MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8409, 25 April 1907, Page 6

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

MAS'TERTON RESULTS

MR CORADINE RETURNED AS MAYOR. ! The annual election for Mayor and the biennial election of nine Councillors for the Borough of Master ton took place yesterday. The principal polling booth was the Drill Hall, the other booths being at the Central Fire Brigaed Station and the Kuripuni Station. During the morning very few votes were recorded, but in the afternoon up till seven o'clock there was a constant stream of electors to the polling booths, more particularly , to the Drill Hall. Out of a total of | 2,314 electors on the roll, 1,192, or 35 more than half, recorded their votes. At the last elections two years ago 1,173 voters recorded their votCJ. The various arrangements in connection with the polling booths were carried out satisfactorily. Mr R. Brown, Mr W. Gillespie and Mis 3 H. Gillespie had charge of an energetic body of poll clerks at the Drill Hall. Central Fire Brigade Station and Kuripuni respectively. As the time for the announcement of the result of the poll drew near a large crowd gathered in front of the principal polling booth. At 7.40 u.m. Mr R. Brown, Returning Officer, announced the rasult of the Mayoral election, amid bud cheering, as follows:

« .*?S g p ■ •= M H J. M. Coradine 448 77 85 610 E. McEwen 401 77 92 570 Informal 10 ■ 1 1 - 12 Maj jrity for Mr Coradine ... 40 Mr Coradine, in returning thanks for his election, said it had been a pleasure for him to fight for the position. The best of good feeling had prevailed during the contest. He hald the greatest esteem for Mr McEwen, but there was one remarkable feature about the contest, and that was that he was fighting the Borough Council and not Mr McEwen. He did not think when he had decided to contest the seat that he would have the Borough Council against him. He could give no reason for this. Anyhow he had beaten them all, and perhaps he would know in the future why they had opposed him. Now that he had been elected Mayor he would forget all .about the contest and devote his attention to Municipal matters. He thanked them once again for returning him to the position, and added that he would use his best ability and experience when dealing with the affairs of the Borough. (Applause). Mr McEwen thanked those who had recorded their votes in his favour. He would like to say that had he been returned he would have done only what he had been doing during the past four years. He was not sorry that Mr .Coradine was Mayor. The fight had been fought on fair and sauare lines. (Applause.) At nine o'clock Mr Brown announced the result of the poll for the Council as follows : -i rt . .„• « Mc c * ffl S .8* « § 2* '& H J. H. Pauling 751 125 144 1,020 J. julliott 681 124 134 J, 939 J. C. Ewington 641 110 129 880 P. W. Temple 603 110 118 831 W. Morris 560 89 141 790 J. P. Prentice 561 112 115 788 J. Yarr 532 96 105 733 W. Pragnell 506 97 101 704 A. Haughey 466 79 81 626 J.Smith 379 83 99 561 E. G. Williams 375 85 69 529 Informal 16 1 1 18

Mes3ra Pauling, Elliott, Ewington, Temple, Morris, Prentice, Yarr, Pragnell and Haughey were declared duly elected amid loud cheering. Each of the candidates then delivered a short address. Mr Pauling said he felt proud of the position they had placed him in. It was a great deal more thanlie had expected. He judged that from the position that they had placed him in that his services during the past ] two years had satisfied them, and he trusted that his work in the future would be equally as satisfactory. At this point he would like to say that he was sorry he had lost his old colleague, Mr McEwen, whom the speaker thought should be in the Council while th 3 £25,000 loan was being expended. The new Council, however, would spend the money, and spend it well. He agreed wjth Mr Coradine's proposal to appoint separate committees in the Council. The work of the borough, said the speaker, would then be done well. He was satisfied that the new Council would provide gobd f material for Mr Coradine to work with. Cr Elliott, in returning thanks, said his position on the poll was something to be proud of seeing!that he had been six years in the field. He had said when he first stood for the Council that he had a clean slate to work on, but he felt now that "something had darkened that ' slate." However, he consoled himself with the fact that he had always done hi 3 best for.the ratepayers. He did not know that he had done anything very brilliant except that last year he had tried to raise the general rate by nearly one penny in the pound. (Laughter.) The Mayor (Mr J. A. Renall) had stopped the rai*3inp- of the rate, but the speaker thought that if the rate had been then raised they would not perhaps have had the present large overdraft about Which so much had been heard lately. Pie hoped that they would always take an interest in the overdraft. He could assure them that the old Council had given their attention to the business as though it was their own. "I must thank you again," said the speaker, "for placing me in such a high position, and if I come before you again A voice: "As Mayor." (Cheers). Mr Elliott: "No, not as Mayor. You'll want a better man as Mayor." , A voice: "We've got him." f Continuing, the speaker said he was sorry that Mr McEwen had not been returned to help in spending the £25,000 loan. Mr Ewington said he was proud of the position he held that night.

