MR LEARY'S ADDRESS.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 146, 4 June 1881, Page 2

MR LEARY'S ADDRESS.

Mr J. E.-Leary met the 'electors i m the Tbwtt Hall, oa } Thursday : evening, there was/ a good attendance, and ..the-, utmost good order throughout, and fri quently. daring that gentleman** remarks he was greeted with hearty ap- : plausie' from bis audience.- Mr T. King occupied the chaii; -j;.i .'. ; " lif r Learj*« address wai aa follows j— • Mr Chairman" and Gentlemen^ Burges^es of 'Palmewtori ■Ndrthj-rr | Before proceeding with ; the actual subject of/the present; meeting, I would like to stat* that I attended Mr Snelion'a meeting |*t Teifrace End last evening, and was'extremely pleased at the lor deny manner m which that meeting wa« tonducted.., I would, ask you tkis kvening to giVe^me- * like^pitient; hearing, and shon\d I m the course of my remarks^ say anything roquiring, explanation^; I shall be most nippy to ! afford yon all the m« formation m my power it the clost of tfce present meeting, when an , oppbrt«iiity wiH be -afforfed' you'tb^ ask ioe questioni upon matters conterning which you may desire fuHer information. You art awart of tht mbjeot of At

present meeting. You know that lam a candidate for the seat m the Borough Council rendered vacant by the resignation of Cr Iror James. .Ton know also that ttife prospective horfor of occupying that seat is cSntMted^and I have tatan th* liberty of]aekii^ jrpur presence here this evening, pha&l; mfyjro the first place contradict certaiji. ipmoun that have been circulated dalnagiig to myself, and whi^h if. alTb^ed Jo>go uncontradicted f puld naturally fend to diminish the amount of support that I should other* wile- receive. In the next place I would lay before -you-Ht—brief statement**! Borough affairs as they.' appear to me, aitd give you a concise statement of my intehtlons^df wKt T^urp6sF3oisf — ■ should you by, your votes place me m the Council. (^j ;" c " - : ->-< lt^ouldj^pe§t ;^ai iwhenev«r;aliiaii seeks to occupy a public position or take an active part in^ablie affairs, he must submiHo be,pJkced/ua.4er,the mjcrjoscope of public criticism. general tharac* ter and public acts asl • |»e> subjected to close scrutiny, and should those not bear the test of investigation,- he may seek, but he will seek m vain, 4o possess himself of the vW^Motiivmm^ Against that profcednrVl have nothing to ' n . r ge,; v in Act,- so far from, making any complaint against it; t thinkr'tifat' it » but reasonable ,and .just that the man who aspires m an^ay ' to' f lejpsTate for, qrgp^era his ftffow men, should be able to proveiothemV^'^l^Mgument posable^l^of his past conduct —that he ia, a' fit and. proper person to fiU the Weeks to occupj, or m. other words that be is wortbvW the confidence b r f his fellow' el&ttfr». >;^P* But whether a. man's character and public acts can, or cannot,' bear the test Jo jrbich they are naturally subjected m a contested election like the^rwenttfeere are rarely wanting those who for reason* perhaps only known to themselves— possibly from mere wantonness— are ready to ascribe to a candidate selfishly interested motivjea, r or what is worse, say that he possesses rio^nrotive'Wf all, and i« perfectly regardless of the result of the pendmg/elefctipif. <? A^ lK»4iee r tin||"last evening I heard' Mr ; SfelsHn c[complain. of such treatment, and it. isimyitinfey^his evening to repel Insinuation 5^ a, dajpag^ jngn^urelnia^ag^^n^sej^ Jrha* •been stated 7 that ; . l am, -quite indifferent as to the resuft^of efcefion, and ' that if electei -Ii c would neither" attend 4 the Ctauneilirim^etiag** %6t "work' von-ii Vbehalf [>< pf w ratepayers. Another report jhas currency is of a .worse nature'suil^and i» to the effect that there is a c'%e or party ' m the' preient^Gbuncill Jo which rim bound or. have sold myself. Now I mo fit distinctly, and emphatically say,. that those reports^ s fiM^tift have not the slightest '/ooridation m truth. I wouid~not be v a party to the soliciting of ybhr voles did I feel indifferent as «to .the result of .the election. I think the fact of my /calling'tne prejSent meeting jui^Bi^ciehf^e'vidence *hat 1 am mi earaeßtjanaithat'l doitake a lively interest m the present .contest. iUCto not';^orkmg inryou.r, interests, I would just say that my nature' would not allow 'me to accept the office I seek without performing tme— duties of that office faithfully to the best of my.ability. In reference to &c" insinuation* about mv being bound, tq y a party in,the Council, jl would say 1 that f am