THE MAYORALTY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 766, 5 November 1886, Page 23

THE MAYORALTY.

‘ MR FISHER RETIRES.

Mr George Fisher, M.H.R., who has been announced for some time as a candidate for the Mayoralty for the ensuing year, ad. dressed a meeting of ratepayers at the Newtown Hall last Friday evening. There were about 120 persons present, and Mr J. H. Heaton was voted to the chair. The Chairman, briefly introducing the candidate, expressed pleasure at the numerical strength of the audience. Mr Fisher, who was warmly received, said he had to go through at racing speed, and he would not therefore detain them for more than an hour. He might say at the outset that he was faced with a difficulty, which was to him a somewhat unpleasant one, out of which he proposed to extricate himself in a very simple way. It was known that he was about to enter into business on his own account, and the time which he would otherwise have been very willing to place at their disposal he proposed now * to. turn to his own use and benefit. It was his intention to withdraw from the election, and he ought to tell them at once that the unpleasant feature was that already, before the election was opened, some very unpleasant things had been said about him. For instance, it had been said that the Mayoral position, and the salary it conveyed, were necessary to his existence. Other things had been said which he would not put in their native ugliness ; it was sufficient to Bay, in answer to them, that the Mayoral office and its emoluments were not at all necessities to his existence. It might be urged that one who entered into public affairs should not be of too sensitive a disposition ; but lately he had been met with a demand on the part of his family, who said to him that he should not in this way place himself in the position of being subjected to these indignities and making himself a target for all the petty malignity of the town. Another consideration was, beyond that, that there were a number of men in the citv who had stood by him for many years, to whom it was due that they should

not be said to have spent their exertions in supporting a man who had degenerated down to the standard of a political hanger-on. He had never been a political hanger-on, and he would not be one now. He would resign every public office he held, one by one, rather than have such a stigma attached to him. Therefore he put it to them that if it was desired that he should take any further share in this election, he cast upon them the responsibility of asking him to do so, for this reason only, that he should not like any of his supporters to say he had left them in the lurch. He would now proceed to give them his views on municipal questions, being now, he might say in a position to do that in an impartial, unimpassioned, and disinterested way. One of the rumors now in circulation was that he and Mr Samuel Brown had “ squared the election.” Well, it rested with the ratepavers to say whether there should be given to'a statement of that kind any truth—any weight at all. If it was within their power to give him an intimation in point of numbers that it was their wish he should proceed in the election, let it be given, and they would soon discover, whether there had been any “squaring.” One other point he had to explain to them. There had been an attempt to bring into this election the question of the Government Insurance Association, and a loss to the building trade of Wellington in the shape of a building the Association proposed to put up in Wellington. Surely those gentlemen who said that did"not know what they were talking about. The objections he had raised while he was on the Board were to large sums of money being spent on white elephants; and he objected to the appointment of one person as agent at a salary of £IOOO a year, while the gentleman in charge of the most profitable agency in the Colony only received £4OO a year. Was he justified? Would they ask him to sit quietly by and see all these things being done —especially he who knew how they were being done ? For he knew that commissions were offered to members of the Board to favor particular purchases. He had nothing whatever to do with the abolition. He was down South travelling for his own purposes when the motion was made that the Association should be abolished. It was done in his absence —he might say advantage was taken of his absence. If he were asked the reason of the abolition, he said that all the money that could be spent in the purchase of useless sites had been spent; appointments had been made so that it was impossible to duplicate them ; and, because he had objected to this and prevented the establishment of local Boards, Sir Julius Vogel brought about the abolition of the Association. The real fact of it was that certain persons, having accomplished all their purposes, it was no longer necessary that the Association should exist—and it was dissolved. Now he had disposed of the unpleasant portion of the subject. He came now to the objection urged against his candidature—that he had already occupied the office for a period of four years. Speaking of that a 3 an objection, he was bound to admit that it was reasonable and fair. But how came it about? Of the persons opposed to him, what choice had the people* had. The people opposed to him were Mr Hutchison, Mr Andrew Young, the American gentleman from Geelong, and Mr Petherick. What choice was there for the people ? He left them to furnish the answer. He would now tell them who he had done, for, although one proverb said a man should not blow his own trumpet, he would speak in fulfilment of another, which said that a man was entitled to speak good of himself, because others will speak all the ill that is to be spoken of him. (Applause.) There were four reasons for his stay in office. Thefirstwasthathehadinitiated the greatest work, he believed, that had been undertaken in the city—the Wainui-o-mata water supply. He pointed out. the difficulties that were experienced in the time of what was known as the water famine, and thought they would admit the benefit of the supply. Then there was the Te Aro reclamation. He did not claim that he initiated that great work—he gave Mr Dxansfield all credit for his connection with it—but he thought he might fairly claim to be the father of it. If it had not been for him he submitted that the city would not have got the grant. He had instituted in this Colony what was known as the lawyer town clerk ; and the fourth great work was the carrying through the Courts of the Plimmer-Reeves law suit. Messrs Plimmer and Reeves claimed over £12,000 and got £2300. He did not wish to advance the argument, but he thought it was pretty evident from what they had seen in connection with the District Railways Act of a person making money out of his public position, that the Mayor could have made money on that occasion. Those four years were not years of pleasure, but of hard work ; and their banker had on one occasion said that he (Mr Fisher) was doing work which, done for a private firm, would entitle him to £IOOO a year.- Now, the Mayor might be ornamental, but in those days he had to do a great deal of good hard work, and wanted his head screwed on right. He was- going, however, to refer to what had happened during the past year. There was the matter of Bayliss’ sureties, m which the Corporation, after getting a verdict from the Supreme Court against Mr Bayliss, paid him his claim. He did not know how this was done—he did not pretend to say that there was anything wrong but the moral of it was that if you want to win an election you must consider the contractors if you want their support. Another matter was that in connection with Plimmer’s verandah, in which the Corporation did the same thing. He could imagine nothing more idiotic than a Corporation making such an ass of itself as to go to the Courts, get verdicts, and throw away the processes. The reclamation drains was another instance. Now the Public Works Committee of the Council recommended that no action be taken to widen College.lane. But they did not know that Messrs Blundell Bros, owned land opposite the lane. Messrs Blundell put a leader in the Post telling the Council that they had better widen the lane, and in consequence the Public Works Committee’s reoommendation was not adopted. The Council had got the Go vernment to increase the maximum of rating powerfromone ehilling to fifteenpence. There

