The Installation of Mayor.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 5365, 9 May 1901, Page 2

The Installation of Mayor.

The installation of Mr V? H Oolliuj an mayor of Athbnrton took {pice latti evening { at a banquet provided by the ex m yor (Mr Hugo Frledlaoder.) Anibngst the guests were Mr J McLaohlan, member for the district, Mr C J Harper, chairmen of the County Council, Messrs I) Thomae, R Friedlander, John Orr, J SutUy, and G Reid, ex* mayor*, ail the Councillors, and ft good tnw>y other oitizws. The lute mayor (Mr Hugo Frledl&nder) gave a very interesting resume of the principal events that had oooarred m connection wich the town p( Aahbyrfcoa during his two and a half years of office, which. wJH ]js found is another part of this i«sue. The.retirinjj mayor jMr Hugo Friedlander) proposed the health of the new lt*yor, sad f«id he had much pleaiure m ioferoduoing th» Mayor eleot Mr Collins who was no novice m municipal matter*, having prn riouily held for lomt time a teat iv the Council. He fcben inducted MrColHoi into the mayoral chair. Ms CoHißi thsn took fcha chair, and m acknowledging (he compliment) stated he already felt some of the responsibilities of the position to whSoh he bad been elected, and he could aituro them that he would Ofijtfy'oijt [lip duiieß according to the btsti of his jndgsnent, and "if any errors occurred during bit term he truited they wonSd only be errors of judgment, Referring to the good work dooe by the Ooanoii In the pa«t, modern requirements ef society required that they should pat forth their very highest efforts $of the future welfare of the town, and the Mayor aad .Council were utartiog their present office unddr ft new reigc, a new oentury, and a 1 new Manioip»i Aob s aid tha

