THE MAYORALTY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3256, 13 July 1872, Page 3

THE MAYORALTY.

The Nomiun'.ion of candidates for the office 'if Mayor during the ensuing twelve months t'):<k \A:\cn on the .steps of the terrace of t'io Government Buildings, at noon yest'ivthvy. There was a hii'gc attendance.

The Ma you having explained what the meeting was called for,

The Town Clkkk read the nomination!*, which were—

Rojskrtßo.-huotham (Oii! oh! and Hear, hear), proposed by Jamew M'Laren, Moray Place ; .and seconded by Jaineii Mollison, Maitl.md street.

Hkmiy S.ujtjj Fihh, ./unr., proposed by H. •). Ltrwry, Princes street; and Kec4jnded by Barnard Isaac, Princes street.

Mr KoMrfiioTiJAM : J appear before you to address you

Yott'KH: TJio more shame for you. Hear, hear. Order, order. Give the man a hearing. Mr RoKxjiOTHA.M ; Being a new member, if any othyr gcn'tlerunu had stated he would come forward, I would not have ■come before you as I do now ; and you will see wh«u the matter is explained there was no other course for me, and should I bo able to %(:t in, as of course' I hope to do, I have tiie time

A Voick : Yes ; bub what about the abilities, eh I

Mr llokkuotham : And it ia for you to .judge if I have the necessary qualifications. Wich reference to this formidable requisition that they have got up, I don't feel at ail daunted. If that is explained, I think it will kill immensely with many hero upon H. S. Fish, jun. They have been canvassing, 1 havo been told, for many weeks, and going about with it to get the 300 or 400 signatures to it; and ho does not tell us that 500 or <>00 refused to sign that requisition. Afterwards, an advertisement appears in the Daily Times saying that a deputation will wait upon Hia Worship to present him with this formidable requisition ; and what does he say then, when they present it to him f Ho does not say, " Gentlemen—This is the happiest momont in my life !" but he says "Gentlemen, circumstances alter case« materially"—(laughter)—-and the circumstance is that thero is no man qualified, in the Council or outside, to fill the Mayoral chair but Henry Smith Fish, junior. Now, any man capable of representing you should, in the circumstances I was placed in, try and break down such mean, low trickery as this. Mr Fish would have us suppose it was a spontaneous outcome of the public ; but they have been long getting it up, and those who went about with it have been paid for doing it. ! Two years ago, when Mr Fish came before you asking your suffrages, he said : j *'Gentlemen, the office ought to be a rolling one— —•"

A VoicK : "CircumHtanccfi alter cases."

Mr Rossbotham : And the people said then by their votes that the office ought to be a rolling one. But, mind you, ••when he get« in ho is still of opinion that iit ought to be a rolling one, but that it ought to roll to H. »S. Fish, jun., continually ; it must roll to him, and to no 'other.—(Laughter.) Now, gentlemen, I 'put it to you,- that if yon thought that • office nhould bo a rolling one, should you -be putting Mr Fish in always? If you ylect mo I will do my utmost; and one thing I will promise you, I will spend .-every penny I receive as salary, and not £o after getting silver plate presented to me.

Voice* : Oh, Oh! Shame! You'll r-nevur get a chance. Don't argue on that line. You get a cradle ! you must get liiairied iirst.

Mr Li.oyj>, appealingly: Won't yon give the gentleman time ? Air lto.sajioTH.ur, the general hubbub Shaving subsided : Well, to come back .again to the Councilloni, I asked several -of them to stand. Moat of them said they had no time to devote ■to the office. 1 Othera, with a moi-c modest estimation of " their own worth, said they had not got •the ability. Voices : "Name!'' and, "Evidently just -what you should havo said," ■Mr Kossbotham : Well, it is now for you to say whether I have the ability or not.

• The candidate was then questioned :— -If you are elected, will you endeavour to -uphold the ollice with dignity ? Mr IIossBOTHAM : I will.

Mr M'Laken : Salary. That a the v ticklish point. What's your opinion on it I Mr IlossiiOTUAM : I hold that the Mayor '-ought'not; to profit one shilling, by it. . Voices : Hear, hear. War whoops o£ .approbation from Mr M'Lnrcn, and a voice : fake that lunatic away. —(Prolonged laughter, in which Mr M'Larcni did not join.) A Voice: What.about the salary ?