-was" no reason for that; and although it might be said that the power was ijing dormant, they might take his word that it would be enforced. The power of voting for the city auditor was taken away from the public; and so, if = the people were not care., ful, the power of electing tbe Mayor would be taken from them also. They knew that elegant artist Gillon ? And they knew the Evening Post ? He was sure they must know Gillon—they could hot mistake him. He was a cross between Robinson Crusoe and the Rev Mr Stiggins, (Laughter). Well the Post said the power of electing mayors should be taken from the people. However, he (Mr Fisher) apart from joking, was warning the people against this possible evil, m order that they might take steps to prevent it. That concluded the general topics he had to speak on. Now he had a large question to speak upon—viz., the negotiations between the Harbor Board and the City Council. Mr Fisher expressed indignation at the “ shameless and indecent ” manner n which this matter had been pushed on— , for there was, he said, no power to conclude it until Parliament had been appealed to. He bad a right Jo speak to them on this matter _as the parliamentary representative of the district; and he wished them to say how he was to . vote upon the question when it was brought before Parliament. Mr Fisher pointed to a ■ number,of plans hung round the stage, one of which, he said, was brought down to suit the diminutive intellects of the City Councillors ; another was more than worth its weight in gold, because it cost 800 guineas (Mr Napier Bell’s plan) ; another was executed by a member of the Royal Academy just arrived by the Doric. (Laughter.) He went on to illustrate by the plans, the agreement into which * * those poor noodles the City Councillors,” had entered. (Laughter). Mr Ferguson, tho Board’s Engineer, he might remark in passing, was an extremely clever man —yon could see that by the way in which he manipulated * 1 those poor puppets in the City Council.” Mr Bell, in his plan, showed the reclamation complete, with three wharves jutting out—he thought that no harm ; whereas the Corporation dared not show reclamation; it dared not show its nose. (Laughter.) Now, anybody hear of Wellington papers opposing Mr Bell’s plan. (A Voice : “Not even the Post.”) No, not even the Post, because the Harbor Board did net say anything against it (Laughter.) As to the proposal of the Board to hand over the £39,000, “thank you for nothing.” They could get that without the consent of the Board. The Legislature by the Act of 1881, said this nfbney should go in reduction of the municipal debt, and it had reiterated that opinion in the Wellington Harbor Board Loans Consolidation Act. The city of Wellington owed £600,000* for a little population of 25,000. Parliament looked on that as an amazing thing Of the total the Corporation owed about £430,000; and out of its revenue of about £47,000 a year it had to send to England a sum of £26,000 in the way of interest. That was rather a staggering proposition. His impression always was that the city, having been illiberally treated in the past, should form an endowment for itself. He had always aimed at that. The HarDor Board, continually coming along in its wellknown aggressive spirit, had now arranged to take more land than they had originally asked for £SOOO, and to give nothing for it, from the softheads in the Council. He accused the Board ot trying to filch the endowment, and denied that he had ever tried to keep up difficulties between the two bodies. But it was like the Afghan line of demarcation—grip, grip grip! The Komaroff of the Harbor Board would never be satisfied, and the only remedy he (Mr Fisher) could see was to Dut a Sir Peter Lumsden into the City Council. (Applause.) He wished to put this matter before the meeting, because it was stated that they m Cook Ward had settled the question. This property belonged, he said, to the people, and before it was taken away they should be consulted. He wanted the meeting to say how he was to vote on the question in the House. If they said vote “ aye - he would vote ave. If they said vote no , he would vote no. He had no individual opinion in the matter. One other matter he would refer to, and that was that of the railway extension to Te Aro. He warned them that the Harbor Board would prevent that railway extension if it could. (Applause.) The evening paper to which he had alluded was evidently not “in the know” in this matter, because it advocated the extension. He knew that it was intended that the lino never should be extended. It ought to be extended to benefit the city. (Applause.) Now, he had no more to say, for he was not touting for votes. He regretted that things had been said of him to which he had referred earlier. He had always believed that he would command the respect of those who were politically opposed to him; and he believed he would command it. (Applause.) It was to be regretted on the peoples Womb imoriC. than? neonle would suffer more by public men being attacked ; for the time was coming n this town when public men would not be able to give expression to their opinions. Now in this election, he knew of indications’that men did not dare to speak in connection with it ; and he asked the people leaving him out of the question—not to be ready to cast aspersions on public men who had served them well in the past. (Prolonged.applause.) In answer to questions, Mr Fisher said that so long as he was the representative of the people they might trust to him to the last degree. (Applause.) Mr A. Wilson regretted that Mr Fisher had decided to withdraw from the Mayoralty; and he suggested that the meeting should ask him to reconsider his decision. (Loud applause.) He moved, That this'meeting hears, with regret, of Mr Fisher’s intention not to contest the Mayoralty election, and that he be asked to reconsider his decision, this meeting pledging itself to support him to the best of its ability. Mr Wilson pointed out that all publics men had to put up with a great deal of snowballing. Mr Fisher said Mr Wilson knew how that would be interpreted next day—as an election trick. He would point out that an election cost £l5O to £2OO. You dodged about