There was a great deal of work for the Council to do during the next two years, and he thought they had the material to do it with. The gas mains and water mains would have to be extended, but another loan would be required for those works. He thought he might as well tell them the truth on that point. Whatever were the ratepayers' interests, he said, they were his also. He would like to make reference to Mr Coradine's remarks that he (Mr Coradine) was fighting the Council and not Mr McEvven. The speaker declared that it was a poor Council that would not stick to its comrades. The old Council had done that, and they I thought they were doing right. Mr Temple stated that since he offered his services to the public two years ago, he had done his duty, and he intended to do so agajn. He would like to reply to an impression that had got abroad to the effect that the Council should have spent the £25,000 loan in one year. Such a thing was ridiculous, and no 3ane manwould think of spending £25,000 in one year. The Council did not want to "flood" the town with labourers from all parts of the colony. They had spread the loan over three years to give the local workmen a chance of getting as much of the money as possible. Another statement he would like to make was that the Council only paid interest on the portions of the loan money that they took up, and not on the whole £25,000. He. thanked the electors for returning him. Mr Morris said that he believed that the old Councillors had done their best, though their actions might not always be endorsed by the ratepayer:. Now that he was elected, he would always have the interests of the town at hearc. He believed they had a fairly eood Mayor (laughter) and he would respect the "chair," and assist Mr Coradine in carrying out his duty. Mr Coradine would have an experienced Council to assist him. There was a good deal of work in hand, and it was necessary that some of the old members should be returned so that any information thereto might be given. Mr Prentice thanked the electors for giving him a seat on the Council. He had no past municipal deeds to 1 speak of, but he was going to start now and do his best. He would give his vote for everything that he thought would benefit the town. Mr Pragnell, in returning thanks, said that, as they had thought it proper to give him a seat Council, he could assure them that he would vote for measures and not men. He thought that a good Council had been elected. He had no past history in Council matters to boast of, but having plenty of time on his hands he would ■ A Voice: "Walk around the Borough." Mr Pragnell: "Yes, I'll walk around the Borough, and if there is anything wrong you will soon hear of it." Continuing, he said he feared no man, and he would always do his utmost to serve the ratepayers' best interests.

