MORAL INSTALLATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 May 1917, Page 2

MORAL INSTALLATION

Mil J. D. LYNCH ASSUMES OFFICE.

The installation of Mr J. D. Lynch as Mayor of the Borough of Greymouth took place in the Municipal Council Chambers at noon to-day. There was a very large attendance, amongst those present being several ladies, Chaplain-Major York, ChaplainCaptain Patehett, Mr T- E- Coates (ex-Mayor) and a large number of citizens-

THE BEAIRIXG MA YOB,

The retiring Mayor (Mr G- EPerkins) said that he had a pleasant duty to perform as the final act in his official capacity of Mayor of Greymouth, and that was the installation of his successor. He welcomed Mr Lynch to ilie proud and honourable position of Mayor of Greymoutln He was certain that Mr Lynch would be able to perform the duties pertaining' to the office better in some respects than he (the speaker) had done To the Councillors who had boon elected he extended a hearty welcome. The main requirement of n man in an official capacity nowadays was loyalty ,and he was pleased to see that nine loyal citizens had been elected to represent the people of Greymouth for the next two years- During his term of five years he had had some strenuous times- He wished to take the opportunity of thanking the retiring members of the Council for their loyalty and courtesy to him at all times. The two old Councillors, Civs Doogan and Parfitt, would be of great assistance to the Mayor. Cr Doogan in particular would be a tower of strength. He had great pleasure in asking Mr Lynch to take the chair, and he hoped that the deliberations of himself and his Councillors would be for the benefit of Greymouth and the district generally. He hoped that they would be able to show an improvement in every respect in the affairs of the Borough and in its finanoeg.

Mr Lynch then took the chair. IIe i said that he had to thank the retiring Mayor for his kind intro* auction. In the first place he wished to thank Mr Perkins on behalf of the citizens for the way he had conducted the duties of his office for five years. He had done a large amount of good work and had spent more time than any other man in the town would have

been able to give to the duties of the Mayoral office. He wished to pay him a tribute and a vote of thanks for the work Mr Perkins had done. He had had a loyal Council behind him. They had had a strenuous time, but had done excellent work- He was sorry that Ihe majority did not seek re-election- They evidently had decided on having a. rest and on giving the new blood a chanceHe wished to welcome the new Council. Crs. Parfitt and Cr Doogan had done splendid work in the old Council and would be of great assistance to him- Cr Doogan had done especially good work, Cr Parfitt was a young Councillor and was in the proud position of being at the top of the poll- His sole desire as Mayor was to work in harmony with the Council and not in the interest of any single organisation- His main plank would be to do all in his powor to assist the Empire in winning the Avar- That was his present plank and that of his Council. At other times it was the custom of a Mayor on such an occasion to cofinne his remarks to the affairs of municipal interestThe present position had been forced on them- It was none of their seeking. Now that they had taken it up they were going to see it through and carry it out with all the strength at their command- They intended to keep in touch with the National Government as well as those in the district who were producing the commodities required by the Government in its huge needs- He was sure that they could help the Government considerably- They were a producing community and their exports of butter, cheese, gold, and coal was very large- The local representatives could assist the Government and at times act as go between. "A stitch in time saves nine," and he believed that they could get over many of their troubles by doing a little at the right time- The Mayor and Councillors would do all that they could to assist the National Government. They would also try to assist the Government in carrying out law and order and the fulfilment of laws enacted by Parliament. They might rely on the Mayor and Councillors to do this, and if the citizens were called upon he was sure that they would assist- They would also assist soldiers, going and coming and those who had returned- They would also endeavour to do anything in any way for the Empire's goodThey would try to uplift the town in the interests of the community as,a whole and administer the Borough affairs carefully and economically- During the past year and since the war broke out they had experienced strenuous times. The community was a producing one, and therefore it was their duty to further production and uplift the community. Their coal exports had fallen away and they should do something to better this state of affairs- The town was suffering through men going away to the front, but the darkest cloud had a silver,lining, and he was sure that there would be' a considerable improvement. No matter how bad things were at present he was sure that .they could lift the dark clouds if they Continuinev the Mayor said : The splendid resources of Greymouth and district justifies \is in looking forward to a considerable

trade revival when the wretched war censes. The Coast is rapidly undergoing a transformationFive or six years ago we imported beef, mutton and butter to the extent of quite £IOO,OOO per annum-To-day we have ceased to import, but are exporting quite that amount, and what is ahead? The development of our farm lands is going ahead by leaps and boundsThe land is producing enormous quantities of beef, mutton, butter and cheese- Thousands of acres, are being felled yearly and sown in gras sand thousands more to follow. Our land is proving suitable for cattle raising, and with cheap lime shortly available I feel sure that we can look forward to considerable advancement. The town has suffered materially like all small towns through so many having gone away to fight for King and Country. We are iold and talk amongst ourselves, that trade is bad- I know, you know, ihat Greymouth has suffered probably more than any other town in the Dominion through the effects of the war, but do we restrict our expenditure, our race meetings, pictures, or other pastimes? I consider we have much to be gratified for living in this fair Dominion, and we can put up a fight to keep our end up, while our boys are fighting in the trenches to preserve our and their home, so that when they return to us, we shall be able to say that we played the game looking after their homes and their interests. Last Wednesday's result when you gentlemen were elected made a material step towards earning the goodwill of the people of I\"ew Zealand for this district. We want the goodwill of the people- Our district requires development and consequently capital from outsideThe results of the contest will do much towards regaining the confidence which I fear has, through our internal troubles, been somewhat shaken of late yearsIn conclusion,- the Mayor thanked all present for taking part in his installation ceremonyHe was confident that the Mayor and Councillors would work in harmony for the interests of Grey-, mouth and the Dominion as a whole, OTHER SPEAKERS. Cr Doogan congratulated the Mayor on his election. He felt sure that with the Mayor's wellknown business ability, energy, and tact lie would make a brilliant success as Mayor. Personally, lie. was glad to lliive a seat at 'the Council table, and Le was determined to do his duty a? far as it lay in his power for the nt* terests of Greymouth- It was an honour to be a councillor, but it decidedly was not a pleasure, for it meant a lot of hard work for those who honestly did their duty respecting the affairs of the town, and he proposed to do it- They could rely on Cr Parfitt doing his work fairly and squarely- He knew the majority of the new councillors personally and he was sure that they would work amicably for the good of the town. Cr Cottle returned thanks on behalf of the new councillors and promised on their behalf that they would work for the welfare of the district and loyally assist the Mayor

Cr Parfitt extended a welcome to the new councillors and congratulated tlie Mayor on his election. He (the speaker) was a young man and had served his apprenticeship on the council. Tim ratepayers had said that he had done well Crs Weaver, Cottle, Smith, W'ang'h, Sherrat and Fog-arty also brioy spokeAt the conclusion those present were entertained by the Mayor at morning' tea.