town for two months like a flying pieman canvassing ; and if yon were elected you had the privilege of giving your time to the city for nothing for a year, at the end of which, if you did your work, you were told, that you did it for the sake ot making money out of it. Any man who thought he would come out with a credit balance was a fool. But he found that the artisans, who had made him wnat he was—good or bad—were a divided camp ; and he was not going to fight an election with all the other power thrown into the scale against him.

. Mr Wilson suggested that the sense of the ' meeting be taken on the question. Mr Fisher preferred that Mr Wilson Bhould take time to consider his position. There * seemed to be a craze now for a new man—“even if it was only a wax doll”—and if some other man came along, the ratepayers there that night find themselves in a difficult position. If the people brought forward any other man, he would do all he could to get him in. (Applause.) He suggested that Mr Wilson should withdraw the motion, and cast around for another man and consider his position. Mr Wilson withdrew his motion. Mr Fisher asked the meeting to come to a decision on the Harbor Board question. Mr Wilson moved, “That our representative, in his position in the House, shall oppose, in toto, all the request that the Harbor Board has made upon the City Council, seeing that it is a great loss to the city and of no advantage to the harbor at all.” (At this stage a number of people left the hall, and at the request of the chairman, Mr Wilson refrained from discussing the question.) Mr Howell seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. Mr Fisher moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, warmly thanking him for the assistance he had given him in public work. This was carried, and the meeting terminated.