MUNICIPAL POLITICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 870, 2 November 1888, Page 30

MUNICIPAL POLITICS.

MR T. KENNEDY MACDONALD’S ' ■ ADDRESS. • '

In conformity with the promise given when he retired from the, mayoralty, Mr T. Kennedy Macdonald addressed a meeting at ths Exchange Hall on Municipal questions ou Monday night. The meeting waß a large and influential one, the hall being packed. On the motion of Mr Macdonald, Mr R. Gardner was voted to the chair, that gentleman having been Chairman of [Mr Macdonald's Committee appointed iu connection with the mayoral electiou. The Chairman in intro, ducing Mr Macdonald referred at some length to the circumstances which had led to that gentleman’s retirement from the contest for the mayoralty. . Mr Macdonald, who was received with applause, said that the Chairman had been good enough, in introducing him, to give some of the details with respect to the reasons that actuated him in retiring from the candidature for the mayoralty. It was quite true that no man had any right to expect from a candidate any explanation other than that which that candidate had given to his committee, and which that committee had approved. His position was that he had given that explanation, and his committee bad approved it. He fully recognised, however, that he had a right to give the public the fullest possible explanation of all the reasons which actuated him in retiring from the contest. Hence he was before them to give a few of hiß ideas respecting municipal matters, which were shadowed forth in the programme he submitted in hi 3 address, and' also to say something respecting the personal element which had been brought into the matter Bince he had announced his retirement. An old Athenian had said, “ We count him not merely idle but useless who takes no part in public affairs.” That was an old and patriotic sentiment, and it was appreciated by his audience. But the lot of a man who entered public affairs in Wellington was by no means a bod of roses. He had no idea that he would have been subjected to the anonymous scribbling with which he had been favoured in tho press of this city. He had no objection to criticism to the fullest possible extent, but ho did not think what they had seen in the press, and what was not authenticated by the name of the writer, was criticism. (Hear, hear.) He was well aware that this criticism had largely emanated from those who took an opposite view to the

I one held by him with respect to the Reclaimed Land Leaseholds Bill, introduced into Parliament last session. It was rather disheartening to find that when a man took a part in opposing what he was convinced was a great public wrong, that he should discover men so narrow in their souls as to endeavour to do all sorts of things in revenge because he had carried out a great public duty. That was the position he had found himself in during the past few weeks. He had beori opposed very bitterly by certain individuals interested in these leases, bat not by all, for some had risen above stich conduct, and had given him a hearty and whole-souled support. But there were others who had been endeavouring to bring about a false impression in the minds of the ratepayers respecting his withdrawal. He would not refer to the small letters which had appeared in the papers ; but if it was any satisfaction to the writers, he might tell them, if anonymity was of any value to them, that he know their names. The writers had told their intimate friends, and these had told their intimate friends (laughter) and so the matter had reached his (Mr Macdonald’s) ears. Iu the columns of the Evening Post there recently appeared a column and a quarter of advertisementmatter headed “Mr Macionald’s Candidature for the Mayoralty,” and as this was the most important of the literature of this contest, they must exottse him if he referred to it in detail. This precious effusion consisted largely of three solicitors’ opinions respecting a olauee of the Harbour Board Act, and it was introduced by a long explanation addressed to the “gentle reader.” Mr Macdonald quoted a small portion of the advertisement, which was to the effect that he was to be the candidate of the ragtail and bobtail, and Mr Duthie was to be the candidate of the influentials ; and that respectability was at last to have its proper place. Now the writer said he (Mr Macdonald) was intended to be the candidate of the ragtag and bobtail. Now 'what was the ragtag and bobtail ? There was no one who ought to know better what was meant by ragtag and bobtail than the gentleman who wrote that introduction. (Hear, hear.) He need not tell them who that gentleman was because they were all aware who it was. (Cries of “ No, we don’t; we should like to hear.”) This gentleman, Mr Macdonald continued, was put" into public office in the Municipal -Council by the votes of the working men. (Hear, bear. He was elected Mayor on three occasions by'the same votes ; he was elected as a member of Parliament and to the Ministry of this country by those votes—(applause) ; and nnder the cloak of anonymity that gentleman had classed the men who had pnt him into those positions—who had helped him to mount from the ranks to the position of a leader—the ragtag and bobtail. (Hear, he r