Mr'RossTsOTHAM : We have meetings in tlio Council Chambers every . day in the ■•week, and three or four Councillors are brought there, "just to sign the cheque *Jor the Mayor's tf&lsvry.—(Laughter.)' -

Mr SuKKWiK, senr* : Is it, or is it not, true that you \vent to - the Public Works •Committee meeting, andbecause you could 'not-got tho kerbing and channelling done in front of your place, you asked what were you elected for, and put on your hat and left in a pelter / Mr Rossbotham : It is false. My kerbing and channelling were done and paid for months before 1 went into the Council.

Mr Shkkwin : If two Councillors Bay it was true, would you say it was not true i

Mr Rossuotham : I have said so. If two Councillors say it was true they tell ji manifest falsehood.

Mr Baunes, roaring in the distance: You say you hadn't wantod to get it -done? You could not get that thero work done in front of your place. Voiobji : Well done, Barnes 1 Well .done ; Leith Ward for ever ! Mr RosSbotham : Mr Bames ia labouring under a misapprehension. There is .a. portion of the side-walk leading to my jlace and in front of Mr Wilkinson*!! sec-

tion ankle deep in mud, and ladies and children have to walk through it. I r©questedr'tjhat a few loads of gravel might be put oti it, and the Mayor would not have it done. It was. such a paltry request to refuse that I was disgusted,-not only with the Mayor, bttt with the othera in the room, and I went out. A Voicb : And wouldn't they mate a Councillor a path 1 "What's the'use of a man getting elected then 1 Mr M'Lakkn ; What's your opinion of the pmduuio of the Water Works and the 15 per cent. A Voice : Out again there, Mac. ; it's 50 per cent. Mr Roskisotham : I am of opinion that the purcluific will be ruinous to the city. Similar works could be constructed for between £40,000 and £50,000. They now offer close on £00,000 for these work's.

Mr M'Lakkx : That's -not right, protest against it.

Mr Roksuotham : The Mayor is the prime mover in it; my voice is not heard in the matter. J purpose that at the next election we should get men to represent the interests of the citizens, and not have men having large interests in the "Water Works Company. I purpose that the Council should withdraw from the offer. Those privileges the Company has should be repealed by the Assembly, and the citizens should erect water A-orks of their own.

Mr M'Laiikn* : Giro-the-cttizeitK :>. definite answer whether-yon will take the salary, or give it to tlie lienevolcnt Institution, or other institutions of noble philanthropy that now exist I Answer that question. A Vout. : Would you give a part to the Jockey Club / Mr M'Lakbj.' : That's sarcasm. Don't answer such f owlish questions. Answer mine. Mr K/miwrWA.M : In ord.*r to conciliate tlic ladies, I think it would be desirable to give them n ball onco a year.—(Laughter.) I don't come forward with the intention to pocket a single sixpence. ' Mr Fihk said lie did nut appear before the electors as a new candidate, but as one who had been pretty well tried, and , who was old in the service. He would not follow the course pursued by Mr 'Roesbotham of reviling hi« opponent. He thought Mr Rmitbotham would have done far better had he abstained from doing no. He had been before the citizens for the last five or six years ia a public capacity, and Mr Rossbotham : had now given them an opportunity of saying which of them they, considered to be best qualified for the office. He would not Hay a word more, had not Mr Rossbothain made a mis-statement of facts. ; When told ho could not get the work done, he took up hie hat and left the room. Mr Ro»sbo(hnin had given the lie direct to that statement, but he (Mr Fish) would fiay that Mr lloasbotham luid done all the ratepayer said he did. It had been pointed out to Mr Rosshotliam that to improve the pathway only as far as his liouau would be an injustice to the people further up the street. He also made a misstatement in allying that Councillors were brought together to »ign cheques for the Mayor's salary only. A meeting of the Finance Committee had been tallied in the ordinary course* to gign<the cheques for wages. Mr Rosabotham considered it absurd to call a meeting for that purpose; but he would leave it to the electors to decide on this^ and to say whether cheques j should not be signed in proper form in the Council Chamber, or indiscriminatelyanywhere eke. He confidently awaited the result of the election. If it wont against him lie wonld retire with the best of feeling; but he ' was quite confident their verdict would be nothing of .the. kind. . Mr Rossbotham might well, cry " save me from my "friends." Ho was sure that that anuablq-looking friend of his in front of him, that howling cjumpion of Mr Rossbotham, Mr M'Lareh, would not influence their, votes. He must confess Mrßosabothain's ideas on the Water Works question were rather hazy. Everybody was aware that the General Assembly would not repeal vested rights without compensation being given, but Mi* Roasbotham appeared to ignore this fact The Council, taking the fact of vented interests into eonsidsratioh, 'had entered into negotiations for ithe purchase of the works, and Mr Rossbotham's remarks on gentlemen of the Council were moat ungentlemanly and unfair, as those who Owned shares-in the Company took no part in the negotiations or.in the voting, and.hod been guided by honour and good faith. No man should ever attempt to get into an honourable position by throwing dirt oil his compeerp. He could not conceive what the object of Mr Rosshotham, the youngest Councillor, in ; standing was, except to put him to expense. Mr M'Lahen : Were you not presented by a contractor at the,opening of; the Cargi 11 fountain with a cup in the name of the public I, ,» , >. ; ; ■

Mr Fish : I will answer any question from a nsspectnblo ratepayer, but Ij will not allow my time ? nor the meeting')!, to be wasted by the idiotic raving* of a lunatic snch an this.—(Great laughter.') If I knew there waaia farthing of your money in it, I would not accept it. I would trample it under my feet. ; , * Mr M'liarest : You are ih" duty bound to do so. Ton must answer me, or you must retire. " "■";" ''■ : :'"1 " ' *'''■

Mr "Finn : You are beiveath lay notice. 1 shall'not \

Mi- M'Laren : All your hcuitUoiu!, all your unmanly, all your unyentlemanly remarkß--I shall make-you pay fnx thorn, Sir, I sbfill. I shall me you for dahiages, and J[ ejiallsmak^ u»y ,^tame a terror in Bfr Lowhy : Bid ypii^k to g4t! your roq\iisitionfignedl. - {if ■• , ! . ; Mr.F^su^r^liis requisition, in so far as I am concerned, was spontaneous .ojn th.o part of ..the citizens, liy its aignatt^rcs, I see that I have the confidence of all classes.

Mr Isaac : Hear, hear. '.. ■ ' A Voice :;.,W<hat:#boitt tUe SAlary ?

Mi* Fish : laui prepared to .say that the anm ( paid' • to; * tjiti -^Mayor, £4ty() j>er year, is as little as one occupying that position should receive. You can pay that I-am a inonoy-grubbfciv Vl*** A beliove the majorit}' of you will 'say'l dmjiJStliing. of the sort To hold .the- oflice is"to give up money. Time to abuaixieas nsan like lam ia money,1 so I:am -considerably out of pocket at the end "of ljthe year, rt>ver and above the, £400; '" If yon could get an independent roan with" a fortune at his back, ho should spend that'amount out of his pocket and wioroY'b'ut ** yo\i cannot gut one, you ought to give a busiueaa man something commensurate with the work he does.

Mr LiiOYD-' made somo remarks, the only intelligible part of which:-was that Mr Fish had sent him to gaol for foiu 1 days ..«,-■

Mr Fisir : I don't thinTc I have sent you to gaol half enough. . ] In answer to a question as to the salary and duties of-Inspector Niinon, I l. Mr lhnu (after 2iaving his. memory refreshed by Mr Massey) said: Ihsiiector Ninion'ft salary is £200. His duties are to inspect ail m&ny a« he dan of the nubaJioes which exurtf in the City. There is one ihiag whicfa"-'he ha« not iiu^ected •/■; i '^J', .... - •

thoroughly, and which I nhall take him to task for when the meeting is over, that is, Mr M'Laren, v/hom. hu has omitted to iuinxjct.-—{Laughter.) "-- ■- In answer to a question, Mr Finn : I think that there should be & larger number of Councillors, that Aldermen should be appointed* and the Mayor elected from themi When the Corporation have water and gas, and we must and will have them, though there is a little hitch with Mr Larnach, whom I see here, about the ga» ? wo shall need a larger number of Conneillora. There were no further questions to askv No show of hands was taken-, :

The Mayor adjourned the proceedings till the polling day,. Monday, the 22nd inst, and in doing so trusted thai the electors would exerebe their privilegcfi with the good sense they had shown on previous occasions. ' -