THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2505, 21 January 1887, Page 2

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

•-■v, between Seventy and eighty persons assembled, at the Tomperanee Hall' 'last evening, in answer ; to an advertise* meat inviting the Burgesses, to? meet tte candidates for municipal' honors and hear their views on* mattes connected with the Borough, Mr E. Feist was called upon to take the;ohaiiV and having stated the object of the meeting asked, for a patient hearing for the candidates. He said he 'would, not go into the question as to the wisdom or otherwise of the step' taken in dividing the Borough into wards, as, no doubt, tk gentlemen who'would

address, the meeting wero prepared, to ■Jay that ibeforetkein, He called upon Mr Renkll to commence proceedings. '.vpMV-Renall expressed thepleaßure'hc feftrin again meeting the ; burgesses as .a.ciTdidata -for ; their suffrages. • He thouglit the iime had an-Ived wheri it. •wasto the Boroffgh -tha>itbe,divide,d into wards, and-act-.] ing upon" he had taker the action.. thatjai., tpJhoresent,, •results. viE* MOW-to -'-the .- dissatisr factiph tlia't existed.', in Municipal affairs and tboilghtlt'waVtinie'to probe jnatte.rs. to'see .wherepe 'fault lay. He did not believe the present, Council was in favor> of the division now he had procured it for them. No doubt .they'wero comfortable in their Morocco ohairs, and did'nt c'are"about'going back to hard oaken, seats -again; 'He .waß. only "a . "short time. . -in' •the Morocco, but .expected-to go there ; again- shortly.. ,;'.He-- .dwehYj npon.the great benefits.that he thought. •%ould arise through .the'ward system,' more especially to The question was one after all f between, the 'Qbtiftcil and. himself—they wanted three Awards, he wanted four, and he said that no doubt the Governor could Bee,tbaFtiFe~majority we're in favor of the three, and' f rpfcected the*.minorityßy.giv.iug.them four. He characterised the petitions' sent, by the Council asm oppression of the 'minority by' the dominant majority, a state of things that statesmen in past years had worked hard to remedy, and he was pleased to.say they had been so far successful that the minority of today had a, voice 'in the Government of the country. He said it rested entirely with the burgesses as to the class of-men they'put 'into the new Council, and it-would be 'their own fault if they did nofrget good ones, as there was a large number to .select from. He had retired from public affairs, thinking that forty years was quite long enough for any man to be in it, but seeing, that it required someone to come forward and put things in good working order, be made up his mind to place, his services before them, and would do his best for the interests of all, He explained that he would have retired from the .Park Trust, but found that the Chairman of the Cricket Club"' was to take his place, and thought it would be a bad thiug to let a- member of a private Club have the opportunity of using his influence for the Club to the detriment of the public. So be retained the office, The Editor of, the "Daily" had said that the, petition forwarded to 4h«. Governor on which the Borough was divided, was bad on the face of it, and showed illegality, and not fit.to go before the Governor; He would tell thera itwas'.all very well for the to sit oti his "three-legged stool and write such rot, but would he come therC'and. point out \tq ,the