and applause.) If by the ragtag and bobtail he understood that the men who earned their living day by day, was meant, then he was'proud to know himself as a representative of those people. (Applause.) He was the last man in the city to set class against class, for no one recognised more fully than he did that the welfare of any community depended upon all classes working hand in hand. (Applause.) The whole object of these attacks in the newspapers was, so far as he could understand, for the purpose of conveying an entirely false impression as to the reasons of his withdrawal. They had placed " before them three opinions by solicitors iu the oity as to his position as a leaseholder. On the morning of his Committee meet, ing he had heard something about the matter, and he had at once set about to ascertain whether it was a fact that he would be disqualified from holding the position of Mayor in consequence of being, a Harbour Board leaseholder, and he obtained two opinions on the matter, one of his own solicitor (Mr Travers) and one from Mr Skerrett, which were very fall and complete, and which stated in the most distinct terms that he would be disqualified. They , would remember that he' had told his Committee this at the meeting, and in order to give the matter the fullest publicity he had advertised the full story in the three papers. Now, the worthy individuals who had been at the back of this advertisement—there were others beside— be would tell them something about that directly—were dissatisfied with his solicitors’ views, and had interviewed certain other solicitors about the matter. Since the opinions of these three gentlemen had been published he had consulted ‘ other solicitors on the subject, and he was just as far forward as when he read those opinions. He had discovered from an eminent barris er in this town that the opinion that the Mayor, notwithstanding his being a lessee, oould sit on the Harbour . Board was correct, but he entirely disagreed with the reasons that had been given by the solicitors who gave that opinion. Another solicitor had stated that there was not a lawyer in Wellington whose opinion was worthastraw upon the reading of the clause dealing with the matter. (Laughter.) He (Mr Macdonald) believed that this man was honest. (Laughter. ) He referred to themanner in which different legal opinions were given by different solicitors, and charged for. After all these differences of opinion they went to a Judge of the Supreme Court to find out what was the meaning of an Act, and the Judge, after sitting on it for a week or two, gave his decision, and whether that was right or wrong, that was held to be the meaning of the Act, and became the precedent for all time. Now he was told as a matter of fact that the clauses were obscure. They would remember that in oonsequenoe of Captain Williams being advised that the clause was obscure, he had a lawyer’s opinion taken on it, and in consequence he resigned his seat upon the Board. He (Mr Macdonald) was extremely sorry this question bad arisen, but he wished them to distinctly understand that as soon as he had satisfied himself that he would be disqualified, he had taken the earliest opportunity of letting his committee know. He received the legal opinions in the afternoon, and they would remember that his committee was called together that night to receive them. There were other elements in it. When he received the requisition to contest the election, he gave the matter every consideration, and reflected who were likely to be the candidates. Now the

leasehold question* ,;ais.-they -were aware, which he took tip ;’some time ago, waa about the only principle at stake' which would justify a contest. The City Council held very strong views on the question at the time, and intended" tb introduce a Bill and thrust it down people’s.thrpats whether they liked it or not—they were only prevented from doing so by the : expiry [of the session. He wanted to see ' whether the present Mayor was going to face the people on this question, and, if so,.;,he (Mr Macdonald) would have considered’it bis duty, in view of the stand he; had taken, to meet him. He felt also that the taxation of the city was growing Unbearable, and that no attempt was being made to stop it. A few days after his candidature, however, a new candidate presented himself, in the person of Mr Duthie, : an intimate friend of his. Now that was a veryihgenious-'move . bringing Mr Duthie out, because "Mr Duthie waa a man of large busiuess.and following, chairman cf the Harbour-Board, and so on, and likely to prove a-;very important candidate, and a good one. -So’ far as he (the speaker) was concerned, he had. immediately to face this element, that “the friends of both (for being Scotchmen—laughter—they had a large number of common friends) were going to be split upintb.twb camps by this contest, A contest in ordinary-circumstances between acquaintances or(strangers was conducted on ordinary line's ;• But when it was between friends there was,- unconsciously perhaps, a feeling of bitternessVwhich was exceedingly disagreeable, and ' wjhich • would tend to estrange both parties.and a large, number of friends. He felt -.that very deeply. He did not think thak; under the same circumstances he should have stood against Mr Dathie, but that.