MAYORALTY INSTALLATIONS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1732, 10 May 1905, Page 2

MAYORALTY INSTALLATIONS

INSTALLATION OF MR HISLOP

RETIRING MAYOR’S REVIEW. The-- Hon. T. W. Hislop- was installed Mayor of Wellington at the City Council Chambers on the 3rd in tile presence of a full representation ol Councillors and many interested citizens. Mrs Hislop occupied a seat on Mr- Aitken’s left.

' Air Aitken, the retiring Mayor, said lie had very great pleasure indeed in welcoming to the Council table the gentlemen who were to form the Council for the next two years. He congratulated those who had sat at the table before, as well as those who were new to Council duties, on their election, and trusted that during their term of office they would have a happy. . time,- and. have pleasure in carrying out' the' work they would be calledupon to do for the city of Wellington. up apologised for- the absence of one -of the new Councillors, Air Gibbs, who was out of totni. He also had great satisfaction in welcoming Air Hislop to the Mayoral- chair, and congratulated him upon his return, trusting that Mr Hislop would have a very pleasant, year’s office as Mayor of the city. It might be expected from him that before formally introducing Air Hislop to the Council he (Mr Aitken) should make a few remarks with refer-; cnee to the work that had been carried out by the old. Council. He did not propose, however, to weary them with a large number of figures; that would be out of place just there, but he had taken out a few figures to .show the development of the city during the last five or six years. It might astonish some of the citizens when he told them that , the revenue of the Council had nearly doubled in these six years. The revenue from all sources for the year ending March 31st, 1900, was £92,054 18s lid. Forth© year ending Alarch 31st, 1905, the revenue, Melrose included, was £173,946 12s fid;, or leaving out MelTose, £167,427 7s fid- From these figures' they would see that there had been a very great increase in the Council’s income, and, necessarily, a very large increase in the amount of work carried out by the city. He felt <at the citizens had a right to know how the works they had gone .in for had been done and how the money had been applied.

There had already been present the Council, said Air Aitken, a report giving the position in regard to the working of the tramways, but it would not be out of place for him, that day to tell them exactly how they stood. The -revenue derived from the tramways from June 30th last, when... the - first section between Newtown and Sussex square was opened, was £36,701 17s. The expenditure," including salaries, wages, and outgoings on that account, with provision for interest and sinking fund for the loan, amounted to £37,339 5s fid, so that the. working of the tramways for tlie nine months under review showed a loss of £637 8s sd. This result was an exceedingly good one, according • to his way of thinking, because citizens would remember that the revenue for the first few months from the tramways was rather limited, for the reason that only a small section of the tramways was opened. The tramways as a whole had only been opened since the middle of January, so that .it was only for a period of about ten weeks that they had been receiving a full income. Therefore, to show a loss of only some £637 upon the working of the tramways for that period seiemed to him a satisfactory result-. He anticipated that by the end of June 30tli of this year this deficit would be wiped out, and that they would also find themselves with a little money in hand to go towards depreciation. It was absolutely necessary if this work was to be done on proper business principles, that a depreciation account should he opened- He anticipated they would have sufficient money in hand at the end of twelve months’ working of the tramways to enable them to do this. The tramways income in April was £5752 15s Bd, about £2OO less than in March, but they must not overlook the fact there was on© working day less in April, and also that on Good Friday the tramways •I not work at all,, that being one of only two days (Christmas Lay was i lie other) on which, the employees were given a holiday. Air Aitken stated that the actual income from the Town Hall during the few months that it had been open was £5Bl 6s 6d. Of course, the income from this source was not at all likely to meet the expenditure required in the way of interest and sinking fund. That was never anticipated, hut in estimating the income from this source, he thought, they were justified in taking into consideration the revenue received from the old Council buildings. There were three sections, one of which had been let on lease at an annual rental of £538, and there was other revenue being derived from the old site and premises which showed at the present time a total of £250 per annum, and that could he increased if the ground was occupied as it ought to* be. The Councillors who had just retired from office had had to undertake a great deal of

work during the last five years. They had the old horse tramways to arrange for, street-widening, installation of electric tramways, wood-blocking, building of file Town Flail, the Greater Wellington question, the Hutt road quesion, the loans for Alelrose—all items outside the ordinary work that fell to the Council from week to week, and month to month. Thus they would see that the Council had had a large amount of extra work to face. In addition, there was the work involved in connection with the despatch of contingents to South Africa, the raising of patriotic and “ more men” funds, these amounting in the aggregate to £14,Q00. Besides this, there was the raising of funds for the Queen Victoria statue, the Ring’s Coronation, aud the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, so that ■ citizens would see that during, this period a. great deal of extra work had fallen upon-those connected with the City . Council. He desired to intimate that the Order-in-Council for the extension of the tramways to. Melrose was practically settled. The final conference between the City Council and the Public Works Department had taken place on this matter; and the order was now ready for the SolicitorGeneral. He was pleased to know that the Council’s efforts in that direction had been practically completed. In conclusion, Air Aitken again offered Air Hislop his congratulations upon his election to this very high position, and expressed the hope that he would have a pleasant year of office, and that he would be .backed up 'by the Council in.the same manner he- (Air Aitken) had been. If Mr Hislop was supported to the same extent that- he (Air Aitken) had been supported, be would have nothing but a pleasant task in carrying out his duties. He asked Councillor. Izard, as the oldest Councillor, to witness. Mr Hislop’s signature. (Applause.)

Councillor Izard, added his congratulations to Mr Hislop upon his installation to the high office of Chief Magistrate of this city. The public.had little appreciation of the vast amount of work, time, and thought that the Mayor of this city had to bestow upon the duties which fell to his lot. In Wellington they had always been fortunate in having “'men who voluntarily came forward at great business sacrifice to give their time and energies for the benefit of the city, and he thought that was the reason, or probably the main reason, why the city of. Wellington stood as high as it did to-day—the. premier city of New Zealand. Mr Hislop had had a taste from the dish of criticism, but he (Councillor Izard) felt sure that a. little later on Mr Hislop would offer the dish of protection to the Council, and that it would be able to shield itself beneath his wing. It was always a matter of regret to look round and miss many of the faces they had been wont to see. The old Councillors felt deeply the loss •of so many of their old friends, but the time came when it was necessary for them to be “ off with the old love ” and be c< on with the new.” He believed they had honourably concluded with the old passion. He assured Mr Hiislop and the new Councillors that the only desire of the old Councillors would be to work together with him and them for the benefit of the city of Wellington. The Council of this city was not the very terrible body they had had described from time to time. He- again gave Mr Hislop the assurance that the Council would do its best to support him in any action that he might deem necessary to bring down for the good of the city. (Applause.)

Mr Hislop, attired in the full Mayoral robes, was then duly installed, and cheers for Mr and Mrs Hislop were heartily gi\en on the call of Mr Aitken. Mr Hislop, in reply, thanked Mr Aitken very kindly for the handsome manner in which' he had referred to him. He could scarcely hope to realise that at the end of his term of office he would leave the Mayoral chair with anything like the same affection, that was entertained by the public towards Mr Aitken. Mr Izard had referred to the relative positions which one occupied before and after taking office, and, no doubt, he spoke not from a personal point of view, but from what he saw around him. Well, individually, he had had a taste of the same dish which he had mentioned, because his public and political career commenced twentynine years ago, and during that period he had tasted the sweets and hitters of criticism. But no person objected to criticism in his public life, because they recognised that it was only by criticism that purity of administration, and the. ability to carry out their work, were kept alive. He hoped in the future not to shrink from having any criticism of his actions brought to' the test, and he should look upon it as a matter to bo regretted if the power to criticise those who aspired to nublic office were taken away. The moment that power was taken, away, so assured ly would they bo on the decline. As they looked round the Co im oil’s walk they saw pictures of those who had taken, part from time to time in the administration of this city’s affairs. On the whole, they had done good work and he only hoped that he would he small link in promoting the welfare o f the city of Wellington. He could no' hope to have the success of others wh

had gone before him, but he could at least hope for a share of that success, and in regard to public matters he would be glad to co-operate with Councillors, of whoso hearty support he was assured, in promoting works for the public benefit. (Applause.) The proceedings concluded with three hearty cheers for the retiring iVl'ayor. Subsequently Air Hislop entertained the new Councillors and the heads of the Corporation staff at luncheon at Godber’s.

