ELECTION OF MAYOR FOR THE CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH.

The annual meeting for the election of the Mayor of the City of Ohristchurch for the enauing year took place yesterday at noon at the I City.. Council Chambers. Presenfr^-The Mayor, Councillors Farr, Jones, Hobbs, Raphael, (Jape's; and Ick ; the City Solicitor (Dr Foster); the Provincial Auditor (Mr J. OlUvier), and several leading citizens were also present. The Matoe, who wore his robes, collar, and chain of office, said that this being the third Wednesday in December they had met for the purpose of electing the Mayor for the ensuing year, bat before doing so he would call upon the Town Clerk to read the minutes of the last meeting, and to lay upon the table the annual abstract of the account of the receipts and expenditure. j The minutes were then read and confirmed, and the abstract laid upon the table. I Councillor Hobbs moved — "That the accounts be signed by- the Mayor, and that the Town Clerk publish an abstract thereof as required by the Act." j Councillor Raphael seconded the motion, which was^agreed to. ■ - i Councillor Hobbs said that before proceeding to the next business he begged to move — '? That the thanks of the Council be given to the Mayor (Mr M. B. Hart) for the manner in which he had conducted the duties of his office during the past year, and that the same be recorded on the minuteß." He (Councillor Hobbs). trusted that the motion would be I parried unanimously. ; :' -Councillor -• Uaphaei,, in < seconding the motion, expressed hia admiration of the manner in which the Mayor had discharged the I duties of his office. No man could have done more than the Mayor, in fact the untiring energy and zeal he had displayed were admired by all. Take for instance the great zeal and energy which the Mayor had shown with reference to the important question of drainage, and the time and trouble he had expended in looking after every part of the city ; there was no single place, no particular part which had received the Mayor's exclusive attention, on the contrary, he was always ready to look after the interests of the whole. He (Councillor Raphael) had very great pleasure in seconding the motion, -which he hoped would be carried unanimously. The motion was agreed to unanimously. The Mayob : The next business is to proceed to the election||of Mayor for the ensuing year. . Councillor Jones said that, unfortunately, Councillor Bishop, who was his senior in the Council, and who, he hoped, would have proposed the Mayor, was absent, and the duty therefore devolved upon him (Councillor Jones). He, however, waa elected on the same day a3 the gentleman he was about to propose, and he had great pleasure, therefore, in nominating Councillor Hobbs as Mayor for the ensuing year. Notwithstanding Mr Hobbß' youth, he was a man who had had several years experience in that Council, and he (Councillor Jones) hoped and believed that Councillor Hobbs would fulfil the duties of the office of Mayor to the satisfaction of the Council and the ratepayers at large. He was happy to see so great an interest exhibited in this election, and although he was aware that a difference of opinion upon it existed both inside and out-