-gentleman had stated that he felt bound tbvoppose Mr. Macdonald ou public grounds alone. But ho felt that great bitterness' would be caused, and if the bitterness whioh had'been imported into the matter now by false impressions, anonymous letters, and :' so,»/forth, .was any- .index to what taken place had the election, - been gGne on with, they would all have bkeuvbitter enemies ever after." In addition to;that he discovered that an offer he had made.; to the Government to undertake the. Property-tax valuations for the city was going to be used .as an engine against him. Men of position in this city who wore not anxioußsShat he should represent the largely interested in this very lease question—took upon themselves to represent to.tihe Government that it was improper tßafel'a candidate for the mayoralty should be;in, the "position of Pro. perty-tax valuer.a man should not be allowed to. carry on. his business in the ordinary iwdy did ; not seem to strike them f at.('all, but there the fact was, sbat they used these influences. Now, he’.V.freld a very strong opinion npon conduct/pf that sort--a very strong opinion that no. Government had any right to assume that .position, and interfere with the rights of a citizen in the exeroise of this political •. and municipal privileges. (Applause.) [lie Yput before bis committee the factVjthat his proposed candidature meant, .-firstly, a severance of private which was; goißg to be exceedingly painful to him ; secondly, the loss of a considerable amount of business—the loss, of thje appointment; and thirdly, the expjensfc'vjjf > a very hardly fought fight. And/when, in addition to all these reasons he had (to face the fact he had already put beforejjthem, in connection with the legal disqiialifihation, they would, understand very [deeply that the question’Mwas onewhich his Committee ‘stiqukj;. ‘ settle for him. He put the whole ..' ’matter before the committee. ( Wb^/^.vthe 'legal • opinions supplied to him came,before the Committee on top of the and - it became evident that this an element in the fight against himj"th6n they said, “ This contest is not worth pursuing. There is no principle at stake:which, would justify you in sustaining heavy-pecuniary loss , in the contest; and the citizens of .Wellington do not demand of any irian that he should suffer such loss - whenj there is no great principle at stake;” V((Applauee.) And here he would, remark that hqjthought a very great mistake was made iff expecting candidates to fight for such positioneas they did. He did think the office of Maycir ought to be filled by the unanimous wish;of the citizens so far as regarded some one man in..the community, and that it should not bjo necessary for that man to hold commrktee.lineetings in all parts of the town night affceriiight, to personally canvass for votes, ' and? spend hundreds of pounds in securing hn'ornge which, after all, with their ; past ; experience, did not confer great honour’ --;'or dignity on the occupant. The mayoralty " on . such a policy as : that . wasjilikely . to drift into the hands of - the;' purely wealthy, and the. people w.ere (interested very greatly in , seeing thatihat did not happen. There were men of (moderate means in the community who were, fitted to take upon themselves (the: burden of municipal government, and if: ouch heavy expense became , necessary the people would practically limit . themselves to , a very few wealthy men, and would thus disfranchise large numbers iqJEjejthemselv-es. In future times he hoped tb.Sjcfwhgn one than bad been picked oat as suitable for the office that man should not be the sxpense of a contest, and shdljd (feel that he had practically the uiijwnmous support of the ratepayers. (Applause.) One 1 , word more about this advertisement. It made a charge against ;|ne;; .piiblic press of the city, and he w&Md. tell them the story of the advertieerS|Bt**fhe story as told by the press itself.JpThia. advertiseinent was handed in : to the NeW;Zealaxp Times—so the Times itself told thom wwith a request that it should be published as'an item of news. The newspaper,very properly said, Ycu must authenticate [the statements made therein by the natoo of a ratepayer; we cannot take up.-the position that legal opinions upon important matters like this are found in the middle of the street, and you must have the courage, to father your own introduction ; abd/yonr own opinions. The people who proffered the “item” were not prepared to take -'the responsibility of fathering their opiuionsjfahd so they took that “ item of news ” away |o ono of the evening journals. They; cohld-pot. get , it in there, nor at the other evening paper office, for the same reason ; aruTwhen they found that

th& press of Wellington was -tbnpufable though to ingist that hiatterS bf'tkissb'rt SlioUld be authenticated by a name, they sent it down Us Ah advertisement by a mesh -senger. who paid the monoy over the counter.■■ That waS the sort t>f anonymous Attack he/ hid beeh subjected t<> since -he., ceased, to ■ •be; ■ - a candidate for the mdydtalty.; . and - he thought it was conduct that would- be deprecated by every man haying any- honourable sense and feeling. (Applause.) ' _ REORGANISATION OF THE f CORrORATION; STAFF. ; * .

