NEW LOAN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1396, 2 November 1886, Page 2

NEW LOAN

\t a meeting of tin* B i' OU.?h Council lost evening the proposal borrow under the pr visions of the A.’t of last session came up for consideration. ’Or Thomas pursuant to not ct* moved: —“ that the Con-oil m>ke aip'ici ion to 'h>< Government for a loan of £3OOO, and hat tits revenues from the reserves he fb' apart for interest and sinking fund; this amount to be employed in paying off the overdraft, in miking £BOO w nh of channeling ; £320 for ba‘h and the b dance in general work.” He said he w-ui’d defer speaking to his motion till later. '' he Mayor seconded the motion. In reply to a question from Or Bird, the Mayor quoted are'urn of rece pti and xoenditure is follows : —Receipts—gene ral rate, £llOO ; rent of reserves, £3OO ; excise licenses, £350 ; bylaws lice ae», £SO ; auctioneer s, £l5O ; dogs, £8 •; - government subsidy, £375; G .vernme’t ta‘es, £2O ; fines under bylaws, say £lO 9s 3d ; total, £2635 9s 3d. Expenditure —Bank overdraft, say £IBOO interest, £9O ; due to bank on bridge account, £433 6s ; due to County Council on same account, £162 3s 3 1 ; due on pound, £l5O. Total £2635 9s 3d. Or Williamson thought the motion covered too much ground. The Council t-hould first decide whether it would raise ihe loan or not. If carried la its preseat form the Council was bound to undertake he works specified. After a brief discussion. Or Williamson moved as an amendment, “That it is not desirable that this Council should borrow any more money.” He ssid he had been In hopes that the Borough of Ashburton would be an exception to the general rule follow d by cuonial boroughs of running into debt. They should try to clear <ff 'he present overdraf , which could be done out of one year’s income (Or Thomas: “No ”) He was taking the Mayor’s figures for hi i statement. The proposal was pul forward in a very plaus ble way ; that they would have more money at a less i-rice than they were paying now to the hank. That was right enough, but why incur any further liability 1 He saw not! ing in the way of their reducing the overdraft hy one half daring the next 12 months. There were no big works on h-no. Of courst, if they had money, rhey could easi y find plenty of work on whi. h to expend It, but as they had not got tneney they would have to wait till toey had He hoped the Council would reject the motion. If they began borrowing they did not know where they would end. Or Har.-fson in seconding the amendment said he had never had greater pleasure in aecv ding a proposition before. Ho entirely endorsed the views >f Or ''’illi.ms'.n. He spoke slroagiy against ha custom of borrowing prevalent in the coony. He sad Ashburton of c denial boroughs, stood almost alone in not having a y debt hayond a paltry overdraft, which c aid vasily be wped out by economy, and he thought that that ec n my should be exercised. One of the arguments which had been adduced in favor of the present proposal to borrow was that they would get £3090 for the price they now paid for £ISOO. That was a very narrow covering to the barb. They might ultimately find themselves similarly situated to Port Ohalmeta, which nad a 2s 91 rate or another place—(A Or “tfamaru”). He didnt like to refer to the place, but P seemed probable that he coin v wou l d have to help it out of its ifficjlty. Borrowing was a thing which, of ce commenced, was difficult to renounce. He trusted Ashburton would not launch into a policy of borrowing, and he trusted that by his vote in the C mncil he would h dp to reject any such propoad Ha hoped to see the time when, as a councillor had promised at a meeting in the Town Hall, they would have a 6d rate. Or oealy thought the proposal was going too far or not far enou>h. The amount proposed to be borrowed was larger than required to pay off the overdraft but not snffi iert to do that and leave much balance for works. For his part, be would hive liked to have seen a proposal to borrow £ISOO to pay off the overdiaft. They would only have to pay 5 per cent as against 8£ as at present, hut he was opposed to increasing the total sum of their indebtedness. Gr Thomas denied that the proposal, if carried, would add to the burdens of the people* He deprecated the idea that a person who borrowed was necessarily a spendthrift. As they were proceeding he saw no likelihood of the overdraught being reduced ; since he had ca oe into the Connell he had tried to effect retrenchment but it was never earned out Indeed, the overdraft would in the near future be increased to over £2OOO, when the amount due on bridge and pound was added Or Bird had come time ago been in favor jf a loan because there was a large amount of work requiring to be done. He had changed his mind on that point, however, but if the proposer of the motion wou'd alter the amount to be asked for to £2OOO, this to be devoted to extinguishing the present liabi idea of the Council, he would give his vote for it Cr Tucker said he had come to the Council meeting with the intention of supporting a proposal to borrow £2OOO, but when he arrived there that evening ho found the ac ual liability was £2200. on which they were paying B£d per cent interest. If they could borrow £2500 at 5 per cent from Government to pay off the present liabi ities, he thought they would be foolish not to do so ; and, this amount having hem borrowed, be did not see that they would want to get further into debt had been stited, Cr Craighead c uld not. see why it would be unw S‘ to borrow enough mo; ey to pay i ff rhs r liabil kes at » rata of interest less than they were paying at pre-ent. after some fuither discussion, the Mayor said some Councillors opposed the proposal and otners did not agree as to the amount He thought therefore the Council should first dec.cte whether it was advisable >r not to borrow ; if it was determined that, it was advisable, the amount could be settled later on. At his auggesion. therefore, the movers of motion and amendment obtiined leave to withdraw them temporarily, while he moved “ i hat it is desir ibfe to borrow a sum not ex eeeding £3OOO under the Local Bodies finance Act ” Cr Tucker seconded. Cr Reid asked the Mayor if his proposal was au amendment. The Mayor said it was not. It was a motion, Cr Reid asked how a motion could be .brought forward when another—Or Thomas’s—was before 'he meo ing. The Mayor said Cr Thomas’ motion had been withdrawn for the time being, in order that <he Council might rffirm the principle of the advhableness or otherwise of borrowing After a desultory discussion, the words “ not exceeding £3OOO ” in the Mayor’s motion were struck out. CrHirrisoa a.am raised the question of the motion being in order. The Mayor ruled against him Cr Reid moved, as au amendment, “That no borrowing be gave in for.” Th’s was not seconded. When the motion was about to be put to tho Council, Cr Harrison left the table sayirg he would abstain from voting on s the ground that the motion was irregular The Mayor : Will you allow me io ru'e whether it is in order or not. Cr Thomas asked whether Or Harrison had a right to leave the table while the voting w«s going ou. The Miyor said that undoubtedly he h-d such right. The motion affirming the deasirabianess of borrowing was then put to the meeting: i