burfjetses, where it was wrong'"-' Thero was a. time when he would jjavo come forward and'fought; it-but on the' platform, but 'those daya were gone; He considered the Governor hod given tlidieSt answer to all bia writings by making the pro-, jckfnatiOri flsrgqueßted by the.p&titiofi." Mrßenallthen wenti into the history of sending the ;petitiOn,,'and "concluded. bjhopingtli'ey:'w6uJd : do their'duty' on Monday nextas fearlessly as he had'' dCfte'hYs*, and-fet few.qnl'd be returned as a member for Westward. >•'...,: .... !,;. Mr Parsons,. having been requested to address the meeting,', stated that he did not intend;, to speak, that' evening,but; Came to;hear the',future*.plans of municipal affairs propounded. He was' pleased to hear Mr Renall did not attack the Council, (Mr "Renall: They are dead,) His opinion was that it would have been far better to have left the Borough as it was for several years longer. (Cries of No, No! Yes, yes!) Well, he continued, that is a matter of opinion. If the burgesses would like, at the outside parts of the Borough they would find roads unmade where the settlers had been paying for the central improvements, and he thought that before a division was made, justice should havo been dealt to the outsile ratepayers, and not leave them now to make their own roads after taking their rates for years and doing nothing for them. He was sorry the new Council was going to lose the services of Mr Heron, who had always proved himself a capable public servant but no doubt he would come out, like Mr Renall, re-invigorated after his rest. He was glad to have the opportunity of meeting Mr Renall, both on the platform and at the ballot box, as he •did not believe in getting honor too cheap, and hoped that on Monday next ■he would be at-the top of the poll, especially as he was contesting the same ward as that gentleman. Mr Parsons alluded to the prosperous state of the Boroughi which he contrasted with others in the polony. He again alluded to the unfair division, stating that 1 the- richest wards had got the whole of their roads made, and tbat the outside mow lose all they had, contributed, and have to find money for their own work. He also said that the expenses connected with the,division .would-absorb a large amount, and that ;*the working of the new system would boso heavy that -the-burgesses'-would be pleased to have it back to the one '■ward borough, He again hoped tbat show their' confidence.in him,'and' that on Monday next -hethem again a,s their representative. J -'Mr a.new aspirant for East Ward, o,n mounting the platform, ; ' said the burgesses .must:'excuse any nervousness on his part as it was his first attempt at public speaking, - lie stated that he .was induced to. come ■ forward at the last moment, and so ' haduotimo'to.ptepare himself." He knew nothing about municipal affairs, but would do his" level best for the Borough. He would .fault. with the old Council, as, no doubtjthey did their best according to their lights, which at times he thought were"rather dim, He (could assure them that,'if elected,'he would not be. found aßleep with hia head on ,bis. breast, withinhalf an hour of taking his seat, as his ticket was cold water, He expressed a hope that,he would.-be placed among the successful ones on Monday, and when his term was expired he would be : found to have carried put his promises. ' ■ ' .Mr Darley,. another aspirant for East Ward, said he stood before' them -.