Referring now to .public ' questions, Mr Macdonald said he had said, when he issued his address, < that," one of the things absolutely required K/at / ‘this stage was complete reorganisation of.'the Corporation staff. (Hear, beari) * That .ohr servation had been taken up. in an-entirely wrong spirit. The word reorganisation had been read by those who opposed/his" vipw as retrßnchmepti and he had :beeh told that it W&a hot politiy to lie * 1 htintingetown” officers or “humbttgging and bullying" theth, Ho Was the last man in the world to hufit .doUrn or bully officers, as those Who werO fathilihr With him, so far as administration was concerned, would know. He gave ajgFShtSlbrt&atfionsideration to those with whomholvS'S'Brouglit into contact* and would be the lastto adopt atibh a policy ns that ascribed to him. But rborgAtiisatidn meant, as he understood it, the enabling Of two rhen tq .do was was done by three if the work iioiild b$ done by two as well as by three, an<d not by reducing salaries, but rather incfeasiflg>;'two salaries if it was required,-’and saving.the third. He was not going into detail respect, ing the work of the Corporation staff.. Hr believed the city had retnrned . as: members of the new City ,Counoil a number of men quite able to grasp the whole and who' would insist upon the reorganisation ho demanded. By some mean'§ or other the office ef Town Clerk " had practically drifted into one, not of Toiyu.-Glerk, but of City Solicitor, all the work .formerly done by the Town Clerk- being, JpQWKperi formed by the Assistant Town Qlei4:iiWß|re; the Town Clerk attended- only.'te> .tho business of the Corporation. /..As r’long'-Ss * they had a solicitor pare and simple in that position, sjo long, he was afraid,. they ..would have law npon their hands, and it. would be one of the main questions for the new.Gounoil to take into consideration, whether 'the Town Clerk should not take upon himself some of the duties appertaining to. his office; He had nothing to say against the Town Clerk himself—his only complaint was. on account of that officer being confined. 1 to solicitor’s work. The Assistant Town Clerk, Mr Page, was an ‘ Admirable officer, and one whom the Corporationrepald ill spare. The Inspector of Nuisances was another admirable officer. (Laughter- and applause.) He was so admirable op: officer, and so much in request, that the Corporation and Benevolent Institution had hover done with patting work on him, and the result was that the duties of the -office-which he was paid to fill were not performed, in the manner they ought to be, because:, the man. had not got the time to do it. It w(vs a farce that a city extending from Pipitea Point to Newtown should be inspected by one map who filled all the positions,'! Mr /-Johnson filled. (Applause.) Then there,-was the City Valuer. They had hero Va.. gentleman who was engaged for/ three -or four months in the year who bad -the re* mainder of the time to himself'except what was taken up by the duties of. Rntiirning Officer and Clerk to the Licenaing- Benah. When he (Mr Macdonald) was a roember of the City Council in 1877*78 a Reorganisation ■ Committee, of which he was a rpember, jtvas appointed, and all the offices were .then re*, arranged. Some officers were andothers wereappointed. And oneeardinalprinciple laid down then was that_ .every, officer of the Connoil should give his whple.nndivided time to the Council’s;{saryice,!S'and' should not be employed in any other' business or capacity whatsoever. HeVfelt,-ap every man in the city engaged in .commission and valuation business had! folt for yeara past, that they as ratepayers, _ .paying heavy taxes suffered hardship -in being'coari polled to enter into competition with ja gentleman they were paying, and.who/used Corporation time and stationery forharrying . on business in opposition to thdm: For the. Corporation had given the cityvaltfer per* mission to use all the time'he: was/ not engaged in their service; they paid him for that time; and actually gave him:-clerical ■ assistance during those three or four months ! That was a palpable absurdity', and >he hoped the new Council would look into it ■ and see that the principle of which .he had - spoken was reinstated. When he told them that Mr Aises was at the back'/of-this advertisement, and that he had- beenfomenting all this agitation against him speaker), they would understand _ that he had plenty of spare time ; on hlS'kaifds. (Applause.) He noticed was present, and he advised., that-gentle man to take this matter into consideration When he became Mayor. One point was neglected in Wellington, though it was qbseryd(|.in other cities, and that was that'.the/hqads iof the departments did not submit to the Mayor every year reports of what had: beSif dohe in their several departments. <■,. 1 THE CITY FINANCES;' v - '..