INSTALLATION OF MAYOR.

Waikato Times, Volume XII, Issue 1013, 19 December 1878, Page 2

INSTALLATION OF MAYOR.

A special meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council was held, yesterday at noon foi 1 tlie 'purpose of installing the new Mayor, J. B. .Whyte; Esq. 1 There was a full Council fahd the Chair was occupied by ; Cr." Hame, who opened the proceedings by presenting the following address, now being engrossed, to the retiring Mayor. To Isaac Richardson Vialou, Esq, Mayor, Borough of Hamilton. Dear Sir. — Ou the expiration of your term of ofiice, we have much pleasure m handing you v copy of the following resolutiou passed unanimously at the last meeting of the Borough Council. " That this Council pass a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor, I. H. Vialou, Esq, for the services he has rendered during his term of oilice." "Tbat the resolution just passed be iuscribcd on the minutes of the Council, and that a copy be engrossed and presented to I. R. Vialou, Esq., iv recognition of his services as the first Mayor of the Borough of Hamilton." And we beg to assure you, that your zeal and exertions m the interest of the Borough will evpr be held by us m grateful remcmberance — trusting that you will long be spared to enjoy health and prosperity m a Borough where your services have been so prominent. — Signed by the members of Council. Mr Vialou, m returning thanks said he had always taken a strong interest m tlie district and should always do so. Tliat his services had been so fully appreciated by the Council gave him the greatest pleasure, fie wonld simply thank them most cordially for the honothey had conferred qpon him. The M'.yor then resumed tlie Chair, which he had vaoated to allow Cr. Hume to present tlie uddivss, and the declaration of the Returning.'

Officer at tho Jate Mayoral election having been read, the new Mayor was introduced by the Chairman. Mr Whyte then read the declaration prescribed by the Act, and took his seac. r ,.- -f=. _-.-_y.. Cr. Knox offeree! the new Mayor the congratulations of the council and burgesses,- feeling satisfied that his Worship's; fibst public character was a guarantee of the fitness of- his future' one. The Mayor thanked the Cou ncil, 'and expressed his hope tliat the council and himself wold work harmoniously together. The administration of the aftaira of the borough during the naxt few yoars would have a very marked effect upon its liUut-e prosperity but . he had uo doubt that with the intelligence : of the borough which he saw before him m the Council thoy should be able to work together for tho common good. DRIVING THE FIRST PILE. By a quarter past two the Mayor I and late Mayor and members of the | Council, attended by a large concourse of the inhabitants and the children of the district schools were assembled on the river bank, to take part m and witness the cerennny of driving the first pile of the new bridge. A staging erected ou two barges was moored about 90 yards from the eastern bank of the river, and; the pile was already placed m position. A couple of boats, containing the late Mayor, who performed the ceremony, his daughter, Miss Vialou, to whom had been allotted the duty of christening the pile with the customary bottle of cbampaigne, and the members of the Borough Council pat off to the stage, and when the mokey fell upon the pile, the English Ensign flew to the peak, and floated proudly, amid the cheers of the inhabitants. Cheers were called for, for Miss Vialou, for Mr V ialou, the late- Mayor, Mr Whyte, the new Mayor, and for the Contractor, and heartily responded to by the people onshore. Mr Vialou delivered the following address : — Gextlemen, — The occasion, upon which we have met together this afternoon is one which, • I must say, I have anticipated for somo time, nearly four mouths havingnow elapsed since the contract was accepted. It was very natural to suppose that it would have been commenced before this, but circumstances, over which the contractor had no control, have prevented it. The present demonstration has been quite an. impromptu affair, so much so that the contractor had not time to confer with the Council or myself on the subject until yesterday morning, when I was asked by. Mr JBreakell, on behalf of the contractor, to drive the first pile. . I felt a little difticidty m accepting that olHoe, m consequence of a local which appeared m yesterday's issue of the Waikato Times stating that the first pile would be driven by the Mayor, and, not having had any intimation of the matter, I concluded it meant the Mayor-elect, as by 'the time proposed that the ceremony should take place I should be no longer Mayor. However, the explanation given me . by that gentleman being satisfactory, I was induced to comyly with the request. Mr Breakell stated to me that the only cause of the great haste ia wliich the whole affair had been got up was that he, With other gentlemen, considered that I was the proper person to perform tbe ceremony, m consequence of the active part I had taken m a 1 matters connected with the bridge, considering also that I was v one of the first movers' m the establishment of this Borough, and that tho getting of a bridge was the primary object Gentlemen ,- L cannot express to you how delighted I am that we have so far succeeded. The very fact of our assembling here to-day is a proof of our success. It must be apparent to everyone visiting Hamilton, who has been absent only for a short time, that rapid strides have been made m improvements of every kind ; but, gentlemen, we are only as yet m our infancy. As a Borough, we have had much to learn, and have much to learn still. We have many very able men among us, who arc now taking a lively interest m the place, and I feel certain that, with careful deliberation on thair part, and taking into consideration the number of enterprising business men we have m our midst, m a very few years Hamilton will be classed amongst the leading cities m New Zealand. I believe, gentlemen, we are indebted to the liberality of the contractor, for the repast we are about to partake of, and I think we cannot do less en the present ocoasiqn than,, to wish him God-speed with his contract, and to hope that it may prove a lucrative enterprise on his part. ; ■Two casks of beer were then 'opened for the benefit of all who chose to partake of their oontents, and the several member? of the Council and local bodies proceeded to the Royal Hotel, where an excellent luncheon had been provided m Captain Dawson's usnal style. Tbe new Mayor, Mr J. B. Whyte, occupied the head of the table, aud Mi A. Cox, the Vice-Chair. After the usual loyal toasts had beeu given, Mr I. R. A^ialoa (ex-Mayor) proposed " Prosperity to the Hamilton Bridge." A bridge at llamilton, he said, has been talked of for many years, but now that we havo th ; s day driven the first pile, we may consider it an actual fact that we shall have oue, and it is only natural that some notice should be taken of its comenoement. It is not my intention to occupy your time wiMi a long speech, as to the necessity of such a structure, most of us are fully aware of that fact, The large annual sum received for the priviliges of collecting the tolls of the ferry is sufficient proof of the amount of trade between the two sides of tho river, aud this will be very muoh increased when tha bridge is completed, thereby, coferrinj* a great benefit on the whole Borough, the division of which, by !_he river, has always been a great drawback, H-nd gauge of (potent Jon, which, ! hq-ppily, now, will be roinoved. j Gentle -nen, I ask you to drink sue- ' cess to tlie Hamilton Bridge. ' Qr, Giviclin, m responding, alluded to the fact, that thirteen years ao-o ho bought land on the faith of the bridge, To-day he felt as if something really good had come ai last, That it had done so was due to the

c.ipi.al and energy thg.t had come amongst, us of late years. Mi A. Cox proposed the health of the late Major.' Most of thoso present had known him long. As a professional man, he had never had cause to regret his connection with him. Of Council matters ho knew loss. As far back as 1865 the bridge question was first mooted Again, four years a^o he was one of a depuI tition to Di- Pcll-jn to urge upon him the necessity i'or a bridge*. Dr Pollen was very clever m hia way, more than a nvitch for them — he reproached, the deputation that tbe Haintltonians were a divided people, but was tild that a bridge was just for that reason wanted as people ould not shake hands over a river without a bridge. The hue Government, he knew, put a sum upon the estimates for the bridge. The Government however fell through, but nevertheless the bridge was now, it miglit bj said, an accomplished fact. That tho result would be a great one all believed as rendering East and West Hamilton one town m interest and feeling. Mr Vialou respon led, returning thanks from the bottom of his heart for the very- cordial manner m which the toast had been received. Mi- Cox propose.! the health of Mr J. B. Whyte, the new Mayor, and the Borough Council. The latter was not the mere creation of an Act of Parliament bub had been evolved out of a desire for ib m the minds of bhe people. The new Mayor was not without practic.il experience as was known from his connection with other local bodies. The Mayor replied. He took great interest m the Borough, and though it would probably not be a second London for some little time at least, it was likely to become a thriving town at no distant date. Or. Potter as one of the first elected to the Council returned thanks, and said they had striven to do bhe best for the Borough, aod the burgesses m re-electing the same men had shown their appreciation of their services. In the case of the Mayor it was usual to pass the ofiice on from year to year into fresh hand.-;, and to this cause he attiibuted the fact rather than to anything else that the appointment or a new mm to the office hid bsen decided on. Mr Vialou proposed " Our Members m the Assembly." Mr Whitaker, he said, is well known to all of us, therefore it is unnecessary for me to enter iwto any particulars as to what he has done aj a public man. His services are fully appreciated by all who know him — nob ad with Mr McMinn, he is comparatively an untried man, bub ib is only to say this much — Mr F. Whitaker m his report of his proceedings while at Wellington as our agent mentioned that Mr , McMinu had shywn the grea'esfc courtesy to him, and that he had always found him willing to further the interests of this Borough, and further that when he, Mr Whitaker left Wellington, Mr McMinn took the further charge of si Bill which that gent-emau- had -prepared for the purpose of granting a site for a Volunteer and Public Hall as also a sum of £100 towards its ereotion thereof, whioh has been so success fully oarried through. Therefore gentlemen I ask you to drink the health of Messrs McMinn and Whitaker, our Members. Mr A. Cox returned thanks, alluding eulogistically to the public services of Mr Whitaker rendered to the colony, and ref vrred, from his personal knowledge at "Wellington, to the zeal shown by Mr McMinn m promoting anything which tended to the interest of every part of the district alike. Or. Hume proposed, " The Contractors." He should havo liked to have seen them there to-day, but unfortunately business engagements prevented them from attending. He cordially trusted the present work would be pecuniarily as successful to them as it would be ' eneficial to ourselves. He specially begged to thank them for the hospitable meeting tbo company were now enjoying, Mi* GrwymiG returned thank*, saying that it was much against Mr Ross' wish that he was not now present. He had endeavoured to be so, but was unsuccessful. Ho believed the work would be thoroughly carried out by Messrs Kcai Und Dunbar, Cr. Potter proposed, <( Prosperity to tho Agricultural and Pastoral interests of tho district." H^ alluded to the progressive advaucement of New Zealand m agriculture, and, of "all districts iv the colony none were more marked m this respect than Waikato. The backbone of the country, was the itgriculturai and pastoral interest, and, but for its progress m Waikato, we should neither liave nor want the bridge, the work of constructing which had been just initiated. Mr P. Walker replied. As regards both . wheat growing and wool producing, New Zealand would soon stand second to no Colony m the Empire. The coutiuuous prosperity of the colony would, inainly depend on those staples, and ho hoped souu they would be inaugurating the formation of a bridge lower down — the Thames- Waikato railway bridge — which, before many years, would bo giving egross to, large quantities of both grain and wool j'vom this* distriot to tlio por-t, Mr Seddon proposed the " Commercial interest." If New Zealand is to be the 13ritou of the South, it must be by the amalgamation of both agricultural and commercial prosperity. I'ommeree was m its swaddlitig clothes iv WaU^ta \yhen ho oaine there, but It was now growing iijto manhood. To men, of commerce they awed even more than to agriculturalists for the advancement of the district. Wherever a ooinuiercial Interest; hau* been, started m Waikato, it had grown stronger and stronger every year-. Ho had never seeu one of thorn die- out. Mr J. Knox, m responding, alluded to the early days of the town of Hamilton, when they could not get even a branch bank established m the place. When he, laokod iiqw, and saw the present b;n k building, which had stamped the H; \\ marked un Hamilton, he could not but say that capital had douo much to advance its interests. Equally so \np (ircdii. diio to tl)o enterprise t\yu present, Oapt. ; Steele and Mr Oqx. j Mi* P. Walker proposed the " Pioneer' a of Waikato." Although v comparative stranger, lie could, nevertheless., understand the immense amount of work uuclcrtakeu by men such us Capt. Steele

