MR. MOORHOUSE AT TE ARO.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4287, 16 December 1874, Page 3

MR. MOORHOUSE AT TE ARO.

A numerously-attended meeting of the ratepayers of Te Aro was held last evening at the Foresters’ Arms, Ghuznee-street, Major Paul in the chair. . . ~ , Mr Mookhoose, on rising to address the meeting, said that he had come forward to take a part in the municipal affairs of the city m response to an invitation which he could not very well decline, looking at the number and influence of the gentlemen who waited upon him To many of those present he was, of course, a perfect stranger, but he could assure them that, if elected, he would do the best he could for the city as a whole. Mr. Dransfield who, he might say, had been a great mend of his for a great many years, and he rejoiced n the circumstance—had already done a great deal for the city, and was deserving of all the encomiums which he (Mr. Moorhouse) had passed upon him on the several occasions on which he had addressed the public ; but he felt bound to say, notwithstanding his favorable opinion of that gentleman, that he insisted too much upon his personal value. At his time of life men did not, as a rule, act very impulsively but there were others who would be colts all their lives, and he (Mr. Moorhouse) belonged to that category. Mr. Dransfield had lectured him for presuming, in the absence of an intimate knowledge of all the ramifications of our municipal affairs, to come forward as a candidate for the office of Mayor. I o that lecture he objected in limine. He had never made the slightest possible attempt to force himself upon the people of this place for any office whatever, but when an influential section of the public came to him and asked him to serve them, he gave them a qualified answer, because he had to consider what the sacrifice would amount to. Of course he was aware of his qualifications for the office, and his deficiencies, and he thought that if any public advantage were likely to follow upon his accepting the position, he would have no objection to do so, particularly as he found after careful consideration of the question of profit and loss, that it would not do him any very great damage ; in fact it would have been churlish on his part uot to comply with the wish of so large a section of the public. His friend, Mr. Dransfield, had been wary of disclosing his plan of battle. He confessed that when he first came out, he did not say much. - He dealt in generalities, and waited for Mr. Dransfield to uncoil his tail. (Laughter.) Mr. Dransfield did so, and his disclosure amounted to a recapitulation of all the acts he had performed since his connection with public affairs began. To this he added that the public of Wellington had been a little ungrateful in not perpetually keeping him in the position of Mayor. (Hear, hear.) Well, Hr. Dransfield ought to know that there was such a thing as being played-out. All men in all parts of the world knew that. They all knew the old story of Pompey and Cicsar. The Napoleons were great men in their day ; but the world got tired even of them. The whole system of things in this world involved change—change of constitution, change of diet and Mr. Dransfield might have known that the people here wanted change of diet. It was said that he (Mr. Moorhouse) should have won his spurs in the Municipal Council; thar he had never touched public affairs in Wellington with a long stick. He had not even now sought to do so; his services had been sought for by the citizens themselves. He was free to confess that he had lost a great opportunity. If two or three years ago he had gone before the public and succeeded in getting a seat in the Municipal Council, if he had become a squire in Mr. Dransfield’s train, he might have won his spurs. How much more fit would ho have been to receive the honors the ratepayers were about to bestow upon him. H he had had the advantages of association with Councillors Moss, McKirdy, Burrett, Mills, and others for three or fouryears, what an accomplished man he would have been by tins time. (Laughter and applause.) However, that opportunity had been lost, and it could not now be helped. Some friend of Mr, Dransfield’s had written a letter, which appeared in that morning’s New Zealand Times, in which attention was called to the fact that in his speech at the Odd Fellows’ Hall he had said that he had never touched public affairs with a long stick. He was willing to confess that that was rather a vulgar figure, but he would take the opportunity to explain that by that sentence he intended to convey the idea that he had uot obtruded himself upon the public ; that he felt he was a comparative stranger in the town ; and that if he had appeared earlier as a candidate for Municipal honors, he would have been regarded in the light of an intruder. It was quite true that he had not made himself acquainted with every stench pot in the city. There were miles of that sort of thing with which he was not acrpiainted, and he must say generally that the town was highly susceptible of improvement in this respect. The question, therefore, which the Council should have placed before it was this ; how best to effect this improvement at the least possible cost to the ratepayers. He was quite sure that no respectable man, who hail any regard for his reputation, would at this time of day, shirk paying _ a fair price for adequate work done in this direction. If the ratepayers wanted improvement they must pay for it. At the same time he thought they might obtain a great deal more value for what they were paying than at present. Having already spokenat'conaiderable length at previous meetings, it was difficult to find fresh subjects to speak about; but he might inform them that he had been a resident of New Zealand for twenty-three years, during the whole of which time lie hail been more or less intimate with the affairs of the province of Wellington. He had visited it many times during that time, and he had always had the opinion that from its geographical position and magnificent harbor Wellington must in the course of time .bo the mercantile emporium of the colony. That opinion he had had the gratification of express- ’ ing to Dr, Featherston years ago; and notwithstanding the excessive prudence and the measured enterprise of the merchants of Wellington, the town was indebted to the

