borrowed if thecorporationmetits engagements and carried out the works he had indicated. The interest on a £4000 loan and the existing £2000 loan would bo a yearly charge on the rates of at least £400, leaving the paltry sum of £450 or £500 to pay the working expenses of the Council and any public works and improvements that would require to be carried out. He considered the style of works initiated by the Town.Council, such as the Town Hall, far too pretentious. The present rate of increase of the population of the town and the corresponding increase in the revenue from rates, &c., did not warrant works of such magnitude, unless they w*re of a reproductive character, and he was confident the Town Hall would not bo a work of that kind. He estimated its annual revenue at £ISO or £160, and the interest on the loan for its construction at £260, leaving^ the sum of £100 yearly chargeable to the rates. He would be glad if he were disappointed in this matter, but he did not think so. He would not further detain them with his remarks.but had no doubt that his views on many subjects he had omitted would be elicited by questions. In conclusion, he could only say that if they placed him in the position of Mayor, he would use his utmost endeavors to forward the the interests of the ratepayers by every legitimate means. It was for his own interest to do so, for as Lawrence prospered he hoped to prosper, andif Lawrence went to the wall he supposed he would require to follow suiti Mr. Ferguson was then subjected to a mild examination of his policy if elected, and appeared to pass the same with satisfaction to the meeting. On the motion of, Mr. H. F. M'Coy, seconded i by Mr. Hills, it was unauimously carried that " Mr. Ferguson is a fit and proper person to occupy the position of Mayor of the town of Lawrence." A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to a close. I A number of gentlemen, after the meeting, resolved themselves into a committee to secure the return of the candidate. The " Ballarat Star" says :— "lt is rather surprising to see to what extremes some clergymen are going nowadays. The jrther day Miss Farr, a rising young vocalmt, and the leading singer in the ohoir of theDawsonstreet Baptist Church, received a polite note from the Rev. Mr. Grant, pastor of the church, to the effect that if she persisted in singing on the stage at the Mechanics' Institute she would have to leave the church. Miss Farr, greatly to her credit, has accepted the alternative, and has left the choir." From a later issue we learn that * meeting of the church committee had been held and a resolution proposed censuring the rev. pastor, but no seconder was found,, and the proposition fell through,