to be elected and he .would leave it to them whether they would do it or notBo would see the moiieywell spent and when!'tenders were'called for, the highest ones should not get-them. • v Mr J. .Hessey,; .upon, Baid he:.wag qyite;JuppjrepAi;ed for speechifying as h/hVd|ujtietu'ri|d from Jhe harvest for West- Wai:d hd/wpuid;ag3ups:s^eia, "fied with the ' If elected,.he would always be f found doing his; best for his constituents,' and he trusted-that'the short time he. represented them in the Counoil that, they had. regained sufficient confidence to return him once mire. ..to,'that, honorable position.. -He paid he had "uo particular workor platformtq;plaqe before them, bat would be. content- towatch. events /as they cropped up'in the interest of the Borough usjfl l whole.; Mr'Cullen .by request, came forward •and said' he was prepared to answer any.questions relating to his career in tho Council. He said his past, actions would'be & guide as f.6' his future .movement'..in., that body, if elected. He had no scheme to propound-to the meeting, 86" would not ■ occupy their timefurther. ■ • •MrPran'gnell, another- E*st ward candidate said he could not,boast as mUoll as 1 Mr Renal! ol.the good he ha 4 dongas he had only lived three years; among them, He Vaa pressed to come forward, and hearing so much grurobling about tho way 'the Borough concerns Were carried on, that he thought it was time fresh blood was introduced into the Counoil to mend matters.' He would not say anything against the old Council, but must refer to tho way in which they dealt with the cartage tenders, as alluded to by Mr Darley. He did not know whether they sat in their easy chairs with a bottle of wine before them to consider the tenders, and fell a nodding, and did'nt know what ,they were doing. As a candidate for East ward he would do his best for the interest of the Borough, he had no axe to grind, and no special interest to' serve, and he had no care or fear of being elected. If people who grumbled only meant one twentieth part of what they said they would return most new members to the Council. He concluded by hoping for good results at the poll on Monday as he quite agreed with the " Dail?," that in the present financial state of the Borough affairs, things re-' quired to be carefully managed. ' Mr Papworth, as a candidate for the soath ward, commenced. by pointing out that tho reason he allowed himself to come forward was, that he did not. think the ward was properly represented by those who allowed themselves to be nominated tor it, and seeing that some were 'allowing themselves- to io nominated for two wards, which meant extraordinary elections and consequent . .expenses wgrdsi thrown over, ~he thought it his diityto protect the interest of the. south-, ward during the election. ;' Herald he was.npt going to follow in the''footsteps ;'of' some of the speakers by saying, he would not refer to the paeVcoiincilj' and then immediately attack them in the foulest manner possible by':in|ri ; iug : taat one of its members sat drunk and asleep at itsmeeting.- (Mr.Evernden: No). Mr fapworth: The remarks, ,„were made, and although the exact'wdrds were not used, that was the. only-Inference to be drawn.,- -Referring to the-Council,, the speaker said it was the best ithaf' r'Masterton had yet had. Some; of the. .speakers had said there was grumbling, and a dealof dissatisfaction.; What is it all about? He would answer, for them, The Gas Works. But who was to blame for it ? Not the Council, certainly, as they had references and testimonials before them upon which they engaged their Engineer. Was it the duty of the Council to. dog the coat tails or dictate to their Engineer tho manner he should go about his work, He should say "certainly not," and they could not, in all common sense, blame the Council for looking upon their Engineer as the most practical person to carry out the construction of thegas works, and it would be found that the grumblera were those who were not in a position to give the subject an intelligent consideration. In alluding to the division of the Borough, he considered it was of the utmost necessity, although not agreeing with the boundaries as laid down in the proclamation. Under the old system Queen Street was mostly represented, as the voting power was principally there, and anyone could nominate whom they liked for the office, consequently the outside portions had been neglected, and the greater part of the rates had been expended to the benefit of tho centre. Another reason why he did not approve of the division was that poor little South Ward had most unfinished ■roads, and less rates to colleotj, which clearly pointed out that that part of the Borough had not been fairly represented in the. Council in dayß gone by. He pointed' out that it was the duty of the outside people to elect men that live- next door to them, and see that .the rates are spent on works that were necessary. He said he was rather disappointed in not hearing some of the old-Councillors give an'account of their past' doings, and promised them if he, was elected h? shpuld have something to tell them . •at the end of his term,', If he represented them it-would not be by the prompting of other people, but solely on his, own convictions and .opinions} arid 'if he placed an address before thera it ' would emanate from his own brain- and - would-not be a dummy one, as some of them were that appeared in the papet's, j •ptDising to do a lot and soliciting the-' vote and influence of the burgesses "on' A the strength of another man's writing. •< Mr Pa|>worth concluded by expressing his intentions, if'elected, to 'work for ... the interests of .the' ward., in particular- ■'■ and tho Borough as a whole. ■ Mr W. Blinkhorne, a North Ward aspirant, said he did not appear before them as a stranger, having lived twelve years among jh'em.' He; hjd hm i asked to come forward .by several' burgesses, and if elected he.would give them no cause to repent-their choice, He felt it liis duty, to do his best for . the Borough, asa whole and it would '; be his study to watch things on behalf : of the Burgesses. Mr Parsons having his conduct. in reference to. the cirtage. .'■ .tenders; in, the GwnoU. ani % Ken^ll.;

having made a lengthy ;sf eechra|aiu|t the Council vote oisahl« to the Chuirmitu:* to 11 close, * • ■•.''•'■', /•■ , a,. .-. -- ■ ■■''■■■ "■.■,• : ,'■ :>.VV: