MAYORAL INSTALLATIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12669, 4 May 1905, Page 4

MAYORAL INSTALLATIONS.

The foxmol installation of Mr James Craigie, as Mayor of Timaru, tor the fourth time, took place in the Council Chamber last and the Mayor made a pleasant socM gathering of it,- inviting ex-Mayers - and ex-Councillors, all the Councillors, the Council's solictors and bankers, the Chief ..Postmaster and stationmaster, the editors - of the Timarn papers, the heads of the * Council's staff, his proposer and seconder, and a few others. Apologies were- read from ex-Mavors Jackson and Jonas, Messrs W. B. Howell, A. C. Thompson, J. Talbot, W. Dickson, and C. L. Newnham, most of the notes congratulating Mr Craigie , on, his re-election, and expressing good wishes for his success during the current term. The "Mayor of course presided, and ez-Mayura Hole and Grandi sat next bins, whil» senior Councilor the we^ehah-^ The Mayor first made The usual official Declaration, and then proposed the toast . of "The King." Mr E. H. Bowie proposed "The 'Progress and Prosperity of Timaru." He said he had taken a warm interest in the doings of the Council, though he bad never been able to take office himself, and he ielt no little satisfaction that he had four times nominated Mr Craigie as Mayor, and that his, judgment in nominating him the first time had been well justified. (Hear, hear.) He had himself been in Timaru about 34 years, and the contrast between then and now war remarkable. } The only thing that'remained the same was .its beautiful climate, and the fertility of the country surrounding it." ' They had some hard _ " .times then; he often wondered'now* bow they got on at all; labourers got only 5s - a day and tradesmen Bs, and everything except house rent was much dearer thai -V to-day. The houses weie cheap because f. they were most of them, mud huts, ret '••/.---they'wew'very'clean and comfortable. Ti- " f ".~ mara h&ct had japs and downs, Dooms and .'~Z'- depressions, and he was inclined to think "-->* that-Jthfc depressions did less'barm than "the booms. (Hear, hear.) But now they . were safe on a sound course of prosperity, and with a good and safe harbour and the -country well settled" .with a -'people, jjjp future was most hopeful. The - Mayor had proved himselfthe right man is the right place; he hacTbeen well sup- - ported by the Councillors; they bad all worked together in right directions, and he anticipated that the new Council 'would be found following the lead of their predecessors. The toast was received jritl musical honours. The Mayor, after thanking the companj for their reception of the toast, congratu lated them upon the high reputation th< town had acquired, so different from whai it bad some years ago, when Timaru wo: notorious for wrecks, and the Timarnviai abroad was shy of saying where Be be longed to. That sort of thing, however .* was now away in the past, thanks to th< efforts of the Harbour Board, and especially to their latest acquisition, the eastern mole He might mention, that the captain of th< Kumara- assured him that he and othei shipmasters were now always pleased tc . come to Timaru, with its safe shelter anc ' nice climate. - Another visitor, formerly t resident of the district, called upon him £ few days ago, {or the purpose- of sayinj that.he had been all over New Zealanc since he lived nearlimaiu, and he knew of no better town or one wfth bright© prospects. The trade of the place wa: rdcreasmg, as shown by the Harbou: Board statistics, and the productiveness o the district, was no longer a case o eggs 'all in one" -basket. ' Hen were many different industries now -estab Hshed ana flournhing, and as in exampl of these .fie referred to the excellent in . dustry-established by Mr Bowie and lii friends, m the dairy factory. He did no anticipate, as some professed to do, tha Timaru would overtake Christchurchj bu he. did think Timaru should gain fiftl place among the towns of the colony, b; getting; ahead of InvercargiD, in doini which it would be greatly aided by it attractiveness as a holiday and health re - sort. The town was growing steadily For some years the valuation had beer going up at the rate of £3OOO a year; thi year the increase was £SOOO, chiefly da ttt the number of new buildings, not th< increased Tarnations of old ones. Th total yahjatfcn was now £62,000, Th .Mayorf then dealt at some length, with th ward system. With regard to the finance: he was himself pledged to stick' io a ; Ji ratal rate, and that pledge appeared -tc approved by the public meeting- (he ad dressed. - That meant that in making) u] their estimates they must cut their coa according to their cloth. A reform wa. needed in the time/of striking the rate so that it could be collected within th year,in which is was struck, instead o 'muddling- into the following "year as is not unavoidably the case. He need not b;i into the question of tjbe works that ah been done or begun, as he recently di< so at length. .An improvement to b aimed at was electric lighting, for whicl some reasonable offers were about to b nude), which would be better than buyirij the gas works, as would keep on the better tight for a long time; and ana tier was underground drainage. Timar also needed a tram car or motor bus ser vice, as visitors am} townspeople found i difficult to get about, and this ought ti he> a municipal service. There was r* v fcar of going too fast in these directions: no fear of the "bottom dropping out o the place" as it did before. The countr was better 'suited and more solidly proa parous, and in town the value of propert; was not inflated as it was in the boom time He thanked the old. council for their dis interested attention to the-' business of th town as a whole, without any suspicion c friction or party spirit of any kind. Councillor Bothwell, on behalf of th councillors, congratulated Mr Craigie o his re-election, and said Mr Craigie ha presided and conducted the business wit the greatest impartiality. Councillor 6mm proposed "The ea - Councillors," with some humorous remark: and Messrs Priest, Waite and Wallace n sponded. Mr Waite suggested that needed reform was the adoption of a sya tern of scavenging; and rubbish removal t be paid for by alialf yearly change. Th: suggestion was endorsed by " hear, hears. Councillor Hawkey proposed "The 2fei CounaDorsy" and* cautioned them that i their two years of office they would hai to deal with two very important worjb underground drainage," and electric lighting Cbuncffltors Grmn, -Smithson, Strachai Wells, and Hunt replied- " ; "Tie Mayor proposed the "Ex-Mayors, speaking of the work they did and congratu I?ting himself upon being Mayor in mor prosperous'times. Mr Grandi, he reminde the company inaugurated the gully" inyei system; and Mr Hole was the right ma in the right place when the contingents ha ta be sent away to South Africa, and whe - the popular rejoicing over Mafeking, Lady smith and the rest had to be organised an led. The Mayor also referred to Mr Hole' work as a member of the Harbour Board and said there was important work to b done yet in providing deep water as we' as stiD water, bo that the biggest vessel could come and deliver cargo to branc houses of the big importing merchants wb were already beginning * to estabba branches; (Hear, hear.) Mr Grandi said he had been in Timaru 2 years, and he could say 'that great pre j&ess had been made in the last four yean There were factors of prosperity that th Mayor and Council could not influence, firs and foremost among them being the harbou works. These had now been made an as sored success. Mr Grandi alluded to th remarks of country people that Timan reaped the benefit of the expenditure oi the harbour. That was in a sense true; but the farming community reaped thi most benefit from the harbour in the ship ment of their produce and the import o their requirement*. Mr Hole, in his reply, said thev wonh all agTee that the Ughting of the" townwhether by gas or by electricity—shoult oe mi the hands of the municipality; so als< should any system of trams they mighl nave. He agreed with Councillor Smith son in hoping that all pnblic bodies wil aesMt the Council in regard to underground drainage when the borongh does under take it. He believed the Harbour Boarc would, for one. (Applause.) He congratu fated the Mayor upon the successful com _ plerion of several important enterprises durimr his terms of office.- Mr Hole pro eeeded to make some remarks about tiu past work and the hopes and anticipation! of the Harbour Board, and incidentally he said he looked forward to tht time when