not' even aware that ilie^wiucnTa^njngTrairr^rjyjn connection with that body. There can be no party thert m the 1 political significa,tion' of i that termrj 16. by {^a. party i» -meant a number of men clubbed together for what ii termed or logrolling," then -il would, sconi 1* belong to it, and wobld appose its designs by every means In my ..power. L [But should you_:return me Jo the Council and I find there associated a number of ' men, eairnest and xealoui ihLtheir endeavour* to promote the public gotid, then it will be my pleas^'any prideT]tSi^ork\ witb those men inthei/Sau'dable and unselfishi toif.j I distinctly say, th^t no one, or more Councillors have at any 'time l made overtures to me ofa dishonorable nature, and that if you elect me I shafl be a prefectljr independißnt member of the Council, un» trammelled ! byi promises, land wkh my hands free to act m your interest as ] think best.:u .'^m^i-.pUi "^""t sv^rt • Ai to the past il have but little fb say^. jl-iavev no , account of stewardship tore«3eryou'forl'haye riot^Wfbrf served you m ahy ioffice similar to that I now seek.., I have no desire to speak of what PhaVe done, but £ have worked consistently LiaiSM I trust: unseifishly - f»r the general food. , I have striven to the best of my ability tcV be' a good dtizen. There are a few feots iaiconaectioa with the past history of our Borough that I would like to brinrbefore you and; which I trust will prore 'interesting toyou. . When the (Borojagh was first incorporated about four years ago— l think W^ugust W>lW^mtt,&mewhmt heavily handicapped by having to take fOverthefUKbJJitJ*^ o^ Ul^? e *~ isting XocaLjloardl '^Those liabilities amounted;as|nearly, as Ir'can ascertain to £3(X) or 'Dufmg the first year of the BoreugK's ezuten&e itftTeeeip|s over those of &c previously,, enstibg Local Bosra i %eW laW a#eiit«d>v the Jnbreased area brought under its jurisdiction, but its responsibilities/ were also increased; and at the erid'eflip second year its : balance-sheet, showeTTa Eabilityof j8642i and debentures had also been issued to the extent of £710, but against the latter item of debentures may fairlybeplaeedtheneWw6rki;i*poh r which it had besn -einended^J 'AffairsiasjmnKd « somewhat gloomy aspect during thf^irdk lyearot the ifßrough^iejqstence. TJ»re was an.overdraft at the Bank of New Zealand amounting to £509 Is 3d, the. credit of the: Borough was -virtually stopped; and<i«^carry oiUnecessary works: Councillors had actually to pledge their credit jointly^ and sever,aliy.ibr a further sum of £650. The total amount of debentures issued at the e^nd of that year was £IJSOr Councillors had been con* demned m i6me quarteri for thus allowing the public debt •f-fiie Borough ta assume suoh Hifge^Bl^Jgonft. and for forestalling the, .revenue for the forth- . coming year 4 but I thought, at the time that their'actroi^'wag 1 ! w^ief one and I think «o»till. Had Counoillorfl been afraid, had;they shown: tjmidjty m grappUng;with tb^ difßculties^by : (yhich Off were surrounded, the "wf?^ I?P ld htTe . been most disastrous 'to "the piroperty of Palmerstbn. : "Public works would have been stopped, and manyT waking men would have left the district, perhaps never to r«turn, ani 1 tbe,trad« o!f>ihe toyrn would, h»T© it been, depressed to • fiur greater extent than it wai at that crisb. Wbiu <h« titimattt tr«« fr»nwd ftr tht

financial year whicX has just expired, the aspect of -finance was depressing m the. extreuik 'There was no money to sp^nd upon new public works, %nd barely for the maintenance if those already constructed and salaries. 9uring4hat,ye^, howeyer, things became jnore hopeful, makers'" m the financial world assumed a brrghie'r m short, money r became and ,arcinge~~, tnents were made to ftoara portion »f the £10.000 loan which had been authorised" 1 by ratepayers. <; 'As iijm^'mis^ppfeh'etision has existed with regard, to that Joan I will just recouut how it w,as. allocated : — For making of streets; "£4,000 ; r cleaiing and forming bnsh road^-;£i;500;! road to Botanical Gardens and" Racecourse, £500 ; Square' improvementsj "'£soo ; MunJcipal__bui!^i»gß,_£sQ.Q ; scwieragjetnd drainage, £3,000; total £10,000 rhei Bank; .of uNew Zealand agreed to inecome agents for the Council m floating iuch poptiopjof thje) loan a* the Council!' desired, which for the then present was fixed at £5,000, rjthe Bank .undertaking to advance to the extent or £3^ooo until the whole amount was floated At that. time|' ilie' Sank', •yerdfaft ainountsd to, £900, 'and! ! 