-' 'lb;/ He stated in his address (and the’statement had been criticised duringtbeelections) that the finances of the city were - getting into an embarrassed state. . Veryfew/people, he supposed, took the trouble - $o:/get the balance-sheets, those documents of /which thousands were printed, but of which very few were read. Ha had looked up some of them with reference the banking account; and he took !it that the bank account of any private /i pjliyidu al or Corporation, especially when yCuffiad got a statement of assets and liabilities, with it', showed that person’s true position.’/In'lßßs the balance due by the Corpojrationto the bank was £1409 ; in 1886, £5652 . .(getting worse); in 1887, £18,082 (it was going up with a vengeance!); and in 1888; £21,760. But that astute gentleman who was running the city just now, Mr Samuel Brown, .discovered a way of manipulating-part Of the latter balance. He found.- - that-/ the Municipal Corporations Act’, 1886 allowed something to bo. .-done with the overdraft. Debentures--were’;. quietly issued for £9500; not a word was>said .to anybody, and the £9500 was added - to the funded debt of the city, leaving the ovOr-

draft at £12,260’. Buit .the fact remained that the overdraft, which.- was £l4os in ißss, was really £21.7,60. Surely, the Corporation had been', going behind, all this time ! (Applause.) There was another thing that exoited the amusement and sorrow of the. reading ratepayer. The Parliament of New Zealand, when giving the Corporation of Wellington power to raise i loans, provided that should put by something as sinking fund. There Were various views on sinking funds ; some people held them to be good, while others, like Sir Julius Vogel, collared them altogether. Now the Corporation of Wellington, though not supposed to be so astute as Sir Julius Vogel, had a large amount of craftiness. They had to appoint two sinking fund commissioners, in accordance with the Aot, to look after the proper investment of the money, and who had they appointed ? "Why, two of their own officers, the Town Clerk and Assistant Town Clerk, so that if any question of investment ardse these gentlemen would d 6 as thfay were told; like good bays: And this £2i,700 odd that the British boticU holder thought afrAs invested . safely; had Actdaliy faced lent io the Council itself on the Te Aro reclamation, which vVas already pledged to the bondholders ! That was how the finances of the city were manipulated. (Applause.) He had suggested, as a means of affording relief, consolidation of loans, and the : only reply mdde WAS that it could not be done. Now, it was one of the easiest things in the world to say “It can’t be carried into effect,’’ and he was going to show them how it could be done. He did not stand there as a finanoial prophet, but he said there .was nothing more well understood by the British public who were interested in finance than the consolidation of loans, and that there was nothing which stood higher as an investment than good municipal loans on the London market. They, the Corporation of Wellington, had three loans (with some subsidiary ones), one being eallsd the consolidation loan of £200,000, while the others Were £IOO,OOO and £130,000. How could the £200,000 loan be consolidated ? They had here the other day Mr Westgarth, a gentleman who was as widely known in Australia as in London, and in London his name- was a household word in financial matters. HO was a very large shares holder and bondholder in the Manawatu Railway Company, which, as they were aware, had borrowed between £600,000 and £700,000 on debentures at 5 per cent. After going over-the Company's line, Mr Westgarth said to the. Company—“ Gentlemen, your debentures have got 19 years to ruD, you are paying 5 per cent in London for them; there is no reason in the world why you should not get the money at 3J per cent, if you will increase your capital by £150,000, .and the saving will be so great that you can at once rely upon paying your shareholders a dividend. Now, on the £200,000 loan of the Corporation, interest was paid at 6 per cent., and it had 19 years to ran." Its present price on theLondoa market was £lls to £ll7. In other words, if you could get all the bondholders to sell, you would buy the whole thing at £ll7 for every £IOO. The interest annually on this loan was £12,000. ' If they offered the holders of these bonds £125 of 4 per cent. stock they would redeem the £200,000 by paying £250,000 ; in other words, increase the debt by £50,000. If they could do that and i&sue 50 years debentures, instead of 19 years, at 4 per cent., they would be only paying £IO,OOO a year interest instead of £12,000, having increased the period for the payment of their debt 50 years as well as £50,000. In the meantime what did that saving of £2OOO a year in interest mean ? The value of the saving of £2OOO a year, at 4 per cent, per annum for 19 years, amounted to £61,178, cr £11,178 more than the city would have to pay for the increase of the amount of the loan. In other words, if they invested that £2OOO at 4 per cent., and compounded it yearly, it would, at the end of 19 years, have amounted to £61,178, and they would have made £11,178 by the exchange. So great was the power, of interest, that they would rather be surprised to know what the