Parliament of the colony which had passed measures which must eventuate m Wellington beino- the great mercantile centre of New Zealand, and also the great centre of commerce in these seas. (Cheers.) He regarded New Zealand—and he felt sure he had perfectly sound logical reasons for it—he regarded New Zealand as an embryo nation that would one day have more moral and mercantile force than any other community south of the line. Its climate was better adapted for breeding men than any other of the Australasian colonies. New Zealand would maintain a much larger population m proportion to area than any other land m this part of the ocean. At the present time we had communication with all parts of the world, and a revenue comparatively larger than that of any country in the universe. Accepting these statements as truths without any ridiculous jubilation, was there not reason for calm contentment and pride in possessing the privilege of being citizens of -New Zealand. (Hear, hear.) And then with what pride would their children, fifty years hence, say -“We are children of New Zealand.” The people who came out here boasted of their connection with the mother country, and our posterity, he had no doubt, would have good reason to boast of their nationality too. (Hear and cheers.) Coming more closely to the subject which should engage their attention that evening, he might say that he did not altogether agree with the idea which seemed to be entertained, that the Mayor of Wellington is the Csesar of the district—the Emperor of the country. He was nothing of the sort. He had heard all sorts of stories of Mayors threatening to fine Councillors £5, and to enforce obedience by authority, but the Mayor had no power to do anything of the kind. That was all nonsense. The Mayor was sent to the Council by the will of the people, whose servant he is, to be chairman of the Council and to keep order. He went there armed only with that moral force which consisted in his being elected by the people. His actions and the public interest were carefully watched and guarded by the public Press, and were corrected by it. Little birds had whispered to him the opinions, of his opponents about his candidature, which put their expressions in this form : “ Oh, this man has come up from Canterbury and tells us he has been a great swell down there ; he has been elected Superintendent four times, and he has come down to be elected as Mayor of Wellington.” That he has “come down” to take it. On the contrary, he did not regard it as a “comedown” at all. He aspired to the position. It was a position to be proud of. Mayors are and were the companions of Kings. Montaigne, the greatest philosopher in Europe of his day, was requested by the citizens of Bordeaux to accept the position of Mayor, and he did so without waiting to win his spurs by serving as a member of the corporation. The result was that the mostbeneficial consequence followed his acceptance of the position, and the incident showed that it was not at all necessary that a man should pass through all the preliminary stages. In the opinion of Mr. Dransfield and himself, the office of Mayor was a grand one, no doubt. In fact, considering the increasing importance of the colony, In the estimation of the Imperial authorities, faithful service might culminate in a bestowal of the distinguished honor of St. Michael and St. George. He did not know whether Mr. Dransfield thought this probable, but it was not at all impossible (Laughter.) The type of the order of Mayor was the Lord Mayor of Loudon. It was quite impossible to become Mayor of Wellington without endeavoring to follow the example of that great authority. Erora the English journals they read that on a late occasion, when her Majesty was at Balmoral, she was visited there by the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, and that her Majesty was greatly strengthened and comforted by the countenance of her guests. In the same way, he and Mr. Dransfield—whichever was elected < —intended to drop in, in a friendly way, upon her Majesty’s representative in the colony ; and no doubt he would be greatly assured and comforted by their countenance and support. (Laughter.) He would like, if elected, to be surrounded by the able men who composed the Council. He would be willing to accept the talented suggestions of Mr. Dransfield, and would work heartily with him in the endeavor to develop the resources of the place under the most economical conditions. He would also like to be aided by the suggestions of Councillor Moss, and he would combine with Councillors Moss, McKirdy, Burrett, and Mills, and all the other members of the Council, who, he had no doubt, would have voted for him willingly had they not been already pledged to Mr. Dransfield. As between himself and Mr. Dransfield, the only question was who should ride first. As pointed out by Dogberry, when two men ride one horse one must ride first, and it was merely a question who should ride first in this instance. As reasonable men, the ratepayers would determine by the process of reasoning who should ride first in this case ; and they would have to ask themselves which of the two men, under existing circumstances, would be most useful to them. It could not be denied that he had had considerable experience of public affairs. He would not deny that he had made mistakes in the course of his career—what man did not ?