MAYORAL ELECTION.

Southland Times, Issue 3153, 20 July 1878, Page 2

MAYORAL ELECTION.

MB HATCH'S MEETING. Tbe retiring Mayor, Mr Joseph Hatch, addressed a meeting of the ratepayers at Ramaay's Hall last night. Every part of the hall waß crowded, and Mr Jaggers was>, by acclamation, voted to the chair. Having been introduced in a few words by the chairman, Mr Hatch came forward and said that he took credit to himself for being the first councillor who had publicly met them as a candidate; the first councillor to come forward at the end of the year, and the first Mayor to come before them and render an account of his stewardship — (Applause). At his last public meeting he had stated that not much interest was manifested in municipal matters, but lately it waa found that instead of three or four contractors, there were fifty or sixty present at the council meetings,why he could not say —(Laughter). He ; had hoped to see Mr Pratt in the chair that, evening. He had been told that-hia recent action in the political contest was due to political influence. He did not wish it to be bo, but desired to aot for the benefit of the whole town. Reference had been made to the visit of Sir George Grey and his (Mr H.s) action then. He had done then for the interest ofthe town what ht< should have done had Major Atkinson's Government been in power. When Mr Larnach made his Ministerial visit, he ' was absent, but had come and waited upon him, and obtained as many promises as most people. (Laughter.) One of these was that relative to the endowment of the New Eiver Harbor, and" this would no doubt be fulfilled by-and-bye. He could also take credit for attending to the business of the office he had held, but no record of attendance was kept here as elsewhere. Of all the meetings of^Council.and its committees he had only missed one, on that occasion he was absent at QueeDStown. On another occasion he had been at Dunedin. and returned just in time to go to the meeting without teo, to the astonishment of the Council, who had prepared themselves to conduct the business properly. (Laughter). During his term of office he congratulated himselt that none of hia rulings in matters of discussion had been upset, even when referred to solicitors. He would take what remarks he intended to make in regular order and would first refer to the • COUNCIL HALL. During the year a special committee had written to the Government who had promised to grant the Hall, Taking it for granted that tbe crown grant which had been mislaid, would be produced, the alterations were made on the motion of Councillor Goodwillie. He (Mr Hatch) had not agreed with these, and had sirenously, but not doggedly opposed them , and should have thrown out the motion had it come to a casting vote. At last, as usual when a difiiculty arose, the whole ma> ter was left in the hands ofthe Mayor. His own plan was to have pur chased the two adjoining sections and ul timately have erected a town hall over the whole area, with a large room upstairs. He had taken the trouble pf getting prepared a diagram of hia proposed plan, which he now displayed. That method was not agreed to and instead of getting the landjat a valuation of £200 each, one section had been afterwards bought at auction for £240, The alterations to the ball had coat £200, and thus they had got their present incomplete arrangement at an extra cost of £40. The last year had been specially notable for the number of the times in which he had been compelled to exercise the casting vote The ex-Mayor had no opportunity of using the casting vote, but he (Mr Hatch) had done *a oo three or fpv»r occasions. Perhaps the fact was due to the equal balancing of the wisdom of the Council. A notable instance of the exercise of th's power was shown in. the Kith street coimct. Niih street had been formed the previous year, frnd its completion by metal ing was considered of no moment by four Councillors. Another instance was that of the * JETTY. This came up just as the last Government was going out, and the present one coming in. This was an exceptionally ■ favorable time to urge the formation of a loop line to tke Jetty. Yet Councillors Kingsland, Johnston, Roche, and Wade we_9 the ODly ones who w°^ support it. He would here remark that hp had bpen asked to specially distinguish thePouncillora Johnson and Johnston. He would call them Johnson, the piemap (laughter), and Johnston, the ironfounder (great laughter.) After recapitulating his action in regard to the services of Sir John Coode in aurveying the Harbor, Mr Hatch went on to apeak of the queation of During the year East |nverqsrg»H had - ked for an exteusioo of the gas mains. he request was opposed by Councillors Goodwillie, Johnson, and Froggatt. $ow there could be no doubt that before long Eas*- Invercargill would get its own gas works, and would very likely supply all the townships just springing up, when i they should have been customers of Invercargill. Aboot December last he had called the citizens together in tbe Exchange I|a|l to giye theqj his vjews on the WATEB QtTES_IO_7. He had then explained the position of matters, how he had asked Mr Daley to report, The report cost hardly anything but the expenses of going in and out, only Ll4, or a total of L2l. His : action in the matter had been called unparliamentary, injudicious, and all < sorts of things. The T__t_s had ] specially referred to it, but he co^ld not i Jay his finger on th© ftlace. T|ie ; expenses 'Jbf that meeting, some ' two pounds odd were refused by the ( Council on the motion of Councillor Good- i willie. By that means, owing partly to I ;

the manner in which the accounts were presented by the Finance Committee^ the ■whole payraeut_^pi>jtjhe Council *rbrei| delayedrThe^bdle Jbtisiness was brxtogb^v to a nVabrupt adjournment of the ;CouhcilrrThe papers had said that: no dottbtV ;theitown would remember the ma-y^r^s^Hbf^^lr Hatch dfn|_t£ O'Hor JoHnsoii J& doubt would remember it, because the takings at hia bar were less that week, but he (Mr Hatch) could not help that A requisition for a meeting at twelve o'clock on a day sbortry"after"wa_*put into his hands about tens minutes" past twelve. He did not feet" called upon to remedy what he considered 0 their "-fault;" and put off the meeting till Monday. At that meeiiDg-Gounoilior-Goadwillie-had, brought forward' a motion, -iwhhih he would.read to show them how; well-. t was written-' Th^the^^^ be passed for payment, butthe Council approves of the way in whiqh.it■V*rtoq i*r Now what was don<H» Nofr-in^nuafe.ons had been hurled at him from; the first. The Council had .been caled a bear garden, but he Vcould tell; Mr Lumsdenthere were more bears-thahone required^ form a beargarden (laughter), and besides they had nonfood and drmk, tbey to go the wayiMfor that, (Laughter.) He would not discuss the grammar of the motion; that? he would leave to the Council. After instituting a. comparison between the prices obtained from the last issue of bonds, 951 per cent, "?& S- _ tained^duriug the mayoralty of Mr Mitchell, 85 per/cent/Mr Hatch aaid he Jiad taken meaps- to counteract the wonderful wisdom of Parliament in making the payment of the laatfloaa a second charge on the gas-works-by getting prepared at hisi)wn-expenflea number of photographs, .of the publio buildings of the town. These he had sent home-with j the account- of-che Indian famine fund. It was'intended to get them inserted in some pictorial paper i where intending investors^Would see'that« a town having such buildings would be; well able .to pay its debentures. (Ap | plause). Tnis he had done at his private expense of about L?--0r..L7:- He? had been abused m -thej - papery m article after artible. On. had only given him sky blue praise, and the other strong opposition. In fact, as he said before, he had fought eight men} and^two papers. _He bad; now nine menj po fight, as Mr Lumsden had Deem imtorted into the field He then went on, o the question of __ .__ __ L WNANOB, , and said that the debt of the town was: L 1847, over and above nexr year irrat.es.' If it were said that the Mayor ahouldnot have been allowed this,, he; would reply, tbat with tbe exception of Counculor Kingsland the whole Councii had voted fov works at a most improper time, when the County Councii had a large number of works let; and when the cn 7 gineer stated that labor was 15 per cent; dearer than it ought to be. He would now show them the position of the gas account. There was yet to be received from the bonds, about L2OOO, less tommission and - charges. The msur- ™ crte rt °n T>, . l v ( Tambl^ T,T?» L 2600. Pjant to the value of LISOO was ordered, and this would cost another LISOO for erection. If then they ordered a duplicate of the plant ex Ann Gambles they might see that all fche gas loan was anticipated. At present the gas waß paying its own interest as well as that of the Ann Gambles plant. _ BA.TXS. They would remember an attempt had been made to increase the rates to half a crown in the pound. He was in favor of that with Councillors Wade and Kings land, and if no other good had resulted, tbe payment of rates had been made much more promptly this year in gratitude for the escape from the higher amount —(Applause) Mr Hatch then referred to the and said that the amoupt ppw re? ceivable from it wap £239 per annum, or more than had eyer beep before. A water trip had been arranged to inspect the re?, quirements of the Harbor. At that trip, a boat being proyided by himself not one of the councillors thought fit to come to see for himself what was the state of the entrance. On another occasion when a Committee had agreed to wait on Mr Spence with reference to the highly important matter of selecting land for the New River endowment, after waiting half ftn jiour beyond the tijne appointed. " Councillor Johnson sent a message that his barmaid wbb sick. What would they say if the Mayor had not attended a committee because his barmaid wag sick. (Laughter). No one had less time tban -imself to attend to committee meetings, yet ho One w flB more regular. Mr Hatch humorously referred to the vagaries of the corporation horse, and said the usefulneas of the fire brigade was muoh impaired by it, and there should^ be a steam fire engine. The jetty pontrapt \fa-j a Jjttje delayed owing to the large number of veasels coming'now, which was not the fault ot the contractors, With regard to the jetty aiding, he hoped he ahould ccc it finished before Mr Austin went avvay. They w°uld remember this mpat impq'ptapt work wa^ agreed to by the casting yote of the Mayor,' The Council had in that really performed a miracle. Mr Thomson twi «t first bpen unwilling to sell, lease, or give the land necessary, yet be had been shown that the siding weuld ao much improve his land close to the jetty that he had given the corner section free —(Applause), Tbe only matter with which he had to reprpach, h|mself ivas. ths*,t he. allowed haste ia the builqing of the' ijriTH stbbbt bbidgje. He had all aiopg thought the piles too short. The bridge was too narrow, and tbe first flood damaged it greatly, The Council said that a druggist •juld know nothing of bridges, and in reference to the Tay street drain thai he knew nothing of bricks. Subsequent* eyents showed th^t l*.e know ijomiethipg abfiut both. jA' great fchmder had been made in the Gala street drain, which was actually smaller than the wgoden one V feeding it. The works at the east end of Tay street were also highly imprudent, The cartage of the material had ruined Doon street, and Tay street was not finished yet. The kerbing contract was a disgrace to the engineer, and the treatment ofthe contractors, by cp^ne^ling them to pull uj3 work pissed oy men uade^ him, a piece 'of tyranny. The dajr labor cost the town about LIOOO a year, ' This was far too much. There were three or four gooi men it was true working! for the Cauncil, but the majority we?e aot, He had feeenagked byvouuouior Gbod* i

willie to employ a^i_mn^__^_nli^Sl^^rity, yet when in the Cdui^ir^he^alatter ;of the employment bfcmeutl>yV the NMa'fbr iWas^brbught jupVauid rftel power sty_eh irom him. Councillor, (lopdlwillie ' lliad^not the moral courage! toV'i-^nd up jandfsay . heahad vasked tb_^Mayor to enjploy this^ man. With regard to the gravel^bit.lt seemed^tTatrthe engineer had not fflbral courage to refuse gravel to any one, perhaps the salo of timber had some influerace on his conduct, at all events great complaints were made that 4 the cattle were allowed — to- escape-to to the loss of their owners, and.damage of the neighbors- They would sEoftly have placed- before them -in- a -pritated*. form Mr Gordon'sirepbrtjmnd they would see it to be a-mostelaborato one. -Hewould now refer to the GAS plant (^l^.) (Mr Hatch, here unrolled an > appareutlW interminable, quantity, .of elippin_: 8 from the newspapew^hioh he had collected.) ■: Heregretteithejlatenesg, of the hour preventad^him going-intodhb matter a 8 fuUy^«_B <b*r should B6th papershad beeiilfnU bf-theffiiiefltioni j-r- doubt they gold more; .They < had 6e-er had B 0 many leatibg articles oh the Mayor as now, but He«had not lost the ie_ B't weight. (Laughter;) 'I^had'bebii Btatedby the j^^ tha' t!i;h g tbWh bad been eaddled with a loss of LIOOO^ Wow, h^ that . could be was \bby_nd! hfs comprehension. He J state how it. ali oame aboufc. At the time of the wreck he bad taken every precaution to. gecure the interests of the town. Before the Council met, he hkd secured the pay-ment-of-theVinsurance_.without cost. AJ the Gas Committee meeting on the Wednesday; the only business was the consideration of tne^ regulations. These regulations were approved by Mr Daley, wbo wag fally qualified to judge,?and Mr Qenever.who designed^the work*,^ Connoilior Kingsland wasf absent at Waikiwi, and Mr Johnson;- he meant the pieman (loud disapprobation) because «he coald ge t j his own way with regard to the interval, Gas pipe': left the . leaVing no>quoru_.;o'&-ga_ committee ahbula have recommended the Councii to act with regard to the Ann Gambleflplant. Hehad made a memo 0f the business befbrehand, in imifation 0f Mr Goodwillie with hia%btb=bobM. At the Council meeting he (Mr Hatch) informed themthatthe business of theinsurance was going on aUrfght.'Cr. Goodwi [lie immediately rose and "proposed tbat the-money should be colleeted*by "tfieBank's agents in London, What was the conjequence?. The solicitor had to draw ap particulars and other matters atvconsiderable cost and delay.- The proper coarae wou *d have been to give a bill at sixty daya ats per Cent.< aud : the. ourrent inlereßt would have met that and other charges, leaving the whole amount untouohed. ft was not his buainess to enlighten the Council after being snubbed and aßpeMed. On the Monday Mr Cuthbertson brought Mr Spedding, and _nowi fIX that of. the whole Council on]y Councillors Wade and Eingsland supported him as a rule he felt rather iv a fix% Mr Spedding oalled again,, and there were present at that interview, by accident, Mr Daiey and Mr Bell. Ho feU tbat be dsd not care what Wftß Baid aboat him—about hia making L 3-0 by the transaction, and so on, while he had two gentlemen to corroborate his statement, The whole thing only took about half-~an hour, but where he came from business waß done quj c]_iy. There was no excuse for delay, and many for haste. All the other consigners had agreed to take their goods at valuation. Tnere were a large number of pipes badly required on top of ihe cargo and not damaged at all, and the steamer would assuredly have taken them to Dunedin next day. Moreover he had insisted on local valuators being appointed, and had besides got the plant put in the gas yard, whence Mr Spedding would not care t9 remove it, Without egotism he could safely say not another man in tho Council would haye made so good' % bargain for the town. As for get. ting the plant at their own price they might be sure that the salvors would sell what waa saleable and would rather make old iron of the re mainder than give it away to the Council for nothing. * All the talk of drawing a badger from a cask was perfect rubbish, He knew he might have called the Coun« cil together, but whep tljey s vrok£d him the wrong way tfie sparks flew from a black cat—(Laughter). His most inveter* ate opponent was Councillor Goodwillie, a man who wrote or dictated a requisition to the Mayor, with a small *h' in 'his Worship, and who had presented a bill in which saddle was- wjitoep with one "d." (laughter), Jt was not clear under the aot the town was under, how far the Mayor could go, and it was a legal question whether the Council was not bound to take the plant. How would they look with two lots of plant on hand? Whether it was right or wrong he did it, anc} it remained for them now to say whether he was right or wrong (applause.) The gas works were producing more than doubie the quantity they were intended for, and the papers ought to be careful what they said.aboqt the gaa^ or thp gas engineer -might cut off the supply froiu the Times gas engine,^, The gentleman, who manages the gasworks is quite competent, and really worth his money. There could be no doubt about that, and although they had some aparring that morning about the report which appeared in the-Times, that report waß incorrect. ..Her did; not know whether k was beca^sp t|io ge^tlema^who usually attpj-tdfid the,'. I&tpibjl,...'jiypd at John* Bon's Hb^l, bjjiV^t^^tai'til^'Wflii'irrang. He bad alwost exhausted his remarks— (Applause)—but there was one thing too good to lose* The iramwaya committee had arranged tp meet at half past seven. Mr Williamswaa present;by invitation, although in bad health* What, waa' t^ resultP GouaQill^r ifoh^qiir: wula? W>i oonie it was the night out of one of hjs serYahts—J^laughter).i ;QounciUora bM{ froggatt (jould not be found and no meetinf dame off. Hehad He had been abused by all' the Councillore who spoke at all. , The Ohe* had not done so was the silent Mayor of South Inyercargill. (Laughter),; That' gentleman had said thb Exchange Hall'meeting wa| composed of; blackguard-. Ije'traated they would sho^ that, gentleman, on Monday next. wKat- this «WSa.{ composed of—(Applause). 2 .:> y;< Mr Schneider moved, and Mr Cockrof(j seconded a vote of" confideqea in Mp Hatch. U ;| / Oa^ed by a large majority. Ihe usual oomjplimeht to the chair ter» njina^ westing. f>