For—The Mav nd Ora R berts, IJird, Tucker, Craighead and Sealy. Against: re Williamson and Reid Two or of the Ora who voted for the motion explained they reserved themselves the <* ghi of voting entirely against raising the loan if the amount proposed to be gone in for was larger than they thought was warranted Gr Thomas’ motion then came before the meeting again. He said that the Oonncll’a ■abilites being so much greater than ho had thought there would be no margin for the new works proposed by him to be undertaken- Ha thought, therefore, that any balance remaining after liabilities had been extinguished should be expended on work to be afterwards decided on. Or Bird moved, as an amendment to Gr Thomas’ motion, that the amount to be borrowed be £2OOO. Or Sealy sa d he would second the amendment if the amount were made £ISOO. The amendment was not seconded, and therefore lapsed*. After a lenghthy and somewhat acrimonious discussion as to rolevancy of the debate, Or Tucker moved that the amount to be borrowed be £2600 The rents of the reserves, which ware £SOO a year, wonld form a sinking fund and extinguish the wbo'e In seven years. They would save £7O per year, if his proposal were carried, on what they w-re paying now. and he certainly thought they shonld do th : s, Gr Roberta seconded the amendment. It appeared to him th it some of the Oonncillor’a were afraid to 'rust themselves with a loan lest they should »aot more. The Council would save £6O or £7O a year by going in for this loan, and he thought that having extinguished their present liabilities by means of it they should study economy and live within their moans. Or Harrison was willing to agree with Gr Roberts as to his reason for opposing the loan. Or Harrison, evidently Inadvertently, Imputed a remark made by Gr Roberta to Or Thomas. The latter denied having male it, and asked the Mayor’s ruling. Or Harrison: Oh leave it to be decided by the general rio*er—the interferer (Or Thomas : Who’s that ?)—You—the interferer, the person who hasu’t allowed anyone to speak to-nigbt without interrupting him a score of times. Or Harrison we nt on to say that he hoped he burgesses would take notice of tbe matter and not allow a horrid borrowing policy to be lai ialed. Or Sealy thought the sum of £ISOO would be ample. He would not support a large proposal. Or Oraigheid thought it was a question of choosing the lesser of two evils—of ohooi'Dg whether thsy would pay interest at the rata of par cent or 6 per cent. Or Williamson thought that he would be forced into the position of choosing between the two evils and he was now inclined to support Or Sealy’s proposal for £ISOO. Or Tucker’s amendment, that £2500 be borrowed, was then put. Fur Ora Tucker, Bird, Roberts and Craighead: Against: Ora Sealy, Williamson, Reid and Harris' n. The voting being equal, attention was drawn to Or Thomss not having a vote Or Thomas (rising from the tabia in order to abstain from recording his vote): Shall 1 do a little of Or Htrriaon’a “ hanky-panky.” Gr Harrison : Do it straight forward then The Mayor gave his vote in favor of the amendment, stating that he thought the sum of £2SJO would be sufficient. It was resolved, on the motion of Or Tucker, that a special meeting be held on Monday next, in order to confirm the rose ution The Clerk was Instructed to take certain other staps necessary to cjinply with the provisions of the Act.