would always be elected from the body of the Council, because, if that were done, men of experience and position would come forward as candidates for seats in the Council. It would be a great incentive for each gentlemen to acquire the knowledge and experience necessary to fit them for filling the office of Mayor. He (Councillor Jones) did not get up to speak respecting the present Mayor or he could have said a great deal in that gentleman's praise, but he now asked them to elect unanimously Councillor Frederick Hobbs to the office of Mayor of the city of Christchurch for the ensuing year. . He wished, however, the Council to bear in mind that it would be impossible for any gentleman satisfactorily to fill the office of Mayor without receiving the support of his fellow Councillors, and that any factious man might upset the harmony of the whole. He had great pleasure in proposing Councillor Hobbs as Major. Councillor Raphael said he had just been informed that, as the youngest member of the Council, it was his duty to second the nomination, and he had great pleasure in doing so. His (Councillor Raphael's) experience of the gentleman proposed was but of short duration, but from the ability which Councillor Hobbs had shown as chairman ef the Finance com- ! mittee he (Councillor Raphael) was satisfied that he waa competent to discharge the duties of the office of Mayor. >As to the remaTkß of Councillor Jones respecting any factious man being able to upset the harmony of the I Council, it was true there might be differences of opinion in committee, but when the matter I came before the. Council it was generally arranged satisfactorily, and although he (Councillor Raphael) might from his desire to do something which he believed to be right perhaps bring a matter forward in a manner which was not exactly in accordance with established rule, still he trusted that he should always yield to the experience of others. The Council was a very good training school for the office of Mayor, and the enormous amount of business gone through, as well as the interchange of ideas, waa well calculated to fit a young member to undergo the buffs and rebuffs he would have to go through when chosen to the post of Mayor. He believed that many years ago the'gentleraan now proposed as Mayor drew attention to the necessity of an efficient scheme of drainage being adopted for the city, and which ended in the present scheme being carried into effect ; and that being the case, he (Councillor Raphael) had no doubt that Councillor Hdbbs would efficiently, discharge the duties of the office of Mayor. With reference to another remark made by Councillor Jones, all that he (Councillor Raphael) could say was, that he should be happy to support the Mayor in maintaining the dignity of his office. Councillor Gafes : Councillor Jones has said that he is aware that there is a difference of opinion on the election of Mayor, both in and out of the Council. All I can say is, that I am not aware of any such difference of opinion. Councillor Jones : Do you expect a reply from me ? Councillor Gapes : Of course. The motion was agreed to unanimously. The Matob : I must ask the newly-elected Mayor to accept from me the deeds, coupons, and debentures belonging to this city. They are contained in this box, of which I hold one key and the Town Clerk another ; he has also a list of them, which I will thank the new Mayor to compare with the documents, and then give me a receipt for them. Oounoillor Fabb : Will that take long ? The Town Ciebx : Half-an-hour. Councillor Fabb : I think if you were to appoint a meeting with thenew Mayor, after this I meeting, and then hand over the documents, it would be better than keeping us waiting. Councillor Jones : Would that be legal ? Councillor Fabb : Ask the Doctor. : De FoBTBB: Perfectly legal. .-■:■ ■ Councillor Fabe : Of course, common sense would tell that. . ' . ■" The Mayob said that he was very much obliged, for. the vote of thanks which they had just unanimously passed to him, for he vu not one of those case hardened individuals f who was insensible to kindness. He was not going .to, cry at leaving the chair, because tjears were' already dropping from the- clouds in honour of that auspicious event. (Laughter.) He had to thank every member of the Council for the courtesy and kindness invariably shown to him, and he also on the part of Mrs Hart, desired to thank them for similar courtesy and kindness displayed towards her. There was one very important branch of the I community he desired particularly' to thank, !he meant the newspapers. (Laughter.) He must thank them for the very marked attention and courtesy they had shown him during his year of office; (Laughter.) He hoped that the same attention and courtesy would be shown by the newspapers to his successor in order thathe might, have the same chance as himself of being brought before the public. (Renewed laughter). The rubbing down which he had got was like the polishing a diamond got, and which caused it to shine with greater brilliancy. It had done him no I barm, and would be tho means of letting | the .public 'know that his light was not hid ! under a bushel. He had very great pleasure in handing to his successor bis chain of office. I It did not at present contain many links, but he trusted that his successor would add another link to - it, that it would be an honour to him, and that he would honour the links, i The retiring Mayor then left the chair, and Councillor Hobbß, having been invested with the chain, -was conducted to the chair by his proposer and seconder. The Mayob said that he found, from the pity Solicitor, that his first duty would be to appoint Fire Inspectors for the ensuing year. He begged, therefore, to appoint Mr W. Harris as Chief Fire Inspector, and Mr j F. A. Bishop as Fire Inspector for the city of Christchurch; . ; | The Mayoe said : Mr ex-Mayor and gentle- I men, — I return you my most sincere thanks for the great, honour you have this day con- j ferred on me by electing me as your Mayor. The position of Mayor or Chief Magistrate of the city of Christchurch — one of the leading j oities of New Zealand — is an honourable position which might be coveted by any member of this community, no matter what hiß standing in the social scale might be. It will be my earnest endeavour to fulfil all the duties appertaining to the office to the best of my ! abilityas my predecessors have done. Whether I shall be successful or not depends on the cooperation of my fellow-Councillors. To be a good Mayor, it ia necessary to have a good Council, for it depends on the solid moral support the chairman receives whether the business of the Council will be properly conducted or otherwise. I will ask my brotherCouncillors to give me all the support they can, and I will promise on my part to preside : impartially, and to do my best to treat members of the Council and the ratepayers geae-

thorn. In fact, I think the Mayor cannot <io better than use as his motto the quotation recently used by Mr Moorhouse in Wellington, namely, " Steal courtesy from Heaven, and dress himself in all humility." I am afraid my year of office will not be marked by any large amount of progress generally, because the surplus from next year's income is to a groat extent already allocated for drainage purposes. However, I shall have great satisfaction in seeing a large amount of progress made with tho drainage works, which in itself will be perhaps the greatest benefit the city can possibly obtain. I hope the Provincial Council will pass a liberal vote for municipalities at their next sitting, in which case I can promise that the money will be judiciously spent. I regret that all the members of the Counoil could not be present to-day. I miss Councillor Calvert, whom I look on as the father of the Council. I trußt bis trip to Melbourne will be beneficial to his health. His kindly, inoffensive manner has created an amount of affection for him almost filial on my part, and I am proud to know that I had bis support in my "election this day. I again beg to thank the Council for the great honour they have conferred upon me. On the motion of Councillor Haet, the Council adjourned to Monday next, at the usual hour. At the conclusion of the business those present accepted an invitation to do. honour to the occasion in the usual manner.