saving of £2OOO would amount to for the whole period of fifty years—£3os,334. There was no reason why the City Council of Wellington should not do this as well as a railway company. Ho cared nothing for those who said it conld not be done ; let them try, and they would see whether it could be done. - To go further, take the two loans of £IOO,OOO and £130,000, maturing 41 years hence. On these they were paying 6 per cent-£13,800 a year. If that was reduced to 4 per cent, the saving would be £4600 per annum. If they offered the bondholders of these 41 years’ debentures £125 of 4 per cent stock for these debentures, they would redeem the two loans for £287,250, with expenses, say, £300,000, paying, at the expiry of 50 years, £70,000 for the exchange. They would save the difference between 6 per cent and 4 per cent —£lßoo per annum—which, invested for 41 years at 4 per cent, would amount to no less a sum than £179,682, or a saving of nearly £IIO,OOO during 41 years, or in 50 years it would come . to the enormous sum of £274,000. The saving would almost absolutely wipe out the whole loan for the period. These figures were absolutely correct, and conclusive that the consolidation of all the loans would give a total saving of £3BOO per annum; £3BOO per annum would pay interest en a new loan of nearly £loo,ooo—a loan sufficient to complete a proper system of drainage—not a system which emptied the whole of the drainage of the city into the harbour, and was going to spoil one of the finest harbours in the world. He Eointed out the enormous expense whioh ad been incurred in connection with drainage without a good system being obtained, and said the only salvation for the city was in some such scheme as this. The questions of drainage, a new cemetery, and a recreation ground for Thorndon must be faced very shortly, and it was simply impossible to face them without a large sum of money. The only way to get money was to re-arrange the finances, and in such a way that the burden of taxation should not be increased. (Mr H. D. Bell : What is the price of New Zealand Government 4 per cents ?) Mr Macdonald said that no one should know better than Mr Bell that th« New Zealand Government bonda

stank In the nostrils of tfa'e Ehfgfeb Mr Bell was in oonstant oommunioatiori vm-h London, and knew that there were no better bonds on the London market than the Weilingfofi City Council’s. He expressed an opinion that the/ bondholders would jump at the ohanoeof getting £Bxioia for their bonds than the London market price, abd pointed out that every municipal loan that had been issued in the city of London during the last few yearß had been issued at 4 per cent., at t?biCh we. could issue ours also. People at Home did n6't believe in 6 per cent, bonds — they would rather rend the money at 4 per cent, on mortgage. As to the Argument that the Government had failed to effect a? consolidations of a half-million loan, he considered the Government . were very fortunate in getting 90 per. cent of the bondholders to agree within a year, and that there was every hope of the remainder comiDg in. (Applause.) CONCLUSION. With reference to the frontage rate, and to the statement that his private residence bdd nef frontage; Mr Macdonald remarked that Hh faAd nearly 300 ft of frontage adjoining it, dpon which he Would have to pay under a frontage rAte; /He expressed an opinion that this rate would be sd.ipted very soon. (Applause.) In conclusion, he said all the opposition to him hinged on the fear that one of these days he might ask the people of Wellington to put him in the poaition of a representative of the people in Parliament. (Applause.) If that time should dortie they would find that the policy he had always ptirsiied dl standing up and fighting public abuses, of being absolutely independent of men, whoever tfisy Wefe on the other aide, would be pursued by hiffi t d the bitter end." He had endeavoured to be A good and faithful oitizeu, and to do his duty by the city"; and ino man, whether born here or not, had ai more genuine desire for the development *of the city thau he had. All the energy he had had been devoted to the advancement of the claims and progress of the eity in which his interest was, and in which he resided. iAnd they might depend that to the end his> whole soul would go out in the endeavour to : do his duty faithfully as A citizen of Wellington. (Continued Applatlse.) - On the motion of Mr J. Burns, seconded by Mr M. P. Cameron, a hearty vote of thanks was tinauimously ~paßsed to Mr Macdonald for his address, ' - - .

Mr Macdonald, in returning thanks, said that they were rather back ward in Wellington in discussing both political and municipal matters, and he expressed a hope that greater activity would be shown in the future than had been manifested in the past. He repeated the. announcement made to his Committee some time ago, that he would gladly give the free use of the Exchange Hall for all public meetings called on requisition to the Mayor. (Applause.) A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the meeting.