Councillor M'Combie yvas in his way an awkward, blundering, well-intentioned man, who, once having conceived a notion stuck to it with m u c h pertinacity. Possibly because he was not appointed to the Commission of the Peace, or for some other unknown reason, he got what is colonially termed a " down " on Mr. Latrobe, and indulged it in every way he could, by means of the Gazette newspaper now in his hands, and as T o w n Councillor. There yvas a strong anti-Latrobe party in the Council, and on the 15th June, 1848, Mr. M'Combie submitted a motion for an Address to the Queen, praying H e r Majesty to direct the removal of Mr. C. J. Latrobe from the Superintendency of Port Phillip. There was afierce,acrimionous, and grossly personal debate over it, and on a division the numbers w e r e : — F o r — A l d e r m e n Condell, Greeves, Bell, Councillors M'Combie, Murray, Clarke, Johnston, Kerr, and Annand. Total 9. Against — T h e Mayor (Alderman Russell), Councillors Moor, Armitstead, Smith, and Campbell. Total 5. This act of the Corporation yvas endorsed by a public meeting, which was notable for the Fawknerian revelations that led to the remarkable action of St. John v. Fawkner, for libel. O n the 9th August a despatch was received from Sir Charles Fitzroy, declining to recommend the prayer of the memorial to H e r Majesty. In September, 1848, Councillor Kerr was again infinancialdifficulties, yvhich forced him into an assignment for the benefit of his creditors ; and though ipso facto disqualified, he contended he was not, stuck to his seat, defied the law, and by the help of his Scotch following so " stoneyvalled " as to prevent the Council obtaining Counsel's opinion on the subject.
THE ANNUAL ELECTIONS (1848)
Again yvhirled round with this result:—For Latrobe Ward, Murray was re-elected without opposition; Annand in Lonsdale Ward, beat Meek, an Attorney; and Rankin, a builder, conquered George Playne, a fashionable club J.P. and M . D . ; whilst Michael M c N a m a r a , a mercurial and enthusiastic tailor, yvas returned for Gipps Ward, against George Swanston, a publican. Smith the ex-member for Bourke Ward, having become ineligible for re-election through the omission of his n a m e from the Citizen Roll, rolled himself up in lavender for a time. Bullen got into the same predicament and lost his seat for Gipps Ward. Here there was a dead heat between ex-Councillor John Stephen, and Richard Dowling, an hotel-keeper; but Stephen was returned by the casting vote of the Alderman (Condell). T h e Mayoral election yvas contested by Aldermen Greeves and Bell, when the latter was returned by nine votes to five. Russell and Condell retired as Aldermen and there was a rush for the vacant seats, the result of the voting being :— Kerr seven, Johnston six, M ' C o m b i efive,Armitstead three, Russell two. T h e most amusing incident of the election was that M c N a m a r a voted for Kerr, betyveen yvhom and him there had been war for years; and once when Kerr wrote in his newspaper of M c N a m a r a as a "halfhanged ruffirn," the latter knocked his libeller down in the street. These arcades ambo had become reconciled to each other, and yvere now, apparently, fast friends. Kerr and Johnston were returned, after which, all, with the exception of McNamara, adjourned to the Prince of Wales Hotel for refreshments, supplied by the new Mayor (Bell), yvho committed the unpardonable blunder of omitting one brotherm e m b e r from his circle of invitations—though all were supposed to be officially equal. The salary of the Mayor yvas fixed at ,£300, the T o w n Clerk's increased from ,£240 to £300, Treasurer ,£200, Surveyor ,£175. Mr. O'Farrell was appointed City Auctioneer. The vacancies created by the Aldermanic elevations, werefilledby Mr. Dalmahoy Campbell, a cattle salesman, beating Mr. Robert Robinson, a saddler, in Bourke, and the unopposed return of Mr. William Nicholson for Latrobe Ward. Various small, but "stirring" questions occupied the Council, and some lively debates ensued. In a matter when Judge A'Beckett had given judgment on a mandamus, sued out of the Supreme Court in re Smith's disfranchisement, Alderman Johnston abused the Judge in such unmeasured terms, that an attachment yvas issued against the Argus for the publication of his speech, but it, and other proceedings initiated yvere stayed in consequence of the difficulties of a Judge acting judicially where he was himself one of the parties to the suit.