latter very mioh increased their responsibi. ties. Under the naw regulations as compared with the past, they would have to waken from *»ii ■• * smmitnbulisin into active lite considering the extra duties to be imposed upon them, each as en'roiling certain food supplies, Hungry c.rHitinns, lin d generally carrying cot eoieatifio principles as impoied under the now Aots. The power to aid agrioul ural and piatoral matters was he thought ao important ar<d proper one, as was also the right to assist In o uneefcion with rifle ranges, seeing that New Zealand did not) require a standing army, and ha was of the opinion those branches should be very liberally dealt with by the Council. Eating on unimproved value* should find favor with them and work out to the benefit of the community generally. He was much disappoi).ted with the result of the recent oemus m the town, but the reason was got far to leek, and until they established industries and manufactories they oou'd not expect their canine return* would muoh increase. The time had arrived for the incorporation of adjoining local bodies, tod Allenton and Hamp»t-«ad abould be joined to' them to form a greater Afhburton, so that they might carry out the necessary works under one governing body. He hoped that when hit time, cams'to retire bis record would be as satisfactory as those who have formerly held the important office of Mayor of such an important town. After proposing the usual loyal toast, he asked the company to drink to the health of the rebiring Mayor, of whom every townsman had •very reason to be proud. His abilities »s an administrator and a financier were exceptional, and during the whole of his thirty years residence m Ashburton he bad done his belt to farther tbe interests of the town and of the many instances of charity known only to himself, Mr jfriadlander hadever been ready to give a helping hand. He I called for three cheers for the latr Mayor ; which were heartily given. Mr Hugo Fried lander, m replying, saM with respect to the good "things said of him he thought when a person took up certain duties he was entitled to very little credit if he only carried them our. This was his third year of offioe, and he had felt it an honor to oarry out the duties of the cfioe. Considering the largo increase m the number of houses m the Bor' ough and the faot that they were all fully occupied he thought) the census should show larger returns. Perhaps the enumerators had not been supplied with proper records. Trade .bad very largely increased, and if no y increase to the population had taken place ' he would ask what had beoome of the surplus requirement*. Ha had no <.nabt however that when the next returns were made a large increase would be shown In the loo*! population. He would always be glad to continue to help m the progress of the Borough. Mr John McLaohlan, M.H,R., proposed the toast of the ex-Mayors of Ashburton,' prefacing his remarks by asking if all present had held that position, (Laughter). Although his connection with the town had only been of comparatively recent; date, he \ had never heard anything to Us discredit. Having a free railway pass (Laughter) he made himself acquainted with all parts of the colony, and Ashburton ranked second j to none m its progress as a borough. The '< digtrint'a agricultural returns wart the largest m the colony, and m pastoral matters it ranked amongst Use highest; The efficient water race supply was * matter for congratulation, H» hoped Ashbnrton wonld eon-! tinue to progress under the new Mayor, and as he would keep m touch with the latter he would see that he kept up to the mark. (Laughter) Messrs Rudolph Friedlander, D Thomas. Jno. Orr, J Scaly, and 0 Reid. ex«Mayora replied io the toast, various uubjoet* being touched upon by them, including the substitution of broken metal m place of ebingiiag for our streets, General disappointment waa expressed at the low ceneuf returns, and the advocacy of Hampstead and other suburbs being included m the municipality of Ashburton was urged Apologies wfrs &\o read for the absence of t-x Mayors TT'jrrison, D Willianvon and Councillors H Davit, and at the request of the Chairman those present stood up m silence as an repression of sympathy with Mr Harrison m Irs serious illness - Mr 0 J Harper m proposing the toast of the B rough Councillor?, statel that m his official duties as Chairman of the local County Count}'!, he was at timcibroughticto close contact with the Borough members and had found them reasonable men except on the question of Hospital Bew*pe (laughter) and tn this they appeared to think the County Council should not have muoh say, but as he (!)u'd assure them the latter having most interest m the Hospital, they must therefore look after this important snbj at. Councillor* Jones, Davisort, Willis, Clark, Andrew*, Timmlns, and Aleorn suitably replied, mentioning m the course of their remarks that as the loan money was nov absorbed, another should be obtained m order that the Borough might eonHnu#to progress, and the adoption of electric Sighting was strongly urged by one of the apeakeri. In replying to the to »st of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, Mr J MoLesohlau said three or four weeks would be required by him to prepare a suitable and adequate reply to the flittering remarks of the proposer Mr J Sealyi He •xtolled the services of the Premier which had been of the highest order. (A voioe what about the Comet,) well for a time Mr Seddon had been the Comet of New SEsaland, In 1894 when he the speaker »sb a member of the Sower house they were met with greater ! difficulties than had ever been experienced m the world. Labor and Financial difficulties appeared' Qntnrmountabje, bat under | the Premier's ajj't management they had passed the Bank of New Zealand guarantee Loan Bill, and although it was predicted by I many people that ruin was ln«vitabi#, the Colony had been saved by this measure. The Hon J McKeusve had called him m after a cabinet meeting to say the Bank of New Zealand had 'Gone Bung, 1 (Laughter) and £800,000 of the peoples savlags were looked up m that Institution, and a Government guarantee was required to enable the Bank to open Us doors, Mr Me^eogsfe asked the speaker to sound the member* an to the possibility of the guarantee Bill being passed, and »s the reeult of his eoqtiirteH the concensus of opinion was against the |Jank being allowed to fall, and by paßßing the Bill the colony ! had thus been saved from financial ruin and ! disaster, and now she Bank was In a position to pay a dividend. Representatives from Germany and Great Britain had visited the oolony to become acquainted with their advanced legislation, and thus he hoped New Zealand would not; forgather; independence, and would decline to join In Federation as proposed Mr Thomas ia proposing the Oeunty Council referred to the work of promoting and main Saining the Domain being thrown upon the Borough Council, and their member seeing how heavily this was bearing on the loysl residents might see that some Government help given Mr Ha'rpar mentioned'that tie had been urg:ng the authorities to arrange to slow dowti the train containing the Royal visitors when passing through Ashburtou. and he j urged Mr McLachko to try to haye this: suggestion carried out. The latter promised to wire to the Premier and endeavour to have th«.suggestion.given effect to Local Bodies, Agricultural and Pastoral interest*, Borough Offiaers, Solicitor, and Banker, the Press, Fire' Brigade and our host, were the other toasts duly proposed and responded to, afler which Mr J Scaly presented the following address to the ' Mayor, which he very feelingly acknowledged Aehburtoa, M»y 3th, 1901 Hugo Friedlander, &rq., Dear Sir,—We, members of the late Borough Gouneil of Ashburtop, avail ourselves of the present) opportunity to oonvey to you our high appreciation of the manner Id which you have discharged tbe duties that have devolved upon you as Mayor of Ashburton, during the past two years Many oaoasions have arisen calling for the exercise of; judgment, tact, patience, and firmness, which qualities huve at all times been exhibi'ed by you m a conspicuous degree. Now that our official connection with you has dosed, let us hope for a time only, m is fitting thai we should acknowledge the courtesy and consideration you have always shown to members of the Council, even when yon have differed from their views, or from their mode of expressing them. Wishing you and Mrs Friedlander every happinese» -We are, Dear Sir, Sours Faithfully, (Signed by all the members of the late ( COKOOU.} ]