'it '•'.was ' tbptght ; (lesif abl« ; '.tp , cover this out of the loan as a . temporary : ' measure, as, thereby j interest iwyqld he, saved. i: ,T.hat .amount will of course' be agaia,ayai)able when required. A further aura Jof £300 due on account . of ■ works done on the reserve was likewise paid oil of the loan; v> That amount will - also -be recouped by rents receiveable from the reserve. 7 'The Public Works Committee recommended ' to 1 the Council a schedule ft of works.whiph would absorb the £3,000 arranged for, and would it was considered clistribute a .fair share to!- every part of the Borough. Park and Botanical Roads »—were hot included m the schedule as a ' special provision had been made for them. But m the meantime a sum of £'i 24 has actually been advanced out of the £3,000 towftrd% Ct ne^esaary ' works upon those roads, bnt that £214 will be again available for the general scheme submitted by the Public Workis: jGJommittee.?: A .liability of £180 had been, incurred during the previous year for which po provision had been made'j ''and that 'had ahfo to be liquidated, out of ithe; . loan, as ; it ; mighf with r<airn<ss ,'be Jconsidered iva -. cbmin/arnndef one ;of the heads provided for by the loan. The total, then of 'the authoriged eipendiiurte out of the £3,000 loin would be, includjnsr .tlfe'last.item of £110, aborit thus leaving £2,000 stiir to be expended. .., That £2,000; is jnade up as followi/^Pyerdraft paid off out of Loan to same intereßt, £900 ; spent on reserve/ but "reOTivable again from rents,J£3oo / ; f d c Botanical Roads (to be_recouped),_£224 ; m .hand,-j8576.-Having thus far looked at the past let us now turn ou^j attention- ;to the^ futur-. We^are^alLmorepr : less anxious to know, what the future hides mit for us. Shrewd, men may fancy they hav_e lifted' the cur-' tain but the keenest, , the ; most sagicidas speculations "as to! wKnt" lies beyond the actual present, are liable; to disappointment. -Still disappdinttnent■ddgjtp.(thej sum, of our experience,^ a.nd makes iis wiser m our endeavors to make provision^ for future requirementf. There are several questions of general interest. to tbe^nhajbitantipf , this Borough. Mr; ; Pnelson, at' his meeting last' evening, ~^polce r bf%e' ; 'idivinoD^.JDf.'the'.^6W9'.'into: Wards.'. ';Hev«iid_hfi. tt'oiigLt-tbc^mc^ bnacome o when.tbatßbould tl be ;done.i .- Icapr, pears to nje that th^re, might be an injustice done to the 'butlWying wards were the sebeme'earried out at once.. If the Borough were divided into -wards tho rates raised m each separate ward would be spent upon that ward. In the. past, what would naturally form the central ward if the proposed— arrangement were carried: out, has I think received morel than its fait share of Berough revenue, and unlessVsoine arrangement could be made whereby the spent upon the central portion of the Borough c<uld be recouped jfoii the benefit of ithose porr tions forming the other wards, I certainly, would not be inlfavor of the xlivision. As to drainage, I have slrraiiy stated thataTsura of '£*;000 is included" for fthat purppsc ;in the, authorised Joan of ;£lp,opp ; Tt ■2P l ffi?fft e ra'"-^ at future tim,e, to float that £3;000 and commence" the work. . °- )-.'■''• X |; i ; i-' ; V* ■^•■■!:^r:- / h , IdoAoi'iee'tbatiitis at all necessary for us.to abo;at a new loan whilst we have] so' much of the' old loan to rat«e. I do -not think the idea of felling the-Square » good one. It wpuld.not be just to those who kare pur*hased2 property around it. Moreo ve^; thTnk the Borough Council wilfever require to sell it. .The best thing to do with it would be to plant it"i» originally intended, and if ever' " Palraerston-is to become : the ? Christ^ church of €he North Island," this wilt , prove a boon and blessing to its inhabi- _■ tants. jj v .\f : '^;:^:-:-:C ■'■■■:- ■ When|l look around me and see the broad w]eH-metalled streets and) public inetitutioitl that we have io Palmerston, it isamittejrof surprise to me that so much has been accomplished m so short a time utbe town has been established ; and I consider that great crediti is due to those who'.r have had: charge and' to ' cie i n'PWjin charge rofj -your jterrtr^-ThetififWedit duellsoid the indabitants^tfaemselvesr.who-have ever eneertulm ? *elpM sin: .every: progressive *^ntleinen;-tha:ve : donei"-Snouid-you &y® m? M&t 'spm9\ i- y0 work , jealouslyJn your interests.: . ; 2 : - 1 Atish£TM^usipn; of the candidate's •peecb, toe' Chairman pY •pounded the . usual unnninipnsvote of fajr, Mr. lie*ry. w % -A cordial vote of tbanksi to the Chair* man concluded the meeting.'