THE LATE MAYORAL ELECTION.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 287, 8 June 1909, Page 5

THE LATE MAYORAL ELECTION.

» - ! £60 VERSUS £5. Our readers -will remember that during the mayoral contest a tliffere.nce arose between tlie car,!' -hies, Pastor Ries and Mr Druvir: •: -..'. as to the accuracy of certain fy ■;■:•<'■; relating to borough finance qiictod by tho latter at his meeting. , rastor Ries subsequently offered to forfeit £50 to the hospital if Mr Drummond could prove him to lie wrong, provided that ho (Mr Drummond) was prepared to forfeit £5 if it .should be shown upon "nvestigat'oM tbat bis statements were not founded on fact. Mr Drummond heartily accepted the challenge, and after some correspondence had passed between the par 7 ties, the Mayor deposited his cheque for £50, but made the stipulation that the Town Clerk (Mr Magnusson) was to be his arbitrator. Mr Drummond covered the Mayor's deposit with his cheque for £5, butobjected to Mr Magnusson acting as one of tlie arbitrators, on the ground that he would' be virtual-lyVsitting in judgment on his owny figures. In order to get over this aspect of the question, he- suggested that the Hospital Trustees should be asked to ripntinate the arbitrators, . and he w-rot'e to the Trustees requesting them to nominate two gentlomoji who would act in this capacity. The Trustee's felt that it would be useless to ask any one to arbitrate upon such a. dispute, until tho precise nature, of the difference had been reduced to definite; terms, and in writing. They therefore replied to Mr Drummond that they could not do as he had requested until "a letter of submission signed .by yourself and Mr Ries was in their hands." The following correspondence then ensued bet-ween the parties to the dispute, from which it will- be seen that there is not much prospect of the hospital benefiting by the incident : — Dannevirke, May 31, 1909. Dear Mr Ries,- — I enclose you copy of a letter received to-day from the Hospital Trusteees in reply to a re- , quest from me to appoint any two gentlemen to adjxidicote in respect to your challenge re -borough finance. I understand they are willing to act in the matter providing thoy have a letter of submission signed by both you and me. lam willing to sign such letter leaving the matter entirely in- their hands. Will you kindly advise/me if you Avill do so also. I can think of no fairer way to settle -this question, than to allow a dzsiniorested body io appoint the, arbitrators, y _ , If you think the Hospital Trustees ore not entirely disinterested, I ahi quite willing to refer the matter to the Chamber of Commerce, asking them to. act for us, ajid so get the matter settled and done 'with .—Yours faithfully, - ... J. DRUMMOND. To this the Mayor replied :■ — ' ■ f A . : Dannevirke, 4-6-1909. ' ' Dear Mr Drummond.-^Yours of the 31st ult., together with. a copy from the secretary of the Hospital Trustees of n. resolution passed by them at .their last meeting, are to hand, and I can only again refer you to my letters of May Ist and 14th, in which I informed you of the man appointed by me. Why all tliis quibbling and letter-Avriting? Why don't you : go straight to the point and settle the matter. 'Che time for' settlement is long 'overdue, and, indeed, if you are nob now very quick in settling the matter I shall withdraw, my £50^Yours truly,- '•-"'■ .'"*' - H. M, RIES.. Mr Drumniond's 'final answer was as follows : — Dannevirke, Juno ±, 1909. Dear Mr Ries,- — Yours of yesterday's da.to. to baud, and in reply, I may say that tho attitude' : 'you take up is just that which I cxpect-edfrom you. There is no ono knows bettor than yourself what the"' result would bo if the questions iri dispute between us were plaecd iri the hands of independent and unbiassed men to settle, hence your absurd proposition that the Town Clerk should bo arbitrator, or, in other words, sit in judgment on his own figures. Let mo quote you from your letter which appeared in tho Dannevirke Advocate on the 28th of April last: — "And surely I am not- such o foolas lo attempt to put any figures'. of such a- nature before the- people with-, out first getting them certified to by tho clerk so as to lie sure that I was •correct." And yet in the face of this you insist- that be be- appointed arbitrator, knowing that he cannot approach the matter with an open mind or unbiassed judgment, seeing that be has already cert i ßed to tlio correctness of your figures, a.nd is bound by that certificate. Where is your sense of justice and fair play, or even common honesty '1 Contrast this with my proposal, viz.. that au independent, body such as the Hospital Trustee.* or tlie Chamber of Commerce — two bodies of which yon were a- member and I was not — be asked to appoint "any two qualified men ihey chose; as arbitrators,

and that- wo siiould both agree to accept their . decision as final. , I have now done, all I. can to have ' this matter settled- in' a fair aiid up-' right manner, but I see it' is quite useless to expect you to forsake your tortuous ways, and agree to anything m reason. I shall therefore give rip I trying and will now publish all correspondence in connection with this question, leaving the people to judge between us. — Yours faithfully, ' J. DRUMMOND,