Mr Yarr said he offered himself j for election practically as an unknown man, "and he thanked them most sincerely for the honour they had bestowed on him. He did not know much of the inner workings of the borough. All he knew he had heard outside, but now he was a Councillor he would soon make himself acquainted with the affairs of the Borough. He had "no axe to grind," no footpath to make in front of his own cottage, nor any road to make near his own property. All he wanted to do was to serve the ratepayers well as a whole. Mr Haughey said he felt proud to be returned as one of the Councillors. He did not know; much of the working of the Borough, but he was willing to learn, and he could assure them that-he would learn as quickly as possible. <lf they were not satisfied with him at the end of two years they could then reject him. He said a systematic manner of carrying out the works m the borough was badly reqaired, and it would be one of his strong points to advocate a proper system of working. Mr Smith thanked those who had recorded their votes in his favour. Though he was not returned, he j could not help it, but if he had been returned he could assure them that he would have done his duty. Mr Williams said he had come forward as a working man, and the support he had received would encourage him to stand again. He attributed his defeat to the fact that he did not have the support of the Press. No | working man, he said, could get into the Borough Council, because the Press of Masterton would always be agaimst him. The support he had received was no disgrace to any '< working man in spite of the Press j being against him. The speaker's remarks concerning | the Press were received with loud groans. I At the last Mayoral elections Mr J. A. Renall was returned unopposed. Two years ago the candidates for the Mayoralty were Messrs J. A. Renall and J. Hessey. The voting was 688 for Mr Renall and 473 for Mr Hessey. There were 12 informal votes. It will be interesting to compare the result of yesterday's election for the Council with that held two years ago. At the election in 1905 the results were as follow :--Mr J. Elliott 848, Mr J. H. hauling 792, Mr E. McEwen 788, Mr E. G. Eton 777, Mr E. Feist 762, Mr F. W. Temple 750, Mr T. G. Hoar 713, Mr J. C. Ewington 695, Mr W. Morris 672, Mr R. K. Jackson 567, Mr J. Smith 431, Mr E. G. Williams 400. Simultaneously with the Municipal elections yesterday a poll was taken on the proposal to bring the Borough of Masterton under the provisions of I the Fire Brigades Act. Only rate- ' payers could vote on the proposal, which was carried by : sß2 votes to 95. The figures were as follow : 4) S « • w u-2 3 CQ ±J .2* For the proposal 418 74 90 582 Against the proposal 58 13 24 95 Informal 7 6 7 20

CARTERTON. The following is the result of the poll for the election of Mayor : Willie Moore ... 300 Adam Armstrong ... 179 Informal ••• 13 Majority for Mr Moore... 121

The election for Councillors resulted as follow : Gordon Hughan 433' John Hart 429 Arthur Phillpotts 405 David Reid 2 Alfred, King 3 " VV. J. Lindop 388 W. T. Masson 387 William Toomath 330 H. H. Browne 280 Thomas Zillwood 24 5 nine were declared duly elected.

OTHER RESULTS. The Press Association notify the following results elsewhere : Feilding—Trewin (present Mayor), 432; Harford, 257. Stratford.—P. F. Ralfe was returned as Mayor. Petone.-- McKeown 650, Mothes 400. Hutt.—Petorkin 527, Clere 258, Clark 127. Nelson.—Mayoral election: Piper (late Mayor) 980, C. Harley 856. Palmerston North.—Mayoral election: A. Essex 1,064, M. Cohen (ex-Mayor) 942, X R. O. Hurley 214. Wanganui.—The election of councillors resulted in the following being returned:— Carson, Liffiton Purser, Poynter, Battle, Muir, .. Harkness, Spriggins and Harris. Gisborne. -Mayoralty election: J. Townley 766, W. D. Lysnar 636. Napier.— The Borough Council elections created a greater amount of interest than on any former occasion, and the poll was a heavy one. For the Mayoral contest Mr J. Vigor Brown was returned by a majority of 285 over Mr S. Carnell (the present Mavor). ' Invercargill.—Lively interest was shown in the Municipal elections. The results of the Mayoral elections were as follow:— Invercargill Central: W. B. Scandrett (re-elected) 1,044, J. Stead 520. South Invercargill: T. A. Cushen436, G. R. HilI ton 127. East Invercargill: W. Baird 124, J. A. Mitchell 87, Avenal ■J. Ward 87, Hon. H. Feldwick 40. In the Council election the nine sitting Councillors who offered themselves for re-election were returned. At Winton the Mayoral poll resulted in C. D. Moore securing 136 votes, and J. Kennedy 67. Wellington.— Great interest was taken in the polling for the election of Mayor, and Councillors for the city of Wellington, and crowds gathered in the streets to view the posting of the progress figures. Early in the evening it was clear that the Hon. T. Hislop would defeat Mr T. Wilford by a large majority The victory for Hislop was so assured that the final results twere aken for granted-and the candij dates addressed the electors. The final results were:--Hislop 5,658, Wilford 2,963. At Onslow Mr Harkness was elected Mayor. Auckland.—An ordinary amount of interest was taken in the municipal elections, to-day, but there was no unusual display of excitement. Mr A. M. Myers was re-elected Mayor of Auckland for the third term, the .figures being:—Myers 4,568, St. Clair 930, Richardson 673. Out of a roll of 16,110 only 6,251 voted.