—but the very fact of his having had so much experience was a very good reason why he should be able to avoid mistake in future. His opponent had spoken sneeringly of his want of knowledge of municipal affairs ; but it was nevertheless a fact that he inaugurated municipal institutions in Canterbury, and drafted the Bills under which those institutions held their powers. When those institutions were created, he had the honor of nominating the first chairman —the Hon. John Hall —who thought it nodishonortooccupysuch a position. He would, therefore, ask the meeting if it was reasonable to put Mr. Dransfield in competition with a gentleman who had adjusted a scheme of municipal law, which scheme was now successfully working, and which coveted a very much larger area than Wellington. (No, no, and cheers.) If he had not won his spurs in Wellington, he had worked uncommonly hard for them in another place, and he was as much a New Zealander in Wellington as in Canterbury. He believed in the colony, and if he succeeded in becoming Mayor of Wellington he would endeavor at once to lead the public opinion of the town to an aspiration after nationality instead of bumbledom. (Cheers.) Of course it was proper that as Councillors they should look after the domestic account. They should take care that the servants of the Corporation fulfilled their duties properly and that not a shilling was wasted, either in material or labor. (Hear.) That should be their first look-out. The civic machinery should be put into such condition that it would become an efficient substitute for the provinces, but a pretty pickle they would be in if the mantle of the provinces should fall upon their shoulders now. They were not prepared for it, and it was a matter materially affecting the ratepayers that these institutions should he brought into such a condition as would make them ccpable of assuming the larger powers that would devolve upon them when the provinces were gone. At that moment he could hot help reminding the meeting that When the deputation of gentlemen asked him to stand, he told them there must bo no misunderstanding with the public. He did not believe in too much policy in the relations between a representative and his constituents. There ought to be a complete confession of one’s mind and his intentions, and he at once declared to the deputation that be was anti-provincial. He desired to make that matter clear at once, because there was no telling how it might affect their future relations. He did not know what the opinions of the ratepayers might he, but lie was strongly of opinion that a very great saving might be made by attempting a more economic administration of the public moneys of the city. (Hear and cheers.) He wished to guard himself most particularly against any imputation of interfering with the politics of the province, because ho had no intention of seeking a seat in the Provincial Council or the General Assembly for the next two years at all events. Ho was disqualified, which was a sufficient security that he would not interpose. He need say no more upon that head. The next point he wished to touch upon was this : The writer

of a letter in the Times, signed “ Citizen, who was evidently closely allied to “Ratepayer”—a writer in the same newspaper—had charged him with being a lieutenant of Mr. Vogel, and stated that he might be used as a political engine in favor of the present Government. That was pure nonsense. He regarded Mr. Vogel as the vehicle of his politics, and that is the reason why, if he were in the House, he would support Mr. Vogel, just as he would support any other man who most correctly expressed his ideas aa to what was best for the country. He was not and never had been anybody s lieutenant. Mr. Dransfield seemed to have an instinctive idea of his (Mr. Moorhouse’s) aversion to that kind of thing, for he (Mr. Dransfield) seemed to have an intuitive feeling that he (Mr. Moorhouse) would never be a follower in his train. As to any sordid subservience on his part, that was impossible also. If he had an idea that he was correct he would give way to no man; in practical proof of which he might mention that he threw up an appointment worth£looo a year, simply because the General Government did not concur in some suggestions he made for a reform in the department over which he presided. He had differed with Mr. Dransfield on the question of a salary to the Mayoi*. He still considered it a paltry sum, which the ratepayex*s had far better keep in their pocket. Let the Mayor walk down the street with the consciousness that he has earned the respect of the town for his sagacity in the administration of its affairs. That ought to be quite enough. He did not believe in his acquiring a meritorious kind of fame for giving away sums out of his large income. In fact he did not believe in buying the public by largess. If public money were to be given away, it should be voted by the Council. If he were elected Mayor he would endeavor to govern himself in the first instance, and he felt sure that proper example would result in a decorous course of procedure. He should come out of the contest, he felt sure, without having said an unkind word. He had not asked for a single vote, and did not intend to. He had taken Ho action at all to secure his return, except under the direction of his committee in the matter of public appearances. He had attended two or three meetings, and had not therefore merited any imputation of forwardness in the matter. He might say for himself and his friend Mr. Dransfield that all the wounds received by any parties to this contest would, in medical phrase, heal by the first intention. He felt certain that all that had been said on both sides, if he found his way into the Council, would be regarded as pleasant bygones, and that he and the Council would work together earnestly in the interests of the town. In answer to questions, Mr. Moorhouse stated that he was of opinion Te Aro should have larger representation in the Council than it had at present; that the valuation of the city should be made by a competent man, but he was not prepared to say that the ratepayers should have the appointment of the valuator, as they might not be the persons best qualified to judge of his fitness ; that he was in favor of appeals from rating being made before the Resident Magistrate, but not at the expense of the appellants ; that a .portion of the rates raised in each ward should be allocated for local expenditure in those wards ; and that public funds could not be expended upon private streets until those streets were dedicated to the use of the public. Mr. M. Quin proposed, and Mr. E. Tolley seconded the formal motion, “That Mr. Moorhouse is a fit and proper person to occupy the position of Mayor of this city.” Mr. O’Shea warmly supported the motion in a speech which was loudly applauded. The motion was then put and carried. A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings.