TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2460, 4 February 1893, Page 3

TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

As anticipated when it was known that Mr Geo. Stumbles had been nominated for the Temuka riding of the Harbour district, comparatively little interest was taken in the nominations, the public who favor his views apparently feeling convinced that a better man could not have been selected and those who were not in accord having perhaps a difficulty in finding a candidate willing to contest the seat with him. As a consequence this. was the only nomination received on Tuesday and he was declared duly re-elected. Mr Stumbles attended at the nomination, and there being a few' ratepayers present he was requested to say a few words. He complied with their request and returned thanks for this token of their continued confidence in him as their representative upon such an important, body. He felt the honour more keenly because in the first place the district was a very wealthy and important one; secondly because the progress of the district was co-equal with that of the harbour, for without it the value of produce would be deteriorated and the cost of imports incresed, but chiefly because he looked upon his return as a protest against the hurried action of the majority of the board in rushing the ratepayers into an expenditure that as a practical man he assured them could have been avoided, or at all events postponed until the ratepayers, the really responsible party, had been given an opportunity of oiving their opinion of the matter. He had now represented their district for about two years, and his period of office had not altogether been a happy one. He felt he had been associated with a body of men who had no practical knowledge, and he feared that their influence had not been for the good of the ratepayers, who, for his part, he mainly considered. Some of the members of the board did not hesitate to question his (thespeaker's) ability to form a correct estimate of the cost of stopping the shingle, and pinned their faith solely to.the engineer's opinion If the engineer's opinion was of such value why not return him as the representative of all districts and run the show single handed 1 Stopping the shingle was the main cry. If this was all that was wanted he guaranteed them that in 48 hours he would run a road to the sea level and cart away in trucks more than the sea could deposit, and at an expense less than was now proposed to be incurred Further than that he would put out a groin that would trap the shingle for a couple of years and still leave them in undisturbed possession of a gradually accumulating fund. He had not, however, come out to make a long speech. They all knew his views, and apparently believed in them or there would surely have been some opposition. He thanked them for their confidence in him, and he also thanked his nominators, Messrs A. M. Olark and James Guild. They were men of no small stake in the country, and ratepayers were justified in believing that what was good for them was good for all. Mr Quinn proposed a vote of thanks to the returning officer, Mr F. Archer, which was briefly acknowledged. Messrs E. Acton, I. Morris, E. T. Rhodes, a«d Jas. Sullivan, were on Wednesday nominated to represent the Levels district on the Timaru Harbor Board. A poll will be taken for the election of two. Mr John Talbot addresses the ratepayers at Peel Forest to-night. Mr T. Teschemaker has been elected unopposed for the Pareora district. Messrs J. S. Gibson, W. Evans, D. Stuart, and J. Hill, have been nominated for the borough of Timaru. A poll will be taken for the election of three. Candidates for the Geraldine seat must be nominated before noon on Monday next.