and others The country was then a | waste, now it had been covered with smiling fields and comfortable homesteads, | It was hard, indeed, to believe that littlo | more than a dozen years ago, two races I were making this district the battle field j for tbe sovereignty o£jhe^p&^lbre i progress could^e sho^fa^ "limited number of years* m the Waikato, tlian m any other part- of the Quaea'a dominions. lhis state? of '- things was due to the pioneers who came with the ;Bwbrd ihrbno hand and the plough m iheotller. 7 A \ Capt. dteete said there 7 must 7bc pioneera. _Mr Seddon said co^njje'had only swaddling clothes whcjasvf (Mr Seddon) came. When the sfcker came, some of the pioneers had no clothes at all. He remembered when the corner lot, where the bank now stood, was' «oiii»begging for £30, and alluded further to the differences between then and now. He had agitated the bridge from the very first. He had offered to give, some years ago, £700 a year for the tolls "of the , bridge, and he would do it now. | .Captain McPherson, when called on, said, at any rate, he lived near to a pioneer. iViien he came up, he thought the pioneer was beginning to have a good time of it. Capt. .Steele was really a pioneer, and was still, to this day, a pioneer, for Waikato, of late years, owed many of her best settlors to his introduction. Mr Hume proposed, the " Engineer to the Bridge, Mr W. C. Breakell." Mr Breakell replied, and the toasts of the "Press," the "Ladies" and tbe " Host and Hostess" were severally proposed and duly responded to before the company separated.