ONSLOW

The installation of the A lay or and Councillors of Onslow borough took place at the- Council Chambers on the 3rd. The Town Clerk (Air- S. C. G. Vickers) administered the statutory oaths to the Afayor-elect (Air R. B. Williams) • and . the following Couuoiiilors :—G._ Nash, F. Holds worth, R. S. Rounthwaite, F. A. Kiernan, P. Cavanagh, B. Lynneberg, C. Aphn, jun-r., and F. W. Larkin. Mr Williams thanked the burgesses sincerely for tlie .honour they had conferred in re-electing him unopposed to the Mayoralty.- It could mean cue of only two things—either apathy on the part of equally good or better men, or confidence in what lie had done in the past. The work of the Council had been earnest and successful. It had carried through matters of an extremely delicate and weighty nature.. If there had been slips, blame and derision must have followed. The Councillors had been willing and unselfish, and had never been seriously charged with vindictiveness or personal animosity. By the exercise of rigid economy the Council was to-day in a respectable financial position. Onslow was tlie only borough this side of Palmerston. North that was (divided into wards, and possibly they had the best arguments for being divided, since there were four distinct villages or hamlet .settlements. As there was provision in law for the allocation of the expenditure of rates, they had not suffered from the ward system, which offered no temptation for a grabbing policy. Notwithstanding this system and the possible check it might be on useful works in particular localities, Councillors had to work all the more earnestly to gain the co-operation of their colleagues. Progress and economy must be the watchword of the Council. Concluding, Mr Williams thanked the old Councillors, and expressed a hope that the work would go" on as smoothly in the future- with the new blood that had been infused. All tlie Councillors present congratulated the Mayor, and assured him of their desire to work in harmony. Councillor Neely was unavoidably absent.

IvARORI

The installation of the Mayor and Councillors of Karoi-i took place on the 3rd, the following making the statutory declaration prior to taking office: —Al ay or, Air A. C. Pearce; Councillors. F. J. Lessington, F. J. Spiers, W. D. Murdock, H. Cook, W. H. Tiedall, S. Kirkcaldie, J. Russell, W. I. Clark, C. I. Dasent. Councillor Lessington congratulated the Mayor on his election. He hoped the Council as a whole would give satisfaction to the ratepayers. Air Pearce congratulated the Councillors on their return., extending a hearty welcome to those who sat at the table for the first time. He thought the Council was one of the best the borough had ever had. Some big works were required in the borough, and the Council would have to push them forward. He proposed to first make a start with the widening of the borough roads. Then the question of a tramway service would have to be considered. This question would have to bo fully discussed, so- that before long the matter" could be placed before the ratepayers. He was glad to see new blood in the Council—it helped to purify the old. Subsequently Air Pearce asked the Council to agree that the plans for road-widening, prepared b.y Air Alio, be submitted to Mr Richmond, with a view to ascertaining whether they were correct.

In answer to a Councillor, the Mayorsaid the borough had not an engineer. They were going to appoint one, ; °,'iv© him a retaining fee when tlie estimates came on for discussion.

Objection was raised by some of tlie Councillors to the course suggested by the Mayor, as they had not had time to consider the plans. Further discussion ensued, and the plans were laid on the table. Councillor Lessington then moved that the matter be deferred for a fortnight. This was lost on tlie- casting vote of the Mayor. Air Pearce moved that the plans be submitted to Mr Richmond, and on his casting vote the motion was agreed to. INSTALLATION AT AUCKLAND. PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, Alay 3. The installation of Mr Arthur Af. Myers as -Mayor of Auckland was witnessed by a large number of citizens. lie retiring Alayor (Hon. E. Alitchelsou) and t he incoming Mayor delivered

lengthy addresses in reference to the progress and needs of the city. Both speakers urged the importance of the Greater Auckland scheme and of the immediate prosecution of drainage and water extension schemes.