the reclaimed ground would by and by pay a eood share- of the cost- of the- harbour worts. H,e believed the Board was determined to the harbour and the entrance deepened io: that they could accommodate the largest vessels',"so as to secure diiect importation of all their goods, with sheds and'cart wharves to facilitate the business of the importers; until the harbour and port were second to none in the colony. ; Mr Priest proposed the Council's Sobertors and Banker?, and Mr C. Perry replied for the former (Mr Tapper had left by this time). _. . ' ,' , „ -i. Councillor Sealey proposed the Council a staff, and Mr Virtue, Town Clerk, Mr Beswick. overseer-'and waterworks inspector, Mr Brown," Park curator, and Mr Smith, sanitary inspector, responded. The Mayor proposed "The Visitors" and the public officers and others gresent were called upon to respond. ; Mr chief postmaster, reI sponded briefly, and told a humorous story. Mr Graham, stationmaster, after some remmiscences of old -Timaru, made a suggestion to the Council in favour of a dust cart as an addition to the sanitary methods of the town. He knew of-no town of the size of Timaru that'has not this convenience. Mr W. D. Campbell (editor of the "Herald'-*)_ said the fact .that he bad'been invited and that he had accepted the injhation, _ should be a lesson to people who imagined that it was not possible for- .a man in a public position like that of the Mayor, apd for another in a semi-public position lite that of the editor of a paper, to differ in opinion on a public matter without being privately-atdeadlyenmily. (Hear, hear). He heartily congratulated Mr Craigie on his re-election, and. it was a Igood feature of public life that a difference of.opinion had nob prevented the I Mayor from inviting him to take part in a; very pleasant gathering. (Applause.) i Mr Bowie and Mr Bassford, who were' Mr Craigie's nominators, and Mr R. Penrose also responded for the visitors. The last named suggested that.the townspeople could better afford to pay a Is 3d rate 'now than formerly, when they did pay.it; and that they would prefer to pay the extra threepence to get metal instead of shingle ou the streets. Councillor Wells proposed,the health of the Hon. W. Hall-Jones and Mr W. Evans, the former for his! services to the country settler, the Tatter for his services on the Harbour Board. >^ Councillor Smithson proposed the health of the Mayor/with high ecomiums upon his energy and: devotion to the interests of tSe town. ' The toast was drunk with musical honours, and was. supported by Councillor Wells, who said he had sought for another candidate for the Mayoralty, i but could not find one.

The Mayor, in acknowledging- the toast; said he desired to see completed some of the work he had undertaken, but -he would hare been pleased to hare had his election contested, as it would have shown -better whether or not his doings had "been approved by the" ratepayers. Referring to what Mr Penrose had eaid, he thought a Is rate quite enough,-unless they could get some very substantial advantage by increasing it. Mr Craigie thanked " the \ company for accepting his invitation, and i remarked that I these friendly social gatherlings smoothed the course of business in a very valuable degree. Councillor Oborn proposed "ThaPras," and the representatives present replied. I 'The Mayor then proposed "Tie Memory i of the LateiTbwn Clerk, Mr E. H. Lough," this: being the first Mayoral installation in Timaru from which Mr Lough, was absent, and Mr Craigie eulogised the deceased as an efficient and, painstaking officer, and as a kindly and-tactfnl man. The toast was drunk "in. silence. . " The Scotch Doxq!ogy " -then cicsed the programme shortly after 11 p.m. v Several' taembers of the company contributed songs or humorous stones "to the enlivening of the proceedings, and altegetfrer a- most pleasant evening*• was spent.

Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, May 3. Tfoe installation of Mr Arthur M. "Myers as Mayor of Auckland, was witnessed by "a large number of citizens. The retiring ! Mayor (Hon. E. MitcheHson} and incoming .Mayor delivered lengthy addresses in reference to the, progress and needs of the city. Both speakers urged the importance rof a. greater Auckland scheme and the immediate prosecution of drainage and water extension schemes.'"